Bio Cube Owner's Thread

[Megg0602]

ive got 14 g biocube and i loove it. no bioballs lr ruble in back, koralia power head. its my first salt tank. upgrading light fixture within the next month. the only thing is the fan goes quickly on them which makes it buzz for like a minute when they turn on and my ballast went out. but they were good with giving me a new one. other than that i love it!

 

[chrismunn]

one of my fans started buzzing pretty bad. i just disconnected it so im only running one.

2_zoa im glad you like the fuge. thats an idea that i hijacked from someone else. its by far my FAVORITE mod, simply because of its benefits.

i wanted to do the hqi mod but i forsaw many heat related problems with it so i decided against it. i might add another pc later on though?

chumba thats a great deal! these things brand new are pricey!!! i got all my stuff second hand as well.

 

[cjscott]

i am getting fed up with buying the bio cube filter catridges because I feel they are too expensive and dont do enough. I was wondering what everyone thought it I made a multi layer thing out of the hbh filter material. I would do carbon, phosphate, and just a general one on top.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754125

 

[firebirdude]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13913946#post13913946 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cjscott
i am getting fed up with buying the bio cube filter catridges because I feel they are too expensive and dont do enough. I was wondering what everyone thought it I made a multi layer thing out of the hbh filter material. I would do carbon, phosphate, and just a general one on top.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754125

Of course you can make your own. I'm a little shocked it took you that long to figure out!

Many people just buy pillow stuffing from WalMart. (Light green bag) Use it as filter floss. Also, there is a member on nanoreefs.com who sells "media racks" built and sized for each Biocube. Put your choice filter on each level and the water is forced through it. Maybe filter floss on the first level. Chemipure on the next, etc. Think they're like 50 bucks.

 

[JsL30629]

I would like to share my tank shots with you guys.

Equipment:
Biocube 29
IceCap 250W Ballast
Reef Optix III Pendant
Phoenix 14k Bulb
Octopus BH-300F
Koralia K1
Koralia Nano
Tunze NanoStream 6025

Here is my FTS

Surf n Turf Acro

Acro sp.

Purple Polyp Acro sp.

Left SB shot

Right SB shot

 

[Megg0602]

i dnt even use them anymore either. i have a protein skimmer back there and then i put in some polyfill in chamber two above my lr ruble every once in awhile. in chamber three i have cheado-however you spell it

 

[Yankees2519]

Im a proud new owner of a Biocube 14! I picked it up today and already added water and sand- im going to visit my LFS tomorrow to get all the basics, and will probably start a DIY thread.

 

[Yankees2519]

I am the proud new owner of a Biocube 14 as of today! I picked it up about 4 hours ago. Ive already added water, and will hit up the LFS tomorrow for all the basics. Also will probably be starting my own build thread soon, so i will let you all know.

 

[jun_18T]

hi there people....i just got my bc29 today and have a few questions to ask. here is what i plan on doing.....upgrade the stock pump to a maxijet 1200....add a koralia 1 ph....and add the biocube skimmer. first question is...how do i mount the maxijet 1200??? do i put it in the 3rd chamber where the stock pump used to be?? second question is...what other filter media can i add to my tank??? i hear about "purigen" and "seachem" a lot. how do you use these things??? sorry for these questions....pls bear with me as i am a newbie

thanks!

 

[Reef Newb11]

dont worry everyone here was a newbie at some point..I still am one as well. But I have a biocube 29 as well. If you would like to add a maxijet 1200 instead of the stock return pump then just remove the stock pump from the third chamber and put the maxijet in its place and attach the green hose to the maxijet so that it will shoot the water back into the display. As for the media it really depends on your goals for the tank and what you have in the tank. Most people use a bag of activated carbon. Personally I use that and I also use "purigen" which is made by "seachem" this is a nice product that helps remove nitrates and other bad stuff from the water. I used to have the biocube skimmer which is not bad if you have a fairly light bioload, although I wanted to have more SPS corals so I chose to go with the CPR SR3 skimmer made for the biocube. There are few different choices for skimmers just plan ahead for what you want to keep in the future. Also I would think about maybe getting 2 hydor koralia #1 powerheads as that will allow you more random flow patterns within the tank which would be good as well. If you read through all the posts in this thread you will see alot of good ideas for mods and other stuff as well as some great looking tanks. Good luck and welcome to the club.

 

[jun_18T]

thanks reef newb.....

this might be a dumb question but where do you exactly put the purigen???? this will come in a bag right??? and also....i should put that after i put in all my livestocks right???

thanks!

 

[firebirdude]

Take a look at the new skimmer just released from Sapphire. nanotuner.com should carry it. Fits perfectly in the middle chamber without cutting or trimming and still allows the lid to close. (Not all skimmers used in the 29g BC allow this)

Anytime you use carbon, purigen, chemipure, etc you want the water to flow THROUGH it. Don't just throw a bag in there. Position it in a way so the water must be forced through the mesh bag. For example, place it where the square blue sponge that came with the BioCube is. Water must be forced through it to pass from chamber 2 to chamber 3. If your tank is cycling, it wouldn't hurt to add some now. But if the cycle is complete and your tank is just sitting there as a big box of water, I'd wait on adding until you add livestock.

 

[jun_18T]

thanks firebird....

maybe ill get the PS later on....thanks for the reply on the chemipure. im just starting the tank up now so i guess ill have to go out and get one then....

and one question i have is....what kind of corals can the stock lighting support??? what are the differences between SPS, LPS, Soft corals??


thanks!

 

[kuagmir3]

RJwilson i had to nominate your 24 g aquapod for totm i think its absoluteley amazing.. i have a 14 g cube and im new and this tank sets a really awesome standard for me to achieve someday...bravo man!!

 

[firebirdude]

Softies
LPS
SPS

Ranked in order of light needed. Lowest to highest. Softies would include leathers, mushrooms, zoas, etc It would depend on what bulbs you're using as to what you can keep. I doubt you'll be able to keep any SPS with the stock lighting. Remeber that higher light-needing corals should be kept closer to the top of the tank. You'll need every shred of light you can get. If you decide to upgrade lighting a little, nanotuners.com also sells upgrade kits that will allow you to double your light output. They offer a discount to nanoreef forum members too. Certain items. I saved like 45 bucks on my BioCube when purchased. Of course, if you decide to ditch the lid altogether.... you can get nearly anything you want. lol But I like the lid.

 

[xenia2]

My 7 months BC14, still work in progress

 

[BigTuna321]

nice tanks guys maybe ill post mine

 

[jun_18T]

ok guys.....

i had my tank setup with sand and water already. will get the LR tomrrow after work. when cycling the tank....do i need to put on the lights??? and by the way....what would be the schedule for the lighting once i get the tank established???

thanks again

 

[oneoffcustom]

You dont need the light, in fact by not useing the light you algae bloom will be light at the ending of cycle. However if you go and spend good money on good colored rock you will want the light on. I do a 12 hour cycle. I do actinics for two hors then both actinic and daylight and then actinic two hours and then moon lights. two seperate timers run my lights.

 

[jkrentz2515]

I run my actinics for an hour then turn on the daylight with the actinic for about 7 hours, and then another hour with just the actinic. This is to simulate sunrise and sunset. the rest of the time I have the moonlights on.