My BioCube Adventure! ~~~ <>< ~~~~

First topic message reminder :

I bought a 29 gallon BioCube the other day and have 30 lbs of live sand, about 15-20 lbs of live rock (will add more shortly). My question to ya'll is: what all should I put in here? I know I want a pair of False-Perculas and a long-tentacled anemone. I was also thinking of maybe a flame angelfish, some sort of blenny, perhaps a firefish, I would like to do a little bit of reefing as well...

****UPDATE**** The current stock list is:
2 False Perculas
1 Flame Hawkfish
1 Bangaii Cardinalfish
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Mandarin Dragonet

1 Halloween Hermit Crab
5 Blueleg Hermit Crabs
4 Astrea Snails
3 Nassarius Snails

1 Sand Sifting Starfish

1 Branching Hammer
1 Pulsing Xenia




Also, my water pH is currently at about 7.6, but I need it to be between 8.2- 8.6 ish, what is the safest way to do that for this type of setup (saltwater, future reef?). Would the API pH up be ok? Or no...?

**** UPDATE**** I added Kent Marine Buffer and my pH is 8.3

Here's a pic of the setup as of this instant:


Now this is what I have going on in there! Yay!!!!!



Here is the tank as of 2/16/2010, after the anemone died...


As of 2/23/10:

After pairing up. I've had false perc's that layed eggs after 3 months.
They grow real slow though.

hmmm.......

Update: 2/16/2010

My Bubble Tip Anemone died, my two Ocellaris Clowns are doing ok, but seem lost in the giant tank... I look forward to adding to the tank. My clean up crew has filtered through all the sand and after wiping down the inside of my tank everything looks great! (except the empty spot where the anemone used to be :{

Here is the tank as of 2/16/2010, after the anemone died...

Nice and clean.

LOOKS GREAT

Here's a pic of the False Percula clowns in the tank:


They are so funny, they don't quite know that the hand in the tank means food yet.... they'll learn...!

CajunGator wrote:

Looking really good Miranda. Looks like your leap into Salty is working out for you. but, what i have heard from most---> Be patient, add slowly, and grow with it!
Congratz.

Actually Cajun, this is my 2nd saltwater tank. The first one I didn't do all my homework on and cut too many corners, so this is my effort at SW done right! The first one is still running and has a few astrea snails, a blue legged hermit crab, a Maroon clownfish and a scooter blenny... but it's also host to some other less desirable life forms... of the worm variety... I think tim knows what I'm talking about!

aww lame!!! dont remind tim!!! his wallets still hurting!!!!

alkomist wrote:

aww lame!!! dont remind tim!!! his wallets still hurting!!!!

I didn't mean it like that, I just meant we all go through stuff like this... well, most of us! Sorry tim, I'm not hatin' though!

lol

Here it is now including the 2 Bangaiis, Flame Hawk & Branching Hammer:



2 Bangaii Cardinals


Branching Hammer (after only an hour in my tank), it's already open more than that now ...:


My Flame Hawkfish peeking out of the rock to see what's happening...:


Here's my Flame Hawk showing off his nice color!:



And here's a nice group shot! (guess the Bangaiis didn't want to be in the pic!):


So........? What do ya'll think? Nitty got me the hook up! I'll post more pics of the Branching Hammer later as it come out more!

NICE!!!!!!!
comming out great!!!!!
and keep the pix comming!!!!! they look awsome!!!

Just to give you an idea of the quality of these fish: they were netted out of a tank (one of the Bangaiis jumped onto the ground), transported to our hotel room where they were placed into an uncycled tank I threw together the night before with absolutely no hides, then netted again the next morning, put in a styrofoam box, placed in the trunk of our rental car (where it got waaaaaay to cold) for 5 hours, and then finally after about an hour of drip acclimation they were placed in my tank and they look that good! That's quality! They Bangaiis looked stressed (lost a lot of color when I pulled them out of the trunk once we got home, but they colored up within 10 min of being in the bucket while being acclimated... They are really awesome!!!! I felt bad doing it to them, but logistically speaking it's the best I could do at that point in time.... But they are happy now!!!!

Those are some pretty sick fish!!!! hard to find a fish thatl go through all that and still live in nice kolor!!!!!!!!
WAY TO GO!!!!

Here's a pic of the Branching Hammer about 30 min ago:


Branching out more and more each minute that goes by....

Hammers love Phyto Feast.

Guess I'm gonna have to get some! Yum!

When you put it in the fridge, put it right beside the baking soda. That way, the baking soda kills any odor that may come from the bottle.

tight very nice set up cool

KEEP UP the GOOD WORK!!

Here's the newest pics of my BioCube saltwater tank... ENJOY!!!

Here's a group shot of the entire tank:


Here is a pic of the Halloween Crab and my Flame Hawk eyeing him suspiciously...


Here is a partial group shot:


Here is a close-up of the Halloween Crab:


Here are the False Percs with others:

looking good. halloween crabs are the coolest looking hermits

That look awsome!!!
how much did that cost u??? total.....

After the fake stability fiasco + my new livestock the total now about $1,031 and counting...