Bio Cube Owner's Thread
- Thread starter jfro
- Start date
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Octoberfest
New member
you know I read all of the bad reviews on the Oceanic Biocube skimmer and didn't want to get it. I ended up finding a used one online for $25.00 and figured I'd buy it and if it didn't work out I'd dry to mod it somehow.
After setting it up in the stock configuration and letting it run I don't see what the problem is. I'm getting a half cup of skimmate every three days or so, produces tons of foam and haven't replaced my air stone yet going on 2 months.
My nitrates are barely registering at all and I don't see a problem.
After setting it up in the stock configuration and letting it run I don't see what the problem is. I'm getting a half cup of skimmate every three days or so, produces tons of foam and haven't replaced my air stone yet going on 2 months.
My nitrates are barely registering at all and I don't see a problem.
reefloverd1
returns
I have the biocube8(small i know) and I don't use a skimmer at all. I have had no problems with my nutrients. all are 0 I even kept the bioballs in the second chamber. I had a couple of fish in there for quarantine, but have since moved them to my larger tank. Now I am using it for copepods. Its a great little aquarium.
chrismunn
New member
i dont know why people bash the biocube skimmer so much? obviously there are better skimmers out there, but he BC skimmer works just fine. i wouldnt pour back into my tank what it pulls in 2 days! 
sorry lyfey, i missed your post.
i only scraped the paint off of chamber number 2, but i scraped all of chamber 2, not just part of it. the reason for scraping all of it is because i like to reposistion my light every once in a while. there was no real science when adding my fuge, i just threw the live rock rubble into the bottom of the fuge, and then put the cheato on top of it. my light literally touches the glass so the light is concentrated only in 1/3 of the fuge at a time. thats why i like to be able to move the light. as the cheato at the bottom of the fuge grows, it grows into the only direction that it can go, which is up. as the top of the cheato grows, i slowly move the light up the back of the refugium with it. eventually over the course of a few months the cheato reaches the top of the fuge and i harvest half of it and move the light back down.
the benefit of a fuge in a nano tank compared to a larger tank is the same in my opinion. most people will tell you that a fuge in a nano is less important because the volume of water in a nano is less and that a water change is easier and goes further in the way of benefit since its a smaller volume of water. personally i think its all relative. a 15% change is a 15% change no matter what the tanks size. the reason I (how do you make the "I" lean as to put emphasis on it?) think the fuge is of the same value in the nano is because ive seen the value of mine in action. when i first set up my tank i didnt have the fuge, and i had quite few patches of nuisance hair algae growing in random parts of the display. nothing helped to relieve the problem untill i added the fuge. literally within days of adding the fuge i watched every patch of hair algae turn white and withered away untill there was none left. and it happend very, very quikly, within the matter of a week or so. then, when i harvest my cheato and reduce the size of the ball by 90% the hair algae comes back briefly untill the cheato gets back into its growth pattern, then the hair algae dissappears again.
so for me, the benefits of a fuge in the nano is a succsess by trial which is where i've developed my opinion for a fuge. for some people the results of success, or lack there of, may vary depending on the technique, type of fuge and bio load that they're dealing with. maybe i just got lucky???
sorry lyfey, i missed your post.
i only scraped the paint off of chamber number 2, but i scraped all of chamber 2, not just part of it. the reason for scraping all of it is because i like to reposistion my light every once in a while. there was no real science when adding my fuge, i just threw the live rock rubble into the bottom of the fuge, and then put the cheato on top of it. my light literally touches the glass so the light is concentrated only in 1/3 of the fuge at a time. thats why i like to be able to move the light. as the cheato at the bottom of the fuge grows, it grows into the only direction that it can go, which is up. as the top of the cheato grows, i slowly move the light up the back of the refugium with it. eventually over the course of a few months the cheato reaches the top of the fuge and i harvest half of it and move the light back down.
the benefit of a fuge in a nano tank compared to a larger tank is the same in my opinion. most people will tell you that a fuge in a nano is less important because the volume of water in a nano is less and that a water change is easier and goes further in the way of benefit since its a smaller volume of water. personally i think its all relative. a 15% change is a 15% change no matter what the tanks size. the reason I (how do you make the "I" lean as to put emphasis on it?) think the fuge is of the same value in the nano is because ive seen the value of mine in action. when i first set up my tank i didnt have the fuge, and i had quite few patches of nuisance hair algae growing in random parts of the display. nothing helped to relieve the problem untill i added the fuge. literally within days of adding the fuge i watched every patch of hair algae turn white and withered away untill there was none left. and it happend very, very quikly, within the matter of a week or so. then, when i harvest my cheato and reduce the size of the ball by 90% the hair algae comes back briefly untill the cheato gets back into its growth pattern, then the hair algae dissappears again.
so for me, the benefits of a fuge in the nano is a succsess by trial which is where i've developed my opinion for a fuge. for some people the results of success, or lack there of, may vary depending on the technique, type of fuge and bio load that they're dealing with. maybe i just got lucky???
chrismunn
New member
oh, forgot to mention...
i only scraped the paint from chamber 2 because i didnt want to deal with having any algae growing in any of the other chambers. i was afraid that light spillage into chamber 1 and 3 might have me scraping algae out of the other two chambers on all to regular of a schedual...
there's nothing that i hate more than sticking my hands into my tank, so anything i can do to reduce the time that my hands are in the water is a must! right now all i have to do is stick a rigid siphon hose into the bottom of chambers 1 and 3 to keep them clean. detritus gets sucked up and i havent been inconvinienced. if algae were to grow in there then i would have to fit my fat hand back there and pull it out. forget about it! :lol:
i only scraped the paint from chamber 2 because i didnt want to deal with having any algae growing in any of the other chambers. i was afraid that light spillage into chamber 1 and 3 might have me scraping algae out of the other two chambers on all to regular of a schedual...
there's nothing that i hate more than sticking my hands into my tank, so anything i can do to reduce the time that my hands are in the water is a must! right now all i have to do is stick a rigid siphon hose into the bottom of chambers 1 and 3 to keep them clean. detritus gets sucked up and i havent been inconvinienced. if algae were to grow in there then i would have to fit my fat hand back there and pull it out. forget about it! :lol:
casualreefer
New member
Well i just got myself a 29g biocube. i had a 24g nano and it started leaking so i had to upgrade. everything came out of the 24 nano into the biocube. i read a little bit of this thread but wow is it long. i have the upgraded lighting (144w pc) from nano tuners but a ballast went out so i am running a 2 bulb T5 homemade fixture for now. anyways i like this tank better already. here are 2 pics for now. my new naked clown!
i wanted to turn the 2nd chamber into a fuge but im lost on what light i could use for it. also any decent skimmers that are decent price. i just read a little about the bc skimmer and am looking for a used one. any questions or comments please SHOOT. i look forward in being part of this thread. thanks again.
Jake
i wanted to turn the 2nd chamber into a fuge but im lost on what light i could use for it. also any decent skimmers that are decent price. i just read a little about the bc skimmer and am looking for a used one. any questions or comments please SHOOT. i look forward in being part of this thread. thanks again.
Jake
Rob_Reef_Keeper
New member
I finally got some corals in my tank and I do not like the color they show. The tank they came out had 14K DE 250W MH's over it. I have the standard lighting 10K and Actinic. I want more color out of the corals. I am thinking about the 3 x 36 or 4 x 36 light kits from Nanotuners.
if I did the 3x36 kit and add one actinic bulb making 2 x actinic 1 x 10K will that get much more color out of the corals?
if I did the 4x36 kit and add one actinic bulb and 1 50/50 making 2 x actinic 1 x 10K and 1 x 50/50will that get much more color out of the corals?
Any other light bulb combinations better? I want to keep the stock hood to keep the tank covered (2 young kids that like to throw things).
Anyone have these upgrades? Is there a heat problem?
if I did the 3x36 kit and add one actinic bulb making 2 x actinic 1 x 10K will that get much more color out of the corals?
if I did the 4x36 kit and add one actinic bulb and 1 50/50 making 2 x actinic 1 x 10K and 1 x 50/50will that get much more color out of the corals?
Any other light bulb combinations better? I want to keep the stock hood to keep the tank covered (2 young kids that like to throw things).
Anyone have these upgrades? Is there a heat problem?
chrismunn
New member
casualreefer you can use any type of light you want for the fuge so long as it doesnt raise the temp. too much
rob_ , i dont know what corals you have but chances are they wont ever look the same in your tank as they did in the tank they came from no matter how many PC bulbs you add. obviously more bulbs are better and i would suggest going that route if you want to keep the stock hood, but the intensity put off by a PC is so much less that a MH that there is no comparison. i would just add as many PC's as you can. the heat will go up, but lets face it, its impossible to keep even a stock tanks tempurature down without a chiller or fans...
rob_ , i dont know what corals you have but chances are they wont ever look the same in your tank as they did in the tank they came from no matter how many PC bulbs you add. obviously more bulbs are better and i would suggest going that route if you want to keep the stock hood, but the intensity put off by a PC is so much less that a MH that there is no comparison. i would just add as many PC's as you can. the heat will go up, but lets face it, its impossible to keep even a stock tanks tempurature down without a chiller or fans...
casualreefer
New member
i know i can use any light, i wasn't sure if most people were using a specific fixture that worked well with the bc tanks.
Jake
Jake
jkrentz2515
New member
My tanks' temp dropped 2 degress after installing the nanotuners 144w upgrade. The fans that come with the kit keep the hood alot cooler.
Rob_Reef_Keeper
New member
I dont want MH on this tank. I dont have the electric to run a chiller either. So if I add 2 more bulbs Would changing out the stock fans be enough? The house temp will be ~70.
Rob_Reef_Keeper
New member
For example - watermelon zoas - I got them from the sellers tank then put them in mine and they dont show hardly any color. I know they will never be the same but will any coral really color up with just PC's?
jkrentz2515
New member
I would think so.
Rob_Reef_Keeper
New member
what light combo would get some color out of the corals?
additional:
10K and another actinic
2 x 50/50
50/50 and actinic
10k and 10k
additional:
10K and another actinic
2 x 50/50
50/50 and actinic
10k and 10k
jb61264
New member
I know this has probably been posted throughout this thread somewhere, but I can't find it...what is the best method for removing the false bottom in chamber #1?...of course, my BioCube 29 is currently running so I'm looking for a method that wouldn't disturb the tank too much...thanks!
Octoberfest
New member
Coral color can change in your tank. With my 150 watt sunpod fixture I've put corals in there that looked like crap and a month later the color came out great in them. Same thing can happen with PC's, just give it time and let them get used to your tank.
Fals bottom removal....push like crazy, it will come loose.
Fals bottom removal....push like crazy, it will come loose.
jkrentz2515
New member
needlenose pliers will pull it right out.
jkrentz2515
New member
The more "blue" you go the more intense/unrealistic color you will get, but to keep it looking natural I would go with the 50/50 and actinic.
I have 2 10k's and 2 actinic and I think my corals look great, but everyone has different preferences.
sweetrav18
New member
what is the benefit of removing the false botomn in the chamber?
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