homer1475's Biocube 29 Build Thread
- Thread starter homer1475
- Start date
soulpatch
New member
I've never rinsed my sand before introducing it, and I've only bought used tanks
FWIW, the finer grains will dissolve faster if there are ever pH issues in the tank, which will balance the pH/alkalinity better than larger grains only. So there is a silver lining to your cloud storm
Wrong thread or did I miss something???
soulpatch
New member
Dude that was like over 100 words into his post. My ADHD took affect well before SQUIRREL
:spin2:
homer1475
New member
Well after using all that JB water weld(4 tubes), my skimmer has been going nuts!!!! I turned it off for the last couple days, because I was emptying the cup every half hour. I plugged it back in today, and still the same result. ANyone know how long it will take for it to stop?
It's pretty pointless to be running the skimmer at this point(only water in the cup), but everything in me says I need to.
It's pretty pointless to be running the skimmer at this point(only water in the cup), but everything in me says I need to.
homer1475
New member
Was just looking at my tank, it seems I might be starting to get some cyano. 
Had a small spot of red slime looking algae on my sand bed. Stupidly I stirred it up. Guess we'll see.
Skimmer is still going absolutely crazy..... Think I'm going to turn it off for a few more days. I have a shed ton of micro bubbles in my tank. So much so I think my gorgonian is p*ssed off, I haven't seen it fully open since I plugged it back in this morning. It pulses a little bit like a xenia, and I think its getting the bubbles trapped in its mouth. It starts to open, then retracts. Done it a few times since I got home.
Had a small spot of red slime looking algae on my sand bed. Stupidly I stirred it up. Guess we'll see.
Skimmer is still going absolutely crazy..... Think I'm going to turn it off for a few more days. I have a shed ton of micro bubbles in my tank. So much so I think my gorgonian is p*ssed off, I haven't seen it fully open since I plugged it back in this morning. It pulses a little bit like a xenia, and I think its getting the bubbles trapped in its mouth. It starts to open, then retracts. Done it a few times since I got home.
When I get overflows like that in the skimmer, first I'll usually try to get the skimmer raised as high as possible to only skim dry, so maybe not putting the cup on tightly, or pulling it up, etc. If that doesn't work, I'll let it run and just stay full overnight and keep running, because eventually the driest of the skimmate will stick to the top of the skimmer, or the organics causing the skimmer to go nuts just breakdown over time.
Yea microbubbles are always a pain. I get a few from the skimmer, a few from the vortech sucking in air from the surface (at 50% max power). Hopefully it doesn't bother your gorgonian too much, and only for a short term. Good luck!
Yea microbubbles are always a pain. I get a few from the skimmer, a few from the vortech sucking in air from the surface (at 50% max power). Hopefully it doesn't bother your gorgonian too much, and only for a short term. Good luck!
Oh, and on the cyano, I would just siphon it out with water changes as much as possible. I've never had a tank not have some somewhere. Fortunately it's on the algae in my refugium, so I (and you) never see it.
I would not consider any chemical treatment of it until absolutely necessary.
I would not consider any chemical treatment of it until absolutely necessary.
homer1475
New member
Just made a HUGE order from BRS, and ordered my auroa puck and apex. Love rapidLED's CS, these guys are second to none. It will be like x-mas here shortly.
Hey ReefWreak if you see this, what was that waterproof plug you posted about with the LED's? Searched your history but couldn't find the post. Definitely want to be able to unplug the lights if I need to take the top off for some reason.
Hey ReefWreak if you see this, what was that waterproof plug you posted about with the LED's? Searched your history but couldn't find the post. Definitely want to be able to unplug the lights if I need to take the top off for some reason.
homer1475
New member
I think these are the plugs you have ReefWreak?
http://www.amazon.com/Yiding-Waterproof-Electrical-Connector-Marine/dp/B00BYNKUSE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1433854442&sr=8-2&keywords=waterproof+electrical+plugs
Would 5 be enough?
http://www.amazon.com/Yiding-Waterproof-Electrical-Connector-Marine/dp/B00BYNKUSE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1433854442&sr=8-2&keywords=waterproof+electrical+plugs
Would 5 be enough?
Those are the ones. Figured I'd wait till I was in the office before replying instead of replying with "I'll send a link once I'm in the office" lol.
5 was plenty for me. I'm only using two. It depends on your setup.
If you're going with the aurora, it has 4 channels, so you would hook 4 of these up in-line between the actual LEDs (coming out of the hood) and the drivers (in your stand). This is how I have it set up:
It's not pretty, but it works, and it'll make it much easier to remove the hood than if the cables are still attached to somewhere in the stand. This is such a simple step, I'm surprised that for the cube retrofit kits they don't already include some form of quick disconnects.
You could look at something like this, which will hold 8 wires in one single block, but you would need a crimper, and if you ever have to substitute something on either end, you have to re-crimp/connect that pair of wires, and if you ever want to switch drivers or LED strings or anything, it would just be a lot more complicated to disconnect than if it had it's own separate connector. But then it's just one neat clean rope of wire.
Make sure to do your heatshrink and/or sleeving before putting in the final connectors!
5 was plenty for me. I'm only using two. It depends on your setup.
If you're going with the aurora, it has 4 channels, so you would hook 4 of these up in-line between the actual LEDs (coming out of the hood) and the drivers (in your stand). This is how I have it set up:
It's not pretty, but it works, and it'll make it much easier to remove the hood than if the cables are still attached to somewhere in the stand. This is such a simple step, I'm surprised that for the cube retrofit kits they don't already include some form of quick disconnects.
You could look at something like this, which will hold 8 wires in one single block, but you would need a crimper, and if you ever have to substitute something on either end, you have to re-crimp/connect that pair of wires, and if you ever want to switch drivers or LED strings or anything, it would just be a lot more complicated to disconnect than if it had it's own separate connector. But then it's just one neat clean rope of wire.
Make sure to do your heatshrink and/or sleeving before putting in the final connectors!
homer1475
New member
Well went for a drive today, went to 5 different LFS's. Some were a complete nightmare, I wouldn't even buy a pail of salt them. Anywho, after driving around all day, I bought absolutely nothing!!!
Nearly came home with a new 60G cube, but I just bought the biocube retrofit aurora puck. Had I not just purchased that, I would probably be setting up a 60G cube right now. lol
Might go out to Syracuse to ABC Reefs tomorrow, when I was there 2 weeks ago for a frag swap they had 4 different octospawn for sale. Why I didn't get one then instead of the yellow torch I bought, is beyond me. I've wanted an octo since I first seen one in \Clownfish/'s build thread. With the way my luck ha been going lately, they will be sold already.
Got shipping confirmations on my BRS order as well as RapidLED, and a couple other places I ordered from today. Next few weeks are going to be an exciting time for me. Probably h*ll on my wife though.
Nearly came home with a new 60G cube, but I just bought the biocube retrofit aurora puck. Had I not just purchased that, I would probably be setting up a 60G cube right now. lol
Might go out to Syracuse to ABC Reefs tomorrow, when I was there 2 weeks ago for a frag swap they had 4 different octospawn for sale. Why I didn't get one then instead of the yellow torch I bought, is beyond me. I've wanted an octo since I first seen one in \Clownfish/'s build thread. With the way my luck ha been going lately, they will be sold already.
Got shipping confirmations on my BRS order as well as RapidLED, and a couple other places I ordered from today. Next few weeks are going to be an exciting time for me. Probably h*ll on my wife though.
Sorry on the LFS luck. Kinda the same deal here any time I go out looking at LFS in NYC. There is one main one who is great (though their coral prices tend to be on the pricier side) but most of the other LFS in NYC tend to be meh, and their quality fluctuate frequently. I guess it's part of the hobby?
If you had gone with the solderless retrofit instead of the aurora, I bet you could adapt it to work really nicely with a 60 cube. Some optics and a hanging kit and you're golden. But maybe next time
I'm amazed at how hard it is to find a nice frogspawn, but I guess I've been lucky with LFS and hobbyists in the area. My anchor coral is growing nicely, slowly, but nicely, and I already see some of it's heads splitting. Every few days a pellet will fall on to one of the heads, and they eat when I use Rod's food, since it gets everywhere, so I think those are helping it grow. They're nice and easy to keep, and can grow prolifically (and become fraggable quickly) if you feed them regularly.
All hobbies are hell on wives/SOs, it's part of the game. It goes the other way too though, there's a reason they don't take us shopping and out to dinner with their friends (YMMV).
If you had gone with the solderless retrofit instead of the aurora, I bet you could adapt it to work really nicely with a 60 cube. Some optics and a hanging kit and you're golden. But maybe next time
I'm amazed at how hard it is to find a nice frogspawn, but I guess I've been lucky with LFS and hobbyists in the area. My anchor coral is growing nicely, slowly, but nicely, and I already see some of it's heads splitting. Every few days a pellet will fall on to one of the heads, and they eat when I use Rod's food, since it gets everywhere, so I think those are helping it grow. They're nice and easy to keep, and can grow prolifically (and become fraggable quickly) if you feed them regularly.
All hobbies are hell on wives/SOs, it's part of the game. It goes the other way too though, there's a reason they don't take us shopping and out to dinner with their friends (YMMV).
