29 biocube filtration

cody3819

cody3819

New member
I'm new to the hoby, my 29G biocube has been running for a month. I am removing the bio balls as I found out that they are not good for a reef tank. I have 26lbs of rock, 10lbs of that is the coral life life rock and about 15lbs is base rock. Now I have 1 pound (roughly ) under my bio balls. I'm removing the balls and putting about another 1.5 to 2 lbs of live rock I will purchase from my lfs in the filtration secotion on top of the base (dry,dead) rock. Will this cause my tank to have a mini cycle?
 
Oh.... I posted a similar post under new to the nobby. And someone had mentioned that maybe I should be posting some of my questions in the nano fourm.
 
I would doubt you will get anything noticeable from 2 lb. Just keep an eye on ammonia and nitrites and don't add to the bio load for a couple of weeks. If you are still worried get one of the ammonia removers like amaway or a similar product and just have it on standby. I am sure with the rock you have in the display you will be fine.
 
Don't bother with rocks in the sump and such a small tank. They will do the same as bio balls, though if you must put something in there rocks would be better, and collect dirt and they make it very hard to clean the sump out when you want to down the road. My experience In a 34 cube.

Do you have any current live stock? I would buy 5-10 more lbs for the display instead and maybe get a hob phosphate reactor or something.
 
I will make sure to ask about the live rock being cycled. Is anyone out there running there setup like I want to run mine?
 
im just getting back into saltwater - I just set my bio-cube up and am waiting for it to cycle. I plan on softie tank with a pair of clowns and one or two small fish. (clown gobie or bangii??)
im not doing any upgrades except maybe the chiller I already have and adding some more if the leds that go with the tank
 
Nice Chinamom, if just new to the hobby all together. I plan on have a reef tanks as well. I plan on softies and leathers with a few fish and maybe a cleaner shrimp.
 
not new but was out for a couple yrs
my last two tanks were a 150 reef and a 56 seahorse tank
the baby in my avatar was one I raised
it all just got to be too much - this time im going simple - I just want a tank with palys, mushrooms, xeina and maybe a nice leather for center piece. - simple
 
Sometimes simple is better. It's amazing how simple can become a monster with these nanos. I know my wallet wishes I had your restraint.
 
Yes the restraint. Everything I walk into my lfs my wife has to say just wait. Lol. I could buy it all..... And Chinamom your seahorse is nice buddy.
 
I'm still new to the hobby, but I'll share what I know based on my own experience.

I bought pre-cured live rock and I still had a cycle because inevitably there will be some die-off and it's that die-off that along with the lack of the nitrifying bacteria that cause the ammonia and nitrite spikes. Adding in more live rock may cause a small spike.

As far as filtration goes, I would be hesitant to add live rubble rock to any of the back chambers because detritus will flow back there and if you can't regularly clean it all out, will cause your nitrates and phosphates to stay high. If you can afford the InTank media rack I would buy one of those and put it in chamber 2 with filter floss on top, purigen in second chamber and Clear FX Pro or Chemi-Pure Elite in the bottom chamber. That combination of mechanical and chemical filtration will compliment the biological filtration of the live rock in your display tank. You might want to look into Seachem Matrix and/or a protein skimmer too.
 
Thanks JakeK, I have chemi pure in my overflow. I believe I might just go that route. That's what it seems like more people use.
 
Yes you did donut0079. For some reason I was set on putting the rock in the back? But the more I read and the more in put I get from you all the more I lean to a media basket. Thanks for all the help you guys.
 
I run inTank media basket and a Tunze 9001 skimmer in chamber 2. In chamber 1 heater and up graded
the stock return pump to a Cobalt MJ 1200 in chamber 3.
Barry
 
Thanks BarryV, I need to upgrade my pump. But i want to get my filtration right first. Baby steps lol. I want to get thus don't soon due to my bacteria growth on the bio balls I plan on taking out.
 
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