1st Saltwater-Biocube 14 (Need Help)

[yorgo15]

I just bought my first saltwater aquarium, which is a Biocube 14 Gallon. At the moment, I have about 12 lbs live rock and 2" sand. I have read a few posts concerning the bioballs. Are the bioballs sufficient as a filter? If I replace the bioballs, what do I replace them with?

Additionally, how long do I let the aquarium cycle before introducing inverts and corals? Is there anything that will assit the live rock in the initial cycle of the tank?

Additionally, there are three (3) lights on my unit. A white light, black light, and lunar light. Do these lights serve a purpose? Which lights should be on at what particular time of the day and for how long?

Additionally, is there any particular equipment recommended for water changes, such as water pumps, etc.?

I know I will have a million more questions, but if some of you could assist me with these concerns, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Yorgo

 

[soccerkidbs]

read how to cycle a sw aquarium up top in the stickeys. i took the bioballs out of my 29 and put in live rock rubble.

 

[yorgo15]

Live Rock???

I did not use all of the live rock available, but wanted to place either a piece or two into the tank. The live rock has been sitting out for one (1) day; is the live rock still beneficial or has it lost its value due to sitting out?

 

[jojo22]

The best advise I could give you is to put the rock in the tank, add a cocktail shrimp and while your tank cycles READ!!!!!!

When you think you've read enough READ TWICE AS MUCH as you already have, then you should be ready to start.

P.S. I'm not yelling at you, just stressing how important it is to read.

 

[ooja3k]

haha i agree...

as far as your bioballs go... ditch them.... break up that extra lr that you have, and put it in the spot in your tank where the bioballs would typically go...

as for your lighting... you have 1 10000k (simulates the bright midday sun...) and 1 actinic bulb.. (this is the one that kinda looks like a blacklight... this simulates the morning and evening lighting...) the lunar light is precisely that... (simulates the moon...) you should try to do around a 12 hour lighting cycle, with the actinic bulb (the blacklight looking one... its actually blue..) coming on 2 hours earlier then the 10000k (the white one), and then the actinic will turn off 2 hours after the 10000k bulb...

For example.

8am Actinic on
10am Actinic on and 10000k on
6pm Actinic on and 10000k off
8pm Actinic off

the lunar lights can be kept on all the time... (they are LEDs so draw virtually no power, and create no heat..)

Welcome to this forum by the way! You will find soo much help here!!!

Also, as far as your cycle goes.. Here is a fool proof method...

Go to the market.
Go to the seafood section
Buy 1 large prawn/shrimp
Go to the womens section
Get a pair of hoes... (leggins, stockings.. whatever you want to call them..)
Go home..
Put the shrimp in one foot of the hoes and tie it off..
Cut off the extra hoes...
So basically you have a little pouch with the raw shrimp in it...
Clip this inside your tank somewhere and let it rot for a week...
If you don't already have one, get a test kit... This will prove invaluable over your time keeping SW tanks...
Test the water daily and post your new water parameters here... We will all be able to guide you and help you along the way!!!

If you want to see what im talking about, click my 30gal FOWLR/reef log link below... also, you can follow along with my GF's 10gal tank that we just set up yesterday...

Good luck!

We are here to help!

 

[ooja3k]

Here is a pic of what the shrimp in the hoes will look like/ a pic of my tank at the very very beginning...

if you read through my log, you will find may common issues/concerns found with starting your first SW tank...

 

[Grins]

The best advise I could give you is to put the rock in the tank, add a cocktail shrimp and while your tank cycles READ!!!!!!

When you think you've read enough READ TWICE AS MUCH as you already have, then you should be ready to start.

P.S. I'm not yelling at you, just stressing how important it is to read.

:iagree: Read, read, read...and then read some more.

 

[yorgo15]

Thank You

I wanted to thank you for the information you have provided thus far; I am purchasing the saltwater test kits today. I will also beging the shirmp in the panty hoes process.

Once I test the water, I will list the parameters, and hopefully someone on this forum can provide me some information so I know that I am monitoring the cycling process correctly.

 

[Reefscape]

For sure...sounds good then...The main three your interested in for the cycling process is Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate and they will appear on your test results in that order...Basicaly, the ammonia will rise to a peak, and then nitrate will start to be generated. The nitite will convert the ammonia...As ammonia falls and nitrite peaks, you will then start to read nitrates as the nitrite converts into nitrate. Nitrate will eventually peak and fall down to arround 10ppm ( or less preferably ). When your at this point, there should be no tracable ammonia or nitrite showing on your test results....

A note on your shrimp carcass, when ammonia has stopped rising and starts to fall, you can then remove the shrimp as it will of done its job..

 

[reavesinc]

My gf has a 14g bio cube that I bought her for SW. Everything they are telling you, is also what I've done to hers, the only difference being that I also added macro algae to the bio ball area and a heater to the filter area. Oh and READ READ READ! I've found that most of the answers I'm looking for are already posted somewhere on this forum.