New Addiction... LOL. The Dark Side.

exoticaquaria

exoticaquaria

Active Member
I'm a complete newb in keeping a reef tank. I kept FOWLR before but this was a long long time ago. I was given this 14 gallon biocube so I finally got to start my nemo tank.

I started this tank approx 2 weeks ago. My friend gave me the live rock, live sand, corals and a few inhabitants to start.

Are you guys able to tell me what kind of corals these are and will they do ok in the stock compact flo lighting for now? On the overhand, I glued in the coral and it went side ways after. Will it be ok in this position or it has to be upright?

Current stock:
2 clownfish
1 fire fish
1 fire shrimp
1 peppermint shrimp
5 blue leg hermits
2 snails

I was planning to sell the peppermint and get a small clown goby or watchman goby?

Everyone seems happy so far. I will continue to perform water change once a week at 10-15%.
Also planning to add in more cured live rock and add more corals throughout the next few weeks.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated if there are any reef keepers on here. lol

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hahha your fresh water tank is much better looking then reef. Your is so opposite from reef people. But good start though.
 
LOL mike, I was about to set one up as well...was getting bored of my tank and planned on setting up a SW tank like i didn't years ago. But i wanted to start with at least 120gal but that's going to be very $$$ and time consuming at the beginning ...... nice looking little bio setup!
 
The bottom left corals look like palythoas to me and will do ok with your stock compacts. I can't quite tell what the other corals are from the pictures. What do you want to achieve with the tank coral wise? If you want low maintenance I'd recommend doing a Zoa garden since you can get away with lower lighting. If you want SPS, I'd recommend MH or T5s or LEDs.

Also, are you skimming? I personally think your bioload is a little high if you're not doing a weekly water change and are not skimming. The firefish may jump so if you don't have a lid you might want to get one or replace the firefish. Watchman gobies will dig like crazy. They're great for keeping the substrate clean but they will redesign your entire landscape for you. I personally like the yellow clown gobies but they are hard to find and raise but have a wonderful personality.

I've never been a big fan of shrimps as they don't do much and walk all over corals while annoying the corals in the process. In terms of cleaning crew I'd just stick with snails such as astreas. Don't mix crabs with snails or you'll lose all of your snails.

In terms of adding more corals I'd recommend waiting until the tank's been running for a few months. Just keep up the water changes and let things settle first.
 
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chen88 said:
LOL mike, I was about to set one up as well...was getting bored of my tank and planned on setting up a SW tank like i didn't years ago. But i wanted to start with at least 120gal but that's going to be very $$$ and time consuming at the beginning ...... nice looking little bio setup!
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Chen. Monster fish is fun but since going to Hawaii, I just really wanted to get back into salt. I had a few salt tanks back in the days... FOWLR and got bored of maintaining those expensive angels. I haven't done a reef tank yet but I'm absolutely loving it. My friends have salt tanks and have been trying to get me into it for some time. Now I'm already looking to upgrade to just a 29 biocube. Anything else will be too big for the apartment and also will cost a lot of money. I just want something that isn't too much work but keep me busy enough.
 
Aro51 said:
The bottom left corals look like palythoas to me and will do ok with your stock compacts. I can't quite tell what the other corals are from the pictures. What do you want to achieve with the tank coral wise? If you want low maintenance I'd recommend doing a Zoa garden since you can get away with lower lighting. If you want SPS, I'd recommend MH or T5s or LEDs.

Also, are you skimming? I personally think your bioload is a little high if you're not doing a weekly water change and are not skimming. The firefish may jump so if you don't have a lid you might want to get one or replace the firefish. Watchman gobies will dig like crazy. They're great for keeping the substrate clean but they will redesign your entire landscape for you. I personally like the yellow clown gobies but they are hard to find and raise but have a wonderful personality.

I've never been a big fan of shrimps as they don't do much and walk all over corals while annoying the corals in the process. In terms of cleaning crew I'd just stick with snails such as astreas. Don't mix crabs with snails or you'll lose all of your snails.

In terms of adding more corals I'd recommend waiting until the tank's been running for a few months. Just keep up the water changes and let things settle first.
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Awesome thanks for the info! I guess thats the problem with starting with salt. So many things to get and want to pack them all in right away lol. Unlike freshwater tanks, I've been told its better to go slowly with reefs. This tank was already set up for a few months before I moved it to my place so I've added a few things already. Its been cycled etc. It was a simple 30 minute move to the new place with existing sand, rock, water. We drained the tank half way with the sand and rocks inside. Refilled the water right after.

I don't have a skimmer because JL advised that its useless for this size of a tank. The small skimmer that fits into the biocube isn't worth the trouble so I've decided to go with once a week water change at 10-15%. Everyone seems happy so far. Hope I can keep it this way!
 
Here is the tank as of today. Did some mods to it 2 days ago.

First, added more flow so got a koralia nano.

Second, DIY trip tray and media basket for chamber 2. Chamber 2 now has live rock instead of the bioballs, sponge that will be rinsed out every week, purigen and floss on the drip tray that is replaced every 3 days or when it discolours.

The filter chamber has a plastic strip on it to prevent any fish from jumping in there. Not quite long enough so I'll have to find a longer piece.

I added more liverock to the back wall. Not quite enough so I'll need to add another piece or 2 before I start decorating with corals.

Temperature seems to hover around 80F in the morning and 82F mid afternoon when it gets really hot in the apartment.

I have yet to play with chamber #1. I'll do that in a few days so I don't disturb the tank too much!

I'll be getting some more frags this weekend from a friend to add more colour. So far I'm very satisfied with this little tank.

Some pics of mods and current look:
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2 more updated pics.

Removed the stock PC lighting and retrofitted a zetlight nano into the hood. Added a skimmer.

Also added a few more corals since the last update. Added a hammer, frogspawn, candy cane and bubble.

So far so good. I hope I'll be able to keep these alive. Any suggestions on placement would be great! I read online that they like mid to low fow so i directed my powerhead to the left wall of the tank and the return is now pointed to the top, front center of the tank.

Also read that people had success without adding additives to the tank. Any tips for these corals would be great!


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looks nice, i have a 14 gallon at work and looking to pick up a 30 gallon today that i was planning on doing some puffers with, until I saw these pics.

Got me thinking now,
 
Thanks! Its been quite rewarding so far. I hope I'll be able to keep these corals alive. That will greatly determine whether I upgrade this 14 gallon or not lol.

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Oh no! I'm really going to miss seeing pics of your 315g and its inhabitants. One of my favorite tanks
 
Thanks. I will miss my large tank as well. Especially all my fish.

This is all I can keep in the apartment... oh well lol.

Here are a few more pics as of today. Added a brain coral since the last update. The bubble has really expanded. I think 1 more coral and the tank is done... Sadly, I'm out of room already! Might have to change the hammer coral for a smaller piece so that I can have 2 pieces in place of that one hammer.

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Mike, good set up. These are all LPS. I started my salt tank just like yours. Later on, I got into the SPS that I think it is the most rewarding in salt water tank. Will wait to see you get in there. LOL
 
fishbill said:
Mike, good set up. These are all LPS. I started my salt tank just like yours. Later on, I got into the SPS that I think it is the most rewarding in salt water tank. Will wait to see you get in there. LOL
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Thanks! Just keeping it low maintenance! I don't know if I will start keeping SPS until I get a larger tank! Even this tank looks so full already. I will upgrade this biocube to a 30 gal cube next spring!
 
Here is an update of the biocube 14. Been quite busy lately so I haven't added anything new since the last set of pics. Excuse the horrible Iphone video.

Fish: 2 Clownfish, 1 Firefish, 1 Peppermint Shrimp, 1 Fire Shrimp, 2 Trochus Snails, 5 Blue Leg Hermits
Corals: Frogspawn, Green Bubble, Hammer, Brain, Green star Polyps, Mushroom, Candy Cane, Kenyan Tree, Misc Zoas

 
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Hey Mike I am in the same boat man, not enough space for the big tanks were used to. I was into reef tanks as a kid and have considered a biocube, too. Theres a pretty cool sub-culture surrounding the bio cube, and I like that you can do some tinkering to improve it (retrofitted lights, beefed up fan, etc). How are you mixing the water for water changes? Have you found a simple, clean way to do this in your apartment?

I love the frogspawn. It's relatively common but to me one of the most beautiful soft corals. Looking good so far!
 
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bcarlos said:
Hey Mike I am in the same boat man, not enough space for the big tanks were used to. I was into reef tanks as a kid and have considered a biocube, too. Theres a pretty cool sub-culture surrounding the bio cube, and I like that you can do some tinkering to improve it (retrofitted lights, beefed up fan, etc). How are you mixing the water for water changes? Have you found a simple, clean way to do this in your apartment?

I love the frogspawn. It's relatively common but to me one of the most beautiful soft corals. Looking good so far!
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Brandon, I agree that LPS are very nice! I think I will stick to these since they have been so easy to care for. Only when I upgrade my entire setup will I try hard corals. This is all I can keep in my downtown apartment since it is quite small. Water changes have been easy at 15% each week. I just mix it in a bucket and pour it in. I use straight tap water too which I know isn't great but no where for me to "store" water. I retrofitted the lights and made a media chamber for compartment 2 with a custom drip tray. Also removed the false floor in chamber #1 and stuck the heater in there. Besides that, just basic upgrades!
 
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