New Biocube 14

[btbeam]

I have started a new BC 14. This is my first Saltwater tank. I have 15 lbs of live sand and 17 lbs of live rock. My water papameters are :

Sal 1.024
Nitrate 0
ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
PH 8.4
Temp 80-82
alk normal

These have been the same since the tank was started for all of the 2 weeks I have not had any spikes in levels of the key components. I am concerned about the temp change from morning until night and and the fact that there hasn't been any ammonia spike to signal a nitrate cycle.

some of the changes that were made are a heater in chamber 1
live rock in chamber 2 with filter floss on the top and the pump in chamber 3

Here is pic of the aquascaping:

 

[Brian]

Hi bt,

I would also be concerned that you didn't have a cycle. How old are your test kits? If they are old they may not be working. I find it almost impossible to have no spike at all.

Just my opinion

and by the way...

Welcome to NJRC!

 

[mynd]

per the temperature change... I would ( unless you have already ) replace the stock pump with an MJ900. It is only 8.5 watts and in some cases with those stock pumps will drop the temperature of the water from 2-4 degrees.

I would still wait a couple weeks to start adding live stock or corals. Just to be on the safe side.

What Lighting are you using for this tank? Stock PC's or MH upgrade? I cannot tell from the photo. BTW.. Really nice looking rock and your aquascape is really nice.

 

[Candi]

My temps go from 78 to 80, no issues... although swapping out pumps is usually a good thing if you haven't yet.

Where did you get your rock & sand, if you used cured rock and LS there is a chance you didn't get a cycle... anything alive in there hitchhiker wise?

 

[fishcrazed1]

Where did you get your liverock. Very nice.

 

[btbeam]

I bought the rock from a njrc member raider77 if you look on the for sale forum you should be able to find the thread.
Thanks

 

[btbeam]

Here is a pic of my new Clown :

 

[btbeam]

people talk about widening the opening between chamber 1 and 2 is it better to make it wider or cut it down further?

I have now filter floss to catch little particles and it seems that my water in not very clear should i put a pad of some sort on the top of chamber 2 which is full of lr? I could cut a pad to fit over the grate if that would work better.
Anyone have any feelings on these issues?

Here is a pic of my red legged hermit crab:

 

[mynd]

The widening on the cube is dependent on if you have level issues in the back chambers, also depending on if you turn chamber 2 into a fuge with LRR, or chaeto. I would suggest filter floss in chamber 1 on top of some chemipure elite, and maybe a little LRR, or skip the LRR in chamber 1 and put it into chamber 2. Some people have deepened the divider from 1 to 2 in order to get a hang on skimmer like the remora C on the back of the tank. You will change things as the tank progresses.

On another note.. In this last photo it looks like you have some red algae forming on the LR. If that is the beginning of your cycle I would keep an eye on your fish and your specs daily, otherwise you are going to kill that fish. If I am wrong about the algae and it is just the lighting disregard what I said.

Good luck and welcome to NJRC!

 

[btbeam]

Just wanted to leave an update. I upgraded the stock pump to a mj 1200 and I put a valve in line to cut down the flow if needed. I also took out the filter floss and put a filter mat on the top of chamber 2. I also widened out the spot between chamber 1 and 2. This seems to work much better.

 

[fishcrazed1]

I have heard a lot of peole say that the NJ1200 creates a lot more heat than you want. I would watch this closely.

I have heard that others have had success with the MJ 900. I have a Biocube 14 that has been running for about a month and the temp has been 79 with good flow with the stock pump.

 

[mynd]

as stated above the mj1200 is not a good choice.. it is 20watts. You can get 2 900 and still have less wattage then 1 1200. You are not gaining much in flow either from a 900 to a 1200. I would suggest returning the 1200 and getting a 900 or 2.