Billybatz9
New member
I am thinking about going with rapidled, but do not know which package I shouldd get, also I don't know which is the best for my money. What color ratio do you run?
Bio Cube Owner's Thread
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
I am thinking about going with rapidled, but do not know which package I shouldd get, also I don't know which is the best for my money. What color ratio do you run?
Coelli
New member
Mostly royal blue/cool white (since that's what mine came with). It has 12x RB, 12x cool white, 1x red, 1x green, and 4 UV. I may replace the cool white with natural white at some point (or at least some of them) and maybe some lime green. Not yet though.
The Aurora puck doesn't look bad at all, especially if you have a controller, but even without one!
BioCubeGuy
New member
Just realized I haven't posted a biocube pic yet... Here's a quick pic. Just turned on the light so everything was waking up.
After about 5 or so years out of the hobby, I'm looking forward to picking up a 29g Coralife Biocube this weekend. I started the hobby about 9 years ago with a 24g nano cube, then after a year or so of that started a 120g mixed reef (mostly SPS). I'm really looking forward to reading this whole thread cover to cover (to cover to cover, considering the splits).
Hopefully I remember some things from my years being on RC 24/7 and hopefully can contribute to this thread in a positive way as well once I'm up and running. Thanks to everyone who has thus far contributed to the thread! I've got some great ideas brewing already.
Hopefully I remember some things from my years being on RC 24/7 and hopefully can contribute to this thread in a positive way as well once I'm up and running. Thanks to everyone who has thus far contributed to the thread! I've got some great ideas brewing already.
BioCubeGuy
New member
Welcome back to the hobby! Let us know what you pick up : )
Billybatz9
New member
Did you get your biocube yet? What are you putting in your chambers?
I am still stuck on what to put (carbon, matrix, chemi pure elite, purigen, , filter floss, etc). What do you think?
Billybatz9
New member
Having that being said... what is everyone putting in their chambers? And how is your water quality, algae, etcc..?
I did pick up the biocube package. It's in my living room cycling. It's a complicated story of what is in it, but the point is it's there and it's cycling. It came with a LOT so it'll need a big post and some thinking through to accurately describe it.
I'm still cycling, so I have not added anything yet, however since I was ordering drygoods anyway, I've already planned out that I will definitely be running GFO (phosban, etc) for phosphate control, and maybe some Chemi-pure at some point.
I'm a big fan of keeping filtration as natural as possible, but coming from a larger tank where there was a LOT of sand bed and rock surface area for a lot of denitrification, I'm not sure how doable it will be in this smaller tank. I think the best bet will be GFO, carbon, and liverock rubble. That's effectively what I used to run with my large setup, and should be more than enough for this tank for now. I may need to change my approach, but we'll see.
I do have an Aquaticlife 115 skimmer that came with the tank, and I think I'll set that up. I know it won't be like my good old EuroReef that I had in my 120, but it'll be something, and I think it's helpful for aerating the water as well.
We shall see how my tank cycle goes. The rock that came with the tank was sitting in buckets for a month with no lid on half of the rock since the tank was broken down, about a month ago. Once set up, after 8 hours of pumps running, there was already nitrate in the water, so either the rocks are still live, or there was residual nitrate. Not sure which. The water was all the nutri-sea pre-boxed seawater stuff. A total scam, but whatever, this is NYC and I needed it all together in a hurry. I think I'll buy an RO/DI system soon though for topoff water.
Sweet tank though. Full Reefkeeper Lite setup (though no net module
), 3xEcoxotic panorama pro modules on a Current USA dimmable controller, Aquaticlife skimmer, nice Cobalt heater, 1/15hp JBJ chiller, and some test kits. Whatever was missing I've already ordered and should be here this week. I'm excited to get back into everything, hopefully this works out.I'm still trying to figure out how to stock the tank too. I think I'm too obsessed with SPS, so there will be that. Maybe a clam if I'm lucky, and I'm thinking of flasher wrasses or something else as the main
fish species. It was either diverse wrasses, or a mating pair of dwarf angels. But who knows, we'll see how it goes.
I'm working very hard to keep to reefkeeping rule #1: Be Patient
Coelli
New member
From what I understand, wrasses in a 29g with other fish can be hit or miss. There's just not a lot of space in there once the LR is in (I have about 35# of LR and a 10g water change will drop 50% of my DT's water level).
I'm running the AquaticLife 115 too. Two tips: do the airline mod if it hasn't already been done, and empty the cup with a turkey baster between cleanings rather than taking the cup off every time. Makes life MUCH easier.
Also running Purigen and Chemi-pure Elite. Water params are fairly good, a little nitrate but not much and mostly due to my overfeeding. I ran GFO (4 tsps) for the first 3 weeks to remove some phosphate before adding coral.
I had the Intank Fuge basket for a few weeks but recently removed it. The way it's shaped made it hard to get light to all of the chaeto and with such a small amount I decided I could use the space more than the chaeto.
Enjoy the new tank!
I'm running the AquaticLife 115 too. Two tips: do the airline mod if it hasn't already been done, and empty the cup with a turkey baster between cleanings rather than taking the cup off every time. Makes life MUCH easier.
Also running Purigen and Chemi-pure Elite. Water params are fairly good, a little nitrate but not much and mostly due to my overfeeding.
I ran GFO (4 tsps) for the first 3 weeks to remove some phosphate before adding coral.I had the Intank Fuge basket for a few weeks but recently removed it. The way it's shaped made it hard to get light to all of the chaeto and with such a small amount I decided I could use the space more than the chaeto.
Enjoy the new tank!
From what I understand, wrasses in a 29g with other fish can be hit or miss. There's just not a lot of space in there once the LR is in (I have about 35# of LR and a 10g water change will drop 50% of my DT's water level).
I'm running the AquaticLife 115 too. Two tips: do the airline mod if it hasn't already been done, and empty the cup with a turkey baster between cleanings rather than taking the cup off every time. Makes life MUCH easier.
Also running Purigen and Chemi-pure Elite. Water params are fairly good, a little nitrate but not much and mostly due to my overfeeding.
I had the Intank Fuge basket for a few weeks but recently removed it. The way it's shaped made it hard to get light to all of the chaeto and with such a small amount I decided I could use the space more than the chaeto.
Enjoy the new tank!
Thanks for the tips with the skimmer. I've traditionally been a stickler for keeping the neck clean, since with my old ER the efficiency of it's skimming plummeted if the neck was dirty, but we'll see how it goes.
I know that overfeeding is a concern, and I will definitely not be doing that. I'm looking to keep the bioload pretty light. My first 24g I bought used back in 2005... it came with a yellow tank, and about 10 other fishes, in the 24g. As soon as I learned ANYTHING I removed most of the fishes and only kept a few small ones. It was a surprisingly ingenious setup though as it contained a ton of caulerpa macroalgae.
The idea of the wrasses was from the book "The 101 Best Nano-Reef Species: How to Choose & Keep Hardy, Brilliant, Fascinating Species Perfect for Small Aquariums" by Scott Michael. It's the only book I have in NYC for aquariums (I have a whole library at home, didn't expect to start up a tank again any time soon). There is a whole section giving some ideas on ideal setups of different sizes, including one featuring a harem of flasher wrasses. My prior idea came from the Coral Magazine issue on breeding marine fishes, where one of the articles discussed 30g being the perfect habitat for a breeding pair of dwarf angel fishes. In a perfect world I'd have time to invest in breeding them, but unfortunately I don't.
Anyway, I'll post pics soon. Thanks again for the recommendations!
Coelli
New member
I think the wrasse issue will mostly come up if you're trying for a community tank. There was a book about nanos I read (can't remember the name right now and I'm on my phone) that hailed the six-line over and over, but when I did some forum research there wasn't a lot of good to be said for them. I'd love to add a McCosker's myself. For now I'm sticking to a YWG and a royal gramma and ultimately a pair of clowns - though I'm upgrading to a 40B soon anyway (my BC's glass is etched and cloudy )
For now I'm sticking to a YWG and a royal gramma and ultimately a pair of clowns - though I'm upgrading to a 40B soon anyway (my BC's glass is etched and cloudy )I think the wrasse issue will mostly come up if you're trying for a community tank. There was a book about nanos I read (can't remember the name right now and I'm on my phone) that hailed the six-line over and over, but when I did some forum research there wasn't a lot of good to be said for them. I'd love to add a McCosker's myself.
That's a great point. Wrasses have very distinct personalities though depending on the specific species (and individual too!). 6-lines do have a bad rap, and well deservedly as well, both in the forums and in my experience. I had one in my old 120g SPS reef, but fortunately there was a TON of rock for all of the inhabitants to share, and the 6-line was one of the smallest fishes I had.
Most of the flasher wrasses I thought would be peaceful. Now I've looked at some of the threads and am having serious second thoughts... I don't want any drama. We'll see, ideally I'll see if I can request from a store or online store a specific mix of already acclimated wrasses of specific genders (i.e. a harem) and see what that runs.
BioCubeGuy
New member
Chamber 1 : Aquaticlife 115 skimmer
Chamber 2 : InTank Media basket w/ Filter floss, purigen, Chemi-pure elite.
InTank Fuge basket w/Chateo, live rock
Chamber 3: JBJ NanoZapp UV sterilizer.
Water is crystal clear. Very little algae if any.
Rotorocious
New member
Bio Cube Owner's Thread
So I'll share my tank I guess and my problem.
I have the coralife bc29. About two months in. Cycled. Using the lfs rodi saltwater for now. I've got the intank setup with the floss/purigen/chemi and some chaeto next to it. Chaeto has only been in there a couple weeks.
Upgraded return pump and 425 nano power head in the tank as well.
Aquatic 115 skimmer in chamber 1. Skimmate is always tea colored but watery.
Ai hydra fitted to the stock hood.
Been having nitrate issues since the cycle. Done several water changes and they never go down. Even after a 50% water change. I blast the rocks and crevasses with a baster before water changes and vac the sand bed.
I've got about 16lbs of LR with a decent cuc, hermits,snails, conch. Only have a shrimp, chromis and a gobi in there right now.
Me and my lfs are baffled to why the nitrates aren't going down. They are typically in the 30-60 range. Orange color always. What could I be missing?
Everything seems fine, water is clear , my couple soft corals seem ok. I feed twice a day a small amount, always gone within a minute. I just recently started to melt/rinse the frozen mysis shrimp before feeding.
Ph about 8.2-8.4
Ammonia 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30-60ppm
Salinity 1.024
Phosphates 0
Calcium 320ppm
Kh- 9.9dkh
So I'll share my tank I guess and my problem.
I have the coralife bc29. About two months in. Cycled. Using the lfs rodi saltwater for now. I've got the intank setup with the floss/purigen/chemi and some chaeto next to it. Chaeto has only been in there a couple weeks.
Upgraded return pump and 425 nano power head in the tank as well.
Aquatic 115 skimmer in chamber 1. Skimmate is always tea colored but watery.
Ai hydra fitted to the stock hood.
Been having nitrate issues since the cycle. Done several water changes and they never go down. Even after a 50% water change. I blast the rocks and crevasses with a baster before water changes and vac the sand bed.
I've got about 16lbs of LR with a decent cuc, hermits,snails, conch. Only have a shrimp, chromis and a gobi in there right now.
Me and my lfs are baffled to why the nitrates aren't going down. They are typically in the 30-60 range. Orange color always. What could I be missing?
Everything seems fine, water is clear , my couple soft corals seem ok. I feed twice a day a small amount, always gone within a minute. I just recently started to melt/rinse the frozen mysis shrimp before feeding.
Ph about 8.2-8.4
Ammonia 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30-60ppm
Salinity 1.024
Phosphates 0
Calcium 320ppm
Kh- 9.9dkh
ReeferDale14
New member
Hey Guys,
I'm going away for a few days, can anyone suggest an automatic feeder that will fit my biocube 29? To feed my fish pellets and/or flakes
I'm going away for a few days, can anyone suggest an automatic feeder that will fit my biocube 29? To feed my fish pellets and/or flakes
AngelandNathan
New member
Replacement fans on coralife biocube29
Replacement fans on coralife biocube29
Has anyone replaced theirs and know what size they are? I want to replace the originals but don't know exactly what to buy I am currently looking at the Vantec Stealth fans but don't know the size are they 60mm?
Replacement fans on coralife biocube29
Has anyone replaced theirs and know what size they are? I want to replace the originals but don't know exactly what to buy I am currently looking at the Vantec Stealth fans but don't know the size are they 60mm?
I got these a while ago but eventually removed the top completely.
So yea 60 mm.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835191005
So yea 60 mm.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835191005
