# New Biocube 14



## ionix (Oct 11, 2012)

Hi! 

I hope you are all having a great afternoon!

I am pretty new to salt water fish keeping so I need some help..*old dude

Goal: I want at least one clownfish and maybe something to eat bristleworms if they are in the tank any way (I figure it is a very good chance).

So my friend gave me a Bio cube 14 this christmas (used, her old one). And she has the protein skimmer in the back. *w3

I am wondering, how much live rock and sand do I put in? What chemicals are necessary? How long do I have to wait? 

Links to guides and all that jazz would be great.. I just found nothing specifically for running the Biocube 14..  *c/p*


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Doesn't matter the size of the tank, this is the same for all.

#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon. You can use Fully Cured Live Rock, and have the tank cycled in just a few days also. Other way is to use just a couple of pounds of Live Rock and the rest Macro or Dry Rock.

#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.

#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads.

#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes.

#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.

#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.

#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one

#8-Rubber kitchen gloves

#9-Fish net

#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets

#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.

#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.

#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.

#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.

#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank

#16-Heater rated for your size tank.

#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.

#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.

#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)

#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.

Volusion Demo Store

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and Cycling. Methods for Ammonia, Nitrite Removal.

aquarium heater in Aquarium & Fish | eBay

power heads in Pumps | eBay

NEW | eBay

MarcoRocks Aquarium Products

Bulk Dry Live Rock & Live Sand - Bulk Reef Supply

Live Rock and Live Sand: Live Saltwater Aquarium Rock and Sand

Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand

Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin.

http://live-plants.com/

What Your Coral Needs | Successful Reef Keeping

t-5 lighting in Home & Garden | eBay

cree led aquarium in Lighting | eBay

Aquarium Salt Mix: Salt for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Aquariums

Aquarium Water Testing: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Reef Master Liquid Test Kit

Reef Aquarium Care: Kent Marine Liquid Calcium Supplement

Saltwater Aquarium Buffer: Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH pH Buffer and Alkalinity Builder


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I know you will enjoy to once you get it going


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## ionix (Oct 11, 2012)

Thank you! 

I am just writing what I got off your list:
-Skimmer: Unknown (has to be cleaned up)
-Powerhead 50: 149 GPH 
-Generic Powerhead: (came with it, unknown gph)
-Crappy live-rock (low-qual, left in tank with no care-taken (her lionfish died, main part of the tank, she got mad and left the tank, understandable (imo)).
-Test-kit

I'm going to strip it entirely. Its really nasty. how would you start? the last owner told me to reuse everything but boil it all (live rock and sand).


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## ionix (Oct 11, 2012)

I also have a bunch of the other things, those just seem like they're the most important. 

I really need help with clearing it out though. Don't know where to start. Just thinking of dumping everything into a pot to boil and hitting the tank with a nuke or something. Its covered in cyano and everything.


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