Ricks' Oceanic 14G Biocube - my first salt water tank

[leahski]

aww, yay! a fishie!!!
now even non-reefers will enjoy your tank! lol
everyone who stops by my room looks at my tank and goes, "where are the fish?" and give me really weird looks when i tell them that i don't have any and probably wont be getting any too soon...lol

so...what's his name??

[djbacon]

My wife has taken to calling him Nemo....clearly the most overused clownfish name in the world. She already calls the shrimp Jaques. I am of the opinion that he will earn his name by behavior but in the end...my wife will probably win

On a cooler note !!!! He is already trying to host in the hammer coral, always inside that thing, it's awesome !!

Pics of that shortly :-)

[djbacon]

also check out the ricordia - doubled in size in the last week !!

[djbacon]

A new Full Tank Shot - 2 months -



Some items of interest. I got a new shipment of Zoas in. Came with a bonus frag of some Fire and Ice Zoas....the only ones of the order doing well. Kinda funny, the one doing the best is the one frag in the front of the next picture that I found int the travel bag before throwing it out. I superglued it to a rock and it is the happiest of the bunch. He's visible a the bottom of the photo.



Also got this cool candy cane, juyst a small frag but the color is amazing, especially under actinics.



The radioactive dragon eyes and whammin watermelon frags bags both opened up during shipment and arrived with a cold heat pack at 60 degrees. neither are doing well. I will post photos of them when they open up. For now they are kinda jacked up. (bottom right in the front) The watermelon have signs of life. The dragon eyes....eh..Im sad but I'll be amazed if they make it. They are looking pretty limp and bony. Would not receommend ordering from Ebay, this shipper (who shall remain nameless in the event he makes reparations) is not very good. Cheap heat pack was cold upon arrival at 22 hours and they used zip lock bags intended for jewelery. double bagged but not enough air/water norr any live animal stickers to ensure cautious handling.

Anyway...Enjoy the pics...

[tbittner]

Zoas are really tough. I'd bet that they'll be fine. Just give them a few days to get happy again.

You really have an awesome looking tank! Beautiful, big brain too!

[djbacon]

Thanks TB - Im obsessed. cant wait to have a big 120 gallon like you - just wanted to prove to myself I could do it with a nano first.

[leahski]

awesome candycane! man, you're dealing with big-boy corals, not just indestructable softies, i'm impressed!

i can't wait to have a thriving colony of fire and ice zoas, they're some of my very favorites!

[djbacon]

I think this needs to be it for me for a while....feel like I am adding too fast. dont know about big boy corals, Candy Canes are actually really hardy and easy to care for...Now, when (if) I get my electric sea scallop and heliofungia,..that will be another story

[1dolphin]

Hey djbacon,

Love the look of your tank!! I am just starting a 14g biocube at work myself, only one week in with 15# of cured LR, sand, and going to buy the deli shrimp today after work. Just a few questions for you, since our set-ups appear to be heading the same direction:

1. Did you leave the deli shrimp in the main tank? If so, for how long?
2. I see you have the biocube skimmer - going to get one of those myself, I think. Can you close the top on the tank with it in the first chamber?
3. Did you upgrade your pump at all or use the stock one with 137 gph flow? I am looking to upgrade, but looks like flow rate recommendations for 14g cube is only 140-210 gph anyway.

Thanks so much for your help! I think you are no longer the noob around here...

Leslie from the state

[djbacon]

Hi Leslie, glad you like it and welcome to RS !

I'll try to hit your questions one by one

1.The deli shrimp - use a small on in a net bag (to keep the particulate matter down) it will stink and you will need to remove it after a few days. But you will need to add another one of two as your tank cycles to continue to feed your tank during the cycle. you should cycle in < 4 weeks sinceyou are using live sand, rock etc. There is a great thread on RS by a dude named PROW that was invaluable to me through this.

Check it out here. Newbies, a little something on cycling/breaking in a new reef tank.

2. That skimmer will fit under the lid but you will have to take out the filter pad. if you are using live rock as filtration it will suffice, just put some floss in chamber 2. Also, loose the bioballs in chamber 2 and the spnge in C3 if you are doing a reef tank. They will just increase nitrates.

3. I considered the MJ 900 but so far the stock 600 is adequate for my tank. its almost too much in parts. until something demands it, i am leaving it stock. So long as you dont stack up against the back wal you shoul get adequate flow.

Good Luck!!

[1dolphin]

Thanks for the answers!!

[djbacon]

No problem man, without the "pay it forward" mind set this site would be worthless. happy to help any way i can.

Cheers

[djbacon]

VERY excited about another shipment of new zoas and ricordia coming from Redspot321 tomorrow.

Also learned a good deal about fragging zoas this week as I systematically removed all the hair algae from a frag of zoas from another source and transplanted the corals to a fresh and clean piece of Live Rock.

Fun stuff.. pics to follow. Thinking of making Zoa art :-) The polyps are easy to remove and strategically re-locate if you are very careful with their handling. Found this out by acident when a shipment had gotten roughed up and several polyps were floating loose in the bag.

Mad scientist in the making here.

p.s. yes im wearing gloves :-)
p.s.s. no zoas were harmed in the experiment !!
p.s.s.s Walter - check out redspot321 posts for amazing frags with uber good shipping

[tippMANn98]

I make lots of zoa art....I frag all of my zoas from time to time....Very nice...your reef is coming along nicely!

[djbacon]

Thanks - I almost crapped my pants today, my LFS has got the MOST AMAZING shipment of zoas, Im talking thousands of them, in every imaginable color. MUST RESIST !!! Also got my yellow fiji leather in I have been waiting for. Eeeeeeek Patience ...patience...

Mobing on, can anyone ID this odd white spongy thing I found in a piece of my rock today? In the middle of the photo between the feather dusters.