Oceanic Biocube 14g Iwaguim Shrimp Tank

[tylergvolk]

Last Updated: 12/21/12
Attachment 59318

Currently, I am doing a DSM...


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7/18/2012

Hello Everyone!

I'm fairly new to this hobby, but let me say that I was sucked right in and now I can't stop. lol

After a previous complete tank disaster, I have learned to take things much slower.

This is my first journal and I have decided to try the DSM with HC for the first time.

The following are the specifications of my aquarium setup:

1. Oceanic Biocube 14g - I have modded the tank in several ways. First, I modded chamber 1 for extra flow, secondly I've added an inTank 3 stage filter in chamber 2, and thirdly swapped out the stock fans and upgraded. (If you would like specifics/how-to please ask)

2. Coralife 10,000k 24w 13" bulbs x2 - This should give me MEDIUM LIGHT if I run one light and HIGH LIGHT if I run both according to Hoopy's PAR chart.

3. Eco-Complete Substrate - Which has been rinsed and dried out due to my last tank catastrophe.

4. DIY Paintball Co2 System - Which I just got off Craigslist and haven’t tried yet. Probably won’t be able to because I have to wait for the DSM to finish first.

Now, I want to share the photo's!

>Tank with Eco-Complete Only
Attachment 51100

>Added Seiryu Stones
Attachment 51101

>Added HC - Day 1 of DSM
Attachment 51102

>Tank with Eco-Complete Only
Attachment 51103

>Added Seiryu Stones
Attachment 51104

>Added HC - Day 1 of DSM
Attachment 51105

>Trying to get the humidity up by keeping the lights on and misting often
Attachment 51106

>2 Coralife 10,000k 24w 13" Bulbs
Attachment 51107

>Taped off an area where moisture can escape
Attachment 51108

>Warning!!!
Attachment 51109

>See what happens when you mess with my tank? I eat you!
Attachment 51110

[aweeby]

i would seal it well with saran wrap, refrain from opening seal, and put all 3 bulbs in. this will keep the humidity high. during dry start, the more light the better it'll grow in. you could probably even run some desklamps on the sides.

[Overgrowth]

Originally Posted by aweeby

i would seal it well with saran wrap, refrain from opening seal, and put all 3 bulbs in. this will keep the humidity high. during dry start, the more light the better it'll grow in. you could probably even run some desklamps on the sides.

Hmm, didn't know this. Thanks for the tip!

[tylergvolk]

Day 2: 5/19/12

Originally Posted by aweeby

i would seal it well with saran wrap, refrain from opening seal, and put all 3 bulbs in. this will keep the humidity high. during dry start, the more light the better it'll grow in. you could probably even run some desklamps on the sides.

Thank you for your input aweeby. I have taken your advice as far as saran wrapping the tank because I felt like it wasn't humid enough.

>Picture of tank saran wrapped

Attachment 51133

>Close up picture of the overlap

Attachment 51134

I also taped up the sides to make sure the seal was tight enough. I didn't want to hook up the 3rd light because the plastic cover for the lights doesn't fit right with the third light. I suppose I could mess with it and make it fit; although, I feel like I might burn out the HC with to much light. I am already using 2 coralife 24w 10,000k bulbs and running them for 12 hours a day.

A few questions come to mind as I am trying to refrain myself from messing with the tank.

1. How do I know that it's wet enough inside the tank?
2. How do I know that it's humid enough inside the tank?
3. How often should I be opening the seal and spraying?
4. Should I fill the water to the point below the substrate or should spray frequently?

Thanks!

[aweeby]

Everyone will have their own preferences and opinions with dry start, but for me, personally, I have the most success keeping it well sealed, only opening it maybe 2x a week. I didn't have a spray bottle at the time so i would just add water from my main tank with a yogurt cup or something until the water line was basically at or slightly below the substrate level from the lowest point in the substrate. I did this maybe once every 2 weeks, or as needed. (obviously within reason, though) IMHO, you want to crack the seal as infrequently as possible.

And one more thing i forgot to mention yesterday. You'll definitely want to split that hc up into little pieces. Individual stems are best. Giving it room to grow out will encourage a much stronger root structure, and it'll spread faster, which also helps to deter growth of mold, algae and etc. in the 5.5g in my signature, i planted one side in clumps and the other as stems. the stem side carpeted faster, looks better today, while the clump side contracted a virus halfway through and took much longer to reach the same coverage of the stem side, plus it ended up looking quite uneven for the longest time. These clumps were about 1/4 the size of yours, too.

You'll know it's humid enough when there's thick condensation on the glass and walls. When you crack the lid to check, it will feel noticeably sticky and humid to your bare hand. TO get to this point, you'll have to leave it for a few days to build up humidity without cracking the seal. There's pretty much nothing else you can do practically to raise humidity other than ths.

In the beginning, when your HC has been freshly brought out of submersed, it is a bit more delicate. However, when you start seeing fresh growth, I would actually up the wattage to 75 watts with desklamps and such. maybe just ditch the hood. the tank you have looks kind of high, so at the substrate level, the humidity should be somewhat higher than at the top.

Also. I here, with my coffee mug of instant ramen, envy your supper.

[gotplants]

Nice start. You have some large clumps of HC there. You should think about cutting them up into smaller pieces and spread it throughout the tank in columns/rows. That might make it spread a bit faster and evenly.

I was thinking about getting that Biocube but went for a rimless instead. Your tank is going to be pretty similar to this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVZVxWuCYE

[Chaoslord]

Looks like you have a good start. My son has the same tank over 4 years now. His fans are shot I think they finally died last week. I would be interested in seeing your fan mod. I've been icing the tank every day to keep it at 80 degrees so I definitely need to replace the fans.

[tylergvolk]

Originally Posted by aweeby

Everyone will have their own preferences and opinions with dry start, but for me, personally, I have the most success keeping it well sealed, only opening it maybe 2x a week. I didn't have a spray bottle at the time so i would just add water from my main tank with a yogurt cup or something until the water line was basically at or slightly below the substrate level from the lowest point in the substrate. I did this maybe once every 2 weeks, or as needed. (obviously within reason, though) IMHO, you want to crack the seal as infrequently as possible.

And one more thing i forgot to mention yesterday. You'll definitely want to split that hc up into little pieces. Individual stems are best. Giving it room to grow out will encourage a much stronger root structure, and it'll spread faster, which also helps to deter growth of mold, algae and etc. in the 5.5g in my signature, i planted one side in clumps and the other as stems. the stem side carpeted faster, looks better today, while the clump side contracted a virus halfway through and took much longer to reach the same coverage of the stem side, plus it ended up looking quite uneven for the longest time. These clumps were about 1/4 the size of yours, too.

You'll know it's humid enough when there's thick condensation on the glass and walls. When you crack the lid to check, it will feel noticeably sticky and humid to your bare hand. TO get to this point, you'll have to leave it for a few days to build up humidity without cracking the seal. There's pretty much nothing else you can do practically to raise humidity other than ths.

In the beginning, when your HC has been freshly brought out of submersed, it is a bit more delicate. However, when you start seeing fresh growth, I would actually up the wattage to 75 watts with desklamps and such. maybe just ditch the hood. the tank you have looks kind of high, so at the substrate level, the humidity should be somewhat higher than at the top.

Also. I here, with my coffee mug of instant ramen, envy your supper.

This morning I woke up and first thing I did was take everything out of the tank. I broke up the HC into smaller clumps and re planted them. Thanks for the tips but I still feel like my clumps are too big. There is no way I am going to take the time to plant stem by stem...

>Picture of larger clumps
Attachment 51187

>Close up of larger clumps
Attachment 51188

>Replanted after breaking down the large clumps into several smaller ones.
Attachment 51189

I may take your advice on upping the wattage because I do have that option, but for now I want to wait a bit like you suggest and see how this goes for a few weeks.

If anyone is wondering why I didn't plant in the back right corner it's because I'm going to plant other plants back there after my DSM is done.

[Chrisinator]

Not to make you do it again, but I think you break it down in even smaller clumps. You'll find this won't prevent any die-offs from a lot of plants above the leaves.

[tylergvolk]

Originally Posted by gotplants

Nice start. You have some large clumps of HC there. You should think about cutting them up into smaller pieces and spread it throughout the tank in columns/rows. That might make it spread a bit faster and evenly.

I was thinking about getting that Biocube but went for a rimless instead. Your tank is going to be pretty similar to this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVZVxWuCYE

Yea, this was my inspiration at first. I've decided to try and go my own way and not completely copy. lol

[tylergvolk]

Originally Posted by Chaoslord

Looks like you have a good start. My son has the same tank over 4 years now. His fans are shot I think they finally died last week. I would be interested in seeing your fan mod. I've been icing the tank every day to keep it at 80 degrees so I definitely need to replace the fans.

I would post a eBay link where I got my fans from but I think that is against the forum rules these days; however, if you search:

NEW Ultimate Oceanic Biocube 8 & 14 dual Fan upgrade Kit Plug Play BALL BEARINGS

in eBay you should find that I bought for under $30.


The fans are quite loud but they do not rattle like the stock ones did. I would take a picture of the wiring but all my wiring is modded and would probably do you no good. No worries though because the fans are super easy to install. All you have to do is plug and play.

[tylergvolk]

Originally Posted by Chaoslord

Looks like you have a good start. My son has the same tank over 4 years now. His fans are shot I think they finally died last week. I would be interested in seeing your fan mod. I've been icing the tank every day to keep it at 80 degrees so I definitely need to replace the fans.

I would post a eBay link where I got my fans from but I think that is aginst the forum rules these days; however, if you search:

NEW Ultimate Oceanic Biocube 8 & 14 dual Fan upgrade Kit Plug Play BALL BEARINGS

in eBay you should find that I bought for under $30.


The fans are quite loud but they do not rattle like the stock ones did. I would take a picture of the wiriing but all my wiring is modded and would probably do you no good. No worries though because the fans are super easy to install. All you have to do is plug and play.

[Ozydego]

I made the mistake of planting my HC big the 1st time, the 2nd time I really changed it up and have WAAY better growth. I did not do a DSM though, the HC was grown submersed and I kept it that way. In my sig you can see how small my clumps were and how they are growing in. For me a more pwerful light would be very beneficial. Also, I saw you left the rock wool on the roots, use tweezers and pull them through the roots to dislodge the rockwool and plant without it, it tends to cause more harm than good.

[tylergvolk]

Originally Posted by Ozydego

I made the mistake of planting my HC big the 1st time, the 2nd time I really changed it up and have WAAY better growth. I did not do a DSM though, the HC was grown submersed and I kept it that way. In my sig you can see how small my clumps were and how they are growing in. For me a more pwerful light would be very beneficial. Also, I saw you left the rock wool on the roots, use tweezers and pull them through the roots to dislodge the rockwool and plant without it, it tends to cause more harm than good.

Oh man... Seriously? That means I have to pull each one out take the rock wool off and plant again. That just seems like a lot of work right now. I suppose your right though. I should probably do that...

Thanks for the tip.

Here I wanted to post a few more photo's of my fans and lights.

> FAN 1
Attachment 51207

>FAN 2
Attachment 51208

>Lights
Attachment 51209

[tylergvolk]

What do aquarium hobbyist do to "Feed The Need" (if you will) during thee DSM because it's only been a few days and I am already impatient... lol