Coralife BioCube 29g Build

soulpatch said:
flame angel can pick on corals. I think the wrasse is ok though. I am not sure about having both an angel and wrasse in the tank together though. I would pick one or the other. I would also recommend something like a tail spot blenny to give some live around the rock work.
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Hmm"¦ I love the look of the flame angel. Will have to think about those. Thanks for the blenny recommendation. Good idea.
 
timfederwitz said:
The biggest issue I am having with a QT tank is where the hell to put it! LOL I believe I have a 15 gallon setup that was a freshwater tank for my middle son (probably somewhere in my basement). I'll have to dig around for that this weekend. And I guess I can put it in my younger sons room, but kind of unfair when it's between livestock QT"¦ ahhh, who am I kidding?!? That thing will probably be constantly stocked with something waiting to make its way into my tank! LOL

For the pump, will probably order that shortly"¦ as in, before I get on my plane. Gotta love Amazon Prime!

I saw the RODI unit you got. I assume you like it, but if you were buying it again would you get the same exact one?
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I would have gotten the 6 stage only since I am upgrading and will be making more water. The great thing about BRS though is that I can add the other 2 staged for cheap when I start up the next tank. Then I can have the DI resin in rotation and an extra carbon block.

Our water is not that bad so the filters last quite a while. I am no where close to needing to swap mine out at this point and I like the water saver option on mine since we have to pay for water.

I still have my older coralife that I hated if you wanted to mess with that to see about getting it working but ideally I would say to buy your own and get a quality unit from BRS or sprectrapure.


As for the flame angel - If you like that more then the wrasse then go for it. Mike at ASR has one in stock right now I believe. If it doesnt work then you trade it in for something else.

I myself will most likely be getting an angel and a puffer for my 93 gallon which are both very risky (puffer especially since he will likely eat my CUC)
 
You really won't need the reactor for a while, at least until a while after adding any corals. A new tank will always get some algae, even of you were already running GFO in a reactor. It's just part of the tank actually becoming mature. We've all battled it at one point, its going to happen, just be prepared for it. Some algae isn't a bad thing, I have a couple small patches of GHA on a few of my rocks, it doesn't get any bigger, but also hasn't died off, It's just part of the biodiversity in my tank. If and when it becomes a problem, I'll deal with it then. If you ever have a look see at a mature tank, there is always some algae in it.
 
Got home around 8:30. Had to hang out with the kids for a bit before checking out the stuff that already arrived. ;)

My Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix, Red Sea Hydrometer, and Red Sea Marine Test Kit are here.

Today I ordered the following that is supposed to arrive on Sunday:
- Jebao RW4 circulation pump
- Aquaticlife 115 Skimmer
- Apex Jr controller (I have some ideas how I can make this work the best for what I have until I can add on to it.)

Stuff that should arrive tomorrow (Saturday):
- Cobalt Neo-Therm 100W heater

Stuff to arrive on Tuesday:
- 4 x 4.4g jugs of Live Nutri Seawater

Can't wait! Will try to get some pics up soon. We are re-painting the whole inside of the house at the same time, so the place is a mess. LOL
 
Well, I got to spend a bit off time on the tank today. I cut the necessary holes in the back of the stand for the wires and future tubes for the BRS mini reactor that I'll add in the future.

I didn't get a chance to wire up the cabinet the way I want to just yet, but I filled the tank with water and started everything up (minus the skimmer) to make sure there aren't any leaks and that everything works.

The Jebao rw4 works just fine, but it was obviously not the highest quality component, so hopefully it lasts longer than it looks like it will. ;)

Here are some photos of the gear.
12a1a0da8156fa1a426c6fd759dbc72e.jpg

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Will have to snag some photos of the tank itself, but not very interesting without rock and sand. I think I will order the TBS package towards the end of the month... But the wife might want it sooner.
 
homer1475 said:
The simplest easiest mod to make it quieter, is to take it apart, snap off the elbow where the air intake is, and just replace it with one long piece of air hose. The longer the better. Mine sticks out the back of the hood with a small shutoff valve. I never hear it.
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Hey homer1475, I know you have the BioCube 29 and the Aquaticlife 115 skimmer, and it appears you have the skimmer in chamber #1. I just got my cube and also bought the 115 skimmer, but I am wondering how you are getting it to fit in chamber #1.

Using the default gear it comes with (the suction cups on the black brackets), it seems like it won't be an easy fit or the suction cups won't be strong enough to hold the skimmer in place to allow continually taking off and putting back on the cup. I tried it in chamber #1 before I put any water in and it didn't seem too stable, was a VERY tight fit, and putting the cup back on "knocked" it off its suction cups.

I haven't tried it in the tank again since I put water in, but not sure if it will make a difference. I *did* drill out the air intake elbow and added a pretty long hose and shutoff valve that will route outside the hood.

I saw a YouTube video by ReefThuz about modifying the 115 skimmer so it fits in chamber #1, but the reason he was modifying was due to a "brace" of sorts in the hood that would hit the cup. I don't think that is there on mine. He used a magnet epoxied to the skimmer body to mount it with a magnet that would allow decent adjustment. Just wondering if this is what you did?
 
timfederwitz said:
I saw a YouTube video by ReefThuz about modifying the 115 skimmer so it fits in chamber #1, but the reason he was modifying was due to a "brace" of sorts in the hood that would hit the cup. I don't think that is there on mine. He used a magnet epoxied to the skimmer body to mount it with a magnet that would allow decent adjustment. Just wondering if this is what you did?
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One thing to note... that video is fairly old, and in just watching it again I noticed that the version of the Aquaticlife 115 skimmer I have is also not identical to the one he has in the video.

I am thinking between the difference in the skimmer, along with the difference in the BioCube hood, perhaps no modification is needed... but my questions still remain on how well it works mounted in the first chamber.

Even if I use the suction cups, it seems difficult (at best) to make minor height adjustments to make sure the level is right, and the fact that the suction cups came off the unit so easily when trying to remove seems like a PITA.

Maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. ;)
 
I mounted mine like you saw in that video. Works perfectly, and if your cube is the corallife version, it has that brace and the AL115 hasn't changed. I only bought and setup mine back in February.

I believe ReefWreak had his mounted differently, you could try PM'ing him?
 
homer1475 said:
I mounted mine like you saw in that video. Works perfectly, and if your cube is the corallife version, it has that brace and the AL115 hasn't changed. I only bought and setup mine back in February.

I believe ReefWreak had his mounted differently, you could try PM'ing him?
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Okay... maybe I'm just remembering incorrectly then. The mod seems easy enough, and the magnet idea seemed like the best method for minor adjustments, etc.

I will probably just follow that mod then. Still seems tight though! LOL
 
It's tight, but fits just right. I can actually slide mine out with the magnet installed on the skimmer, unlike your shown in the video. I started my cube exactly like those videos, then found here. Really wish I had found this site first, would have saved me some $$, and some minor headaches. :thumbsup:
 
The magnet is great for those minor adjustments in water level. Just be forewarned, with my tank and AL115, it sits so high in the water column, I cannot close the back lid. But if you read through my build thread, you'll find I ditched the "lids" months ago in favor of cooler temps.
 
homer1475 said:
It's tight, but fits just right. I can actually slide mine out with the magnet installed on the skimmer, unlike your shown in the video. I started my cube exactly like those videos, then found here. Really wish I had found this site first, would have saved me some $$, and some minor headaches. :thumbsup:
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What else from those videos is wrong (so I can avoid the same things)?

I felt, after reading on here, that the eShopps sponges and polishing pads, and even the Sachem Matrix and carbon probably unnecessary.

I plan on getting the BRS mini reactor in the not-too-distant future, and not planning on running any sponges in the filter portion. I *may* add some egg crate where the original filter tray was to allow adding some filter floss from time to time, but generally not planning on running any floss.
 
homer1475 said:
The magnet is great for those minor adjustments in water level. Just be forewarned, with my tank and AL115, it sits so high in the water column, I cannot close the back lid. But if you read through my build thread, you'll find I ditched the "lids" months ago in favor of cooler temps.
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I did read that in your thread. I just got my Apex temp probe in today and have noticed the temps increasing all day about one tenth every ten minutes. I have nothing but water in the tank at the moment, so I am interested in mapping out the temp swing over the next few days to see how bad things are.

I originally wanted a rimless tank and was just going to run a clear screen over top, but my wife really likes the full hood look (the tank is in the living room) and is worried that the cat will want to take a dip if there is no lid... but I guess we'll see how things come along.
 
I suppose the worst case would be adding a chiller... but I'd really rather not do that.

Plus, I do find it interesting that my 60g freshwater tank doesn't seem to swing in temp at all... but maybe I don't pay as close of attention. ;)
 
timfederwitz said:
I originally wanted a rimless tank and was just going to run a clear screen over top, but my wife really likes the full hood look (the tank is in the living room)
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This is exactly why I bought the biocube myself. Now after having it a ehile and my wife watching me mod the h*ll out of it, she's admitting we should have started out with the bigger rimless tank. :bounce2:

One thing I will tell you from those videos, no matter how hard you try, that little bag of purigen will never stay tucked in between the second and third chambers without something holding it there. lol

Your already here and getting great advice, never mind those videos and do nothing that you saw in them with the exception of the skimmer mod. Not that those videos are necessarily wrong, you know the old saying, "there s more then one way to skin a cat", same thing applies to reefing.
 
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