Biocube 29g....Media reactor or Refugium? And go...

vettemedx

New member
Just looking to hear some opposing views if I should go with a media reactor running biopellets or an inTank refugium basket with chaeto in my middle chamber of my established biocube. I took over the tank from someone about 2 months ago and slowly getting this tank up to speed. It has a shallow sand bed, 30 lbs of live rock, aquatic life 115 skimmer and is doing well. Water parameters are spot on except for slightly higher nitrate levels than I'd like (I.e. 40 ppm). I do frequent water changes and always sphyon the sand. The levels did drop drastically since taking over the tank. I know the media reactor does a good job, especially the innovative marine, (which is the one I'm considering) of helping with the nitrates but I'd also like to increase my copepod population. I can easily dose them, but just looking for some opinions on options. I'd love to add a mandarin goby soon. Don't have the option to add a sumo and not really looking to add a hang on but not totally out of the question. Thanks for the help.
 
I run a jbj 29, and can't really say on either of your options my parameters stay in check with weekly water changes, and that's with max or a little more on bio load. I'm pretty sure the smaller tanks can't keep up with the population needed to sustain a goby.
 
I'd do a refugium. I did when I started my 29g tank up. Just buy a $12 LED floodlight off ebay, hang it behind the tank shining into the second chamber, and plug it in. Once the algae grows back there, turn the pumps off, take a plastic card, scrape the algae off the walls, then do your water change, siphoning out all of that algae from the back chamber (the back chambers hold about 5-6 gallons, so just the right amount for a 5g water change too!).

I don't like media racks, because you're dependent on expensive media.

I would not recommend adding a mandarin goby ever to a nano, unless you have a stable source of food, whether it is live food, or the goby is trained to eat frozen food.

Since you have the aquaticlife skimmer running, you could also take a look at vodka dosing. Start at 0.1mL/day, dosed before the tank lights come on, and gradually build up to 0.5mL/day or even 1mL, depending on your need. Over time it'll reduce nitrates and phosphates, and will thicken the skimmate production.
 
I'm starting to think this Goby is going to be a pipe dream. I'm not too sure I want to do all the cleaning and maintenance that this refugium requires (i.e scraping and cleaning). I like that I can add biopellets as needed to the reactor and switch up the media to meet my needs should they change.
 
I'm starting to think this Goby is going to be a pipe dream. I'm not too sure I want to do all the cleaning and maintenance that this refugium requires (i.e scraping and cleaning). I like that I can add biopellets as needed to the reactor and switch up the media to meet my needs should they change.


If you have enough live rock, a good dose of pods, can survive in the main tank as well. Obviously not as a good as a fuge.
 
I was going to do a media & fuge basket but decided to go with fuge basket and a minimax desktop reactor in chamber two. if you go with a reactor, you can change out the media to whatever you want.

The cost of gfo and carbon is much cheaper for a reactor than buying the typical purien & chemipure elite setup for the basket.

i thought about a sump but dint want the complexity of the setup
 
Not sure, they seem to hide :grin: i dose every 6 weeks but no idea if im doing it correctly.
My fuge basket isn't set up yet.
 
I would go refugium. That's what I have in mine. I don't even have a basket, just put chaeto in middle chamber and cadlights pls 50 skimmer in first chamber. No chemical filtration and my nitrates and phosphates stay consistently low with only one 25% water change a month. Very easy way to go IMO. The ONLY gripe I have is that my return gets clogged with chaeto bits, so I clean that every water change.


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Hey Gilby.....i know sponges are frowned upon, but get some good filter floss and wedge it in the slot between the middle and pump chamber. that will prevent the chaeto from getting into the pump and return. that stuff destroys the pump. Make sure to at least rinse or change the floss at each water change. The stuff is cheap enough. If you have pods in your refugium, they will find a way through the floss to the main part of the DT
 
Also helpful for keeping return pump clean, Maxijets come with a 1" or so long pre-filter basket that you can put on the intake. If yours is a maxijet, you can take that out of the box and install it. If not, if/when your pump dies, or you just want to replace it, you can buy a maxijet and just remember to keep the prefilter on it.
 
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