Biocube question!

[Blacksteel]

Hey I just picked up a biocube 14g off craigslist and it came with live rock and sand. I'm just curious if you guys have any recommendations on what to put in the middle slot? There was bio balls in there but I think ive read a lot of stuff about those raising nitrates. Also should I reuse this sand or use new sand?

I forgot to mention I'm making this a nano reef

 

[carey]

Congratulations! Did you get any livestock with it? if not you can probably be safe keeping the current sand, unless you don't like it.

I have a media basket in my center chamber with purigen, chemipure elite and filter floss.

This is what I use

Biocube 14 Media Basket But for the 29g.

When I first set mine up I had live rock in place of the bio balls.

i also have the fuge in there as well but I dont think you can get a fuge for your size cube.

I would suggest using only ro/di water going forward if you intend on corals.
You can usually buy it from your lfs but you can also get your own machine

0PPM Portable 100GPD Reverse Osmosis DI Filter PO4B-100 | eBay

This is the model I use and love it. You will probably need about 5 gallons of water a week for changes and for top offs.

 

[Blacksteel]

I appreciate the help! I didnt get any livestock with the cube. I am planning on going with mainly corals as the cube feels so small with swimming room for any fish. but I think this will be good practice as this is really my first real attempt at a reeftank so I'm going focus on coral and inverts.

I'm not sure if you can answer this question but for water I have a RO unit at my house for drinking purposes. I'm pretty sure it's no DI. would using water from one of those machines in Publix work?

Any suggestions on coral or inverts like shrimp/crabs?

 

[Greenturtle]

Green Star Polyps are great beginner coral. I would get a Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp or Fire Shrimp.

 

[carey]

I used the publix around the corner from me until I bought my ro/di unit. can't beat 30 cents a gallon lol. I woudl strongly urge you to use a di as well though.

The list for corals and inverts is so huge that you can do!

Have you checked out Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums It has the requirements for most any invert, fish and coral you can think of.

I have in my 4g pico mostly corals, a candycane, lots of zooas, mushrooms, a duncan, an acan, xenia, a kenya tree (wouldnt recommend that one, it spreads like the plague). I also have a clown goby and peppermint shrimp, emerald crabs, a pom pom crab and a porcelain crab.

in your size tank you could easily add a fire shrimp or a cleaner shrimp. You could also get a clown fish and maybe a small goby.

 

[Blacksteel]

Ya I was looking at some smaller gobies and maybe a clownfish, but I'm kinda nervous about the clown because the cube just feels kinda small lol. But thank you so much for the help!

 

[carey]

keep us updated! Would love to see how this all shapes up

Good luck!

 

[Blacksteel]

The live rock I got with the tank has a lot of green algae on it. I'm wondering if it would be better to not use that because that would introduce that algae to my tank?
Should I get some different live rock or try and scrub these clean?

 

[carey]

I would scrape or brush off as much as you can and siphon it out. No need to waste the money on new rock in my opinion. If you get your water parameters straight and don't overfeed or over light you should be fine in the long run. Are yousuing ro/di water? thats a major contributor to algae.

 

[Blacksteel]

Ya I am definitely using RO DI water. The first time around I didnt use it and The algae was unbearable lol. So I'm doing every single thing the right way this time around no matter how long it takes. Also do the LEDs on the biocube just turn on when you plug them in or is there a switch somewhere?

 

[carey]

No switch which is kinda silly. You either have to put it on a timer or plug it in when you want it on. :-(

I don;t find the moonlighting to be that good anyways, so I dont' even run them.

 

[Blacksteel]

Ya that is kind of dumb lol. Well thank you for all the help Carey! Im sure I'll run into more questions sooner or later