Careys' 29g Cube Remodel!!

[needmorecowbell]

no problem, its helping me with my led strip build at the same time. Biocube, the guy in the video used the solderless kit, but its really easy to solder them on, ive talkied to a few people who have. Check out boostled for the controller if you do want it, i think they might be in stock. if they arent im sure theyll be back soon. Two potentiometers is what i have on my pre made unit, they are really nice, especially for acclimation, i dont have to do the screen method anymore.

 

[carey]

Good information and I appreciate the input cowbell.

I'm also thinking of adding better moonlights too but that should be easy if I get one of these kits. The 24led solderless kit was $275 I believe which is way above what i wanted to spend. This is gonna be a cheapo upgrade lol. I still want the ability to keep nems though, not saying 100% I will get one but I for sure want the ability to keep one. I will get my SPS fix from my 60g since the lights are so darn bright in there. lol

Would I be better servered to have the dimmers and other stuff in the cabinet like the guy int he video? Or add it under the hood like the websites say can be done? I won't have all that stuff in the cabinet like he does so I could have room for everything in there and not stress fitting it all in the hood. I feel SOOO clueless with this stuff, usually I catch on pretty quick but no matter how much I'm reading it hasn't all clicked in my head yet. lol

 

[needmorecowbell]

Good information and I appreciate the input cowbell.

I'm also thinking of adding better moonlights too but that should be easy if I get one of these kits. The 24led solderless kit was $275 I believe which is way above what i wanted to spend. This is gonna be a cheapo upgrade lol. I still want the ability to keep nems though, not saying 100% I will get one but I for sure want the ability to keep one. I will get my SPS fix from my 60g since the lights are so darn bright in there. lol

Would I be better servered to have the dimmers and other stuff in the cabinet like the guy int he video? Or add it under the hood like the websites say can be done? I won't have all that stuff in the cabinet like he does so I could have room for everything in there and not stress fitting it all in the hood. I feel SOOO clueless with this stuff, usually I catch on pretty quick but no matter how much I'm reading it hasn't all clicked in my head yet. lol

If your going to do moonlights, try 4 true violet LEDs, that will make everything pop while still being dark. If you bought everything separately I'm thinking it would be cheaper, maybe not though..

I'd say if you don't use dimmers much, put them in your stand, If you use it a lot, I'd put it in the hood, i like mine as accessible as possible.

 

[carey]

What about optics? 40 60 or 80 degree? The leds are 130 degrees without a lens.....

I'm guessing the 40 would be too tight of a spread so maybe the 60 degree lenses?

 

[needmorecowbell]

I'd do 80 or without optics. The higher you go, the more spread you have. They wont look like spotlights that way, although they will be less powerful. But with your set up, I wouldnt really be worried about too little power. The anemones will be fine with whatever optic you choose.

 

[carey]

I was finally productive today in regards to this tank!

I have gotten all the rock and coral out, gave the corals to a friend of mine so win win. lol
I am currently refilling the tank as I did like a 75% water change. I also cleaned out all the shells in the sand and found all the surviving snails and pout them into the 60g.

I'm planning on ordering 10lbs of tonga branch rock on tuesday with the group buy so I will have my rock pretty soon. Then it's just figuring out the leds. I'm hoping to be able to stock in 2 weeks or so, at least with some new hermits, coral and maybe some shrimp.

Now, back to the led questions....

You dont think the 80 degree lens will be too much spread on such a small tank? I don't want a ring of light around the tank. lol

I did some measuring and am thinking of going with this heatsink

12cm X 3cm X 40cm (4.7"X1.2"X15.8") Aluminum Heatsink - AquaStyle Online

and this kit
Aquarium 36 LEDs Dimmable DIY LED kit with optics

I'm thinking of getting the 18 white 16 blue and 2 red led's. I'm also thinking I will just use a dual dimming kit and skip on the controller for now. Turning dials won't be too too bad. lol

OR should I get this one with 24 leds, the heatsink is included

Aquarium 24 LEDs Dimmable DIY LED kit with optics

Thanks!!

 

[needmorecowbell]

Nice!

I think since you have a hood, you'll be fine. I don't have optics or a canopy (yet) and I have some light coming out.. Although I have 60 LEDs on mine.. I would go with whatever kit has the most optimization. I would go with a ratio of 2 blue: 1 white, that represents the ocean the best. The red wont help with growth or the health of photosynthetic animals, it's just aesthetics. It will bring a more purple look to the tank. I would go with mostly royal blue, a few cool blue, a couple cyans, some cool white, some neutral white, and some warm whites. Sorry for being so precise lol. I don't know an exact ratio but that's what you would want for the most out of your spectrum. Then add a few uv for your moonlight/ supplementation. That could be down the road though.

 

[carey]

Well, so far so good. I absolutely cleaned the ever loving bejesus out of the cube, spent hours scraping with a razor to get every little bit of build up off. Got most of the sand out and found literally hundreds of bristleworms. Little itty bitty ones. Also drained the tank pretty much and added new "live" sand. lol It was in the pink fiji so I had to get it. I wasn't planning on taking so much sand out but I did cause of the bristleworms. So now I have like 20lbs of sand in the tank. Filled her up and changed the media out. Filter pad, phosphate pad, purigen and chemipure elite. I have the fuge insert for the back compartment but not sure I wanna try that again.

Also considering a skimmer, any suggestions? I'm a big fan of not using a skimmer on such a small tank but I figure if I'm gonna get anemones I need all the help I can get.

Oh almost forgot. I changed out the bulbs for a 10k and actinic one and let me tell you the difference is night and day! I didn't realize how old the bulbs were and how much the light had lost it's true color. I cannot wait to get corals in there!

I'm in the middle of figuring out the configuration I want for the leds so I'll post that and see what you think.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Nice! I think there is a mod out there for an aquaclear ( maybe a different skimmer, I know a lot of people do it) skimmer mod. Swimswithfish did it and same with the guy in the video. It seems to work well.

 

[carey]

Got my tonga rock today! woot! Not too sure how i am gonna use it yet, it's just branches with no real way to stack it. I think i will move a piece of the purple rock from the 125g into this tank, just to give me some stacking and rockscaping options.

I've been cycling for almost 2 weeks I think, I am only going to 1ppm on the ammonia though since i don't foresee any fish in this tank in the near future. Just need a strong enough bacteria base to handle some inverts. lol Shouldn't be much to handle. I will be testing the water later to see where i am. With the small amount of ammonia it has allowed all the pods to live that were still in the tank. There are hundreds of those buggers all over the glass and sand. lol

After spending a 100 hours at least researching led's and drivers and all the other fun stuff involved I think i will be waiting a bit to do the lights. Not because of the complexity of the install but the price point. I'm looking at like $200 minimum to get this done and thats just not logical with this tank for me. lol Which leads me to the next question....What can I keep as far as anemones under the stock lighting? I'm pretty confident that mini maxis will be good but what about a red bubble tip? Or the rock anemones?

Any thoughts?

Thanks!!

Picture of the BRS Tonga Branch rock that came today, I ordered 10 lbs and it's definitely 10lbs if not more.

 

[VinnyP]

Can't wait to see the aquascape on this

 

[carey]

I took one decent size rock from the 125g and got all the tonga branch in. Kinda just feeling out how it looks, it's kinda a low rockscape but that's kinda what I wanted. Lots of places for shrimp and inverts to hang and crawl on and under. I was kinda hoping the tonga would be taller LOL, but I like it overall.

For those who may order it from BRS in the future be warned it has some dried up small spots of life, so I kinda expect a small ammonia spike within the next couple days.

Here are the photos of where the tank is at now. Needs work I think but it's a start.

 

[VinnyP]

I like, can't wait to see this tank come along. So with the small ammonia spike how Long you thinking till you get some stuff in the tank

 

[carey]

Well it's been cycling for almost two weeks so I figure another week to make sure all is well. I'd like to start with some hermits and snails and maybe a couple peppermint shrimp. The fire shrimp I want are pretty pricey so I wanna wait to make sure they will be ok.

 

[needmorecowbell]

That's great! I I cant wait to see how this goes. Not sure about anemones under stock lights, but I completely understand what you mean, they are super expensive. The tonga looks nice, is it dense? I've had a fire shrimp, It was one of my favorite livestock purchases. He used to crawl on my fingers and gently pick at the skin on my fingers. I'd be careful with one and an anemone though.

 

[Crystal A]

Looks good so far. Would le to see how the tank grows. Yeah!!

 

[carey]

It's tank update day! lol

This tank is cycled and ready to go. I added another live rock from my refugium to the tank so now I have like 10lbs of tonga base and about 7 lbs of live rock. So far I have one snail and some bristle starfish in the tank.

Still up in the air about what I want to put in the tank though. I've thought clown fish maybe, as the only fish, like percula's or maybe some picassos if the price is right. I think the only anemone I want will be a red bubble tip as well. An anemone tank would have been cool but I think a single nem will be better in the long run.

Hoping to get out this week or next at the latest and getting some critters. Tired of looking at an empty tank. lol

 

[needmorecowbell]

I think with a 30 gal, the rbta alone would be the safest choice. I think the Picassos are going for cheaper than usual on liveaquaria, but I could be wrong. They are definitely worth it, they're really pretty.

 

[carey]

I am planning on ordering this week and stocking this tank.

I know I was on the fence with getting fish but I have decided to get some. lol

So, I am looking at ordering the following:

orange spot prawn goby
candycane pistol shrimp
yellow head jawfish
6 scarlet hermits
10 astrea snails
1 or 2 emerald crabs
fire shrimp

I was also looking at the 2 spot or signal goby. I know they require a sandbed just not sure if i wanna take the chance of him starving. :-( Any input would be appreciated.

Also got the tunze powerhead in the tank today, seems like a lot more flow than the koralia 425 I had and it's only like 50gph more with the tunze. So far, the new powerhead is a winner in my book. I had debated a mp10 but I think that would be total overkill in my tank so I'm pretty happy with what I got.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Sounds great! One thing though, you say the two spot requires a sandbed.. So does the yellowhead jawfish. Actually, jawfish require a deep sand bed. They bury themselves in the sand, leaving only their head out.