29 Gallon Coralife Biocube Freshwater Tank

Hello all. New to the site and it looks to be a great site for information. A little background, I have had aquariums off and on over the many years, both freshwater and saltwater. I am not a newbie, but I am not nearly as knowledgeable as I should be. About a year and a half ago I tried aquariums again by purchasing a Coralife Biocube 29 gallon tank which is setup for saltwater right this minute. I have the stock lighting on the tank and have removed the bioballs and replaced them with an InTank media basket. My success has been limited with saltwater, so I am wanting to convert back to freshwater. I will be using the Biocube initially to see how that works out. Does anybody have any recommendations for prepping this tank for freshwater. I know I need to clean it well, some recommendations is to use a vinegar and water mix to clean the inside. Like I said other than the media basket all other equipment is what came with the Biocube. Being a year and a half old I probably need to replace the fluorescent tubes in the hood which are the stock bulbs. I am hoping to do a planted aquarium with some easy fish for a while. I am just looking for ideas and opinions as to how to proceed. Thanks for any info.

 

For a saltwater tank right?

 

For a freshwater planted tank. I know the Coralife Biocube is more suited for saltwater, but tired of dealing with saltwater want to try freshwater again.

 

For a freshwater planted tank. I know the Coralife Biocube is more suited for saltwater, but tired of dealing with saltwater want to try freshwater again.

Okie dokie. What's the parameters, temp, and pH? What are you looking for. Schooling or a centerpiece fish?

 

Actually looking to do a community tank. Live bearers, danios, etc. Not anything complicated. I haven't broken down the salt water tank yet. I will be doing that this weekend and get it cleaned up in prep for the following weekend of putting it back together. Hope that gives you better idea as this is a work in progress.

 

Well tore down the saltwater aquarium to begin the transformation to freshwater planted aquarium. I will finish the clean up and flush everything real good and then start the build.

 

Well tore down the saltwater aquarium to begin the transformation to freshwater planted aquarium. I will finish the clean up and flush everything real good and then start the build.

Cool. Do you know how to cycle the tank?

 

Yep been there done that. Currently just have it running water through everything to rinse out vinegar after cleaning. Probably do a combination of fish and quick start cycling. Using quick to begin. Should I get the live plants in when I start the cycling.

Yeah plan on removing all the water and replace prior to beginning the build.

 

Yep been there done that. Currently just have it running water through everything to rinse out vinegar after cleaning. Probably do a combination of fish and quick start cycling. Using quick to begin. Should I get the live plants in when I start the cycling.

Yea if you want. They will just remove some nitrates, add oxygen to the tank, make it look more natural, etc.

 

Sarah, thanks for the reply. I will plan on doing that, add some the the quick start bacteria, then get a couple of guppies to get things going. Need to take it slow and easy.

 

Sarah, thanks for the reply. I will plan on doing that, add some the the quick start bacteria, then get a couple of guppies to get things going. Need to take it slow and easy.

It will take 20-60 days for the cycling to finish. Get me updated on the tank. And for the fish, it would depend on the temp of your tank and the pH

 

Just curious as to your water chemistry. Trying to find some base parameters. What I have found is PH 6.6-7.8, GH 5-12 and CH 7-12. I realize ammonia and nitrite should be zero and the nitrates close to zero. Any thing else I should be looking at. Also what about dosing for the plants. Seems like a lot of people use the Seachem Flourish Excel. What is your thoughts. Hope to start putting tank together this weekend. Thanks for the info.

 

Just curious as to your water chemistry. Trying to find some base parameters. What I have found is PH 6.6-7.8, GH 5-12 and CH 7-12. I realize ammonia and nitrite should be zero and the nitrates close to zero. Any thing else I should be looking at. Also what about dosing for the plants. Seems like a lot of people use the Seachem Flourish Excel. What is your thoughts. Hope to start putting tank together this weekend. Thanks for the info.

Well which tank do you want the readings for? I have 4 of them. the biggest is the 60 galloncommunity. Your readings sound good! is the tank just starting to cycle? or already done? Your just starting to put the tank together this week? then your nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia should be going high if you put fish or ammonia starter in the tank. it will take 20-60 days for the cycle to finish. They will go up and down one at a time. and for dosing the plants Seachem Florish excel sounds good. I don't like dosing my plants because it could kill my fish or shrimp so I don't risk it. my light is on for 12 hours, so the plants get enough food and light from the fish and light hehe.

 

No I have not started the cycling process yet. I plan on draining tank, buying substrate, API Kick Starter to get things started. Also plan on getting an assortment of beginner plants for the tank. So probably this weekend being a long weekend for me I will get this going. My new cfl bulbs should be in this week, I have two 36w Coralife 6700k daylight bulbs coming on Friday, then the fun begins. Don't have my freshwater test kit yet, just have the 5 in 1 test strips. Currently the tap water I have in the tank has a ph of about 7.5, Gh and Ch appears to be about 120ppm and of course no ammonia or nitrites as of yet. Dont want to depend on the 5 in 1 test strips want to check it with the actual API Master Fresh Water test kit before I begin to try to adjust anything. I also have an InTank media basket, which I plan on using floss in the top, some sort of bioligical media in the middle and carbon in the bottom. Any recommendations on this. I do appreciate your input and I will post pics as I start to build the tank.

 

No I have not started the cycling process yet. I plan on draining tank, buying substrate, API Kick Starter to get things started. Also plan on getting an assortment of beginner plants for the tank. So probably this weekend being a long weekend for me I will get this going. My new cfl bulbs should be in this week, I have two 36w Coralife 6700k daylight bulbs coming on Friday, then the fun begins. Don't have my freshwater test kit yet, just have the 5 in 1 test strips. Currently the tap water I have in the tank has a ph of about 7.5, Gh and Ch appears to be about 120ppm and of course no ammonia or nitrites as of yet. Dont want to depend on the 5 in 1 test strips want to check it with the actual API Master Fresh Water test kit before I begin to try to adjust anything. I also have an InTank media basket, which I plan on using floss in the top, some sort of bioligical media in the middle and carbon in the bottom. Any recommendations on this. I do appreciate your input and I will post pics as I start to build the tank.

Cool I can't wait! btw my ammonia on my 60 gallonit is 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, pH 7.2, GH is 150, and KH is 120.

 

Finally started the build of the freshwater tank. Trying to figure out how to attach pictures.

Finally started the build of the freshwater tank. Trying to figure out how to attach pictures.

Put in one bag of EcoComplete. Substrate is about 2 inches deep. Added API Kick Start and of course StressCoat. A lot of air bubbles right now so will be patient until tomorrow to see if it clears up. Also will test water chemistry using the 5 in 1 strip until I can get to Tampa to get an actual test kit. Also plan on getting some plants to add based on recommendations from Mike at Mass Aquariums. He has some great videos on his channel on YouTube.

 

Put in one bag of EcoComplete. Substrate is about 2 inches deep. Added API Kick Start and of course StressCoat. A lot of air bubbles right now so will be patient until tomorrow to see if it clears up. Also will test water chemistry using the 5 in 1 strip until I can get to Tampa to get an actual test kit. Also plan on getting some plants to add based on recommendations from Mike at Mass Aquariums. He has some great videos on his channel on YouTube.

Are you doing to do a fish less cycle?

 

For now yes. Want to monitor water chemistry. This morning dropped a frozen mysys shrimp cube in to further get things started.

 

For now yes. Want to monitor water chemistry. This morning dropped a frozen mysys shrimp cube in to further get things started.

You will need ammonia started because your bacteria will need fish poop in order for the ammonia to spike.

 

I can pick up a small school of guppies or danios

 

I can pick up a small school of guppies or danios

You don't need fish, but I guess you could do that. You can get ammonia starter if you don't want to put fish in the tank.

 

I used API's KickStart. Thought that was supposed to get the nitrogen cycle started. Also the cube of frozen in tank should start to decay and produce ammonia.

 

I used API's KickStart. Thought that was supposed to get the nitrogen cycle started. Also the cube of frozen in tank should start to decay and produce ammonia.

Ammonia is from fish poop. Nitrites is decaying food, which turns into nitrates to make it less toxic.
Edit: you can continue with API kickstart and add a few guppies to start the cycle. Just feed the guppies twice a day and they will do the rest

 

Well the fun has begun. First picture is from this morning before going to Marine Aquarium Warehouse in Tampa.

The rest are from after I got back. I know the Anubis on the left front I need to tie it off to the driftwood.




Would love to hear others opinion. Also added a small school of danios. I will be checking water chemistry later after they settle down a bit.

 

Okay new picture and update. Ran water test and the following are the parameters.

Temp. 83
PH. 8.4
Ammonia. 0
Nitrite. 0
Nitrate. 0
GH. 179
KH. 125.3

How does this sound since I just put the four Danios in yesterday.

 

No ammonia? Wow

 

I will check again tonight but no ammonia after a day.

 

Tested water again tonight and here are the current parameters:

Temp 82
PH 8.4
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite .25 ppm
Nitrate 2.5 ppm
GH 161.1
KH 107.4

Looks like the nitrogen cycle is kicking in, I will continue to monitor.

 

Tested water again tonight and here are the current parameters:

Temp 82
PH 8.4
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite .25 ppm
Nitrate 2.5 ppm
GH 161.1
KH 107.4

Looks like the nitrogen cycle is kicking in, I will continue to monitor.

Yea ma'am very slowly, but it's working