My 29G Biocube Build Thread

[SaguaroSteve]

New Corals- eveything is stressed out from the journey home, I'll post more pictures soon of when everyone is happy :celeb2:
Green Star Polyp, not out

Double Hammer

Brown Polyps

Also treated some Aiptasia with Aiptasia X and left it on them for 15minutes and vacuumed up the leftovers, this is what's left, not sure if it worked...

Now my poor toadstool... it was slightly attached to another coral in the frag tank, and the LFS guy gently gently pulled it apart and it really looks a lot worse in the picture than in my tank but what should I do to get the lil bugger to stand up straight, it kepts slumping and slumping....he said to expect this but I wanted everyone else's opinion as well....

Picked this up too, creates random wave flow at 40 degree angles 360 degrees in the tank...

Nice to see someone could finally make an appearance! Francois the peppermint...

Send a prayer out for my dwarf toadstool...OH and I pulled a big SOB off one of the frag rocks, it was a worm of some sort, forgot to get a pic, I wanna say it was a bristle worm...but I didn't recognize it clearly so he didn't make the cut..

 

[SaguaroSteve]

FTS

Green Star Polyps

Double Hammer

The toad is looking better but still not standing up straight, so I'm going to move the little guy in a corner where the glass will hold him upright till he heals correctly

Snail Eggs?!

Oh and a starfish of some sort is feasting on the aiptasia =)

 

[Nelz]

Man, what a GREAT deal! :beer: I just priced out this exact system today, and you could barely buy the stand for that price.

I was also on the fence about getting this setup but the LFS I went into to window shop, had me leaning toward the nano cube. I am officially off the fence, and will be getting one soon. Looks great........keep up on the progress

 

[SaguaroSteve]

Man, what a GREAT deal! :beer: I just priced out this exact system today, and you could barely buy the stand for that price.

I was also on the fence about getting this setup but the LFS I went into to window shop, had me leaning toward the nano cube. I am officially off the fence, and will be getting one soon. Looks great........keep up on the progress

Thank ya! I almost wish I would of bought a brand new cube and emptied out stock hood because I'll be basically stripping everything out once I get this LED upgrade kit, and nothing in the back compartments are original. :bounce3:

12/16/11 FTS

Can't remember what this guy is called ha, I ended up taking the toadstool back.

pH: 8.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: ~10
Phosphate: .1

Did a 10% WC and a hour or two later

pH: 8.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~10:mad2:
Phosphate: .1

Still fiddling with the powerhead, I can find a sweet spot to my liking. And I'm having a little cyano outbreak =( As well as I can't get my nitrates down!
Added purigen to the media rack today!

 

[Bens_Reef]

looks great, that coral you got there with the purple looks like the one i was looking at a few days ago in the $40 tank. i ended up getting a fresh frag from the $15 tank thats already propagating.

too bad about the toadstool. i have had a few corals take a few days to really act normal. one that took a couple months to open all the way. those polyp may take the longest and might want more light being near the bottom, watch to see if any of them look like they are stretching toward it. the green star will like most places in your tank and look nice waving with some good flow on them.

ive been to a couple other LFS near Detroit and they dont compare to Preuss, unfortunately it comes with a price too. if you need to talk to someone really knowledgeable there, Rick himself, and Mark are my favorite, there info usually always checks out.

 

[SaguaroSteve]

looks great, that coral you got there with the purple looks like the one i was looking at a few days ago in the $40 tank. i ended up getting a fresh frag from the $15 tank thats already propagating.

too bad about the toadstool. i have had a few corals take a few days to really act normal. one that took a couple months to open all the way. those polyp may take the longest and might want more light being near the bottom, watch to see if any of them look like they are stretching toward it. the green star will like most places in your tank and look nice waving with some good flow on them.

ive been to a couple other LFS near Detroit and they dont compare to Preuss, unfortunately it comes with a price too. if you need to talk to someone really knowledgeable there, Rick himself, and Mark are my favorite, there info usually always checks out.

Thank ya! I usually deal with Steve, Luther, or Wayne. I think that pink softie is called a Lopheila (can't remember). It was in the $60 tank, it's spread out nicely and looks beautiful. The GSP is doing awesome. The hammer looked like it was experiencing polyp bailout so I moved it to a real low flow area and I think it's making a comeback. I haven't noticed the polyps really doing any "stretching" except some do at night. They just haven't opened up fully, or at least to my knowledge they haven't.

I'm currently battling some cyano, and I don't think it's due to my parameters as everything is perfect except to nitrates at around 7, and phosphate at .03. So I'm thinking that I don't have my powerhead in its sweet spot yet...any suggestions?

 

[Bens_Reef]

the hammer should like less flow better, ive had 0 problems with mine in low flow. as far as the cyano goes some pics would benefit to a diagnosis. what water do you use? i have worse params than that but have 0 problems with cyano so i dont think its that.

 

[SaguaroSteve]

the hammer should like less flow better, ive had 0 problems with mine in low flow. as far as the cyano goes some pics would benefit to a diagnosis. what water do you use? i have worse params than that but have 0 problems with cyano so i dont think its that.

I'm back home with the family for Christmas, but I use Pruess pre mixed saltwater and RO/DI freshwater. I have been moving stuff around in there quite a bit trying to make that hammer happy so that could be it from stirring up the sand bed. When I get back I'll snap some pics and post them as well as my params and I've been really thinking about where I want to move my corals and rocks now that I have a pretty good idea of where they're happy...Plus after the new year I'll be installing the LED upgrade, tunze skimmer, and ATO. Plus I'll finally be adding fish! So a huge update will be coming!!!!

 

[Bens_Reef]

i used their water before i had my own ro/di, and they use top of the line salt mix too which is actually cheaper than the normal leading brands like Reef Crystals or Tropic Marine are the lights on while you are home? if not then you might have your cyano problem taken care of. do you have someone taking care of the tank now? if you dont have an ATO already then i hope it doesnt dry out on ya.

have a great time with your family, cant wait to see pics

 

[SaguaroSteve]

i used their water before i had my own ro/di, and they use top of the line salt mix too which is actually cheaper than the normal leading brands like Reef Crystals or Tropic Marine are the lights on while you are home? if not then you might have your cyano problem taken care of. do you have someone taking care of the tank now? if you dont have an ATO already then i hope it doesnt dry out on ya.

have a great time with your family, cant wait to see pics

Everything is on timers, and I'll only have been gone 5 days so hopefully not too much evaporation has occurred. And thank you! Merry Christmas.

So here it is, expect a huge update in early January!!!

 

[rocklobster707]

Eagerly following this thread. I have been thinking about doing everything you are doing, so you will be my guinea pig, lol. I cant waitt o see how everything works out. I also have the inTank media basket and i have the refugium in the back with submersible light, chaeto is happily growing back there. How much was the led light upgrade and where did you get it.

 

[Hextall]

FYI: I got the 4-LED moonlight kit, only installed 3 of them... and it was very bright. So I wired the LEDs in parallel rather than in series, and it dimmed them quite a bit. It's still brighter than the stock moonlights, so I might put in the 4th LED to dim them more.

I would assume that the 2-LED kit has the same type of LEDs as the 4. Just a friendly FYI.

 

[RedStangGA]

I actually run my whites at 5% for moonlights and it works very well.

 

[SaguaroSteve]

Since I love my RC family so much I'm responding from my phone in my hotel here in Tampa, have to win this bowl game first! Then I'll get cracking on the upgrades!

Eagerly following this thread. I have been thinking about doing everything you are doing, so you will be my guinea pig, lol. I cant waitt o see how everything works out. I also have the inTank media basket and i have the refugium in the back with submersible light, chaeto is happily growing back there. How much was the led light upgrade and where did you get it.

By about Jan. 15 everything should be 100% completed and adding some life into the tank so check back pretty soon. I got the LED upgrade from rapidled for ~$245. In my next update I'll have pictures of the install process and all the new features of the tank (as outlined in my signature).

FYI: I got the 4-LED moonlight kit, only installed 3 of them... and it was very bright. So I wired the LEDs in parallel rather than in series, and it dimmed them quite a bit. It's still brighter than the stock moonlights, so I might put in the 4th LED to dim them more
I would assume that the 2-LED kit has the same type of LEDs as the 4. Just a friendly FYI.

I figured four would be too bright so well see how two goes...

I actually run my whites at 5% for moonlights and it works very well.

Never thought of that great idea!

 

[rocklobster707]

Thanks for doing all that typing on your phone. Good luck on the fame, hope you win. cant wait to see the LED build.

 

[slip66]

following.

I bought the 29 gal cube just before xmass, so I'm closely following what you are doing. I'm not moving forward until I can figure out a good way to maintain stable temperatures.

I was not prepared for the high temperature on a tank with PC and a closed lid! When the PC's are on it shoots up to 80-81! I set my heater down to 75 with neg/res. I had to setup a fan to blow cool air on it, I left the window up a crak which dropped the temp a bit too low :headwally:. I don't even have the heat on yet in my apartment.

Please feel free to be very detailed in your LED upgrade!

 

[RedStangGA]

following.

I bought the 29 gal cube just before xmass, so I'm closely following what you are doing. I'm not moving forward until I can figure out a good way to maintain stable temperatures.

I was not prepared for the high temperature on a tank with PC and a closed lid! When the PC's are on it shoots up to 80-81! I set my heater down to 75 with neg/res. I had to setup a fan to blow cool air on it, I left the window up a crak which dropped the temp a bit too low :headwally:. I don't even have the heat on yet in my apartment.

Please feel free to be very detailed in your LED upgrade!

LED upgrade is actually fairly easy if you use the rapidled retrofit kit. That really helped the temp. You can also use the hydor pico1200 or MJ 900 as your return pump to save a degree or so. I also saw a temp drop replacing my koralia nano 425 with the MP10. Right before fall temps hit I was down to 78 I think.

 

[SaguaroSteve]

Update Part I of II

Update Part I of II

Well folks I finally have all my equipment for my tank, now I just need to install it on the Biocube when I get back to Lansing on Saturday. That night I'll post the second part of the update and pictures of everything installed and finalized.

Here's what I've done so far:
Got the 24 dimmable RapidLED kit and fan upgrade, as well as the JBJ ATO

Installed the LEDs with screws and thermal grease (pre-solder). With moonlights in the middle and blue/white every other. Fans are completely done as well, they just snap together.

Post-soldering. I'd highly recommend the kit, but you need to have a little handiness. Now after doing this there's a few things I'd recommend:
1) Buy a nice soldering gun/pen. I was using this cheapo one and the tip somehow fell off and directly onto one of my white LEDs. So my 24 LED kit, is now a custom 23 LED kit.
2) Get some extra wire. I bought 12ft each of red/black 16 gauge wire because I wanted to house everything down in the stand and the included wire wasn't enough, it was also very small I'd guess 18-22 gauge which made it really hard to work with so I pitched it.
3) Get a helper, especially when wiring the potentiometer.
4) Practice your soldering first so you don't make costly mistakes.
Here's my awful soldering job...

Tunze 9002, the custom skimmer cup is pictured above in a different post

I replaced the stock return (which is now my PWC pump) with a Cobalt MJ 1200. Cobalt was contracted to make the MJ for Marineland prior to Marineland making their own. The plastic on these is of higher quality than that of the Marineland MJ and they're almost completely silent. Highly recommend. I put the other Cobalt in my FW ATO reservoir (located on the bottom shelf of the stand) and ran 1/2" tubing up to chamber 3. Float switches are located in both the reservoir and tank.

Originally I had an aqualifter but then changed my mind of where I'd wanted to place it. So before I left for the bowl game I left this jank set up in my apt. to keep everything filled because I needed a pump with more head (thus I got the Cobalts when I returned to school, now I'm home home till Saturday lol then I'll finish everything when I get back to school)

 

[RedStangGA]

Sweet! You'll love the lights!

 

[SaguaroSteve]

Fish

Fish

BLUE 100% camera phone couldn't handle and I don't know how to fix it...

Blue/White dimmed half way, my phone makes it look a tad distorted, but the shimmer is beautiful!

Canary Blenny

Wheeler's Shrimp Goby

Having trouble tuning the skimmer in though and it's creating a lot of micro bubbles....

Next fish up will be two ocell. clowns!