biocube setup

[joe b]

I new to forum & reef keeping. Have a 10 gallon started @ 10 months ago with a few zoas, star polyp & a sort of monti. I have a few bumble bee snails, a turbo and a few hermits... Had a recent ich problem so I'm fishless. Now I'm starting a 29 gallon biocube and need to know if I'm on the right path.

Started with:
20lbs Carib Sea bagged reef sand leaving @ 1-2 inch bed
@ 20lbs of base rock and 1 8lb live rock from LFS
rodi water
floss, purigen & chemipure in tank basket
small pump moving water
peice of table shrimp
lighting w/ small fluorescent a few hrs a day
amm, nitrite & nitrate testing

Running for 1 week today. I'm still new to this and don't go long without learning about things I want and don't want. After a week I'm thinking I should start changing water... How much??? 10, 25, 50%.... I'm curious to hear opinions on any changes I need to make to my base materials or routine.

Thanks

 

[Chillwill007]

Good start. I don't think u should change any water yet. Let it cycle about 4 to 6 weeks b4 doing any water change to give it time to fill up with the beneficial bacteria and then with that size tank I think u should be good with 10%-20% water change weekly

 

[joe b]

Thanks!!! That was the plan. Are there any other elements I should be testing?

I've also been stalking your Nemo tank build... Got some ideas I'd like to try for my kids room. Right now in my boys room we have a 10 gallon tank with some hermits, rock crabs and minnows we caught at the beach this summer.

 

[Fish Brain]

Welcome to the board!

Do not do a water change until after the tank has cycled and your nitrates start to go up. Somewhere around week 5 or 6.

I think it's a little too early in the life of the tank to run purigen and chemipure. Save that for when the tank is established and you have livestock. You want ammonia and nitrites to feed and establish the bacteria, you don't want that being stripped out of the water.

Are you running a skimmer on this tank or do you plan to?

Good start with getting the in-tank basket, it will come in handy down the road. Another first mod/upgrade is the return pump, most people toss the stock pump and get a Maxi-jet return. I would recommend a MJ-900, but make sure it is the older style MJ and not the new "Maxi-jet Pro". The new MJ Pro pumps are terrible and noisy. If you can not find the older style, look for the Cobalt brand, they are the same as the old Maxi-jets. The 900 has a little less flow than the 1200, but the 900 is almost half the watts of the 1200 and that means less heat in the tank.

Every tank I have had, I become less and less of a fan of sand. I've had 2", 1", 1/2" and now I run my 120 bare bottom. Even with just a 1/2" and had all sorts of nasty stuff come out of the sand when I took the tank down. If you keep the sand, make sure you maintain it or, it will come back and bite you in the long run.

 

[joe b]

Right on!!! Makes sense to hold off with the media. I have a small Aquatic Life skimmer that came with the tank but have'nt used it yet. Should I hook it up? Thanks for the pump recommendation... I'll have to look into that more. I like the look of sand but went with a bed depth that I hoped I can keep clean. Is the more to maintaining a sand bed?

Thanks fellas!!!