Do I HAVE to modify the 14 gallon BioCube?

S

smartang22

New member
Hello. Right now I have 15 lbs. of live rock, live sand, a small clean up crew, and 2 cleaner shrimp in my tank. I have a little clown in my QT right now. I eventually want to get a yellow watchman goby and that is it. I would also like to get some peaceful soft coral, xenia, mushrooms, etc.

I know that that the BioCube claims to be ready to go stock. However, what does everyone else think? Do I really need to make any modifications? I do not want to have more than one or two in the tank, so what does everyone suggest? Of course I am a beginner, so I would love to hear what other people think. I want something that will be easier to take care of as well. And definately something that will not harm my other tank dwellers.

I like listening to everyone on RC better than the LFS. They seem to think I can throw just about anything in the tank and it would be fine. Thanks!
 
Well you do "Have" to modify the Biocube as it will provide a nice environment without modifications. However, the lighting will limit what you can keep ... zoo and shrooms should be fine.

I would recommend some very easy and basic modifications to the chambers on the back ...

Chamber 1 (currently holds removable filter plate)
- I would remove the stock filter and the false bottom in that chamber to completely open the chamber.
- Place a heater in this chamber
- Optionally place some Purigen and/or Chemi-pure

Chamber 2 (middle chamber)
- Remove the bioballs and replace with live rubble rock
- Place filter floss on top of the drip tray to trap junk. Change the floss with weekly water change.
- A little more involved, but very beneficial mod for this chamber is to convert it into a refugium. There should be lots of thread on this mod.

Chamber 3 (chamber with pump)
- Remove the sponge
- Replace the pump with a MaxiJet 900 or MiniJet 606

There are many others mods, but if you want to take the next step I would recommend the refugium and then a lighting upgrade.

Good luck!
 
Thank you GMan! I have been trying to figure all of that out by reading different posts, but being new to this I was getting confused. I really wanted to replace the pump and that MaxiJet was the first one I heard of.
I was happy witht he BioCube and not having to make modifications, but with reading all of the posts I find that the mods just make things even better. Of course, that is the point of modifications!!! I will look into all of that. Thanks again!
 
Those are some good mods Gman. I have had a 14g biocube for several weeks . I have been hiding my heater behind the rocks all this time . It will be nice to get it out of the main display tank! What the heck is that false bottom for , anyway?
I already have the rubble in the center chamber.

my nitrates soared from almost zero to 20ppm in ten days I think it might of been the sponge and filter cartridge , they were pretty nasty . I usually rinse the filter cartridge weekly when I do the water change but I don't think it was cutting it and i did not know the sponge existed till last night!
I thought I was being smart and thrifty when I decided to pull off the all the polyfiber off the cartridge and rewrap the the frame with fresh filter media and fishing line. Idid not put any carbon in it , who needs it. I like your way better , a little floss on the drip tray, so much easier!
Instead of a refugium I keep a wad of chaeto in the tank anchored between the glass and a rock where plenty of light can get to it.

I kept the stock powerhead and placed a maxijet 400 hidden behind the LR.

As for the lighting , It is still early , If strategically placed I think you can get some moderately light demaning corals.
So far I have some zooanthids,xenia, green star polyps ,candy cane and a pagoda cup which all seem to be doing well!

Goodluck smartang22, and thanks for the tips Gman!

6weeks.jpg
 
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Kingfisher62: Great set up!
That maxijet: is it for extra flow? For your set up, what do you need the extra flow for?
I am kind of anxious on how I would go about changing the pump that is already there. I am not very confident in making these modifications. I am worried about screwing something up or hurting my tank inhabitants.

Also, how do I remove the false bottom? I would be ok with the heater back there and some of that Purigen. The filter gets so dirty that I have replaced it three times in the 6 weeks I have had the tank running!
 
Looking good Kingfisher ...

I bought a small submersible halogen light and put it into chamber 2 with chaeto ... must be working nitrates have never moved above 0. Definately ditch the spinge nad stock filter ... they are nitrate traps.

smartang ... most of these mods are very simple and easy to do.

Regarding the pump. Just remove the tube connecting the stock pump to the inside of chamber 3 ... it is just pressure fitted on both sides so it should come right off. Pull the pump out and replace. Should be very quick.

Regarding the false bottoms ... there is one in both chamber 1 and 2. I removed them both. It can be a little tricky getting these out. I used an ordinary table knife and pushed it through the slots in the slots and wiggled it around until it came lose.
 
Thanks guys,It's gettin there!
Smartang22, the stock powerhead that comes with the unit pumps 140 gallons per hour, I think. In theory that circulates the water in the tank about 10X per hour. I like to run my tanks at 15 to 20x per hour.

The extra flow or circulation will help to keep food in the water column longer , which allows fish and coral a longer time to eat the stuff before it settles in the nooks and crannies of the tank where it would decay and turn to nitrates!

The extra flow also helps to eliminate dead spots and keeps the nuisance algaes from getting a foot hold!

Your right gman those sponges and false bottoms can be a real b*tch to get to.
A small submersible halogen light ! No kidding? Where can I find one of those?
 
thanks! Are you actually submersing them or keepin above the macro. Also my middle chamber seems to only fill 2/3 the way up is that the same with yours ?
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I am looking into changing the pump right now. I am also looking at skimmers. Could I put the skimmer in the first chamber or should I just stick with the heater in that chamber?

I am happy that it is a lot easier than I thought. One other question: do I need to drain a lot of the water before I change the pump? Doesn't the chamber fill up when the pump is turned off? Thanks again!
 
Smartang, You shouldn't have to drain the water to pull out your pump. It should come out easy. When or if you sub in your new power head make sure the connections are secure so water won't spurt out of your tank if something comes loose . some of those power heads are pretty powerfull.
goodluck
 
King - If you get the light I did ... definitely submerge, as it gets VERY hot when not submerged.

Also ... I keep my 2nd and 3rd chambers very full. During water changes I fill until I can no longer see the water in the view finder window on the side of tank. The min/max marks on the side are only applicable if you are using the bioballs.
 
I added a second small rio pump in chamber 1 to increase circulation. Left the original pump in chamber 3. Added a sapphire skimmer in 2. Heater is in chamber 3. Chempure and purigen in chamber 1. Tank is 3 months old and is doing very well. I stayed with the original light and so far my clam, candycane coral, 2 aneminies, 1 hard coral and hand waving soft coral are all doing well!
 
Kingfisher62 your tank looks great here's what I did I put heater in chamber 1 mad a fuge in camber 2 when to Loews and bought an under cabinet 25 watt light and an electrical box painted it black mounted light inside with Velcro and put Velcro around the edges of the box. Got a razor marked box size and scraped paint of back of the Bio Cube. put Velcro around scraped area and mounted box. I also changed pump to a minijet 606 and added a Hydor wave maker it just randomizes the floe]w Good Luck

Mark
 
Here's some I think I have some more but the power must have blinked at the house or the internet is down cause I can't get on my home PC right now any way here's a couple not so good though

Tank parts
DSC01353-1.jpg


light in fuge bad pic

DSC01357.jpg


montipora

DSC01835.jpg


Hammer


DSC01835.jpg























Hammer
 
I'm wondering about a certain mod to my biocube and curious if anyone else has thought of it. I have a full size superskimmer from coralife and i'm thinking about running a hose from the pump in the tank to the skimmer outside the tank, then a hose back into the tank... seems like it would be a ton of skimming power for such a small tank... why doesn't anyone else do this? am i missing something obvious?
 
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