Paul's Coralife Biocube 29 build

[pdt7361]

Hello everyone. I've been reading these forums for a while now and decided that I should get some info up here on my build as it progresses. Years ago I ran a couple small reef tanks but haven't had any kind of setup for about 5 years now. My wonderful wife decided it was time for me to get a new tank in place and bought me a Coralife Biocube 29.
I immediately began looking at what it came with, what add-ons I'd need, and what all I needed to change on it. I first began by ordering the inTank media basket, their fuge, and a JBJ Nano Glo LED light for the fuge. Once that all came in, I through out the bio balls that came stock and put in the inTank equipment. Within my media basket I am running filter floss, purigen, and chemi-pure (order is top down).

[pdt7361]

I got 25 lbs of very nice live rock from Saltwater Island, 20 lbs of live sand, and 25 gallons of water. I got all of that into place and poured in a bottle of Biospira to help kick this build off.

[pdt7361]

While waiting for the cycle, I began looking into what kind of flow I'd want in the tank. I ordered a Hydor Smart Wave Circulation Pump Controller and 2 Hydor Koralia Nano 425s. As soon as they came in I got them all set up on a 30 sec alternating wave.

[pdt7361]

Once I got the water parameters right, I decided to start with some nice green zoas and green mushrooms. I also got a dozen mixed snails to keep my new build looking good.

[pdt7361]

Early last week I added two beautiful fancy clowns. They quickly claimed the back right of the tank as their own and spend most of their evenings hanging out back there.

[pdt7361]

After doing more research on what I want my tank to look like and support long term, I decided it was time to upgrade the lights. I like the look of the stock hood and with 5 kids in the house, I don't want to run an open system right now...so I figured LEDs were definitely going to be the way to go. I research all of the retro-fit kits and while they are all very nice, they are also more money then what I can spend right now. So I've decided on the TrueLumen Pro LED strips. At first I decided to do one of each of their strips...Marine Fusion, Deep Water Blue, and 12k diamond white. I also got their Dual Ramp timer to control the lighting...I'll put up pics of that project shortly.

[Brett28]

Sounds cool can't wait to see!!

[pdt7361]

For those that don't know, here is what the stock lighting in the new Coralife Biocube 29s looks like. It is 2 power compacts and 5 LED strips...the LED strips are optional add-ons that are used for color/moonlights only - no growth out of these little things.

[pdt7361]

Here is what the tank looked like under stock lighting with the live sand and live rock added to it. I've also added in the powerheads and wave maker within this pic.

[pdt7361]

Once I had this stable and cycled, I wanted to add in a little zoas colony and some mushrooms. I can't remember the names of these - if someone knows, please let me know.

[pdt7361]

And now for my lighting - as I said before, I like the way the stock hood looks and with a lot of little kids in the house, I don't currently want to run an open system. So I spent some days doing research on which LEDs that I could add in without breaking the bank. I had initially decided that I wanted to do some of the Panorama Pro strips, but those seem to have been discontinued and I cannot find anywhere to buy them. From there I settled on the TrueLumen Pro strips. They are rated a little lower than I wanted, but for the price I got them at, I figured I could put up to 6 of them in the hood.

For the initial project, I got 3 of their strips (Deep Water Blue, 12k white, and Marine Fusion) along with the Current USA Dual Ramp Timer Pro. Within the first & second pics below, you can see the new layout of the hood with the 3 TrueLumen Pro strips along with 2 of the moonlights that I decided to leave in. Within the 3rd pic, you can see all of the electronics and the PC bulbs that I removed from the hood. Also, I did manage to not only keep the moonlights and fans in the, but I also re-wired them so that they still work off of the existing switches on the top of the hood. I'll probably do some more work on the electronics when I add in the other LED strips. I also plan to upgrade the stock fans and add in 2 more to ensure good airflow.

[pdt7361]

Add in these little beauties - a pair of Fancy clowns.

[pdt7361]

Alright - so I have almost caught up to real time with getting this build documented. Last week I added in this little frogspawn and another very small group of zoas - again, I didn't get the name of them so if someone knows, please let me know.

[pdt7361]

Over the weekend, my wife decided that she wanted some sexy shrimp and an anemone for them. I was able to pick up this beautiful mini maxi anemone and 3 sexy shrimp from SeaScape for a good price. I need to find my actual camera so that I can stop using my cell phone and maybe get some better pics of everything :)

[BarryV]

Nice start on your BC29, it might be a little soon for your anemone. You should wait 6 to 12 months
before adding anemones to a new tank.
Barry

[DavidGraves]

Seem to be coming along nicely. When you said Seascape I raised a brow. I live in the same area and am also getting a bc29 going.

I'm curious to see how those lights work out for you.

[ReefWreak]

Mini maxi should be okay, as they seem pretty easygoing relative to their full-anemone cousins, however I hope you have a plan in place for those sexy shrimp...

Edit, I was thinking harlequin shrimp, not sexy shrimp.

And I don't think that sexy shrimp live in mini-maxi anemones. Not all anemones are the same, and in fact most host very different critters from other anemones. Clownfish adapt out of sheer willpower (they'll sting themselves to death, or be eaten by their anemones sometimes), but not everything is compatible.

[dabob79]

I've not seen anywhere that says sexy shrimp only eat live starfish, not sure where you're getting that.

[ReefWreak]

I've not seen anywhere that says sexy shrimp only eat live starfish, not sure where you're getting that.

You're right, sorry. I was thinking of harlequin shrimp (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenocera), another "interesting" shrimp species. My bad. You should be good, as long as the sexy shrimp are well fed.

Also here's a nice article (http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/keeping-sexy-shrimp-full-article.htm) on keeping sexy shrimp. Sound interesting, and it goes into the anemone question.

[pdt7361]

I'll put up a pic of the Sexy Shrimp and their mini-maxi later - with the curved class on the front of the BC, it messes up the focus on my camera. I've decided to break out my underwater camera later to see if I can get some good pics going :)

[ReefWreak]

I'll put up a pic of the Sexy Shrimp and their mini-maxi later - with the curved class on the front of the BC, it messes up the focus on my camera. I've decided to break out my underwater camera later to see if I can get some good pics going :)

Let me know how it goes. The front glass is the bane of my photography existence. My wonderful wife bought me a top-down camera viewer that I can use, but before that I was losing my mind taking macro photos from the front glass, since they always have an awful distortion on them due to the curve, and forget trying to look at anything that isn't perfectly perpendicular to the glass....

[pdt7361]

I think the underwater pics worked pretty well - the only hard part is that since I have an enclosed system, I have to raise the hood to take the pictures - thus removing a lot of the lighting. Even with the lighting duller than usual, the pics still look good. Here is the mini-maxi anemone with it's 3 sexy shrimp.
I also picked up some new zoas last night - LA Laker, Bam Bam Orange, and some Rastas - so I'll put up pics of those once they've had time to adjust and open up fully.

[Kjreiner1]

did you have to buy the sexy shrimp and mini max together at the store? Or did you buy them separate? I love sexy shrimp extremely entertaining to watch.

[ReefWreak]

That's cool, they took right to the anemone! Very nice, and the pic looks great.

[pdt7361]

I added a 4th LED strip to the aquarium last night, added a small 40mm fan by the LEDs to pull heat out from underneath them, and changed the direction of one of the 60mm fans. From the factory, both 60mm fans are blowing air out of the hood - to me that doesn't make sense. I flipped one of the fans around so that it is pulling fresh air into the hood and then have the other one blowing air out - this way there is real air flow moving through the top.

Next week I plan to do away with that old reflector that the LEDs are mounted on and have a custom made mounting plate in place - maybe made out of acrylic. I will also upgrade the 60mm fans to provide even better air flow (while making them quieter) and add a 5th LED strip - then I can finally be done with the lights.

[homer1475]

I also tried reversing one fan, heat actually rose. The reason being is both fans blow out so it sucks air from the front crate and across the bulbs expelling it out through the fan crates.

[pdt7361]

I'll have to watch it and see how it goes - if I see the same then maybe just the fan upgrade will fix it. The air flow as it was before was horrible.

[pdt7361]

Kjreiner1 - I bought them together. I got them all together from SeaScape for $60.

[pdt7361]

I've been skipping some updates here - been waiting to finish up my LED setup. Last weekend I stripped the LEDs out of the hood, removed that tacky old reflector, and installed a custom cut piece of acrylic to use as a mount for my LEDs. I kept the acrylic clear so that I could place it over the existing screw mounts, mark them on the glass, and then drill them out.

Once I had the acrylic in, I mounted all of my LED strips and did my best to manage all of the wiring that is in this hood. I've also upgraded the stock 60mm fans to a higher RPM pair and added another small 40mm fan to help with a little extra air flow.

I'm glad this project is done - now I need another one to start on. I'll take some underwater pics this weekend of my new corals and get them up here too - have added a few different zoas, favia, a duncan, and a flowerpot.

[madwhite5.0]

Awesome. I will be doing the same led mod this week!

[pdt7361]

Madwhite5.0 - let me know how it goes for you. I like the amount of light this puts into the tank while keeping the hood fully intact. I had thought about doing an AI Prime and drilling a hole in the hood to mount the AI externally on top of the hood - but I wasn't sure if I'd get enough of a spread. Doing my lights with these TrueLumen strips and one of their Ramp Timer Pro's, I was able to get a nice spread across the whole tank, full control of the lights, and only spend about $150.

[madwhite5.0]

pdt7361- i am unsure how to mount them, i have the jbj with the quad cf setup. I might have to dremel some pieces out to mount these so the glass can still be reinstslled

[pdt7361]

Yeah, I haven't seen the inside of the hood on the JBJ's - I had a local place here cut me a 16x7 inch piece of 1/8 inch plexi that I used. Once the hood had all existing lighting removed and the electronics behind them, I layed the plexi down, marked out the screw holes, and then drilled in the necessary holes so that I could mount the plexi to the hood. For mounting my LEDs to the plexi, I used the mounting brackets that the LED strips came with to attach them.

[ReefWreak]

Yeah, I haven't seen the inside of the hood on the JBJ's - I had a local place here cut me a 16x7 inch piece of 1/8 inch plexi that I used. Once the hood had all existing lighting removed and the electronics behind them, I layed the plexi down, marked out the screw holes, and then drilled in the necessary holes so that I could mount the plexi to the hood. For mounting my LEDs to the plexi, I used the mounting brackets that the LED strips came with to attach them.

I actually love that. One of the smartest installs I've seen!

On my tank, the previous owner put sheet metal screws through the stock reflector to hold retrofit Ecoxotic Panorama Pros into the hood. It worked, but not nearly as nice as the plexi. As long as the temps stay cool, the plexi is great.

[pdt7361]

For now my temps are staying between 78 and 79, which is exactly where I want it. Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to taking some new pics...got to get my underwater camera charged tonighr.

[pdt7361]

I finally got around to taking some pics today - my underwater camera has been acting up and doesn't want to focus very well. Even with it messing up though, I was able to get a few good pics in.

[pdt7361]

Two more

[dabob79]

Looking good!

[pdt7361]

I added my first (and probably only) SPS to the tank last night. I got a good deal on a 3 inch tall frag of Cat's Paw. It's got a really nice pink/green color to it and it's one of the only SPS corals that I've seen and have actually wanted. I'll give it a couple of days to get settled and then post pics.

[pdt7361]

Last night I decided I needed to do some re-arranging of corals. The main reason I wanted to do this was because of a colony of some kind of green/brown zoas that I had in the upper middle of my tank. The area that these were in is right in the middle of all of the LR and I decided that I really didn't want these mediocre looking zoas to spread everywhere.

These zoas were the first thing that I added to my tank, so they definitely didn't want to move - took a bit of wiggling and a touch of prying to free them all off of the LR, but I was able to do it and move them down to a more isolated spot in the sand bed. I also captured some good pics of my blastos which I've been meaning to put up here, and in the middle of the full tank shot, you can see the Cat's Paw that I added recently.

[pdt7361]

Over the last few days I decided that I wanted to slightly change my corals. At first I thought that I didn't like where my hammer coral was but I eventually decided that I just didn't like it. I have 2 duncans, a frogspawn, a xenia, and a nice big flowerpot...so I have lots of coral movement in the tank. My hammer was also kind of ugly :)
Took the hammer into the lfs today and traded it for a nice green pin cushion leather. I also bought a couple more nice zoa frags while I was there. Once I got those home and acclimated I found someone new in the tank...or at least new to me. I had a feeling that I had some small bristle stars in my rock, but today I found that I have more than a small one. Crawling around on the sand is this big beautiful banded serpent star...just wandering around like he's always been there. I assume someone disturbed his hiding place (like my goby) but he stayed out for a few hours and then disappeared back into the rocks.
Tomorrow I'll work on catching a pic of the star and put some new coral pics up. I also need to do a water change...tested water tonight and nitrates are up a little so I'll be cleaning tomorrow.

Calcium - 400
PH - 8.0
Nitrate - 20ppm
Nitrite, Ammonia, Phosphate - 0
Magnesium - 1230
KH - 143.2ppm

[pdt7361]

I've had a few people asking me about my opinion of the AquaticLife 115 skimmer. Out of the box it does okay, but there are 2 important upgrades that need to be done. First the airline needs to be changed out so that it extends up to the top of the cup - this prevents water from entering the port on top of the skimmer. Secondly a regulator should be added to the end of the line to control how much air the skimmer is getting - gives you better control over fine tuning it. These small changes will only cost you a few dollars and really improve the functionality of the skimmer. I've also modified mine to use a magnet to attach to the tank, but that isn't necessarily a required upgrade.

Here is a pic of the skimmate - I get one of these cups full about every 3 days. It is pulling so much nasty, smelly crap out of my water that I couldn't be happier with it's performance.

I've also attached an updated tank shot from today.

[pdt7361]

Everyone is still happy in the tank and corals are growing nicely.

[pdt7361]

Hello everyone,
I was looking at my tank this afternoon and found that something or someone in my tank has destroyed my duncans. Any thoughts? All other corals in the tank are fine and all other corals are soft corals. In the tank I have:

2 Fancy clowns
1 Tri-color wrasse
1 Diamond Goby
2 Peppermint shrimp (I am wondering if they are doing it)
1 Cleaner shrimp
1 Blue leg hermit
Numerous astrea & nassarius snails
2 Serpent stars

I have attached pics of what my duncans looked like 2 days ago and what they look like today.