Rebirth of the 29 Gallon Bio-Cube

[rainydave]

Thanks! It makes all the colors pop so much more than white sand, it discourages extra algae growth, and it stays cleaner/looks cleaner. I had black sand in my German Blue Ram tank too when I did freshwater. I don't think I'll ever have a tank with anything but black sand. I'm addicted to it. I must say, last time I used dry black sand by CaribSea and it literally took me 3 hours to rinse it. There was lots of @^#%$^ and my hands and nails were all chewed up. This time I went with the pre-rinsed sand that came packed in liquid that has bacteria in it. SOOOOO much better than dry!!!

I went with the Caribsea Hawaiian Black "live sand" for my new 58g build. Love how it makes the coral colors pop.

 

[Ellylove]

Hey Elly,

The black sand is awesome! Where did you get it and if you don't mind me asking how much did it cost?

This is the exact sand I bought. I got 2 bags since I wanted a deep sandbed for the jawfish. It is $2 cheaper than when I got it now too... Shipping did take 8 days, not 3-6 as I was told it would be. It's free shipping if you buy over $49 worth of items. DEFINITELY the sand to get though as there is no rinsing!

CaribSea Instant Aquarium Tahitian Moon Gravel at PETCO

 

[Rothany]

That scape looks sweet. It reminds me of my old bc29 setup. Can you belive all the corals I have now,in my tank you saw,was all in my bc29? That black sand looks really good in there. Can't wait to see all the coral in there =)

 

[Ellylove]

That scape looks sweet. It reminds me of my old bc29 setup. Can you belive all the corals I have now,in my tank you saw,was all in my bc29? That black sand looks really good in there. Can't wait to see all the coral in there =)

Did you have a modified hood, or standard lighting? I'd love to try some SPS, but I'm worried about the lack of light... My husband and I were telling the LFS guy how awesome your tank is when we dropped off the zoas to be held till my tank is ready.

 

[Ellylove]

I'm having some microbubbles in the tank coming though the return, but my skimmer is off... I think I need a new return pump anyway since the flow from this one gets split and is pretty low.

 

[Rothany]

Did you have a modified hood, or standard lighting? I'd love to try some SPS, but I'm worried about the lack of light... My husband and I were telling the LFS guy how awesome your tank is when we dropped off the zoas to be held till my tank is ready.

I removed the whole stock pc setup and installed ecoxotic panorama leds. I'm not sure if you looked at my lights lol. You can get 3 of them and be good. I had 6 in mines =) sps,lps,zoos,softies,and clams did great. They are water proof all you need to do is screw them in. Also no heat output like the stock pc setup gives out. Thanks for the compliments =)

 

[Ellylove]

I removed the whole stock pc setup and installed ecoxotic panorama leds. I'm not sure if you looked at my lights lol. You can get 3 of them and be good. I had 6 in mines =) sps,lps,zoos,softies,and clams did great. They are water proof all you need to do is screw them in. Also no heat output like the stock pc setup gives out. Thanks for the compliments =)

Yeah, I think I'm just going to stick with the hood/lights I have and stick with softies. It's enough work as it is. That and I am getting fish that jump so a tight fitting hood is a must.

 

[jill]

This is the exact sand I bought. I got 2 bags since I wanted a deep sandbed for the jawfish. It is $2 cheaper than when I got it now too... Shipping did take 8 days, not 3-6 as I was told it would be. It's free shipping if you buy over $49 worth of items. DEFINITELY the sand to get though as there is no rinsing!

CaribSea Instant Aquarium Tahitian Moon Gravel at PETCO

Thanks Elly!

 

[Ellylove]

Thanks Elly!

No prob!!!

 

[Ellylove]

I just remembered that my Leopard Gecko tank has black sand too. I really AM obsessed with black sand!

 

[Ellylove]

I just got my frag rack in and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!!!!!! It's the PERFECT size for a 29 gallon, it's black so it won't grow algae, and it's made with REALLY strong magnets so frags won't fall. It's the N52 "v2" MAG Rack by Oceans Wonders. I got it from Bulk Reef Supply. It's 9.5" long and 2.5" wide.

A few days ago I got 7 snails and 1 hermit to test the tank. They are doing great so today I got a bunch more snails, a couple more hermits, peppermint shrimps, and a couple small skunk cleaner shrimps. I also ordered all my fish.

My current inhabitants include:

3 blue leg hermit crabs
4 astraea snails
4 nassarius snails
10 zebra nerite snails (I LOVE them and handpicked the ones with the coolest/prettiest shells and they are SOOO active and great cleaners!)
2 peppermint shrimps (my husband named the large one Ricky Bobby because it does laps around the tank floor, in the wrong direction )
2 small skunk cleaner shrimps


The inhabitants I ordered today:

1 electric blue leg hermit crab
6 bumble bee snails
Yellow-Headed Pearly Jawfish
Male Blue/Green Mandarin
Purple Firefish


Critters waiting for me already at Indoor Reef:

Female spot mandarin
Percula Clownfish
6 Line Wrasse
RBTA

I know, it's a lot of pod eaters, but I will be adding tiger pods on a regular basis, and there were already a bunch crawling on the sand today.

I just looked at the tank and one of the peppermints molted already! :dance:

I also just ordered a Rio 6HF HyperFlow Pump to increase flow from 300gph to 350gph and hopefully decrease heat. The tank is running a little hotter than last time, and there are lots of micro-bubbles. The standard pump has given me some trouble before with just randomly stopping and the Rio got great reviews (other than being a little loud if placed wrong).

Salinity is at 1.025 now, maybe a little higher.

I'll post pics of the little eco-system tomorrow.

 

[Ellylove]

Pictures!!!

Frag rack before going in the tank

Ricky Bobby

I can't wait for the new pump to get here so the micro-bubbles will be gone and I can see everything crystal clear! Those nerites have done a fantastic job of munching through the algae. The peppermints haven't done anything to get rid of the 3 small aptasia in the tank though... They better start doing their job. I'm going to go look for some pickling lime to zap them; the aptasia, not the shrimp.

 

[Ellylove]

Good news, Ricky Bobby got a taste for aptasia. No Joe's Juice needed. Yay!

 

[Ellylove]

Got the Rio 6H in the mail today! It's kinda loud, so I'm hoping it will quiet up overnight. It isn't touching anything so I know that isn't the issue. If it doesn't quiet down, I'll spend all of tomorrow fiddling with/cursing at/threatening it. Looks like the micro-bubbles are gone though and it is 300 gph instead of 285 like the old pump. As of right now, I'm planning a water change on Friday, and picking up my fish/zoas/rbta from Indoor Reef on Saturday. My group buy from Fragalot comes in on Tuesday and has some pretty amazing looking coral in it. So excited to get this thing really teaming with life!

 

[Ellylove]

Woke up this morning to find the less friendly of the 2 cleaner shrimps being eaten by the peppermint and the other cleaner shrimp. On a good note, there are TONS of pods and tiny tiny tiny starfish (or possibly a harmless micro-jellyfish) covering the glass. I did see 2 red/brown flatworms also, which I know came from the chaeto, but that's what the 6 line if for. I'm about to do a 5 gallon water change, and fish etc will be added tomorrow if my levels look good. Also, there is a small amount of tiny orange eggs in a clump on the glass. I'm hoping it's from the nerite snails (looking on google, it seems they might be).

 

[Ellylove]

Just picked up the clownfish, RBTA, 6 line, female spot mandarin, male psychedelic mandarin, electric blue leg hermit, bumble bee snails, and my zoa frags. Everything is SUPER happy and picking at the rock. The clown is even hosting in the nem and the nem found a very good spot for itself! Hopefully it stays there... So happy to have almost everything in the tank!!!

 

[Rothany]

Just picked up the clownfish, RBTA, 6 line, female spot mandarin, male psychedelic mandarin, electric blue leg hermit, bumble bee snails, and my zoa frags. Everything is SUPER happy and picking at the rock. The clown is even hosting in the nem and the nem found a very good spot for itself! Hopefully it stays there... So happy to have almost everything in the tank!!!

Nice! How are te zoos I gave you,that wasn't opened up? Also lets see some pics :whoo:

 

[Ellylove]

The ones you gave me seem to like their new digs! I've got a video I'll try to get posted on here. Not sure if I can upload video on this forum or not... I'll definitely get some pics up tomorrow. Everyone is sleeping now. The clown is tucked in the nem like it's his personal sleeping bag (SOOOO cool to watch him host!!!), and the 6 line made a cool mucus dome to sleep in. The mandarins are both tucked-in in the rock work. I'm so glad I got the little 6 line. It's so funny! It keeps seeing its reflection in the curve of the glass and it puts all its fins up to scare off the "other" 6 line (You'll see what a huge personality it has if I can get the video up). The male mandarin did display to the female, even though they are different colorings. She didn't seem to care. Lol. Everything is looking great so far!

 

[Rothany]

The ones you gave me seem to like their new digs! I've got a video I'll try to get posted on here. Not sure if I can upload video on this forum or not... I'll definitely get some pics up tomorrow. Everyone is sleeping now. The clown is tucked in the nem like it's his personal sleeping bag (SOOOO cool to watch him host!!!), and the 6 line made a cool mucus dome to sleep in. The mandarins are both tucked-in in the rock work. I'm so glad I got the little 6 line. It's so funny! It keeps seeing its reflection in the curve of the glass and it puts all its fins up to scare off the "other" 6 line (You'll see what a huge personality it has if I can get the video up). The male mandarin did display to the female, even though they are different colorings. She didn't seem to care. Lol. Everything is looking great so far!

SOunds like your tank is full of fun lol. Good job. YOu can upload to youtube,then post link. Get it done ASAP!!:bounce:

 

[dawgwe1]

Is the mucus dome stuff clear and kind of jelly like?? I have a 6 line and every once in a while I find some jelly type stuff floating around the tank. I got some right now clinging to some rock in the back of the tank that I can't reach unless I take the rock out... I didn't know what/where it might be coming from until I read your post...

I got picked up a shrimp a while back but my 6 line attacked it so no shrimp for now.