Biocube 29 Tank Journal (1 Viewer)

[vinc]

I keep NOT doing this. Just started up a 29g biocube at gf's place and will try to document things as I go. Bought the tank used with a gutted hood. The tank came with 2 Ecoxotic Actinic LED stunner strips and I've added 1 x 8,000K white stunner strip also from Ecoxotic to light the tank. I was debating whether to go with the panorama pro or just the stunner but this way's cheaper =P Planning on having a few small fish and mostly stofties so I'm hoping the lighting is sufficient. If not, I can always add another stunner strip. The reason I went for LEDs was to keep heat off the tank so we wouldn't have to top it off every other day or so. I've also removed the bioballs. I'm trying to figure out if I'll use that back section as a refugium or fill it with live rock. The tank has been up for a couple of days, got the salinity stable and sand has settled. Also did some rock-scaping to make a small "mountain" with a cave for the fish. I still need to get a thermometer, heater, and maybe a protein skimmer. I've been told the Aquaticlife mini protein skimmer fits in the Biocube and works better than the Biocube skimmer. I'll try to post a couple of pictures tomorrow, let me know what you guys think!

Here's a link to the skimmer I'm thinking about using:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Aquatic...739?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35afcfc093

 

[vinc]

Picture!

 

[ange062]

3 Stunner strips at 6w each isn't nearly enough light for a 29g tank. 3 Panorama Pro strips at 19w each would be more suitable.

The evap isn't driven by heat as much as it is by exposed surface area of water. It looks from above like you are running lidless so daily topoff's are going to be needed to keep things stable. My lidless 28g cube loses about 0.5g per day. Adding an ATO made life SO much easier

Looks like you are off to a good start.

 

[vinc]

Sorry, that picture was taken while I was putting the lights together. I'm running the tank with the hood over it. I've done some asking around and most people say 1-2 white stunners plus the two actinic are plenty for that tank. Why do you think 3 Panorama Pro strips are better for this tank? I'm still relatively new at this and I don't follow. Wouldn't the Panorama Pro strips be too strong and burn the corals that I plan to put in this tank? Thanks for the input.

 

[vinc]

New Picture

The lights look more white in person but with a hint of blue.

 

[ange062]

Sorry, that picture was taken while I was putting the lights together. I'm running the tank with the hood over it. I've done some asking around and most people say 1-2 white stunners plus the two actinic are plenty for that tank. Why do you think 3 Panorama Pro strips are better for this tank? I'm still relatively new at this and I don't follow. Wouldn't the Panorama Pro strips be too strong and burn the corals that I plan to put in this tank? Thanks for the input.

I use this formula for LED equivalency: 2 x LEDwatts = MH/T5watts. This is a rough formula and can vary quite a bit based on type of LED, driver, optics, etc but is good for getting a lighting baseline and lines up well with the manufacturer claims on many commercially available fixtures. If you want a "grow anything" tank for SPS, clams, etc you would ideally like to have at least 6wpg (watts per gallon) of MH (metal halide) or T5 (flourescent) lighting. So ideally for your tank you would want 29gal * 6wpg = 174w. That's why oceanic makes a 150w MH version of the tank. Using LED equivalency factor, 174w / 2 = 87watts of LED lighting should be your target. Again, this lines up with commercial offerings like the 89w LED version of JBJ's 28g NanoCube.

Your stunner strips are 6w each, so even with two white you are talking only 24watts total. This is only 1.65wpg of MH/T5 light which would be considered too low to grow anything but the very lowest light corals.

Panorama Pro's are 19w each. So using 3 would yield 57w total, which is roughly equivalent to 4wpg of MH/T5 light, which would be considered medium intensity lighting. If you want to grow anything, you would need 4 Panorama Pros.

For reference, I use a Panorama Pro on my 3g pico. And I also use an EcoTech Radion at 70% intensity (91w) on my 28g nano to grow happy, healthy, colorful SPS and clams. Hope that helps.

 

[vinc]

Thanks. I'll look into upgrading the lighting in the future. For now, I'm just setting it up as mostly a softie tank and I wanna give these a try just to see how well they work.

 

[vinc]

Diatom bloom is underway. Started a few days ago and spread like crazy! Some of the rocks look almost golden. Will post some pictures tomorrow or something.

 

[TiffMunchkin]

i got T5s sitting on my biocube. I cut the lid and put the 21" T5s on top. Its Wave Point. Works so far for me. Wish though I would have a solid lid...the water just evaporates so fast with the light.

 

[vinc]

i got T5s sitting on my biocube. I cut the lid and put the 21" T5s on top. Its Wave Point. Works so far for me. Wish though I would have a solid lid...the water just evaporates so fast with the light.

That's why I didn't want to go with T5's, seeing how much water gets evaporated in my other tank. I forgot to put up the pictures but we've already started adding a few corals here and there. Also just added two nassarius snails today.

 

[Tnconcept]

Off to a good start.

 

[ModAquatics]

We have an LED engine designed specifically for the BC29. You can start with 12 LEDs and bolt on more up to a total of 48. It comes standard with a 4 channel remote control and can be upgraded with a Bluetooth computer controller. Of course MARSH reefers get a 10% discount. Here is a pic with a fully populated BC29 hood.