Back in the Game with a Nano tank

W

winnham

New member
I am back in the game after 7 years off (ran a full blown 90g reef tank with halides, basement sump, fuge etc. during prior stent). Started setting up a new tank a few days ago.

Bought a used Biocube (Oceanic) 29 with stand for cheap off of craigslist. Tank/Stand are in great shape, previous owner took good care of it. One on the CF ballasts was bad, which I expected and the oceanic pump is noisy.

Set-up so far-

I have a new led retrofit ordered from Steve's. I have also ordered a media basket, fish saver and a Cobalt MJ 1200(to replace the oceanic pump) . I bought 25-30 lbs of clean, cured LR and 20lbs LS from LFS.

Current Status - at Nitrate stage of cycle and still waiting..... Media basket and new return pump arrive today. Having fun just looking at the tank and testing parameters for now. Might add some food to test if I get a new ammonia/nitrite spike in a couple of day. If no spike, will preform a water change to start dropping the Nitrate level.

Question, when should I add media to the media basket? (starting with chemi-pure blue). I am running biocube cartridges during the early cycle period.

Planned inhabitants - 3- 4 small fish (clowns, goby etc.) Eventually will try some soft corals. Perhaps hard corals someday, but only if things go extremely well.

Future upgrades-

1. I need to add a powerhead/wavemaker. Considering either a Koralia nano or a Jebao PP4. Question is the wavemaker feature essential or would static flow (koralia) be sufficient?

2. Skimmer- I plan to wait and see how things go with frequent water changes, but may add a Tunze 9001 at some point.
 
I'm pretty much exactly where you're at. I've been out of the game for about 10 years, and just picked up a used 29 gallon Biocube. I'm anxious to watch your progress.
 
Picture of BioCube about 6 days in. Installed the MJ 1200 return pump, it is much quieter than the old stock Oceanic pump.
 

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winnham said:
I am back in the game after 7 years off (ran a full blown 90g reef tank with halides, basement sump, fuge etc. during prior stent). Started setting up a new tank a few days ago.



Bought a used Biocube (Oceanic) 29 with stand for cheap off of craigslist. Tank/Stand are in great shape, previous owner took good care of it. One on the CF ballasts was bad, which I expected and the oceanic pump is noisy.



Set-up so far-



I have a new led retrofit ordered from Steve's. I have also ordered a media basket, fish saver and a Cobalt MJ 1200(to replace the oceanic pump) . I bought 25-30 lbs of clean, cured LR and 20lbs LS from LFS.



Current Status - at Nitrate stage of cycle and still waiting..... Media basket and new return pump arrive today. Having fun just looking at the tank and testing parameters for now. Might add some food to test if I get a new ammonia/nitrite spike in a couple of day. If no spike, will preform a water change to start dropping the Nitrate level.



Question, when should I add media to the media basket? (starting with chemi-pure blue). I am running biocube cartridges during the early cycle period.



Planned inhabitants - 3- 4 small fish (clowns, goby etc.) Eventually will try some soft corals. Perhaps hard corals someday, but only if things go extremely well.



Future upgrades-



1. I need to add a powerhead/wavemaker. Considering either a Koralia nano or a Jebao PP4. Question is the wavemaker feature essential or would static flow (koralia) be sufficient?



2. Skimmer- I plan to wait and see how things go with frequent water changes, but may add a Tunze 9001 at some point.
Click to expand...



Get the pp4 it's awesome. A little more money than the koralia but a lot less bulky. I've got 2 of them in a BC32. I originally bought the PP8 and it blew my sand every where. Downgraded to the pp4 and loved it so much I bought another so I can run on both sides. It's super quiet too


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Thanks for the advice! Amazon is selling the pp4 for $49, so I pulled the trigger and ordered one.
 
Last edited:
I have the Koralia Nano 425gph I believe. The flow is kind of weak so I preferred a pp4 it should get here tomorrow. But from what I have read you won't be disappointed with the PP4


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Day 7 update:

"Fed" the tank with some fish food yesterday. Ammonia and nitrites still at zero. Nitrates are still high and starting to notice some light diatom bloom. Cutting light exposure. Will start nitrate export efforts over the weekend via water change and adding media to the media basket.(giving chemi pure blue a try)

One thing I have noticed is this tank does not evaporate much water with the hood on. Granted, I am only running one CF bulb right now. Seems like maybe 6-8 oz. per day of evaporation.
 
Added the Jebao PP-4 last night. It is not too big and definitely does not overpower the tank with too much flow. The controller is pretty cool and it comes with Velcro pads to mount it to the stand. Steve's LED retrofit arrives in the mail today. Will update with some install pics.

Ammonia and nitrites still at or near zero. Nitrates still high, 80ppm or so. Diatom bloom is gone and water is clear.
 
Here are some pictures of the Stevesleds install. Note this light can get super bright. Picture with light on is at maybe 1/5 or 1/4 power, the phone picture does not do it justice.

Note that the vent picture is prior to cutting off the top of the z shaped fins. The trick is to make a vertical cut each 1/3 of an inch or so, then it is a piece of cake to snip off with a horizontal cut. Using the recommended flush cut wire cutters was the easiest method for me. Drummel tool would just melt the fins into a smelly mess.
 

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Lights look awesome. Does the hood still look stock from the outside looking in? Or is there a hole in it?


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GatorScott said:
Lights look awesome. Does the hood still look stock from the outside looking in? Or is there a hole in it?


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Click to expand...

Looks stock from the outside! Plus you get rid of the massive light cables and ballasts hanging off of the back. I even left the rubber covered buttons, just disconnected the wires from the switches. Could possibly repurposes the switches for a moonlight or something.

These lights get bright when you turn the dimmer all the way up. I'm talking 400watt metal halide bright.
 
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