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Ahanix 
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 Topic: 14g Biocube, Fuge or No Fuge?
Posted: February 14 2010 at 12:50pm |
Hey guys, I am just about ready to start my biocube 14, have everything set up, except for my middle chamber in the back of my cube. I have seen people go with live rubble, chaeto and then shave the paint off the back and make a custom light, but I really want to keep the stock look of the cube. I've seen those media racks, but they are like $40. but I guess I could always build my own.
Question is, how necessary is a fuge for a 14g tank? am I better off just going with live rubble and filter floss in the back. Getting a skimmer, or growing chaeto (with filter floss and live rubble)?
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jwoo
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 1:09pm |
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In our biocube 29 we have no fuge - in my 45 I do but I haven't really seen a need for it in the biocube. Water change very two weeks and just watch what you feed and you should be good to go IMO.
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None at the moment
Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront
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Ahanix
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 2:03pm |
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Ok, so I guess i'll just leave it empty for the first couple days when I start cycling, add some live rubble to the bottom (since I hear the critters dont really care about the light that much, just the chaeto) and maybe put some activated carbon in a bag below the filter floss
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jwoo
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 2:10pm |
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Oh one caveat to that is that I would NOT add live rubble. It acts as a trap for detritus and after awhile will spike your nitrites way too high and it'll basically be a uphill battle from there.
I just use some filter floss above the second chamber and change it out once a week - acts like a filter sock.
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None at the moment
Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront
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Ahanix
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 2:33pm |
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Oh, sounds great, thanks for the information!
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Mad Dawg
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 2:50pm |
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There's a girl on the forums at nano-reef.com who swears by having a mini-fuge in her 29g nano. I'm going to build a mini-fuge for my 14g based upon what she has done. I bought parts at Home Depot to build my own media basket for cheaper than what mediabaskets.com sells them for. I can sell you some of the extra material cheap if you're interested. I'm think I'm going to remove the oceanic filter pack and put cheato in the first compartment. I'll add a little underwater light later if it needs it, but light from the main lights filters back there. In the media basket I'll put filter floss / activated carbon / chemi-pure / purigen. I've got a couple mangroves in the last compartment where the return pump is. I can let you look at it when I've got it done if you want.
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Todd
14g nano mixed reef project
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jwoo
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 3:15pm |
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Mad Dawg brings up a good point - no matter what you do take out the bioballs!
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None at the moment
Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront
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Ahanix
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Posted: February 14 2010 at 5:58pm |
Sounds Good Mad Dawg,
Let me know how your media basket goes, if you have anything left I would be glad to buy it from you, or if you don't I would love to check it out!
So far what I have in the tank (haven't run water through it yet, going to put a cycle of fresh water in it tonight to make sure everything is leak free and seamless) is:
Removed the false floor in the 1st chamber to make room for a 100w heater that was given to me.
Second chamber is completely empty, have both of the plastic levels, the one to cover up the carbon, and then the top cover where you put the filter floss. (I also am going to cut the plastic from chamber 1 and chamber 2 to increase the flow, especially for the media basket if I end up making one.
Third chamber will hold the pump. I bought a Maxi-Jet 900, going to take off the elbow and buy some longer tubing so it doesnt have to hang there. (Plus I am told it helps the water flow a lot when you remove the elbow.
I was also given a Hydor Flo which I have installed in the front with the correct fitting.
After I get the tank up and running (not sure if I should wait for the media basket, or just start cycling it beforehand) i'll install my Koralia Nano Power Head in front of Chamber 1 (seems like a popular place to keep it.)
Currently the tank has one 10,000k daylight bulb, and one actinic. I have the 10,000k daylight bulb in the middle and the actinic in the front of the tank
Also the owner that I bought the tank from made his own fish saver, it seems like it will work great (but obviously the light wont go into the back of the tank, so I will need to get a submersible light in the fuge, unless I decide that I want to scrape off the glass on the back. I dont really want to do that because I want to keep a stock look.
Oh, and the last thing, I found someone on the forums that lives really close to me that was very generous and offered to trade me some of his live sand / live water / and some live rock for some of my dead sand and some salt. Hopefully I can get my tank tested so I can talk to him on Monday/Tuesday and get this cycling.
Anyways, i'm going to start a build journal soon with my 14g nano, just so I can get some pointers, also for future reference for anyone that decides to build one.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know, I appreciate all the help I can get, these forums have been awesome so far.
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Mad Dawg
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Posted: February 15 2010 at 3:24am |
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I'd go ahead and start cycling it as soon as you can get the ls, lr and lw in there. I'm up in Herriman, but I could give you a little ls and lw if you want. My tank isn't mature by any means, but it has cycled and supporting livestock.
Nano-customs makes a couple light upgrade kits that fit into the factory hood; an LED kit, a MH kit and a PC kit. I bought the PC kit because I don't feel the need to keep clams or SPS; and it's $80 vs $360. I should have it installed sometime this week. A girl on the nano-reef.com forum has this kit and has been able to keep SPS healthy at the top of her tank.
You could replace your fish saver with clear lexan. I'm going to build one with some leftover lexan from my media basket. I'm hoping that will let enough light into the back chambers. My media basket is under construction, should also be done this week. I put my Koralia Nano in front of chamber 3 down low to get a bottom-up flow. I'm going to add another in front of chamber 1 and put both on a wave machine to randomize the flow in the tank. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty and disagreement about whether wave machines provide any benefit to the livestock, but I think it'll look cool. Hopefully the Hydor Flo will work well for you. I've heard they don't last, but I've got no personal experience with one.
I don't have much leftover lexan, but I've got a TON of leftover eggcrate material.
You could come check it out toward the end of this week or next weekend if you want. PM me.
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Todd
14g nano mixed reef project
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Ahanix
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Posted: February 15 2010 at 11:07am |
Thanks for the information Todd, i'll hopefully get the tank up and going tonight/tomorrow. I am picking up a half bucket of live sand, and I already have a little bit of sand from the previous owner that has been sitting in a bucket for a few months, same with the rock that I have. I have another person that was generous and offered to give me some LW and LR.
But yeah. let me know how your media basket goes, I am really interested. I found some plans and they don't look too hard to make, just a couple long peices of lexan, two tabs and 3 layers of eggcrate. I wonder if it makes the water quieter when entering chamber 2? I decided to flip the chamber 2 cover over because it dampens the sound a lot, hopefully this improves it even more
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Mad Dawg
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Posted: February 15 2010 at 11:39am |
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It's really not hard to make. It just takes time and patience to get the lexan to cut clean. I went through 3 utility knife blades. Mine is a bit different than the on mediabaskets.com. I'll have 4 compartments and utilize the factory top water diverter/cover. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to make a door. Where did you find the plans?
I haven't decided if I'm going to cut the inlet/diverter between chambers 1 and 2 yet. I'll see how the water flows before cutting something not easily repaired.
I actually like the sound of the water flow. It relaxes me as much as watching everything move around.
What are your plans for coral, fish, etc?
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Todd
14g nano mixed reef project
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Ahanix
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Posted: February 15 2010 at 12:28pm |
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t225857.html
Here's the link that I found yesterday, this atleast shows how they had put it together, the only hard part it seems are the two tabs on top.
(Edit: I started looking at that layout, and didn't realize that instead of throwing the acrylic on the sides and the back, it looks like this guy just threw it on the front and the back of the rack, allowing the water to flow to chamber 1) http://www.mediabaskets.com/uploads/BC14MR.PDF
Also here is the manual for the true Media Basket, just for reference material. the only thing I dont understand is how does the water flow out through the bottom?
You know, i'm not sure exactly what kind of corals and fish I am going to go with yet, I haven't really done any research on them. Just have been focusing mostly on getting the tank setup and cycled. My wife really likes the Clowns. so I may get a couple of those and then maybe a Wheeler's Watchman Goby or something (I wonder how deep of a sand bed I would need?). I really like Frogspawn (Not sure if I have enough lighting) and Trumpet Coral, so maybe i'll start there and see what other frags I can come across, any suggestions?
Edited by Ahanix - February 15 2010 at 12:33pm
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GUNDLR
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Posted: February 15 2010 at 12:49pm |
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MADAWG
YOU INTERESTED IN BUILDING ME A REAR FUGE FOR MY 29GAL BIO-CUBE?
TRADE/PREDETERMINED CASH PRICE?
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Mad Dawg
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Posted: February 16 2010 at 2:43am |
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@Gundlr
Pmd
@Ahanix
I actually had the same questions about the flow through those. It seems like the water could just divert around the sides of them and not necessarily through the media. My design utilizes a door that will keep the media in place and force the water through the media and out the bottom into the third chamber. Hopefully! I am nearly done with it. Should have it installed tomorrow night to see how she works. My only concern is how much the media bags will restrict the flow.
I've got a pair of ocellaris clowns (false perculas). They're good hearty starter fish, plus they look cool. I've got 2" of sand and am planning on adding a yellow watchman goby in the next couple weeks if the tank continues to test well. Make sure you set your rock on the bottom glass so the goby doesn't upset your rock. As far as corals, you'll want to start with hearty softies or LPS. Frogspawn and hammers will send out stingers at night that will kill any coral near it, but they do look cool. They should do ok if you place them in the top of your tank. I just put a hammer in mine and its doing good so far. You will not be able to put SPS in that tank unless you upgrade the lighting.
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Todd
14g nano mixed reef project
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Ahanix
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Posted: February 16 2010 at 10:25am |
Hey Todd,
Let me know how your basket goes, I went out and bought some acrylic last night at home depot and some loctite (from what people say its tank safe), so i'll use that to glue mine together.
Last night I got a half bucket of live sand, plus about a gallon of live water from an awesome member on our forums, I threw that in my tank last night along with 10 gallons of water and let it run last night with everything on, lights.etc Plus I also put some filter floss on my drip tray (the synthetic batting stuff you can buy at walmart) just to clean out some of the water.
I woke up this morning and now everything is crystal clear, sand settled.etc Hopefully this means my cycle will go fast?
Tonight I will be picking up a live rock to go with the dead rock that I have right now, I put the dead rock in some of the left over salt water shook them.etc so hopefully I can get the dead stuff out of it before it goes in my tank
I also checked my temp on my tank before I came to work, its running at about 72 degrees without the heater, so that means I need to go pick up a new heater today as well (I fried the one I was given, took it out of the water last night and put it back in when it was hot and it cracked) Should I set the heater to run about 78 degrees and let my lighting crank it up to 80?
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Mad Dawg
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Posted: February 16 2010 at 12:22pm |
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I used superglue. It's a little messy and not water tight, but none of that really matter for this. Did you pick up any eggcrate? I can sell you more than you need for $5. I'll be down in Orem on Thursday.
I wouldn't expect your tank to cycle as quickly as mine did. I takes a while for dead rock, water, and sand to become live. Clean water doesn't mean your tank is cycled. The algae blooms are an indication that things are working. First is a brown algae, then green algae, then coraline algae. If you put a little piece of raw shrimp in the tank it will help kick start the cycle, especially with the dead rock you're using. Do you have a test kit yet? I bought the API kit from Petsmart. Decent quality and cheaper than individual kits from a dedicated fish store. You will need to test nitrates, nitrites and ammonia to track the cycle before you add livestock. First ammonia will rise then drop to zero, then nitrites will do the same, then nitrates. Once ammonia and nitrites are zero, you can add livestock. Start with a cleaning crew as soon as you see the first algae bloom.
You can't get all the dead stuff out of the rock, but that's ok. The dead stuff is what will start your tank cycling.
Too bad about the heater. My tank ranges from 74-78 daily. It's a little on the low side, but I'll be upgrading the lighting and want to see how much heat that adds before I stick a heater in there. Everything seems happy in my tank so far so I don't think the temp range is bad.
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Todd
14g nano mixed reef project
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