New 8 Gal BioCube and Heater Question

[tlkng1]

Hi All

I had a very busy fishy type weekend..I won't tell you just how much $$ I spent upgrading, creating and modifying things

I now have a 29 gallon percolating with liverock on its way to a small reef. I used roughly 30 pounds of Aragonite for the substrate and have about 30 pounds of liverock; Fiji and Solomon Island. Right now, I just have a powerhead at one end and a canister filter with nothing but filter floss currently running. I plan to swap over to a hang-on refugium once the liverock is cured.

I have also set up an 8 gallon BioCube. I modified the set-up, removing the upper "wall" between chambers 1 and 2. I added a 1/2 unit of Chemi Pure under the false floor in chamber 2, removed the bio balls and filled the middle seciton with filter floss and a bag of charcoal (filter bag plus loose charcoal..not a filter type pad). Chamber 3 now has a mini-jet 600 in place of the stock powerhead. It took some arguing but I finally got the water level in chamber 3 to where it was supposed to be and managed to do so without flooding the room

One issue I have, however, is the heater for the BioCube. I have a 50 watt, 8 inch heater which I intended to mount in chamber 1, however, the heater is too long. Does anyone have the heater in the actual display area of a similar tank?

Also, I haven't done any aquascaping as yet. Should I let the rock "cook" in individual pieces as I have it now, or do the aquascaping?

Thanks

T

 

[Sadielynn]

You could always just get a new heater to save the headache . Finexx makes a short 50 and 100 watters (6 inches long) that are titanium as well .. I have been using the same one for 3 years with out issue on my tank ... But I run them off a RK just to be safe
Other wise if you dont want to get a new heater run the cord as tight to the back corner and about 3 inches from the bottom of the tank/sand bed and hide it behind the rock work ....

 

[tlkng1]

Day Ten Photo

Evening All...

The 8 gallon is "cooking" nicely and for probably the first time, I was actually happy to see an ammonia reading Ammonia is at a high of 1 PPM at the moment but it has only been 10 days. Photo for day 10 is attached. I have more or less completed my aquascaping.

 

[Bige]

I have a 29 and I have my heater stuck through the floor first chamber. I dont know if that is there on the 8. Looks good though. Keeps the pics coming.

 

[Zer0]

Your tank looks fantastic. I really do like the rockwork. It's going to look so nice when you have fish and coral. One thing though, just make sure those top pieces or rock are secure. The one worst thing that could happen is a bottom rock piece falling out from under, and taking the rest with it. Would be a horrible situation. :s

Other than that.. keep up the good work!

 

[tlkng1]

You can't see it from the picture but the organization is sort of in a pyramid shape. Unless something decides to move the rock on its own, I should be pretty safe against any sudden avalanches. At this point, my stocking plan doesn't include anything that might rearrange the "room" to its own satisfaction

Stocking plan at this point is a yellow clown goby, a peppermint shrimp and maybe a couple of hermit crabs for livestock. This is my first true venture into reefs so the coaral species are still being studied.

Waiting another month or so to start seeing more life in the tank is going to drive me NUTS!