daleroller Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 (scratch) Hello everybody! I just bought a new Oceanic Biocube 14 today at the Hillsboro Petsmart for $118. I have been wanting a Biocube for my Salem office now for awhile and the price was right today. I have also stocked up on Marine fish food over the past month. There has been a big clearance sale at Salem Petcos for %50 off of clearance sale markdowns. I spent about $20 on $200 worth of fish food. I had been feeding it to my tropical fish at home and in the office, but I have so much now that it only makes sense to start another tank. This will be my first saltwater aquarium. I would like to put Sea Horses in it but I hear they won't eat the dried fish food food. I also want an anenome and a clown fish. Hermit crabs are also very nice looking and I saw something called a peppermint shrimp that I liked. I would also like to get an Octopus for my tank, but I don't know where to buy one. Do I need to buy a heater to the Biocube? Is the protien skimmer and UV sterilizer necessary options? Can I also put an eel in my tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I was here late and just thought I would start this off by saying...first things first....read as much as you can about starting a saltwater tank. I downloaded the book, "Saltwater For Dummies" 2nd Edition, and am still learning from it. That is just one of many that you can gain knowledge from. There are tons of questions that can be answered by reading and researching. This forum has a lot of information in it already as well. There is a lot out there, if you google search the type of inhabitants you want in your tank, you will get an idea of whether or not they can go into your tank. Welcome to the forums and don't be discouraged from what I say, there is a lot friendly helpful people that will help you every step of the way. (soon to follow I'm sure ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Welcome to the saltwater hobby. I would definitely recommend reading and doing your research. There are some people who have seahorses but it's not a good beginner species. They can be sensitive and they are slow and methodical eaters so people who have them keep them in a dedicated tank. A peppermint shrimp would be fine. I would also advise against an octopus. They are smart and escape artists and a 14 gallon biocube is not a practical home. An eel would also not be a good idea in a 14 gallon biocube as they require a bigger tank. There are dwarf varieties but still would not be suitable for a 14 g biocube. They are also escape artists. As far as a skimmer, it depends on what you plan on having in the tank and a uv sterilizer is not required. Some people use them. Quarantining your fish is advised before adding them to your tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 If you could have a place to store frozen food, then you could get some sea horses that are on cyclop-eeze. And as far as an octopus goes, I would say that's a no go. Too small of tank, probably not enough security, and if you want all those other things, there's no way they could be housed together. And it sounds like you have the intention of feeding it dry food, octopi like MEAT, and live meat at that. They also hide all the time so it would look like you have an empty aquarium most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Hey Dale! Welcome to the hobby and welcome to the club! As others have said I definitely recommend emmersing yourself in as much information as you can. I used to buy every book I could find on the hobby when I got started and I really learned alot from it. Browse this and other forumns. They are a great learning to and will help you avoid some costly mistakes that others have tried. Come visit me at the shop and we can chat! I will try and help you determine what will make the best tank inhabitants for your likeing and who can be housed together without any problems. I have had dozens of Seahorses, dozens of eels in different varieties, and dozens of octopi and have a bit of experience with each that I can share. Glad to see another Salem guy with the bug! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 Thanks Garret, very nice looking shop you had today. That serpent star was really neat looking and I was impressed by the selection of coral/polyp/anenome weird looking things you had growing and glowing on rocks. I went back to Coral Reef in Salem today and purched saltwater, 3 lbs of live rock with lots of little caves in it and a bag od Dowell sand (50% off of sand today). What temperature am I striving for in the Biocube 14? I am thinking of buying a little heater that is preadjusted for 78 degrees. Ho do I get the BioBalls out of the back of my tank? I am setting up the tank tonight. I won't be in the office for two days so that will give it some time run a little bit. I have some Bacteria in a bottle and the chap at Coral Reef gave me a bottle of this bacteria slime that I smear on my filter cartridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 I couldn't figure out how to get the Biobals out of the back of my tank. I kept pulling up on the little black grill but it appears to be stuck. The bioballs will work for now I gusess. On top of the grill that covers the bioballs I placed a media bag full of activated charcoal for extra filtration. I found my old heater from my tropical tank and set it at 78 degrees & placed it in front of the carttridge filter. I also found this nice peice of artificial lava rock that used to be in my Tropical tank. It has 3 little plugs built into it for plugging in artificial plants. It looks good in the tank and will give the seahorses something to cling on too eventually. I plan on adding my first animals on Saturday. I want to pick up a couple of frags of Polys and a few snails and hermit crabs to start out with. I am also looking out for more live rock. Eventually this is what I would like to have in my tank. 1 Clownfish 1 serpent star 2 pipefish 2 sea urchins 2 little star fishes 2 fan worms 2 either blennie or gobie (whatever stays at the bottom of the tank and cleans sand) 2 Sea Horses (In a few months after the tank is well established) 4 Hermit Crabs 2 Cleaner shrimp 4 Snails Lots of interesting looking Polyps/Corals is this too many fish for a healthy 14 gallon Biocube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 As far as to many, I'm gonna say you're pushing it. I would also say that you need more live rock, total of 10-20 lbs. I would also tell you to wait a month before adding anything other than bacteria. You can toss in a little shrimp from the grocery store to get the bacteria going. You have to be super patient. Test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and do the fish/inverts a favor by not letting them in the tank until everything is stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I would advise against the lava rock from the freshwater tank, could make big problems.. should stick with live rock. Also you might want to let your tank cycle for a few weeks before you add stuff on Saturday. Sense you are close to garretts shop I would visit him often and talk to him about how to start up your tank. I bet he would even test your water during the cycle process. Anyways just my 2 cents.. GL with your tank and post some pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 I will probably stop by Premium Aquarium this Saturday. garret has a super selection of of beatiful polyps. I will see if he can test my water and let me know if I am ready for a couple of snails and hermit crabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Biocube 14 about 5 days later. Uploaded with ImageShack.us I have been adding bacteria everyday since I started running my tank. It is heated to 78 degrees and I have the lights on a timer. I have also added more nice peices of live rock. I am pretty choosy about the live rock I put in my tank. I like peinces with lots of holes and crenulations to provide more surface area fo bacteria and copepods and plenty of places to hide. I found another great peice of rock today that I plan on buying on Tuesday to replace the far right corner. To help get the biological cycle going, I purchased a hermit crab, coral banded shrimp and a pencil urchin the other day. I also bought 2 small frags of some sort of polyps that now live on my rock. They all seem to be doing fine. In Chamber 1 I have the stock carbon catridge in place. After one month I will replaced it with a bag of Chemi-Pure. In front of the cartidge I have a heater and a long piece of filter sponge placed in front of of the Intake grill. I hope this will keep out large peices of matter and cultivate bacteria. I finally figured out how to get the BioBalls out of Chamber 2. The grill was hard to pull out. I removed most of the Bioballs leaving only a single layer of balls on the bottom to help incease water flow at the bottom level. On top of that pressed against the right wall I placed a long narrow media bag filled with a porous ball shaped rocky substrate material that is used in biological fliters. The empty space next to that is then filled with select peices of live rubble rock that has lots of holes, branches and surface area. filled chamber 2 with this material just below the level where the side grate that the water flows into chamber 3. On top of this I placed a single Layer of Bioballs. I did this because I wanted to maintain water flow to chamber three without much obstruction. I poured some of the bacteria media into this chamber. I then replaced the grill on to of this. On top of the grill I placed a floss filter bag filled with activated carbon. Chamber 3 is virutually unchanged. I have placed a few BioBalls around the pump to propagate more bateria without diminishing water flow. When making my alterations to the filtration system it was important for me to minimize disruption of the water flow. The level indicator on Chamber 3 is at Maxmimum and there has been no problems with the pump chamber emptying. Everything seems to be working great. I took a sample of my water to two LFS. Both tests were at zero ammonia and nitrites, and 2 nitrates caused by the bacteria gobbling stuff up. I am going let the tank run a bit longer before I add a clownfish. I am really looking forward to that cool peice of Live Rock on Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 I bought another great peice of live rock and did some aquascaping this week. I moved things around and now I am really happy with the way things are shaping up in my tank. There are so many liitle nooks and crannies for the fish to explore. I am excited about being able to add more to the tank. I have decided to no go with seahorses. I have a busy worklife and can't devote that much time to them. Also I always had dreams about having a pet octopuc but I found something almost as cool, the serpent star. It hides in the rocks and its arms look like tentacles poking through the holes in live rock. Such a cool little creature, like an octopus with no head. There are also plenty of fish that look like eels without being an actual eel, like pipefish. I have revised my wnat list to my aquarium to: 1 O. Clownfish 1 royal damsel 1 royal gramma 1 serpent star 1 sea urchins 2 little star fishes 2 fan worms 6 Hermit Crabs 1 Coral Banded Shrimp 4 Snails and that weird purple slug I saw at Premium Aquarium Lots of interesting looking Polyps/Corals I want to get a second biocube now to pu.t at home. I miss my tank when I am not in the Salem office Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Uploaded with ImageShack.us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 It has been a couple of months now and the tank is getting crowded with new interesting bits of live rock and softies. Tomorrow I am setting up my new Biocube HQI 29 in the office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasasah Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Looks good Dale. I want to get a 29 cube just for a pair of clown fish and a rose anemone. Then get some soft corals to fill in the space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daleroller Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 We had to delay the Biocube a couple of days. The store ordered me an aquarium stand but it is stuck in Seattle in the snow. I can't wait to start a new tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.