I set up a Bio Cube now my head hurts. Help please (1 Viewer)

[rkibby1]

I have been out of the hobby for several years, my wife and I thought we would set up an Oceanic Biocube. Its small, cheap (LOL), looked easy to maintain and the you tube videos are insane. So we went in knowing it would need a upgrade on lights and we have decided on a LED retrofit from BAMFaquatics, I upgraded the protien skimmer to an AQUALIFE 115, added a korilia nano and upgraded the pump to RIo 900 all of this made sense. I even added some filter cloth to the top of the bio ball section for polishing the water.

But then the insanity set in, I start reading about upgrades. Remove the bio balls, cut this, remove that and add this. REALLY. My question to the group is... is it possible to use the Biocube filtration the way it is with the upgrades I have made or do I really need to rebuild the whole back section of this thing.

For those of you who plan on setting up a Biocube, once I cut the check to BAMF tomorrow I will have almost 1200 in it with upgrades, liverock and NO livestock. I almost wish I had gone bigger for a little more.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help you can give me on the biocube question.

Robert

 

[ange062]

My tips from over a year with a similar cube:
* Do less for now, just get started and make changes as you need to
* Ditch the bioballs, you don't need them if you have LR in your tank for biologicals

That's all you really need to get started... You also already have a skimmer, light, and flow upgrade so you are more then ready to start stocking!

I've made a lot of upgrades to my tank, chiller, reactors, light, media basket, dosing pump, ATO, etc etc etc. But I added them as the need arose. And all those things are transferable to another tank later, and it really all depends on what you are stocking. HTH.

 

[NarnyTheGreat]

I have been out of the hobby for several years, my wife and I thought we would set up an Oceanic Biocube. Its small, cheap (LOL), looked easy to maintain and the you tube videos are insane. So we went in knowing it would need a upgrade on lights and we have decided on a LED retrofit from BAMFaquatics, I upgraded the protien skimmer to an AQUALIFE 115, added a korilia nano and upgraded the pump to RIo 900 all of this made sense. I even added some filter cloth to the top of the bio ball section for polishing the water.

But then the insanity set in, I start reading about upgrades. Remove the bio balls, cut this, remove that and add this. REALLY. My question to the group is... is it possible to use the Biocube filtration the way it is with the upgrades I have made or do I really need to rebuild the whole back section of this thing.

For those of you who plan on setting up a Biocube, once I cut the check to BAMF tomorrow I will have almost 1200 in it with upgrades, liverock and NO livestock. I almost wish I had gone bigger for a little more.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help you can give me on the biocube question.

Robert

It kills me when people say oh the nano was cheaper... Like the above said, you can get started now. All of those other upgrades are A) people who like to tinker or B) people that want the tank to run itself lol and not have to mess with it. They are chasing their tail IMO. As long as you stay on top of water quality it should be fine. One thing I would recommend because the tank is so small and it can be a pita is getting an ato (auto top off) it will get annoying when you lose a gallon everyday and you have to always refill it.

Good luck and welcome back to the obsession.

 

[dayton]

I have a 29 bio cube. All I have done in upgrades are removed the bio balls and added chaeto (and a small light for the chaeto) a "refugium" if you will, and upgraded the lights to LED. I have not upgraded the pumps or anything else you have done. In my opinion, youll realize "damn iv ran out of room for my coral" and youll end up getting a bigger tank anyways. So I would run what you have. Like I said iv done less and my tank is doing great, ( my LEDs are a little on the low side so ill prob end up upgrading again) but everyone is doing well and my water is great.

 

[ange062]

I have a 29 bio cube. All I have done in upgrades are removed the bio balls and added chaeto (and a small light for the chaeto) a "refugium" if you will, and upgraded the lights to LED. I have not upgraded the pumps or anything else you have done. In my opinion, youll realize "damn iv ran out of room for my coral" and youll end up getting a bigger tank anyways. So I would run what you have. Like I said iv done less and my tank is doing great, ( my LEDs are a little on the low side so ill prob end up upgrading again) but everyone is doing well and my water is great.

In all due respect, not everybody upgrades size. My tank is stocked to the gills but I love doing 5g waterchanges so a larger tank doesn't appeal to me!!!

If you want to stock some zoas and shrooms and a few fish, all you need is some LR! But when you start to stock more advanced corals, things like flow and light become more important. And once you catch the SPS bug water quality becomes a major concern, so skimmers, reactors, etc become necessary. Then you start stocking clams and SPS, and all of a sudden the daily dosing becomes a burden so a dosing pump becomes necessary.

Just upgrade as you figure out your taste in stocking. Until then, go ahead and start your journey! But definitely ditch the bioballs, it's a free "upgrade".

 

[dayton]

Fair enough, I have a couple of sps frags in mine and a clam. I do dose but dont have a skimmer, Iv been told its not needed due to the size of the tank and my weekly/bi-weekly water changes. The jury is still out on it.

 

[rkibby1]

Yes I did make the mistake of thinking nano would be "cheap". I greatly appreciate the response, and its what I figured I would hear but I got lost in the blogs. So as for the bioballs, once removed what is the recommendation for chamber 2. I already have my skimmer crammed in 1. I do have 40 lbs of liverock in the tank. Is chaeto and a light the way to go, leave it empty? I even seen live rock piled in chamber 2 in a biocube at City Pets.

 

[ange062]

Yes I did make the mistake of thinking nano would be "cheap". I greatly appreciate the response, and its what I figured I would hear but I got lost in the blogs. So as for the bioballs, once removed what is the recommendation for chamber 2. I already have my skimmer crammed in 1. I do have 40 lbs of liverock in the tank. Is chaeto and a light the way to go, leave it empty? I even seen live rock piled in chamber 2 in a biocube at City Pets.

Personally, I don't like cheato in a media basket because it clogs flow and doesn't have enough room to grow. LR just collects detritus and you have more then enough LR in the display for biological filtration. You would be better off using something like Chemipure Elite or GFO, you already have a skimmer so no need for Purigen.

 

[NarnyTheGreat]

I personally would put cheato in the chamber but it does block the flow a little bit. I personally dont rely on the "overflow" to move the water in the tank, I just use it to transport wastes to the sump (in your case back chambers). That being said carbon, gfo or even floss for water polishing would be fine... You could also just leave it empty until you find you have a use for it. I wouldnt put live rock in it because it really will collect all the gunk you want out of the tank.

 

[fightmeaboutit]

Filter floss, chemi pure elite, purigen, high quality carbon is all you need! No need for that cheato stuff

 

[dayton]

Make sure you put enough in because the distance that the water drops down will make it a little loud, I had to put a few bio balls back in untill I get more stuff to put in that chamber.

 

[r_jay]

wow, you've been busy! I'm assuming this is a 29 gallon? since I don't think the MiniSkimmer fits any others. how long since you started up the BC?

I have 2 biocubes and have gone through the drama of figuring out the upgrades and modifications. So if you are going with LEDs you must be planning on keeping SPS then and the skimmer is a good choice while many will say with a nano you are fine as long as you do your regular water changes. The bioballs really don't help anything, they are great for growing bacteria which helps in a FW tank setup but really has no place in a SW setup where you already have live rock and live sand. If you take out the bioballs then you may as well take out the tray that supports them and you can refer to the biocube manual to better see and understand what I am talking about. Most people (me including) have then converted the middle chamber into a refugium complete with light, chaeto and a media basket for added filtration. There other mods you can do later but they are easier to space out over time and aren't GREAT improvements, just little ones.

Would LOVE to see some photos of the tank especially with the LEDs!

good luck!

 

[rkibby1]

The tank has been up and running for 2 weeks. I have removed the balls and added a bag of chemi pure elite. I had to raise the water level in the sump to get it quiet. I assume this is ok, the guy at city pets said fill it as high as i need. I have added some crabs and snails so far so good. The LED will not be ready for about a month, there are a few ahead of me. I will probably do the in tank basked mods later. I also added the hydor flo, its kinda cheesy but i thought it was cool. I will take a pic now and again after led so we can see the difference. if I can figure how to upload them.

 

[rkibby1]

Well i have been working a lot and haven't had a chance to test water I will do it today. But I had a bout with brown algae on glass some rocks and the powerheads for about 4 days. It has since backed off and cleared up, question is do you think it has gone through the cycle process? From what I remember this was the process but I usually test water and watch for the spikes.

 

[ange062]

Normally a brown diatom bloom is a good sign of nearing the end of your cycle. Testing is the only way to be 100% sure though, so test your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and salinity and see where you are at.

 

[playindead]

I found a deal on my 7 gallon with an ac and a current t5ho fixture and a few softies, so i decided to jump on it and took my first step not just into a reef tank but also into sw. i begun adding livestock almost immediately and was fine with the exception of that nuisance red algae. later i added more live rock and corals when i found a deal. My ac has some chaeto now and i believe that has helped greatly since there is a lot less green algae forming on the glass and haven't even noticed any read algae ( unless that red algae was due to my tank still cycling).

Not taking into account the 2 chromis i lost (accidentally mixing 1cup/gallon insted of 1/2cup/gallon) and 2 clown gobies or mandarin i tried to save... i've only spent a little over $100 on my nano setup including corals and livestock .

it's also on auto run, i get my water from the water mills and mix my salt only checking with a hydrometer; keeping my fingers crosed it stays that way cause i messed with it too much today, i gave the tank a good clean today, ditch some filtering floss i had in the ac, and moved some rock from the ac to the tank cause it does get cloged up quick.

 

[gabe_j]

Quick update on the lights I'm going to pick up the c quick connectors and then I should be ready to install the lights in your hood

 

[gabe_j]

everything is done! at full brightness its a really nice look very radium/vho look granted my camera absolutely can't handle the colors so i can't post a picture but trust me it look GREAT! if you want to come by thursday to drop off your hood for the installation i should be able to get the light back to you friday for you to take home. i think you'll be very satisfied! actually i may change my fixture to match yours i really like the colors! thanks for the business!

i'll ask my wife to photograph my rimless tank i've got your light over now and see if she can do better (usually she can)

 

[gabe_j]

ofcourse she does it right.

here's a both channels at 100% 700mA for both

100% white 0% blue

100% blues 0% whites

the overall mix for those interested was 8 rb, 2 blue, 4 cyan, 2 red, 4 cool white, and 4 true violet
all the blue, rb, cw were CREE
cyans are Phillips
hyper red from osram 660nm
the true violets are imports tuned at 410-420nm (i prefer these over the straight 420s)

i'll take PAR readings later this week. these photos were whitebalanced using camera zoom fx app on a samsung galaxy s2 8.0 mp camera. if i can get a buddies t3i i'll take some better pictures to show a truer representation of the actual colors as seen in person.

 

[Diesel]

I'm next!