Upsized and ReAquascaped 14g -> 29g

[Rmagoteaux]

Hey everyone, I recently upsized from my 14g biocube to a 29g biocube. I also reaquascaped once I transfered all my LR, and then added more LR to finish off the final look of my tank. I still have to add some coral and a few more fish but am not financially capable at the moment lol Anyways I got some pics of the process so let me know what you think.

My 14g Biocube:


My 29g Biocube before 1st aquascape:


My 29g Biocube after 1st aquascape:


My Finished 29g Biocube setup after adding LR and aquascaping:


Enjoy! Please feel free to through recommendations my way.

[charlie]

Now we are freaking talking!!!!!! Did a great job.

How's that parasitic (;;) hammer?

[Rmagoteaux]

Thank you! Im almost positive it is a form of tube worm so Im not going to bother it. I figure that if I begin to see a decline in my hammer then I will start to look into a bit more. How many snails, crabs, and cleaner shrimp would you put in my new 29g?

[Doodaa]

Your aquascaping looks really awesome! Was that GSP in your 14gal at the top? What happened to that?

What is your substrate? It looks a little coarse instead of sand.

[charlie]

I always tend to over order on the cleanup crew side of things. I would say maybe 5 of some type of snail, nerites or ceriths are good choices. Hermits are another story. I like scarlet reef hermits, they are a little more pricey, but I don't think they are as aggressive as the blue legs, maybe <5 of them. I would only get one cleaner shrimp. What fish do you have in there?

[Rmagoteaux]

Your aquascaping looks really awesome! Was that GSP in your 14gal at the top? What happened to that?

What is your substrate? It looks a little coarse instead of sand.

Thank you, this was my second tank I have ever set up. My first being the 14g.

My substrate is actually a mixture of crushed coral and sand, about 75% sand and 25% crushed coral.

Unfortunately my GSP which I loved pretty much died off (due to 2 turbo snails that died underneath it without my knowledge) but my friend at the LFS said he would give me an even trade for the Wall Hammer I have currently because he thinks he can revive the GSP. I sure hope he does cause I would love to buy it back, or at least find another similar piece.

[Rmagoteaux]

I currently have 4 blue leg hermits, 1 turbo snail, and 1 cleaner shrimp. As of right now I just have a scooter blenny, but I am about to purchase 2 tank raise and mateing False Percula's from a good friend and a midas blenny. I think that will just about do it for the fish.

After that my plan is to focus on corals. I wish I had a frag trader/dealer near by but I cant find one. :/

My plan for the corals are some zoa's and a few mushrooms and a GSP.

Think all this is a good plan?

[TimH07]

i like the bridge aquascape, looks nice!

[Rmagoteaux]

Thank you, out of all the tank setups Ive looked at, the bridge setup has been my favorite.

[charlie]

I don't know if I said anything before, but you are gonna really have to watch that hammer with all the softies, there will be a possibility of some chemical warfare going on. Do you run any carbon?

[charlie]

Do you have a nickname or something? I don't want to call you Rmag.

[Rmagoteaux]

Ive heard a lot about running carbon but I dont know much about it, if any. And yes Ive heard about the possible chemical issues with it. That is why I placed my xenia and leather coral on the other side of the tank.

Please enlighten me about carbon

[Doodaa]

I like the bridge too and think the fish will like swimming in and out of it. GSP is notorious for spreading and I wouldn't trade your hammer for some GSP...you can get GSP for free from people. Hammers are pretty nice to have

A lot of people don't like crabs. I have some and they're fun to watch, but they tick me off when they crawl on my corals...don't know if they hurt them or not, but they retract until the crab leaves which is what I don't like.

[charlie]

A lot of people don't like crabs. I have some and they're fun to watch, but they tick me off when they crawl on my corals...don't know if they hurt them or not, but they retract until the crab leaves which is what I don't like.

A large amen to that!!! That is why I said the Scarlet reef crabs, they are a little mellower.

As for carbon, there are a ton of opinions out there, and everybody uses it different. Some folks only run it a week or so a month, some people run it 24/7 changing it out every 2 weeks or so. I think you should probably do some searching around and some reading on it before you make a decision to use it. JMHO

[Rmagoteaux]

Yes Ive heard that about GSP but I dont know anyone that has some and there are no frag trades that I can find anywhere in my area :/

[Rmagoteaux]

I do have a carbon filter that I use every now and then, probably twice a month. When I don't have my carbon filter in I use a Protein Skimmer till It is time to put the carbon filter back in. Is this an ok method for what I have?

[charlie]

I would run that skimmer 24/7 from now until the end of time

Can you tell I think skimming is about the most important thing in this hobby? Is your protein skimmer an all in one unit type of thing?

[Rmagoteaux]

Yes I can tell and the protein skimmer is powered my an air pump and I believe it is one unit, here is a picture:


It seems to work very well. My system also has bioballs which are a biological filter system that is built into the tank, this is obviously separate from the skimmer and carbon filter.

[charlie]

Can you remove the bioballs? They are going to turn into a nitrate trap. Maybe you could put your carbon in there when the bioballs are gone.

[Rmagoteaux]

Well my carbon is built into a small removable filter :/ and yes they can be removed but I have never had any nitrate issues, my nitrates are always at 0 as well as my nitrites.