Coralife BioCube 29g Build

Kind of funny"¦ my smaller anemone took a tour of the tank over the last week, but now he is right back where he started. LOL

Also, the AL115 skimmer is pulling a lot of cr@p from the tank, but I am having to empty twice a day or the foam bubbles out the top vents. I empty at night and in the morning. Not a big deal.

I also have found that my salinity is dropping over time, and I think I surmised that the InTank media basket, with polyfill and the media bags with Seachem Seagel eventually "clog up" and that lowers the water level where the ATO is. So it is adding more RODI than is truly needed and lowering salinity.

I guess this means I need to be more religious about cleaning that out. The rest of the tank is so self-sustaining that I guess I feel like it doesn't need maintenance and forget.
 
It sounds like the skimmer is skimming out too much water and it's getting replaced with ro (it pulls salt water and should be replaced with salt water, not ro)

I would raise the height of the skimmer so it skims drier. That's what I liked about the AL, that it would work with higher and lower water levels, like a real skimmer. This Tunze doesn't like to be controlled via water level, only air level, which is much less precise.
 
ReefWreak said:
It sounds like the skimmer is skimming out too much water and it's getting replaced with ro (it pulls salt water and should be replaced with salt water, not ro)

I would raise the height of the skimmer so it skims drier. That's what I liked about the AL, that it would work with higher and lower water levels, like a real skimmer. This Tunze doesn't like to be controlled via water level, only air level, which is much less precise.
Click to expand...


Didn't think about that. But in order to do that, I think I have to change from the first chamber. The first chamber is a constant water level, which is great, but in order to raise the skimmer, it will have to stick out of the top of the hood. And I'm not sure how to pull that off.

The alternative is to move it to chamber two and let the ATO take care of water height management, to allow me to keep the air level high and skim drier. Again, haven't fully thought that one all the way through.

Any thoughts?

BTW, love the collaboration on this forum!!
 
timfederwitz said:
Didn't think about that. But in order to do that, I think I have to change from the first chamber. The first chamber is a constant water level, which is great, but in order to raise the skimmer, it will have to stick out of the top of the hood. And I'm not sure how to pull that off.

The alternative is to move it to chamber two and let the ATO take care of water height management, to allow me to keep the air level high and skim drier. Again, haven't fully thought that one all the way through.

Any thoughts?

BTW, love the collaboration on this forum!!
Click to expand...

You should have plenty of headroom above the AL115 to raise it up and out of the water. Take a pic of where your water level is currently on your skimmer. I could slide mine up plenty without it hitting the hood. I took pictures because I knew the water level question was going to come up at some point, but I can't find them right now and am in a hurry to eat lunch. So this video shows how I had the AL115 set up. You should be able to adjust the height of the skimmer in the water to let it skim drier or wetter.

https://goo.gl/photos/GBDGJ35qhjeCdqyM6
 
How do you have the skimmer mounted? Is it too close to the outside edge? I think....think mind you, that I had a similar issue when I was testing that skimmer out in mine and had to re-position it.
 
Cabo2008 said:
Hey Tim, How's the tank doing these days?
Click to expand...


Hey Cabo! Life right now is fairly insane. We are trying to finish the kitchen renovation, and everything from the kitchen is everywhere ELSE around the house. Lots of other things (kids sports, school, etc) keep interfering as well, and then there's the puppy who is already the size of a medium dog, but still has no discipline and can figure out how to get into anything and everything!!!! We are going to have to start hanging things from the ceiling!

Tank is doing decent, but I haven't been able to spend much time with it. It needs a serious cleaning, but I am impressed with how clean the snails and hermits seem to keep it. ;)

Hopefully we finish the kitchen this week, but it may slip into next week still.
 
Coralife BioCube 29g Build

A quick post as I have to run out the door, but Soulpatch told me not long ago that some people use Magic Erasers to clean their tank glass so I tried it. HOLY CR@P does it work!!! And it is SO much easier than the scrubbing pads I had been using. But the best part? It seems to keep the glass free from any algae or build up for FAR longer!! My tank has never looked so clean and clear. Loving it's!! Thanks for the recommendation Soulpatch!

Hope to find time to post more soon. We are supposed to get a nasty snow storm and are expected to lose power, so I just ordered two battery powered air pumps. Hopefully they work out.

Haven't gotten a whole house generator yet, but that's on the list.
 
I got a spare generator if you need to borrow it this weekend. It is only 3500 watts so it will power your fridge, fish tanks, tv, and space heater.

Nothing special with it but it is around should the need arise.
 
Soulpatch you are the freakin man! I'll let you know as soon as I talk to the wife. I am such a slacker. Doubt I could find one to buy now since everyone is probably gobbling them up. LOL
 
It's been far too long since I last posted, but the tank is just chugging along. I honestly haven't done much of anything new to the tank, but i still enjoy it EVERY day!

A few things:
  • Maintenance requirements have been VERY low, which was my goal
  • Unfortunately, I don't have a whole lot in my tank, but love what I do have
  • I'm a little afraid to add things, raise the bioload and create the need for more maintenance and probably not keep up with it over the long haul
  • But, at the same time I would like to get a larger tank, and my wife would like to see additional interesting things in the tank

SO, my thought was to use my BioCube as a QT tank, and I was *thinking* about using what I have in the BioCube in the larger tank since it is established and I do love everything in it.

The tank I love, and have loved since I started looking at tanks, is the Red Sea REEFER 250. However, I really don't want the open top rimless (I do, but it just doesn't work for my house with 5 kids, 2 dogs and a cat). I could possibly add a screen top to it, but I don't think the wife would like the lights being exposed. But I love the idea that the REEFER 250 is a configured system that is tried and true and doesn't require me to "figure things out".

About the lights, my wife likes the hood on the BioCube and that it hides things with almost no light bleed. She also likes the assurance that the cat can't jump into the tank... she is not sold on a screen top, and I can almost guarantee that if she saw the REEFER 250 with lights hanging over it she would say NO WAY.

So I really need something with a hood, and can't fathom adding a hood to the REEFER 250 since it would destroy it's amazing lines. However, maybe I could get/create a hood that follows the lines perfectly and essentially "hovers" over the tank to hide the lighting for the most part.

Another thought I had was getting a 40G breeder tank and then buying a stand & hood for that, but then I also need to look at a sump and drill the tank and plumb it (the REEFER has all of this already).

Anyway, I am looking for suggestions of tank options.

Here are my wants/needs:
  • Max Tank Dimensions = 36” length, 20”ish depth, height is less of a concern, but probably no more than 22”, and I think I like shallower tanks
  • Want a good quality stand/hood combo
  • Would prefer something already drilled for sump
  • Needs to look nice as it is going to be in a dining room

** UPDATE **
I also wanted to add that I am not really interested in another AIO tank since it seems to limit options on what can be added in a clean way. My skimmer has not been working correctly, and quite frankly I don't think it ever worked extremely well for me, so I don't want to replace it with the same model and yet I am seriously limited on what skimmers will fit in the back in the first place. At least a sump in a stand gives me lots of options around size, etc. ALSO, it seems (to me anyway) that AIO tanks have a much shallower DT area, and I want as much depth as that 20" will allow.
 
Last edited:
Is this going where the FW tank is? If so isn't that a 48" long tank?

I don't think you would need to be concerned with the screen top with the cats. For the lighting you could make your own floating canopy to take care of that.

I can come over and help you get your wife drunk and we then talk her into the idea and get her agreement on tape so you would be covered...
 
soulpatch said:
Is this going where the FW tank is? If so isn't that a 48" long tank?

I don't think you would need to be concerned with the screen top with the cats. For the lighting you could make your own floating canopy to take care of that.

I can come over and help you get your wife drunk and we then talk her into the idea and get her agreement on tape so you would be covered...
Click to expand...



It is not going where the FW tank is. I am transferring the FW fish and plants to a different tank going in the girls room and my wife gets that spot back for a new buffet (she's been ****ed ever since I made her move the original buffet).

If you remember where my cube is now, there is a short wall jutting out dividing the living room and dining room. It is going on the other side of that in the dining room"¦ where the big FW tank was SUPPOSED to go originally. ;-)

There is a window on that wall, and she wouldn't stand for having the tank cover a couple inches of the window, and things have to be *centered* on walls. Like my new 65" 4K TV, which I had to remount because it wasn't centered. So really, 36" is perfect in her mind to allow a few inches on the left and have the same few inches to the window.

Also, I am wondering if the Kessil LEDs you have would possibly work without a hood. If I remember, they don't throw light too much and seem pretty focused. Maybe just a single 700?
 
That small wall only juts out like 20 inches? What if you put the biocube on that side and did a larger cube on the living room side of the wall?
 
soulpatch said:
That small wall only juts out like 20 inches? What if you put the biocube on that side and did a larger cube on the living room side of the wall?
Click to expand...



It juts out like 23", so that's why I'm thinking a 20" tank should be good, especially if the plumbing doesn't go past that depth like on the REEFER 250.

Also, part of the idea is to not have a tank in the living room to give us more room for our new living room furniture.
 
We are also replacing the dining room table with something narrower and shorter to give us more room in the dining room.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
if the red sea appeals to you and it will fit then go with that and perhaps the AP700. You shouldn't have too much light bleed and if so we could always mock up a floating canopy.
 
soulpatch said:
if the red sea appeals to you and it will fit then go with that and perhaps the AP700. You shouldn't have too much light bleed and if so we could always mock up a floating canopy.
Click to expand...



Yeah"¦ I keep coming back to it. I love the lines, as does the wife, and I like how it is pre-built but I still get to pick the components.

I was just interested in looking at all possible options so I feel like I didn't just jump at it.
 
You could look into some of the IM tanks but they might be AIO.

You could also ping Steve at SC to see what it would cost to meet your needs...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
ATO multiple water jugs
Replies
4
Views
217
WMCWINGS186
W
rpscuba
JBJ RL Nano 20 gal
Replies
7
Views
506
Patrick Seastar
Patrick Seastar
P
DIY Hang on back Sump Tank
Replies
14
Views
499
kharmaguru
kharmaguru
A
Getting back into the hobby... Whre's the live rock?
2
Replies
20
Views
706
alton
alton
yoyoyoo123
Anyone want 10-12 pounds of live rock for free?
Replies
1
Views
176
yoyoyoo123
yoyoyoo123
Back
Top