biocube 8 progress HQ pics (3 weeks)

Hey guys! got my biocube 8 running since the 10th of Nov. no modification what so ever, although considering replacing bioballs with live rock rubble, and getting a hydor head. 8# LR (uncured) 8# LS. here are some pics as of tonight. 1 green chromis 2 cone shaped snails and a turbo snail i think >.< alot of featherdusters as well. Not sure about my Aquatecture, thought i'd throw in a cool cave but i have no idea what live stock i want. i really like frogspawns but i dont know if i have good enough filtration or lighting! also, should i do a water change? its been "cycling" for 3 weeks and havent really changed any water.

Water param are:

sg-1.021 (a little low)
temp- 72-78
nitrate- 0
nitrite- 0
NH3- 0
Alk-~300 (could be higher but its as high as my strips read)
pH-~8.4

no NH3 spikes yet

 

That's some nice rock!

 

thanks! it looked rather plain when i got it but its come along nicely! i picked it up from a giant tank at the LPS. only downside is the amount of hitch hikers. trying to get rid of my bristle worms

 

Jesus, I also have a biocube, its the 14g, thats about 8 weeks old. IMO Dont put LR in place of the bioballs. They build up detrius as well and are a pain in the ass to clean. Sand and other pieces come off the LR and can destroy your pumps impeller. I took half my bioballs out and put chaeto on top. I rinse them out once a week in old tank water and everything is perfect. Dont do a water change until you are fully cycled. Just be sure to be on top of your water changes once u have a fish etc. in there!!

 

Always nice to see another biocube person, I have the 29 gal one and just upgraded the lights to a 4 bulb T5 fixture. Did you say something about test strips? If you're using strips I would get rid of them and get one of the API liquid test kits.

 

thanks for all the feed back guys! i was in the process of getting the marine pro tester kit which was all liquid, and man from the LPS said all i need is the strips for now. and i would like to get the cheato mod on mine but i am terrified of cutting out a giant strip of plastic for the lighting attachment for the cheato, as i am terrible with knives. Mike i forgot to mention i do have a chromis in there thats why i was curious about water changes, i put him in there to kinda kick start the cycle. i kinda wish i would have just done the slow boring no light/fish cycle process because i have GHA and other misc problems.

 

For the chaeto you can scrape the black paint of the back of the tank and mount the light on the outside, no cutting of plastic needed. Mine came with a little viewing window on the back but I think that's just some of the newer ones.

 

You can scrape the paint off the back of the biocube and put a custom light on the back. Or if your biocube is new enough it should already have a cut out in the back.

 

heres what the light i built looks like...total it was like 15$ at home depot