BioCube Beginner

[agomez5885]

First time posting on this forum so please be patient with me. I am not familiar with all the abbreviations yet either, but I am still reading and learning.



Anyway, just bought a Oceanic Bio Cube Model 29A. I purchased it from a friend for $70.00 with everything he had and the furniture stand that matches. I do know he had it set up for fresh water but I am interested in doing a salt water aquarium.



Since I got it at a cheap price I thought I would upgrade certain components before I went ahead and added any LR of fish.



I have decided that these areas is where I want an upgrade:



Lights - Not sure what lights came on it but I think I want to change them out since I do not know how old they are. I am going to do LR and eventually once it is balanced add some Chromi's and then do something simple. Basically no coral right now. Is there any specific light that is a drop in replacement or should i just go and get the over head set up? LED? I have tons of experience keeping reptiles and I know the lights had to changed every 6 months or sooner to keep optimum UVA/UVB output.



Filter - Any recommendations? I am going to not use bio balls and fill in that chamber with LR. Do i still need the carbon filter cartridges or is there something better?



Protein Skimmer - Did not come with one I was looking into the Reef Octopus BH1000 since I have read good reviews my only concern is I am not sure if it drops in or if it really would hang off the back...I would rather avoid it hanging off the back. I have read on the CPR SR3 and read it is very noisy and performs OK. I don't mind spending more for something better quality.



Pumps - Currently not sure what pump I have with the unit so I would want to upgrade that anyway. The cube has the opening for the return jet or power-head not sure what the correct term is, but the question here is what can I upgrade to and what power-head you would recommend?



Sanitizer - Should I look into a UV Sanitizer and if so what kind? I saw that Bio Cube offers one, just don't know about quality or performance.



Any other upgrades that people have done and you would like to share I would definitely like to know. This is my first fish tank and I plan on taking my sweet time before I start putting living things into it. Sorry for this being so long but I have a lot of questions before I put anything live into it.



Thanks!

Anthony :uhoh3:

 

[agomez5885]

25 Views...and ZERO replies. damn

 

[darrennickerson]

Rapidled.com has a biocube retrofit kit. Takes a little work but it's a clean install in the factory hood. I am at work right now but if you pm me later I can help you out with some more of your questions.

 

[ryeguyy84]

First time posting on this forum so please be patient with me. I am not familiar with all the abbreviations yet either, but I am still reading and learning.



Anyway, just bought a Oceanic Bio Cube Model 29A. I purchased it from a friend for $70.00 with everything he had and the furniture stand that matches. I do know he had it set up for fresh water but I am interested in doing a salt water aquarium.



Since I got it at a cheap price I thought I would upgrade certain components before I went ahead and added any LR of fish.



I have decided that these areas is where I want an upgrade:



Lights - Not sure what lights came on it but I think I want to change them out since I do not know how old they are. I am going to do LR and eventually once it is balanced add some Chromi's and then do something simple. Basically no coral right now. Is there any specific light that is a drop in replacement or should i just go and get the over head set up? LED? I have tons of experience keeping reptiles and I know the lights had to changed every 6 months or sooner to keep optimum UVA/UVB output.

If you don't have coral (fowlr) then just replace the lights with the standard biocube PC (power compact) lights from oceanic.


Filter - Any recommendations? I am going to not use bio balls and fill in that chamber with LR. Do i still need the carbon filter cartridges or is there something better?

Live rock in the back tends to collect detritus and is not so good in the long run (my opinion) I'm a fan of the intank media basket with GFO and carbon


Protein Skimmer - Did not come with one I was looking into the Reef Octopus BH1000 since I have read good reviews my only concern is I am not sure if it drops in or if it really would hang off the back...I would rather avoid it hanging off the back. I have read on the CPR SR3 and read it is very noisy and performs OK. I don't mind spending more for something better quality.

I use an aquatic life 115 skimmer and it gets the job done. It fits right in chamber 1


Pumps - Currently not sure what pump I have with the unit so I would want to upgrade that anyway. The cube has the opening for the return jet or power-head not sure what the correct term is, but the question here is what can I upgrade to and what power-head you would recommend?

Cobalt MJ1200 make sure to get the cobalt version as its way quieter



Sanitizer - Should I look into a UV Sanitizer and if so what kind? I saw that Bio Cube offers one, just don't know about quality or performance.

Skip it


Any other upgrades that people have done and you would like to share I would definitely like to know. This is my first fish tank and I plan on taking my sweet time before I start putting living things into it. Sorry for this being so long but I have a lot of questions before I put anything live into it.



Thanks!

Anthony :uhoh3:

My 2 cents

 

[agomez5885]

ryeguyy84 - thanks a lot those are points for me to get started on!

Darrenickerson - I will be sure to pm you as soon as I get home and can sit with my laptop!

Thanks again!

 

[FishTaleZ]

Hi Anthony, Welcome to Reef Central. I owned an Oceanic 14g bio cube which was my first tank. I had it for 2 years and thoroughly enjoyed learning the basics with a reef tank. Just my very humble opinion, since you will learn so much as you go along, you can easily stick with the stock lighting and not jump into upgrades. Keep it simple as this hobby can get as expensive as your wallet will allow. Learn from your tank and in no time when the reef bug gets you, you will have no choice but to upgrade! We all get sucked in! lol
There are so many, creatures, corals, fish and you will quickly learn who does't get along with who. It's extremely hard but go slow....very slow and read, read, read! Enjoy yourself and post pics! I have my 14g cycling for two weeks now and am upgrading to a 24g this week. The reef bug either bit me again or......it never left!:bounce2::fish1::fish1::fish1:

Oops forgot to mention. I didn't really need a protein skimmer since the tank is so small that frequent water changes are key. Water changes prevent a lot of problems.

 

[Stepho725]

I filled my 2nd chamber with LR and ended up with nitrates at 80 because i forgot to add a light to keep the LR alive. So if you do plan on adding anything back there make sure you can keep it alive! Im still trying to clean up the mess I made back there!

You shouldnt need a filter as the Live Rock and Live Sand will do the filtering for you. Add Chemi-Pure Elite and Purigen and some type of filter floss to catch the gunk. Just be sure to replace the filter floss once a week.

If you dont want any coral just replace the Oceanic lightbulbs in the hood. Even if you end up wanting soft coral later you can keep that lighting system.

I will subscribe to this thread incase you have more questions.

 

[Speeddemon7]

Skimmer aquaticlife 115 in chamber one. Upgrade pump to maxijet 1200. Remove the sponge and the grate in chamber 2 as well as any plastic pieces and put purigen and chemipure elite. Lastly if your gunna do a reef get the led retro fit form rapidled.com. This has been my set up on my biocube 29 for 4 years.

 

[baws187]

I filled my 2nd chamber with LR and ended up with nitrates at 80 because i forgot to add a light to keep the LR alive. So if you do plan on adding anything back there make sure you can keep it alive! Im still trying to clean up the mess I made back there!

You shouldnt need a filter as the Live Rock and Live Sand will do the filtering for you. Add Chemi-Pure Elite and Purigen and some type of filter floss to catch the gunk. Just be sure to replace the filter floss once a week.

If you dont want any coral just replace the Oceanic lightbulbs in the hood. Even if you end up wanting soft coral later you can keep that lighting system.

I will subscribe to this thread incase you have more questions.

LR doesnt need light.

 

[Stepho725]

LR doesnt need light.

Oh funny i thought it did from some of the info i have read. Thanks for the info!

Well anyways not enough flow back there for the rock and LOTS of detritus gets stuck in there. Its just a bad idea overall.

By the way you will probably want an extra powerhead for some better flow.

 

[baws187]

Oh funny i thought it did from some of the info i have read. Thanks for the info!

Well anyways not enough flow back there for the rock and LOTS of detritus gets stuck in there. Its just a bad idea overall.

By the way you will probably want an extra powerhead for some better flow.

I am pretty sure I am correct I could be wrong hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

[ryeguyy84]

I think live rock in the dark will get more sponge growth. But it needs more flow then the back chamber can provide.

 

[CHG107]

I think live rock in the dark will get more sponge growth. But it needs more flow then the back chamber can provide.

This is correct, not much flow will go into the back chambers providing more bad results then good. Mine is going to be fish only for a while so no fancy light upgrades and such for me. As another poster said get the COBALT maxijet 1200 or MJ1200. It is sooooo much quieter then the stock or the regular MJ1200. Good luck and keep us posted!
Side note: I just put my first fish into my new biocube yesterday (pair of snowflake clowns).

 

[agomez5885]

Ok. Well my initial idea was just to do live sad and live rock and some fish. I heard you needed to start with chromi's as they adjust the nitrate/nitrite levels in the tank. And they are cheap in case something goes wrong. Sounds horrible when you say it like that but the I guess the truths the truth. Seems I will hold off on the LED upgrade until I have something more established. I will order then the cobalt version of the pump since I would like it to be quiet. I do like the stages of the intank media baskets. So I will probably do that soon as well. I keep hearing the word refugium thrown around in some posts and I would like to know what exactly these do.....and I've seen some housing plants. Is this another type of biological filtration? Is it a good idea in a cube? Wouldn't more filtration mean better water quality and overall better living conditions for fish?

 

[ryeguyy84]

The chromis will start the cycle but its a bad practice because its like throwing a fish in acid and hoping it will survive. Look up the cocktail shrimp method. Much nicer to fish (except the dead shrimp).

A refugiums is a place to grow good algae like chaeto. In theory the chaeto will out compete the bad algae by using the phosphates available in the water. Then when the chaeto grows you cut some off. Cutting it off then removes the phosphates it took to grow that piece you removed. (Did you get all that haha)

I've never been able to grow it in my biocube. It always ends up turning white and then getting sucked into the pump and spread all over the tank. Some people are able to do it, I've never been that lucky.

 

[agomez5885]

I did get all that lol. I just did some light reading on the cocktail method and I've read mixed reviews. Some ppl saying that it won't speed up the process of good bacteria acclimating on the LR or sand. Some say just wait it out, usually 4 weeks.

I was only asking about the refugium as another filter upgrade/addition to make the tank conditions more live able for fish. I eventually want to go and grow some corals and have some anemone but I would rather have a very well established fish and rock (FOWLR????) tank before advancing. I've also read up and I'm going to buy some books to educate myself. In the meantime I will get the cobalt mj1200, another question just popped in, do I need wavemakers as well?

 

[ryeguyy84]

I'm a big fan of the wait it out method myself but its hard for some people.

Do you need a wavemaker no, I added an mp10 because My other powerheads kept breaking. I would consider a powerhead once you figure out what areas in your tank need additional flow. Personally, and this is just my opinion, maybe they have changed but I'd stay away from Koralia evolution powerheads. I've owned at least 3 of them and they always start to spin backwards.

 

[MTF7]

Hello I as well have a biocube 29. First of all you are going to want to steralize everything and I mean EVERYTHING! After steralizing For your pump I would keep the stock pump for mixing water and what not and upgrade to either a rio hf6 and get a loc line with a Y split in it due to the extra flow. I would go with also either a Eco-tech MP-10 or a hydro korilla 425 nano and put it on the back wall as low as it can go and point it up.

As for your filtration get or make your own media basket and put chemi pure elite on the bottom ( in my 29 I have 1/2 a unit of chemi pure elite and a little phosban) then purigen on the middle and filter floss on the top. You can either put a skimmer or put live rock rubble ( just small fragments of live rock) and do like a refugium if you put a light back there to grow chaeto algae which helps in the removal of phosphates and nitrates.

As for a uv sanitizer I don't use one and have never really needed one. For the lights I would very very strongly recommend the rapid led solderless dimmable retro fit kit I just got them and it's a really nice improvement.

For your Live rock you deffinantly want live rock I have 40lbs in mine and for sand just my recommendation I would use sand instead of bare bottom. I think it looks less like a LFS tank then. For my sand I use the carrabian live fine ( I think it's sugar fine) and I love it! It does get sorta cloudy but you will just have to adjust the water flow so it doesn't always get cloudy. I have 40lbs of that in my tank too looks really nice I have a diamond goby which sifts the sand keeping it nice and clean. If you are going to vacum the substrate I would go with a larger grain size.

Need anything else let me know I'll throw in my 2¢

 

[agomez5885]

Well, the mod combos are seemingly endless, great for a beginner like me who doesnt really know where to start.

Anyway, I suppose I will upgrade the pump first and replace the stock lights and stock filter. From there I will decide on the Intank or making my own media basket and then I will fill it up. I guess this is a good place to start as it is a good upgrade on the filter and pump.

I am somewhat confused as to what the difference between the pump that came with my BC29 as apposed to the Cobalt MJ1200.

Seems the Cobalt is on the top of the tank and my pump is on the bottom? Is that the only difference? If so can I keep my regular pump on one end and have the cobalt in another chamber providing more flow?

Also if I do go ahead and do the refugium, which to me seems like a good idea, would that need its own light and pump as well?

 

[ryeguyy84]

Well, the mod combos are seemingly endless, great for a beginner like me who doesnt really know where to start.

Anyway, I suppose I will upgrade the pump first and replace the stock lights and stock filter. From there I will decide on the Intank or making my own media basket and then I will fill it up. I guess this is a good place to start as it is a good upgrade on the filter and pump.

I am somewhat confused as to what the difference between the pump that came with my BC29 as apposed to the Cobalt MJ1200.

Seems the Cobalt is on the top of the tank and my pump is on the bottom? Is that the only difference? If so can I keep my regular pump on one end and have the cobalt in another chamber providing more flow?

Also if I do go ahead and do the refugium, which to me seems like a good idea, would that need its own light and pump as well?

The cobalt pump is a direct replacement so you take out the stock pump and replace it with the new one. Same spot just more power.

A refugium would need its own light. People usually one of those swirly cfl lights.

I just thought of something. Do you have an auto top off or are you planning on topping off manually? I'd highly recommend an ato.