29G BioCube HQI

[Kayem]

Hey SDR! I've been lurking around here through my research, planning, and equipment procurement stages. Finally got my 29G Oceanic BioCube filled up! I have wanted a saltwater tank since I was a little tyke, but didn't join the addiction until recently.

I am going for a reef setup with a few fish and I wanted to start a nano thread to document the process. This is my first tank so I appreciate anyone that takes the time to answer any newbie questions I might have.

Here's what I'm rockin'

Equipment:
29G Oceanic BioCube HQI
AquaticLife Internal Mini Protein Skimmer 115
Hydor Koralia Smart Wave Pump Controller
Hydor Koralia Evolution 600 x2
Eheim Jager TruTemp 100 Watt Heater
Captive Purity 35 GPD Pro RO/DI Filter System

In the tank:
~32 lbs LR (some in refugium)
chaeto
~15 lbs sand

Stock (Updated 03/28/12)
Bi-Color Dottyback
Emerald Crab
Conch x2
Mexican Turbo x3
Trocus x2
5 stupid hermits
Radioactive Dragon Eye and Eagle Eye frag
Purple Tipped Frogspawn
Acan

A couple pics to start it off...





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[jessegarcia28]

to sdr
& great start btw
Hows the evaporation on,the tank
Have fun
Jesse

[Kayem]

Thanks Jesse! I haven't been running the metal halide extensively, but the heater has the tank at a steady 80-81 and evaporation is miniscule. I think the canopy design retains a lot of the water that would normally be lost to evaporation. It collects on the glass and falls back in when tilted up.

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[nanoreef1]

Hey SDR! I've been lurking around here through my research, planning, and equipment procurement stages. Finally got my 29G Oceanic BioCube filled up! I have wanted a saltwater tank since I was a little tyke, but didn't join the addiction until recently.

I am going for a reef setup with a few fish and I wanted to start a nano thread to document the process. This is my first tank so I appreciate anyone that takes the time to answer any newbie questions I might have.

Here's what I'm rockin'

Equipment:
29G Oceanic BioCube HQI
AquaticLife Internal Mini Protein Skimmer 115
Hydor Koralia Smart Wave Pump Controller
Hydor Koralia Evolution 600 x2
Eheim Jager TruTemp 100 Watt Heater
Captive Purity 35 GPD Pro RO/DI Filter System

In the tank:
~32 lbs LR (some in refugium)
chaeto
~15 lbs sand

A couple pics to start it off...





Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

I usto have the same set up lots of fun! Great choice to start have fun and get ready to go broke.lol

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[slicktoppomp]

Very cool. I've always like little AOI cubes. That's what I first started out with.

[naso tang]

Cool, that's how I got back in to reefing, nanocube 24 with sun pod. Might want to blow a fan across the top, think about ATo and chiller for the future! Great start!

[Kayem]

Glad I could bring a little nostalgia for some of you!

Latest update - The tank has been running for a month and a half now. Never had a cycle to speak of. NH4 and NO2 have remained at zero since day one. NO3 has hovered around 5 ppm. I had a diatom bloom in week 3... Did a 10% WC and added CUC. Diatoms are gone and tank looks good. I have started adding stock (updated list in OP) and I am hooked!

Here are params today:
SG - 1.025
pH - 8.1
Alk - 11.5 (shouldn't this be a little higher?)
NH4 - 0 mg/L
NO2 - 0 ppm
NO3 - 5 ppm

All in all, things are going well. Temps are climbing a little higher lately as my house is getting warmer (no A/C). Evaporation is still manageable (~1/2 cup per day), but chiller and ATO are definitely on my list before summer hits hard since my house gets up in the 90s on a typical summer day and I don't want to worry about it.

I like the HQI, but I am working out a DIY LED build to supplement with some color. Any SDR members have the equipment and expertise to cut and weld aluminum c-channel? Or have any recommendations on a metal shop?

[slicktoppomp]

Very cool man. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for your LEDs.

[Kayem]

Oh one more thing... I fired up my RO/DI unit today and it was whining like crazy. The sound would only go away when I opened the backflush valve. It would come right back as soon as the valve was closed. I turned on the TDS meter and watched it climb from 7 ppm to 140 ppm in a matter of 5 minutes... It had been at 0 ppm consistently prior to this. I don't use it all that frequently since I am not going through that much water with top-off and WC, but all the tubing is kept above the unit to prevent RO membrane dry out when not in use. Any thoughts?

[Kayem]

Very cool man. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for your LEDs.

I'll document the build on here for sure. I got it all planned out.. Just getting supplies together now. Gonna be a 10" x 6.5" bezel around the HQI. Blues, True Violets, and Ocean Coral Whites. 20 LEDs in total on 3 separate dimmers. I can't wait to get started!

[jmoney619]

Very nice. Would love to see the led build. Good luck!

[Fzesati01]

QUESTION ABOUT YOUR skimmer...I just purchased a 28 gallon nano cube...im looking for a skimmer....would u recommend yours? and is it loud at all? somewhat loud? or not loud at all? thanks (and where did you buy or order it)

[Kayem]

QUESTION ABOUT YOUR skimmer...I just purchased a 28 gallon nano cube...im looking for a skimmer....would u recommend yours? and is it loud at all? somewhat loud? or not loud at all? thanks (and where did you buy or order it)

I like the skimmer I got. It works really well and is vastly superior to the Oceanic unit that came with the tank. I ordered mine from Marine Depot, but you can pick them up anywhere... I've seen them in several LFS's around town and on many aquarium supply websites.

As far as noise goes, mine is very quiet. When I first installed it, it made an annoying sucking sound. Since doing the air line mod it is 100x better. You can Google this to see what I am talking about. There are a few YouTube videos that explain it well.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

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