My 14g Biocube Reef

[HaKs310]

Thanks.
Rockwork has changed a bit, not much and I took the Hydor off.

Yesterday I spotted a large amphipod, a couple of small fan worms, 2 spaghetti worms and a large fan worm that has lost its crown. Salinity is reading at a constant 1.025 and temperature is keeping stable at a 81-83 range. I tried placing a bag with ChemiPure Elite in the the back chamber but the media was just too small and spilled out of the bag, so I'll be picking up new media bags. Diatoms and brown algae have started to show up on the LR also.

As far as the chiller I figured out how I am going to plumb it and what pump I will use.
Parts: 2 U-Tubes, 6ft of vinyl tubing, 2 metal hose clamps and a MaxiJet 600
Wont be getting it until next paycheck though as I just placed two orders for things I was missing, hopefully that's the last of it:

Filter Media Bags - 300 Micron: $2.25
E.S.V. B-Ionic 2-Part Calcium Buffer 2 gal Concentrate: $27.99
Kent Marine Tech M 1 Gal: $19.99
Coralife Buff Tuff Aquarium Exterior Cleaning Pads: $3.29
Coralife Glass Cleaner/Polisher 8oz: $5.99
Pisces Pro Acclimator: $7.99
Jager 50 Watt Heater: $20.99
Salifert Calcium Test Kit: $29.99
Salifert KH/Alkalinity Test Kit: $19.99
Salifert Magnesium Test Kit: $29.99

 

[Rbishop]

Nice looking set up.

 

[HaKs310]

Thanks Bishop.

Todays Update: Went to my local LFS and picked up part of my CUC crew, 2 Turbo Snails, 2 Astrea Snails and 2 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs.........and a baby True Perc. Couldn't pass the little guy up, it has only two stripes and was swimming like crazy.

I also found a baby snail on the front glass, it was about half the size of a pea. Looked like it was a Sundial Snail so I played it safe and removed it.

I will post pictures tomorrow.

 

[salty420]

set up looks nice but im not too happy to see you've added life without cycling your tank. hope this works out for you.

 

[HaKs310]

No worries Salty. The LR was fully cured. In my first post I mentioned I was buying Uncured Fiji, but i didn't
Jess over at RefeerMadness called me the following day and told me he only had cured Fiji LR, not the cheaper uncured I was looking for. He gave me a cheaper price on it and also let me cherry pick it, so it all worked out.

I wouldnt flush $50 down the drain when I have so much already invested.


Todays Update: I took some pictures today but wasnt able to upload them, came into work early and had a couple of things to do before I head out of town this Thursday. Hopefully I will have time tomorrow.

 

[salty420]

fyi just because you are buying cured rock doesn't mean you will not get a cycle in your tank. you probably will see less of a spike but i'd be surprised if you see nothing at all, i'd be sure to check your ammonia and nitrite levels... that rock may be cured but unless it's coming from a tank with fish it's probably not got all the beneficial bacteria that it needs to handle the bio-load from fish. of course you have 1 teeny fish so it shouldn't be a problem i hope...

 

[JohnLin]

that rock may be cured but unless it's coming from a tank with fish it's probably not got all the beneficial bacteria that it needs to handle the bio-load from fish.

All live organism expells waste (not all in nitrogen form), but most of the micro-organism do expell ammonia. Not sure exactly how "live" the liverocks are, but I'm willing to bet that the amount of organisms that inhabit the rocks, they produce more ammonia than the fish that exists in the tank.

And keep in mind, nitrofication bacteria does not "reproduce" to accomodate more ammonia and nitrite, they simply split in halves and double in number. So the process of keeping up with the bio load is quiet rapid.

 

[HaKs310]

that rock may be cured but unless it's coming from a tank with fish it's probably not got all the beneficial bacteria that it needs to handle the bio-load from fish.

Ditto what John said.
And by your explanation how will this beneficial bacteria pop-up without adding a fish?

 

[HaKs310]

Long Overdue Post:
So here the quick rundown, True Perc that I had purchased ended up jumping into the back compartment, the first time it happened he landed in the third compartment where the return pump is located. the second time, we weren't so lucky and he jumped into the second compartment, right on top of the filter floss......it died.

I found that I had some deaspots in the back section of the tank so I eneded up re-doing my rockwork, in this process I ended up removing all the sand and replacing it with dry aragonite. you can see I made two pillars using AquaMend putty, you can find it at HomeDepot. I ended up getting a chiller and that is installed, a JBJ Nano Arctica, keeps the temp stable at 79.3-79.7.

As far as livestock I have added a Yellow Clown Goby and a Yashia Goby/Candy Cane Pistol shrimp pair, they're very fun to watch. No other fish will be added.

Don't mind some of the blurry pics:

 

[HaKs310]

Should have more pics tomorrow as I visited a LFS Saturday, VividAquariums, and bought a couple of frags. GSP, Snoflake Cloves, Highlighter Green Cloves, Eagle Eye Zoas, and Darth Maul Zoas