Biocube 29G Planning Thread

[Oscarr19]

I've decided to take the plunge into SW! Before i get started i would like to note that this is a planning thread. I am planning on getting the tank around christmas time but i'd like to plan ahead so my job will be easier when i actually am ready.

Here is the equipment i plan on getting:

-2 Koralia Powerheads rated for 240GPH
-Biocube Skimmer
-Biocube stock filter (Live rock in chamber or media cartridge?)
-Aqueon Pro 100W Heater
-Stock Biocube Lighting (x2 10000K 36W Blue/White light)
-Refractometer (everyone recommends it. Where can i get a cheap one?)
-RO/DI Unit (I don't think there is a place to buy water here so i guess i'll need one. Again if anyone has a link to a cheap one)
-Digital Thermometer

I think i listed it all. Please inform me if i missed something.

Substrate and rock:

-25lbs of base rock sound good? (Prefer not getting critter from live rock and i'd rather let the cycle take longer it'll help my wallet a little LOL)
-30lbs Aragonite sand

Now for the stock. Probably what i need the most help with:

x2 Clowns (Oscellaris or Black? Can't decide!)
x1 Flame Angel
x1 Royal Gramma
x1 Firefish
x1 Clown Goby
x3 Peppermint Shrimp
x1 Skunk Cleaner shrimp
x2 Super Tongan Nassarius Snail
x3 Electric Blue Hermit Crab

I know it might be overstocked but that why you guys are here hehe. I presume like in freshwater inverts have a low bioload?

Corals. I want a reef but what worries me is the flame angel. I've heard many stories though that a flame was kept successfully with a reef:

x1 Long Polyp Leather
x1 Neon Pineapple Tree Coral
x1 Colony Polyp, Orange/Green
x1 Candy Cane Coral
x1 Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral

Food: Clueless here. I understand they need live food from time to time but can i feed flake?

Thanks for all the help and i can't wait to get this started!

[TLTGF]

Refractometer:
Salinity Refractometer 0-10% ATC Aquarium Salt Water | eBay
RODI:
Aquarium Water | Reverse Osmosis | RODI Water | ReefKeeper Water | Products and answers for your water treatment needs.
Fish:
We have very similar stocking - My flame has not messed with my corals so far... been (1) week.

FOOD:

From Carey:

"I feed my tanks quite a selection of different foods. I feed flake and pellets everyday and every other day I feed a combination of frozen foods. I mix up the frozen everytime. I use brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, chopped clams, emerlad entree, rods food (though most of my fish dont like the big chunks) and several other preparations.

I feed my biocube frozen twice a day as I have a scooter and mandarin in there so they need specialized feeding.

A good trick to get the slower fish toeat is to use a turkey baster. When I stick that in my 125g the watchman I have literally swims up to the tip and tries to get the food out. LOL He's also the only one who actually likes the ords food, go figure.

How long has your tank been setup? Diamond gobies are MAJOR sand sifters and get their food out of the sand. In a new tank there usually isnt enough live food in the sand yet for them. Main reason why I havent gotten one yet. Perhaps the sinking pellets will be enough for him, not sure on that one."

[Oscarr19]

Thanks for the links and I'm glad to hear you have a reef with a flame angel.

[TLTGF]

I wouldn't exactly call it a reef just yet - I'm just flipping from FOWLR to reef, so the transition is still in the works. For now I have a few polyps, a couple medium mushrooms and a hammer coral - all seem happy so far.

[carey]

I only have a couple suggestions.....I would go with 425 powerheads, the 240's are WEAK lol. I also would pass on the biocube skimmer, the reviews are in and they never perform well from what I've read. I've been toying with getting a used one for like $20 but thats a big maybe.

When I first setup my cube I had live rockin the place of the bioballs, I eventually switched over to a media basket and a fuge mod.
BioCube 29 Package Deal - Aquarium Filtration Upgrades & Supplies

Hope that helped a bit.

Good luck!!

[Oscarr19]

Thanks for that link Carey! So no skimmer. Just a few more questions I want to clear up.

How does the stock sound?

Will the biocube lighting support the corals I like?

Is 25lbs of live rock too little or ok?

[carey]

as far as stock I think you would be at your limit. I usually say 4 average size fish in a 29g but the clown goby and the firefish are pretty small. Inverts you are fine on.

As far as the corals you should have no problem keeping the stock lighting, I just wouldnt get any high light requiring corals and the ones on your list are average light and average flow.

As far as rock, it's kinda up to you. At one point I had over 50lbs in mine and it was too much, BUT I was just holding it there until my 125g was ready. I now have maybe 30-35 lbs. You can get 20lbs of base rock from a place like ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae whereit is like $2.50 a lb and then add maybe 10lbs of live rock. The base will become live and after a month or two you wont be able to tell the difference. It's usually recommended to have 1.5 to 2lbs a gallon. It also depends on how you want to set up your tank as far as aquascaping. You don't want so much rock if you wnat a bunch of corals and for all those fish to swim around.

The clowns will be the most active swimmers from my experience and the royal gramma is big on hiding in the rocks, I wouldnt see mine for days at a time . lol My clown goby is more of a percher so he doesnt swim about too too much. I don't know about the flame angel though, I think they have the potential to nip corals, but that could be hit or miss.

yep just checked the angel out on Liveaquaria and it says reef with caution. :-(

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Flame Angelfish

[Oscarr19]

Yea i pretty much used live aquaria to see what types of fish and inverts i liked. Thanks for the link to reef cleaners but i think they don't ship outside the United States. As far as the angel goes i've read it only really nips when its underfed but can vary from fish. I'll push my luck on that one lol i can't leave such a nice fish out of the picture.