# 14 Gallon Biocube Reef [Update: 03/23/13]



## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

First saltwater tank. Going nano reef, cross my fingers for the best!
A huge shoutout to Anthony (seahorse_fanatic) for providing this setup and helping me with information, advice, and everything I needed to know! :bigsmile:

Pictures:

























Was stalled for a few days, couldnt find an adapter for the RO unit.









Adding salt









Ready for liverock









With the rocks I got from Anthony I settled for this:









But that space in the background was calling for a bridge so i biked to King Eds and picked up a piece ><

















Final layout?









Now to wait a day and check if its instant cycled. Then I will pick up some begginner frags from Anthony, a clean up crew from JnL, and pick up some more frags if all goes well


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Once the water cleared up and you can see the caves/tunnels, the aquascape looks good. I can see lots of good places to stick the frags later and for fish to swim through or hide in. You'll love the LEDs once you have some nice corals in there. Get your water tested and when its all good (i.e. no ammonia or nitrites especially) then I'll bring over some mushrooms, ricordea, candycane & other softies to get you started. Remember - slow & steady - patience is really a necessity/virtue on the Bright side (a bunch of us had a meeting and decided sw is the "Bright side" since the lights are so much brighter on a reef tank). 

Anthony


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

heres a teaser


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

I have a suggestion which may help with your longterm success with a smaller tank. Pull out one or two of those rocks, you'll want the room later on (corals, flow, etc) and add more powerheads. In the SW game, flow is king. You can have crappy lights, crappy skimmers and crappy habits and still pull off a half decent tank. However, if you have crappy flow, kiss that all goodbye. A good rule of thumb is tank volume x 35 = total GPH turnover rate. In your case, you're going to want about 500 gph worth of flow in there. Given that the return pump pushes something in the neighborhood of 100 GPH, a koralia Evolution 425 would be perfect.

Anyway, best of luck with your SW start up! You're going to love it.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Going to be a nice set up Bobby, Anthony is my mentor as well, nice rock and great advice to boot. I'm going say the same thing Anthony said to me. There's only one thing to be concerned about when dive into the bright side," Your going to really like it! A LOT". Keep the pictures coming looking good.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

FTS Before and After CUC


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)




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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Nice, looking good!


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)




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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)




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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

*<Two more videos on the previous page.*


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Meet Grant ^^


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Is Grant from IPU? Hehehe.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Heheheh, didnt catch on right away. No he isn't, but Grant has a better ring to it than Ed


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

You guys weren't joking when you said going saltwater is a strain on the wallet...can't even go to a LFS without walking out with some coral frag X_X


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Looking like its getting full. Good time to let the frags grow out a bit and let the bank account recover :bigsmile:


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Looking good! Pretty soon you will want to replace your green, brown with some red n pink!


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

See you were warned, You like it don,t you? Agree with Anthony let your wallet have a rest. The Nano looks awesome.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

looks great! theres a reason i limit myself to $20 on a frag, that way i will only spend $40 on them by the time i leave


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

neven said:


> looks great! theres a reason i limit myself to $20 on a frag, that way i will only spend $40 on them by the time i leave


My initial limit was $10, then, $20, now $50. I swear that's the most I will spend on a single piece! Hmmm.... at least for the remaining of the year! Hahahaa!


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Heres an update  Can't wait for boxing day!!!


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## STANKYfish (Apr 21, 2011)

Looking good! You are getting quite a selection in there. These biocubes are awesome for saltwater and beginners.


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

So when is the upgrade coming? HA HA!!


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Shhhh...Don't give me any ideas. I am already so tempted to start up a frag tank with my 10 gallon sitting beside this one :lol:


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Very nice. My next project - don't count :lol:. Already has the tank


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

A sad update. 
After boxing day the tank crashed. I was impatient and overzealous with the coral epoxy and getting everything into place. It released an excess amount of kalk and choked out either the shrimp, firefish, or the clam. By morning most of the tank had become a goner. $300 down the drain, and a real lesson learned. Surprisingly, 3 zoa frags survived as well as my GSP and RSP. How anything made it through that toxic soup is beyond me.

That being said, I am more happy with my new scape than my previous one, and having a fresh slate to start is refreshing.Not to mention I love the blue LED I bought on boxing day. The only thing I miss is my LPS, have yet to find the spare cash and initiative to get the frogspawn and hammer again, always end up spending on zoas (zoa addicted...)

Here are some pics :bigsmile:

FTS (under blue, the normal light tank still isnt IMO worth showing):









Over head:









Individuals shots (Under blue light and normal):

Watermelon:

















*Unknown (can somebody help me ID?)*









Mean Green still won't open fully...and Kedd Red:









Joker Paly?:









Florida Ricordia:


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Fireflies:

































Palmtrees:

























Mixed (Kedd Red, Mean Green, Possible Joker Paly, and Unknown)









RSP:









Yellow Polyps:


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Gorgeous!!!!,that watermelon frag is nice all opened up..its was worth the effort I hope


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Dang, sorry to hear about the crash my friend.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Momobobo said:


>


Wow! I'm so impressed! Makes me kinda want to start a reef tank. I think I saw someone with an unused biocube  
Are those anenomes? I thought they're hard to grow in a small tank? Or hard to grow to begin with?


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Reckon said:


> Wow! I'm so impressed! Makes me kinda want to start a reef tank. I think I saw someone with an unused biocube
> Are those anenomes? I thought they're hard to grow in a small tank? Or hard to grow to begin with?


Those are LPS corals called frogspawn (top) n hammer (bottom). Pretty hardy.

Sorry about the loss. Nano tank could be tough to maintain sometimes. Let me know when you are ready for some hammer or frogspawn...


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Wow...its been awhile since an update. Sorry, no photos, my camera is at school and I have yet to find a DLSR to borrow for the macro :\
Everything is doing fine. Hard time getting the Euphyllia fully extended and happy. 
Looking to try out some SPS frags (Acro, Milli, etc) to see if the lighting/flow is good enough before I get larger colonies.

I'M ZOA ADDICTED :lol: heres my list so far at 14 (soon to be 15)

-Palm Tree 
-Watermelon 
-Pineapple Express
-Blue Eyed Blondie 
-Ninja Turtles 
-Kedd Red, 
-Banana Fudge 
-Fireflies 
-American Pie 
-Mean Green
-4 Unknowns :\ (2 Reds, 2 Pinks)

Interested in maybe acquiring some Blue Macaws, My Clementine, maaaaybe Hornets if they are cheap.


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## aQ.LED (Nov 13, 2012)

You might want a new tank soon, want my 60g? lol


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

wow nice colection im afrade i got the same problem 
my list : dragon eye green
green oxide
water malon 
fruit loop 
hw sherbert 
pick paly 
x men 
lunar eclips 
ppl haze paly 
devils armour 
horisons 
orange/darth mauls 
ring of fire 
emrled on fire 
emrled 
deep watter blues 
probly forgot a few i realy cant stopp i see some thing i have to buy it


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Little photos. Been having some slight problems with getting the corals all happy. Especially the Mutant Hammer...>_> Also been finding Zoa Eating Nudibranch introduced by god knows what source.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

dip in coral revive and shake them


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Updates?


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## m_class2g (Apr 21, 2010)

Very nice! Hope i can make my new 14 biocube even close to yours!


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

updates !!!! please !!! lol


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## m_class2g (Apr 21, 2010)

yes updates!!


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