14 gallon biocube tank.. issue

J

jeppun21

Reefing newb
Hi Everyonge,

So i have a 14 gallon biocube which is 5 weeks old... I have about 18 pounds of live fiji rock and i have a white sand substrate.. I currently have a koralia 240 and the stock biocube pump as my pump and powerhead..i currently have 4 red leg hermit crabs and 1 blue leg hermit crab, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 ocellaris clown fish, 1 pistol shrimp (he's currently remodeling my sand at this time.lol).. So i was checking my tank and i saw that on the glass of my was green algae and brown algea on one of my live rock and sand was wondering what can i do to reduce further green algea and brown algea growth? And also was wondering do i have anymore room in my tank to add 1 more fish or am i basically at full capacity in my tank?

Thank you
jep
 
Algae can be a sign of high nutrient nutrient water. What are your parameters? And How old are you bulbs? Old bulbs can result in algae...

And yes, you do have room for one more fish.
 
if your getting Algae already Brown and Green your Nitrate levels are to high. Adding another fish would just make it worse. My suggestion is to keep what you got. reduce the amount of feeding your currently doing. Do some water tests, and start doing water changes on a regular basis. 10% water change is a good starting point. Check your filter as well not sure if you have a Protein skimmer or just a canister filter but you might wanna check that. (IF you have a canister filter. Clean your Media or change it. If you have Bio substrate do not remove it all only do about 30% at a time.)
 
And how long have you had the tank set up? It's common to have an algae bloom in new tanks. They tends to go away fairly quickly.
 
Thanks guys for the quick reply..

Well my tank is about 5 weeks old... The light bulbs that i have are new.. got them about 1 week ago.. they are 10,000k bulbs i keep them on for about 8 hours and then i put my 50/50 lights on for about 4 to 5 hours.. I have a biocube protein skimmer in my chamber 1 in the far right side and in the middle i have live rock rubble.. My parameters are:

Sg:1.024
Ph:80
Ammonia:0.25
Nitrate:0.0
Nitrite:0.0

I feed my fish about 1 time a day for 6 days a week.. should i change how often i feed my fish like maybe 4 times a week... like monday wednesday friday and sunday..

I just recently seen green algae growth but my brown algea was just showing up about a week ago but just staying in one area..
 
Should i add a snail or no? I was thinking of doing a water change tmmrw should i do that today.. i usually do a 20% water change.. is that too much or should i do just a 10%

thank you
jep
 
well all the parameters look good. Clown fish only need to be fed 3 times a week. What kind of food do you feed it? I feed my two clowns every other day. sometimes alittle less. and they grow just fine and are happy as clams. 20% water change is not a bad thing but you might be taking to much of the good stuff out so try reducing to 10% and reduce the amount of feeding.

Big question is what do you feed it?
Check your Protein skimmer and make sure it is working correctly. Check the Bubble collector make sure there is "Foam" in there.
 
Oh ok.. well i feed my clown fish a combination of marine flakes and instant ocean marine pellets, and this new pellets i got frm a LFS(supposed to be for my pistol shrimp but my clown gobbles up the ones he can catch..).. I usually switch off frm the flakes and pellets... Should i inculde the weekend in 3 times a week feeding or is mon,wed, friday ok? Also regarding my peppermnit shrimp, pistol shrimp and hermits.. should i also cut down to 3 times a week feeding also? I usually feed my hermits and peppermint shrimp algea wafers that i break into a half or 1/3.. Also regarding my protein skimmer its working good.. i see foam collecting.. working good..

thanks
jep
 
Go to your LFS and see if they have preminum frozen brine shrimp or live brine shrimp. all of your occupants will eat them and you can use one cube of the brine shrimp to cover the entire tank. and then you only have to feed them 3 times a week. Include all 7 days in your 3 times a week.

Fish flakes are good I never use pellets think they are just a waste. You can alternate between the fish flakes and the brine shrimp.
 
I thnk i have a hakiri frozen brine shrimp.. should i use the whole cube or should i cut it in half... Should i feed my pistol shrimp anything special or are the sinking pellets or brine shrimp ok?

thanks jep
 
you should be ok with the single cube. but cutting it in half is not a bad idea and as for the pistol shrimp they normally will eat anything they can get there hands on.
 
What is RODS food? can you get that online or at any LFS? Thanks guys for your advice.. Was wondering also do u thnk adding a yellow watchman goby or another ocellaris clown would be ok for my 14 gallon? it wouldnt exceed my limits on the tank right?

thanks
jep
 
as I said before get your algae level under control and then possibly you could add a watchman goby they are really good for your tank.
 
Brine has almost no nutritional value so i wouldnt solely feed your fish that, its like living off of candy.

Also doing a 20% water change isnt going to hurt anything and if you have having algae issues it will be in your benefit. Adding a few snails to eat the algae is a good idea, a great place to get them is reefcleaners.org
 
thank you very much... bcool22.. I'll do a water change today and cut down my feedings to 3 times a week and i'll see what happens in a week or 2..

thanks
jep
 
NP. Like I said before Brine shrimp and switching between flakes and Brine shrimp work great. There are some Frozen brine shrimp out there that have supplements and are considered premium I think it is called Magnificent Brine I have to look at my package but, my clowns LOVE it as well as all my other things. I do however use normal Marine Flakes as well just on days I dont use the brine.

Like Little said 20% water change right now is ok but for your weekly water change 10% will do just fine. Not seeing how much live rock you have really makes a difference to. Look at making sure you have about 2lbs of live rock to every 1 gallon of water. makes for a healthy living for your fish and if you do coral them too.
 
bcool22 said:
NP. Like I said before Brine shrimp and switching between flakes and Brine shrimp work great. There are some Frozen brine shrimp out there that have supplements and are considered premium I think it is called Magnificent Brine I have to look at my package but, my clowns LOVE it as well as all my other things. I do however use normal Marine Flakes as well just on days I dont use the brine
Click to expand...

Of course they love candy.
 
umm . . . hello . . . ..

brine has almost no nutritional value, its like candy for fish. You are much better off feeding something like Rod's food which can be bough at LFS or the other variety packs found at places like petco/petsmart
 

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