Keeping live rock alive?

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sirbk

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
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6
Just bought a bio 29g, I'm new and oblivious

Hello, I just recently purchased a 29g used biocube. I am new to the Saltwater hobby. This is my first saltwater set up.

This is what I bought on craigslist
Biocube 29g
a Circulation pump
red coral salt

and then 30 lbs of live rock from the same person that I bought the biocube from.


I've read guides for the past few weeks but with the actual biocube, I am feeling very overwhelmed and confused on what I need to do.



With that being said, do I place the live rock right away in the biocube with the water and then begin the cycling for a month?

Are there any great saltwater books I should check out or read online? Or any guides that you could link me to?


Thank you
 
What so you need to do to the tank before starting? I would put the rock in the tank with a heater and a powerhead if you can, with water of course!
 
What so you need to do to the tank before starting? I would put the rock in the tank with a heater and a powerhead if you can, with water of course!

I updated my original post so people can understand a bit better...
 
I updated my original post so people can understand a bit better...

Mix your salt water to the correct salinity. Fill your bio cube. Adding sand first saves from so much cloudy water. Then add your rock with a powerhead and heater. Last step is the hardest lol BE PATIENT. Let the tank cycle completey
 
You should add your rock first, so you can do a nice aquaskape, after you add sand it will be very cloudy for a day and your rock will shift and cause an Avalanche if not set on a base. Add rock cause you want to cycle all the dead stuff in there, that's going to cause ammonia than nitrate. Sand is clean, doesn't affect you water perimeters.
 
When do I need to consider adding a protein skimmer? Is this when I start adding livestock a month later? With a biocube, is it necessary?

And i've heard about people taking out the bioballs from the back and replacing it with something else (some mesh or something).. is this something I do before I add the liverock or can this be done after the tank has cycled.
 
When do I need to consider adding a protein skimmer? Is this when I start adding livestock a month later? With a biocube, is it necessary?

And i've heard about people taking out the bioballs from the back and replacing it with something else (some mesh or something).. is this something I do before I add the liverock or can this be done after the tank has cycled.

A nano protean skimmer is very recommended, and yes after you add your live stock!
You should get nitra-guard bio-cubes by orca.
They put floss filter sheets in witch are easy to clean, but should be cleaned at least every 3td day as they hold on to a lot of poop (nitrates)
 
how can i keep my live rock alive and safe for a few hours while I go about to clean the tank and get it ready with the water?
 
how can i keep my live rock alive and safe for a few hours while I go about to clean the tank and get it ready with the water?

Just mix up a bit of saltwater and put ur rocks in a bucket with and air stone. If u don't hand an air stone u will be fine. Also you will want a bit of die off on the rocks anyway. This will cut your cycling time down. :) it seems like a big thing doing saltwater but it will come to you. A bio cube is an all in one system so it makes saltwater almost as easy as fesh water. If you go to YouTube and look up Bulkreefsupplycom <--- he has a playlist of saltwater basics that might also five u a little insight. :)
 
I threw in the water with SG around 1.023ish.

I added the sand and everything became super cloudy. I don't think I can add the live rock tonight but I have that sitting in another bin with saltwater.

Do I needto run the system while the sand settles? As in the filter and stuff of the biocube? Or do I leave it as it is.

is there something I can do to speed up the process of getting rid of the cloudiness? I made a huge mistake not adding the sand first and covering it up :(
 
You can add the rock in now. And yes run your filter. Unfortunately there the only thing that will clear the tank is time. :( lol but with a bioube it should be settled in like a day. If u have filter floss. U can add that to the back to help catch the floating sand (filter floss looks like cotton if u are not sure what that is)
 
This is when I added sand to my tank.

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Two days later (with pumps and filters running)


image-3939156720.jpg

Now I added more sand and rocks later so it got cloudy again for a day or 2 but that's just part of setting up a new tank. :)
 
When I added my sand haha but I didn't have anywhere to make 210 gallons of saltwater other than in the tank itself lol and then the last is after it settled with the pumps and filter running. Took about 36 hours or so
 

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so ive added the rock today. but my fan from the biocube is not working. Will this be problematic down the line?

Also, any tips on how I should arrange the rocks? Are there some glues you recommend?
 
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