29 G Oceanic Biocube

[Bebop]

Hehe, after an interesting turn of events (craigslist is great, but not perfect :| ), it looks like I’m going back to my 29 G Biocube (Pardon the GIANT post, I got a little carried away).

So, it’s time for MORE questions!

My last tank was FOWLR, I’d like to do a reef tank, but I only have stock parts in my cube which are below:

Aquarium Volume: 29.1 gallons

72 watt canopy lighting includes:
(1) 36 watt True Actinic 03 Blue straight pin
(1) 36 watt 10,000K Daylight straight pin
(3) 0.75 watt Lunar Blue-Moon-Glow LED

Pump flow rate: 243 gph

With these lights (I don’t trust myself with modding it too much), what corals can I do? I really would like to do some Zoa’s and mushrooms. But I’m not sure if the flow rate/lights are high (or low?) enough.

I’ve read that for the corals I want I need anywhere from 30-120w of lights and my flow rate should be anywhere between 200 and 300 GPH. I think I’m fine on lights as long as I place stuff that needs more light toward the top/stuff that needs less light toward the bottom, but I think I’ll need another powerhead, I just don’t want to overdo the flow in my tank.

Also, with my last tank I just used the stock filtration stuff. I want to ditch the bioballs and put in a skimmer into the second filter compartment, but I’ve heard bad/subpar things about the Oceanic Biocube skimmer. Are there any other ones out there that are small enough to fit in that back section? I really don’t want to do a HOB skimmer if I can help it. While I’m on filtration, I HATE the replaceable filters that came with the BC. They clog after a few days and cost a boat load. Anyone have suggestions or recommendations for a nice alternative to the cartridge? I’ve heard everything from replacing it with a bag of carbon to just removing everything outright.

Then on to my fish stocking plan!

I plan on running this tank based around the previously mentioned types of coral and a yellowheaded Jawfish (Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Jawfish, Yellowhead).

Outside of the standard CUC I’d also really like to have:

Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish (Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish - Tank-Bred)
And a Court Jester Goby (Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Court Jester Goby)

Any other suggestions for stocking, or is what I have good enough?

(I’d also like to have Sexy shrimp and a clam, but I’m worried that the Jaw would eat the shrimp, and I’ve never done a clam before so I’m not sure if my tank can handle it)

Thanks for any/all help! Hopefully I will be of some use one of these days!

 

[kbuser92]

I think you need another 2 powerheads in the 300 GPH range. As for lighting, you're right, zoas and mushrooms would do superb in that setup, as would most LPS. Try looking at Frogspawn, Hammer, Bubble, Trumpets, Palythoas, Star Polyps, etc... They should all do great. You could also try some more light demanding SPS as long as they are at the very top 1/4 of the tank. The clam is something that you might try, but you would want a rock-boring clam that you could plant high up in the tank. If you did that with good water conditions (wait at least 6 months of stable water quality) it should fare well as long as it's healthy.

The fish list looks great. You could do the goby, jawfish and clown. You could even try a pair of clowns since the jawfish is mostly a sand-dweller. You'll need at least 3-4" of sand in your tank. I believe the jawfish should be okay with the shrimp, too, but just as a precaution I would add the shrimp first and at a fairly large size. Then, when you add the jawfish, I would turn the lights off for a day just to make sure.

Make sure you have 1-2 lbs of live rock per gallon (45-50 would be great) and YES, ditch the bioballs. I haven't heard good things about the BioCube skimmer, either, so I would look into a Hydor Slim Skim or an AquaC Nano/Remora.

Lastly, good luck with the build! Can't wait to see pictures and watch the progress!

 

[little_fish]

+1 kbuser

But I dont think those lights will be good enough for SPS or a clam.

 

[kbuser92]

Even really high up?

 

[little_fish]

yes sir

 

[Bebop]

Thanks again for the info guys! Dropping the Clam idea, I didn't think I had the lighting anyway.

I think I'm going to go with a 4"-5" sand bed. I've read various things about how deep of a sand bed Jawfish need, (anywhere between 3 - 8" is what I've seen according to various different sources).

What's the best way to do a semi-deep sand bed? I need some semi-coarse sand in the mix for the Jawfish. But I don't want to go too coarse, or I'll get a lot of buildup of detritus. I've tried to combat that by adding in a handfull more Nassarius snails into my CUC (see below). Any input here is more than welcome!

Follow up questions:

for my CUC I'm thinking of going with something along the lines of the following:


20 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
9 Nassarius
9 Florida Ceriths
6 Assorted Hermits
2 Chitons and 3 Limpets (maybe, I got this idea from Reefcleaners.org)
6 Nerites

I'm also thinking 4 or 5 sexy shrimp.

How does stocking work in terms of inverts? I'd like to potentially add a decorator crab, though I'm a bit leery on crabs after my past experience with an emerald crab that grew huge and terrorized my fish (it was a bully).

I'm also thinking of adding an anemone or a tuxedo urchin, but have no experience with either of these, so I'm not sure how it would work in terms of stocking/when to add them into the tank/care.

Again, any feedback is appreciated! I should be setting up my tank this weekend and *maybe* start the aquascaping if I can get some nice base rock before work on Monday.

Oh, and while I'm thinking of aquascaping, what's the best way to glue base rock together? I used to have special saltwater glue, will that work outside of water? Or would Zip ties just work better?

 

[kbuser92]

All sounds good. Make sure the hermits are Blue or Scarlet legs. They stay smaller and are reef/snail safe. Also make sure you have plenty of extra shells.

 

[SarahSmile]

Kbuser, honeybunch, sweetiepie, I really wish you'd stop telling people that hermits are not going to eat snails.
Hermit crabs will eat snails. Some will do it for fun. Some just enjoy the thrill of the hunt. Some like to ignore the empty shells you have given them for new homes. They all have different reasons but they will all eat snails. It doesn't matter if they have red legs, blue legs, or purple legs. CRABS WILL EAT SNAILS.
Badda bing, badda boom. I've watched it happen. We've all watched it happen.

 

[Bebop]

O.O I want purple legged crabs!

It's a predator/prey thing in tanks, that's half the fun. I remember buying a tiny cleaner shrimp in my old tank just to watch the jawfish lunge at it and swallow it whole. It was awesome until you realize that your fish's dinner cost more than your own.

 

[little_fish]

+1 Sarah

Also anemones are even harder to keep than clams, and if you dont have the lighting for a clam, you dont have the lighting to keep a nem. They are some of the more challenging creatures to keep in this hobby, requiring pristine water conditions. They can also nuke your tank if they die. So I would pass on that one.

A tuxedo urchin will do fine, but do be aware they will pick up frags and eat coralline. This drives some people bananas. They are also very sensitive to nitrates so wait to add one until you nitrates are zero.

I would skip the decorator crab, like all crabs, they are opportunistic predators and will go after fish and other inverts. They will also "decorate" themselves by cutting up pieces of corals and algae and attaching them to him. This also drives people crazy.

Also a word of caution about sexy shrimp. I have them and I have had issues with them deciding that the new coral I just put in the tank will make a perfect late night snack. They have kill a few of my corals that way.

Also I would go with the shallowest bed possible. You can get some issue with the deeper sand beds. I wouldnt go any deeper than 3''.

Last thing, I would use zip ties to hold to rocks together that way if you change your mind about how the rocks look (which everyone does) you can still move them around.

 

[kbuser92]

I meant more that they stay small enough they dont usually bother the bigger turbos and nass snails. Maybe dwarf ceriths and small astreas.