Biocube 14 build thread

[lilmatty5dimes]

I'm not sure on the shrimp question but if your asking if clowns need an anemone to survive the answer is no. Not every1 on the forum has an anemone. They require a lot of extra work to keep and need a mature established tank of a year or greater. Welcome to the biocube world. They're a lot of fun and a great starter tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

You can keep a clown alone. They do fine solo or in pairs. Sexy shrimp are great additions, especially for small tanks. They should be kept in small groups, because they "dance" together. They do not need an anemone.

 

[Angelajean]

Do they need zoos, mushrooms or something or will live rock be okay?

Also when is safe to add them? I saw somewhere 6 months and corals the same 6 months.

I suppose I should say that we are looking at zoos and soft corals maybe a xenia. I want to add, test, wait, etc.

Also do you have any advice on aquascaping? We got a big piece of live rock and it doesn't fit the tank the way my son thought it would. They are a few little passageways, but very little. My concern is when we add coral it is going to be difficult to work with.

Thanks,
Angie:question:

 

[Kelz88]

You can always smash the rock up, thats what i did with my dry base rock because some of the pieces were freaking huge! I used the little ugly pieces as rubble in my filter.

 

[Angelajean]

Do you just have 1 mini peppermint shrimp in your 5 gallon? I saw it in your tag line.
Just curious.

 

[Kelz88]

yes he is just a tiny thing. i have a few frags that im trying to grow out with cfl bulbs. It grows the frags but im constantly picking out algae. thank god its only the 5 gallon lol

 

[Bifferwine]

The shrimp don't need any sort of corals. They will be fine with just rocks. Easy corals are okay to add when your tank finishes cycling (I think most corals are easier to keep than fish). The shrimp would benefit from a couple month's wait since they require more stable (and better) water conditions.

 

[Angelajean]

What would you add first for corals?

 

[Bifferwine]

Mushrooms, zoas, leathers, or LPS such as hammers, frogspawn, torches, or candy canes.

 

[Angelajean]

Now I have a lighting question.

Has anyone ever used Zoo Med Mini CF bulbs, 50/50 6500K trichromatic daylight phosphor and actinic 420 phosphor? They are 10 watts each. I have a Biocube 14. The ballasts were no good on the used tank and my husband is an electronics tech and can easily redo the lights. Today we were at Petco getting dog food and saw these bulbs. My husband felt they were a good solution to fix the lighting. The initial LED lights we got are not the right specs for soft coral so I was curious as to any additional experience anyone may have had with these.

Also if I went with CF only is the spec I am trying to meet 4W per gallon?


Thanks,
Angie

 

[lilmatty5dimes]

Honestly if he's an electronics tech I would try to put so led under the splatter guard. I'll find the link where some1 did it.

 

[lilmatty5dimes]

Here's the link. Sorry but the guy took the pics down. But the instructions are pretty good. He's done a lot of experience with DIY LEDs. LED Build on 14g Biocube
Here's his tread for his 29g biocube with DIY led that has pics to help y'all out. Hope this helps. LED Build/Info Sharing Thread

 

[Angelajean]

Thanks for the link I filed it for now. We are going with the compact fluorescent bulbs for now. Need to chill on the spending for awhile.
Angie