Won a BioCube 14 now where to start HELP

[Wolfgang]

Well,

I'm an avid cichlid breeder and keeper for 20+ years now. I won this BioCube 14 at a cichlid auction as the main raffle prize. I've been wanting to get into saltwater for sometime now, I just didn't think it was going to be now

What do I need to start with?

I want to go with Live rock and live sand.......... I need to know what type of live rock is the best figi?, tampabay? etc.......


What does cured and uncured mean?

What types of stuff do I need to get now. like chemicals, tools as in meters to measure the salinity do I need to worry about the PH?

TOOOOO many questions, I apologize for being a complete NOOB

Thanks in advance for any and all help

Jamie

 

[dynamic21]

While searching thoroughly online should get you every single answer you could possibly need to get into this hobby, having a book right next to you with step-by-step instructions on reef keeping is VERY handy. It'll save you time by not forcing you to comb through forums and wait days for responses here online. I recommend "The New Marine Aquarium" by Paletta.

THEN again, if you have the time to wait for replies, I'm sure everyone here is more than willing to answer every single one of your questions.

Okay... as for live rock... the "best" are pieces of live rock with good coralline algae growth IMO (The pink/purple stuff growing on the rock). Personally, I think the perfect piece of live rock is rock with a lot of coralline growth with absolutely NO hitchhikers, good or bad. As far as type (tonga, fiji...etc) I'd say that's all personal preference because their major difference is pretty much shape. "Cured" rock is just a way of saying that a rock has enough beneficial bacteria growth on it to continuously run the nitrogen cycle and is no longer releasing ammonia from dying organisms resulting in shipping or being out of water. "Uncured" of course means the opposite. Any rock that is removed from a tank regardless of being shipped in wet newspaper or not, will have dying organisms on it, and should be treated as "uncured" when you receive it. To cure rock, you need to put it in a tank or tub with a fresh batch of saltwater, a powerhead, and heater. You then monitor the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels in that tank/tub for the expected nitrogen cycle spikes (I'm sure you already know how to do this). Once the proper levels are reached (0 Ammonia/Nitrate, Positive Nitrate reading), then your rock is "cured".

Also, I know you're coming from a Cichlid background, and there are some differences you need to note. Firstly, get rid of the bioballs or whatever biomedia you're used to running. You'll be using the live rock as the biological filtration from now on. If you want to use sponges or floss as mechanical filtration, these need to be cleaned very well every single week to prevent detritus build-up (and ultimately nitrate build-up). You know how Cichlid tanks prefer a PH in the 8.2-8.4 range? Well, same rule applies for reef tanks. Except, Alkalinity and Calcium need to be closely monitored in addition to PH monitoring. Live sand is overrated IMO... in fact, I've seen so many tanks going bare-bottom that have done great. It's absolutely optional. If you DO decide on getting live sand, stick with an aragonite base... don't bother with the crushed coral. Not because crushed coral "traps" nitrates... which is complete BS... but because crushed coral I BELIEVE won't dissolve like aragonite will to buffer your PH... someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Umm... what else... You'll need a hydrometer at the least, to monitor salinity (refractometer preferred). Having a hyrometer though, is better than nothing. So please, invest in one.

Anyways... this reply has gotten long, and there's so much more I could say, but I'd like to wait for more specific questions from you. Good luck.

 

[Trogdor]

... don't bother with the crushed coral. Not because crushed coral "traps" nitrates... which is complete BS... but because crushed coral I BELIEVE won't dissolve like aragonite will to buffer your PH...

The crushed coral doesn't trap nitrates, it traps detritus which leads to an increase in nitrates. The water flow can't pull the detritus out of the large rocks the same way that it can with sand. It has been proven so it's not BS. Crushed coral is aragonite as is most sands for marine uses. They both buffer your pH as they dissolve. Anyway everything else was correct.

 

[dynamic21]

The crushed coral doesn't trap nitrates, it traps detritus which leads to an increase in nitrates.

I know. I was only using the cliche expression that I've seen overused on reef forums. I was hoping the original poster would understand the emphasis I was trying to make by saying that. My fault.

The water flow can't pull the detritus out of the large rocks the same way that it can with sand. It has been proven so it's not BS.

You seem to have a misconception of crushed coral. It isn't "large rocks", if that's what you mean. In fact, I've yet to come across a single bag of crushed coral that wasn't as fine or, in fact, even finer in grain than the bags of aragonite (live/dry) being sold next to them. Better yet, I've yet to see bags of aragonite that were noticeably finer grained than the bags of CC right next to them.

It doesn't matter WHAT kind of substrate someone's using... If your water flow is strong enough to pull detritus out from under a substrate, no matter what the substrate... you've get one hell of a flow pattern in your tank. I've used crushed coral in my nano ever since I started it, and once I hit the 2 month mark, my nitrates have been undetectable... without a fuge.

Major difference as I'm sure you know between aragonite and crushed coral are their buffering capacities. I used aragonite specifically for my African cichlid tanks and I never saw my PH drop below 8.2. Whereas I've never seen crushed coral buffer my PH past 7.6 without any additives.

But to say crushed coral sand will trap detritus any better than aragonite... was, and still is.. BS..IMO. I mean, unless your CC is sized like freshwater gravel, then I'll stand by my opinion. Let's not forget that CC can be distributed in very fine grains.

 

[johnanddawn]

hmmm... this has gotten a bit off your original question - i will simplify it.
1) water; if your going to mix your own you will likely need an RO unit and good quality salt like reef crystals - but you may be able to buy premixed water from your local pet store. and yes you need a hydrometer, test weekly and top off with fresh water daily to avoid salinity fluxuations
2) sand; buy dry caribseas special grade reef sand - i prefer the dry stuff but you can get the wet preseeded stuff if you want one bag will do - min 1" max 2"
3) rock; start with only about three nice shaped pieces of rock. any high quality liverock will work and if your LPS has some that is tank cured, bring it home in a cooler full of water and it won't have much die off.
4) since it is a new tank you can just put the water, sand, and rock in and run the tank for about a month WITHOUT any lights. during this time inspect the rock for unwanted hitchhickers like bubble algae, crabs, mantis, and aptatia anemones and periodically take it out and clean it off with a toothbrush while your inspecting. much easier to be sure now then find out later. a 5 gallon bucket with used salt water is nice for this.
5) filtration - i don't know the specifics on the biocube but all you want is a mech filter like a sponge in it (you can run a bag of carbon if you want) but you don't want anything else in there. clean the mech filter often.
6) do this and nothing else but read/research till about may 1st and then come back with any new questions you may have BEFORE you buy any critters or anything else for that matter. a couple snails and or hermits will likely be your first purchase but you don't need them now
good luck and welcome to the salty side

 

[Trogdor]

Dynamic

I think you are mixing up your terms. Aragonite sand and crushed coral are both the same material, calcium carbonate. Crushed coral comes in the range of 3mm-6mm (.119"-.236") grain sizes. Aragonite sand ranges in .1mm-2mm (.004"-.079") grain sizes. Both will buffer your pH, some probably better than others.

Here is the link to the crushed coral that Carib-Sea makes. This is the most widely available substrate company so chances are that you will find this at your LFS more often than other companies.

http://carib-sea.com/pages/products/mar ... aline.html

The reason that crushed coral isn't recommended, at least in the marine tanks, is that it usually requires more effort to keep it free from detritus. Vacuuming crushed coral is usually required because most people don't have the flow needed to keep detritus suspended in the water column to be consumed. You can get by without vacuuming if you have a large enough clean-up crew that can get in there and pick out the detritus before it starts to decompose (or if you have enough flow to keep it suspended).
Silica based sands are usually frowned upon though because they are thought to cause diatom outbreaks, but the jury is still out on that topic.

Personally I used the Aragamax Sugar Sizeâ„¢ then a layer of Araga-Aliveâ„¢live sand. But this is all personal preference on how you want to set up your substrate. I was going for denitrification so I wanted a really fine sand that would easily go anaerobic. I used the live sand to kick start my cycle because I was using all dry base rock. Like I said, this is purely personal choice. Hope this clears up some of the misconceptions that were being said and clears the water, so to speak, on what materials are being used and where. We can start another topic if you wish to discuss substrates a bit more to keep from derailing this topic.

 

[dynamic21]

My apologies to the original poster for straying off topic.

Trogdor, PM Sent.

 

[Wolfgang]

No problem.


I'm going to set the tank up this weekend, I'm also in the process of buying everything i'll need for a 40L or 75 setup, I have both tanks empty, just trying to make room.

So far all I have for the tank is a refractormeter, salt tomorrow, I guess live rock and live sand this weekend.

what else?

Jamie