Back with a Biocube

Seems like I never take too much of a break since starting in 2003 - there were +/- 8 months in 2008 then the break from June 2018 until now when I sold my 120 due to a move to W. Des Moines.

Really wasn't planning on starting again but I found a sweet deal on this tank and my wife and daughter really love clowns so here I am.

Stumbled access someone selling their 29 gallon Oceanic Biocube for $50 on FB market and couldn't pass it up! Came with tank, stand, hood, heater, pump, In Tank filter, 30 pounds live rock, 10 pounds sand, test kits, 2 new replacement Coralife power compact bulbs (10k and 420 actinic), food, etc.

It's not perfect as the glass has noticeable scratches on all three sides and the hood is missing the cooling fans (but $50??). I have fans and a new 12v power supply on order as the control module is so corroded I can't repair the failed circuitry (full bridge rectifier). I do have 2 leftover black box Chinese LEDs from my 120 but I don't think I want to retrofit.

My plans are 4 - 6 fish (clowns, Dotty Back, goby - undecided on specific colors) and small clean up crew. Corals will be softies and possibly LPS - looking forward to finding zoas and frogspawn (hopefully some of my old stock) but probably not SPS. Not going to run a skimmer and want to keep it simple with a 5 gallon water change each week with new filter floss - we'll see how long that lasts!

I purchased the tank 12/23 and cleaned it up Christmas Day as it was 60 degrees outside. Cleaned up well with a vinegar and water solution. Rinsed the existing sand until it was clean and sprayed the rock with a garden hose. Previous owner stated the tank had been cycled (drained day I picked it up) but the rock didn't have any growth or critters so I'm comfortable it was clean and pest free.

Thursday the 26th I set it up with fresh Instant Ocean (160g for $32 @ Petco), 20 pounds Carib Sea Arag-Alive sand (never purchased live sand before) existing sand, small amount of rock that came with it and the rest of the rock from my stockpile.

After 8 days I've done 1 water change and measured the ammonia up to 2 and now at 1 - probably another week or so to cycle before fish.

Video of the tank:

Video of what I found in the hood:

Eric

 

Thanks Jesse!

 

Not planning on it. Scratches are fairly deep and seem to be everywhere; and as they're on the inside I would need to drain the tank then use chemicals which wouldn't be reef safe and "could" cause more issues long term. I'll just live with them for now.

-Eric

 

Thank you!

I've passed along to my social advisor.

-Eric

 

10 days in and will perform 2nd water change this afternoon. Tank is still empty and ammonia has gone from 2 to 1 to 0.5 today (before WC) so I should see nitrites start to increase. Liking this aquarium app for Android.

Probably a week or so away from adding clowns but we're going to visit Salty Blues today to see what they have.

-Eric

 

They are indeed!

I was surprised they have designer clowns that are market price before the 20% discount. For example their Frostbite clowns are $56 after discount.

Tank isn't ready, even for damsels, however I have no qualms buying fish from Petco (not trying to start an argument) as I've always had success. Of course they need to be quarantined for 3 - 4 weeks before adding to an established tank but that's just a good practice.

-Eric

 

Tank is still cycling with today being day 12. Rockwork is clean with no diatoms however as I don't have my fans fixed I only have the lights on for a few minutes at a time.

I've watched ammonia rise and fall to zero and now the nitrates are on the rise. What's strange is I've never detected nitrites which should have been elevated for at least a week. I am using rock with (theoretically) die off and live sand which may shorten the cycle and I have performed 2x water changes since setting up - possibly too many water changes as there's no livestock? I haven't really cycled a tank (actually LR) since 2003.

I plan on testing again Saturday to see where it's at.
-Eric

 

Fixed my issue with cooling fans yesterday. When I bought the tank the previous owner provided 2 new lamps and when I went to replace them I found the fans were missing and the bridge rectifier control board was ruined by corrosion.

I ordered an AC to 12v DC 10w waterproof power supply from eBay for $6 and new fans from Amazon for $11. Pretty simple fix and as I've been cycling with no livestock the lights didn't need to be on.

YouTube videos:






-Eric

 

Yesterday my tank was 16 days old and has had (as of yesterday) 3 water changes. Ammonia spiked and returned to zero and I never measured Nitrites, presumably as they existed in the tank from the live sand, and Nitrates have gone from 0 to 5 to 10 and stayed at 20 for a week so I should be nearing the end of the cycle. Corals can be added early in the cycle and now that Ammonia and Nitrites are 0 I'm ready for fish - we're actively shopping for our first fish.

Picked up some Purple Death palys locally (from @beckerj3 - thank you!) yesterday - look awful lonely in the tank! They opened within a few hours and look happy so far.

-Eric

 

Change of plans.

Switched to a 29 HQI running a black box LED. More to come.

-Eric

 

After 20 days (today) I switched to a different Biocube. I noticed salt creep in the first week and became concerned with the amount around day 15 and found another deal locally.

I started with the Oceanic Biocube and replaced the fans and control for the 2x 36 power compact lamps. What I found was a 29g Coralife Biocube HQI (double ended metal halide) - great reason to use one of my Chinese black box LEDs!

Here's an initial video before I broke it down. I still wonder if the salt creep is from excessive moisture under the hood and I'm missing the rubber plugs around the power cords - I did see a drip on the back of the tank under the cord Monday. I have my old tank full of water and as of now everything is dry.

-Eric

 

First video shows the new tank up and running. Other videos show process of draining and swapping to new tank - not ground breaking but I did film the process which took me about an hour and 40 minutes start to finish.

Not a professional YouTube creator

It was my day off.

-Eric

 

Day 27 (week after tank swap).

5 frags, pair of clowns - and diatoms with algae. Normal part of cycle (still annoying) that 8 haven't experienced for 10+ years .

-Eric

 

Update from this afternoon.

-Eric