My Biocube 32 LED journey

[reefried bean]

I have a Biocube 32 LED which has been up and running for 4 months now:

InTank media basket (in chamber 2)
--running floss then Purigen then ChemiPure Elite
Tunze 9001 Protein Skimmer (Chamber 2)
Coralife UV in Chamber 3
Stock pump
Hydor Nano 425 Powerhead
Jabeo Auto doser adding 5 ml of 2 Part Calcium Solution and 4 ml of Soda Ash each day
Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO


Just added a TruLumen 12" Pro LED Marine Fusion 12k White and Actinic Blue light strip.

I got a couple clowns, a green chromis, a pajama cardinal, a fiji damsel and a neon dottyback swimming around along with a green metallic torch, brain coral, various mushrooms, star polyps, leather, hammer, and a nice zoa as well as a couple frags that are currently unidentified!!

Pics to follow

 

[Seattle_Reef]

Cool, looking forward to the pictures!

How do you like the doser?

 

[Seattle_Reef]

I'm also curious about the LED's that you added and how you did it. I would love to supplement the stock LED's.

 

[enveetie]

Any aggression from those clowns or the fiji damsel? I'm kind of debating whether to have clowns or not and I have a bigger footprint tank than a BC32. Heck, I'm debating dottybacks too. How are those cardinals, not being bullied?

I've never had a tank this small, maybe I'm being paranoid over everyone getting along!

 

[TexChuck]

Awesome thanks for sharing! How do you like the powerhead? I'm looking at the intank media basket. How do you like the Tunze 9001? I have the CoraLife in chamber 1 and am considering the intank media basket/fuge basket combo.

 

[reefried bean]

Cool, looking forward to the pictures!

How do you like the doser?

I'm still trying to dial the doser in and so far the amount of time spent on calibrating the dosing is taking longer than doing it by hand but I'm hoping that I am getting it dialed in and that it will make things somewhat automated and more importantly, gradual. Much rather dose 5 ml each day than 35 ml once a week. I will report back on that once I have another month or so of testing.

 

[reefried bean]

I'm also curious about the LED's that you added and how you did it. I would love to supplement the stock LED's.

The TrueLumen comes with an adjustable bracket. I drilled the lid to mount the bracket on either side of the hatch on the lid. I had to use half inch spacers to offset the brackets so the hatch would still open. I used 10/32 nylon hardware.

I have pictures but i don't know how to post pictures on here!

 

[reefried bean]

Any aggression from those clowns or the fiji damsel? I'm kind of debating whether to have clowns or not and I have a bigger footprint tank than a BC32. Heck, I'm debating dottybacks too. How are those cardinals, not being bullied?

I've never had a tank this small, maybe I'm being paranoid over everyone getting along!

The fiji as boss for sure. One of the clowns completely hates when i put my hand in the tank but he just hates humans. He gets along fine with the other fish. The cardinal could seemingly care less about anybody in the tank. Really the Fiji and the dottyback are the only ones that show any aggression towards the others and they don't get too crazy with it so far. Like most tanks, there is a clear pecking order!

 

[reefried bean]

Awesome thanks for sharing! How do you like the powerhead? I'm looking at the intank media basket. How do you like the Tunze 9001? I have the CoraLife in chamber 1 and am considering the intank media basket/fuge basket combo.

The 425 seems perfect for the BC32 to me. I also have a Spinstream by Innovative Marine and between the two there is plenty of flow where needed but i can still direct it in the tank to accommodate the different flow needs of your corals.

I never could get the coralife skimmer to work right so I switched to the Tunze and I am very gllad I did. Night and day for me. Even the Tunze took some adjusting but once i got it dialed in i was making tea and pulling out the sludge.

My favorite investment though has to be the media basket. So much easier to use than that rickety contraption of cheap plastic that Coralife gives you with the unit , clearly more functional and far more durable.I actually started out with the BC29 basket sitting up on egg crate but i bought the 32 as soon as it was available, made the InTank recommended mods to the tank chamber and everything fits great. No room for a fuge basket with my skimmer in the chamber but I do a 10% water change every week and don't seem to have the need for a refugium anyway. But tomorrow's another day, too!

 

[TexChuck]

The 425 seems perfect for the BC32 to me. I also have a Spinstream by Innovative Marine and between the two there is plenty of flow where needed but i can still direct it in the tank to accommodate the different flow needs of your corals.

I never could get the coralife skimmer to work right so I switched to the Tunze and I am very gllad I did. Night and day for me. Even the Tunze took some adjusting but once i got it dialed in i was making tea and pulling out the sludge.

My favorite investment though has to be the media basket. So much easier to use than that rickety contraption of cheap plastic that Coralife gives you with the unit , clearly more functional and far more durable.I actually started out with the BC29 basket sitting up on egg crate but i bought the 32 as soon as it was available, made the InTank recommended mods to the tank chamber and everything fits great. No room for a fuge basket with my skimmer in the chamber but I do a 10% water change every week and don't seem to have the need for a refugium anyway. But tomorrow's another day, too!

Thanks for the response!! I'd read mixed things about the Tunze and very glad to hear you have things working well.. I was certainly impressed with the video on Intank's website and it looked like an easy fit.

I went ahead and ordered the fuge and media basket... I was planning up to 5gal WC's weekly once cycled and stocked, but now you have me thinking about smaller WC's, skip the fuge, and see what makes sense. Considering ATO's and whether or not to add a reactor.

I'm glad to hear you're liking your 425+SpinStream. I'd seen some rec's on a pair of MP-10's and trying to figure out how to justify the cost difference.

Thanks again for sharing your build. It's helping to inform mine

 

[davered00ss]

that's good to hear about the media basket. I was looking at that. I hate the stock filter set up. It actually seems there are better hang on back filters that the stock biocube set up.

 

[reefried bean]

Some pics from the first few months...

 

[reefried bean]

Thanks for the response!! I'd read mixed things about the Tunze and very glad to hear you have things working well.. I was certainly impressed with the video on Intank's website and it looked like an easy fit.

I went ahead and ordered the fuge and media basket... I was planning up to 5gal WC's weekly once cycled and stocked, but now you have me thinking about smaller WC's, skip the fuge, and see what makes sense. Considering ATO's and whether or not to add a reactor.

I'm glad to hear you're liking your 425+SpinStream. I'd seen some rec's on a pair of MP-10's and trying to figure out how to justify the cost difference.

Thanks again for sharing your build. It's helping to inform mine

I personally think that the WC is the key to nano tanks. I use reef crystals and RO/DI water and as long as I stay on top of it, I am able to keep the vitals where I want them. The doser helps boost the calcium and magnesium that my load is pulling from the tank and the water changes keep the rest in check. I don't really even think the skmmer is all that necessary but my phosphates are just above .1 right now so I may have to rethink that. I am going to be adding a phosguard media bag along with the purigen in the second compartment of my media basket and see if that solves the problem before algae starts to get out of control. I'll let you know how that goes. I guess if it becomes an ongoing problem I may look to add a reactor myself!!!

 

[TexChuck]

I personally think that the WC is the key to nano tanks. I use reef crystals and RO/DI water and as long as I stay on top of it, I am able to keep the vitals where I want them. The doser helps boost the calcium and magnesium that my load is pulling from the tank and the water changes keep the rest in check. I don't really even think the skmmer is all that necessary but my phosphates are just above .1 right now so I may have to rethink that. I am going to be adding a phosguard media bag along with the purigen in the second compartment of my media basket and see if that solves the problem before algae starts to get out of control. I'll let you know how that goes. I guess if it becomes an ongoing problem I may look to add a reactor myself!!!

I'm checking out the doser you picked up.

I ordered the same ATO as you and the SpinStream. Still early in the cycle so I have time to play around with the flow plans. I'm thinking cheap 1g water jugs in the cabinet with RO/DI water to start. I purchased 60g worth of totes so I can keep enough water on hand -- building RO/DI setup is on my list but my list keeps getting longer.

Curious to hear how the phosgen works. I'm just scratching the surface on chemical filtration.

 

[reefried bean]

I'll keep you informed...Amazon will be dropping the Phosguard off today and I'm hoping to see results relatively quickly. SlipStream is so simple and yet functional it's a no brainer for anyone with a BC if you ask me.
If you go with a Tunze skimmer, water level will be crucial to how well it does so the ATO helps there, particularly if you are in a dry climate where evaporation is an issue.. I have a 3 gallon bucket that sits in my BC cabinet and it is more than enough to keep the tank level between water changes. I keep the 1 gallon bottles that come with the BRS 2 part set-up next to it for my dosing and it all fits tightly but functionally

 

[reefried bean]

Spin Stream...not Slip Stream!

 

[TexChuck]

Got it thank you ! Amazon's dropping off the ATO today, so I get to go back and figure out the right water level for the CL skimmer I'm running now. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be happy with the way this unit is working and move to yours. I like the idea of a larger bucket for the ATO vessel.

Always fun to have fish stuff show up in the mail...

 

[Joshnieder216]

My goal is chamber 1 AL115 (which with airline and magnet mods I currently have in and operating)

camber 2 in tank media rack with floss purigen and using the bottom as fuge then IM media reactor with brs rox and gfo

chamber 3 tunze ato cobalt northern heater and mj1200 pump


"Yea, well, that's like, your opinion man" -The Dude

 

[reefried bean]

My goal is chamber 1 AL115 (which with airline and magnet mods I currently have in and operating)

camber 2 in tank media rack with floss purigen and using the bottom as fuge then IM media reactor with brs rox and gfo

chamber 3 tunze ato cobalt northern heater and mj1200 pump


"Yea, well, that's like, your opinion man" -The Dude

We will have pretty different systems when you are up and running. It will be interesting if we can compare how they perform.

 

[reefried bean]

Well I guess our tanks will be a bit more similar. I had a long conversations from a trusted LFS owner and I am going to change my way of doing things. New set up will be this:

Biocube 32 LED with an added 12" TruLumen Fusion LED strip.
Chamber one: 150w Jager heater
Chamber two: Intank Media basket with filter floss in top compartment, then Chemipure Blue 5.5 oz in middle compartment, then refugium with chaeto and nano light in bottom compartment.
Tunze 9001 Skimmer next to the Media Basket
Sponge going back in place between chamber two and three
Chamber three: stock pump and the CL UV sterilizer
w/ Hydor Koralia 425 and a spin stream moving the water in the display

Running lighitng in displlay like this: Dawn at 11:30am, Full Spectrum at 12:00pm to 7:00pm, Dusk from 7:00pm to 7:30pm, the moonlight cycle from 7:30pm until 1:00am and then lights. My fuge lights will run from 8:30pm until 11:30 am.

I dose 5ml of BRS Soda Ash and 6ml of BRS 2 part calcium solution each day.

I also have an ATO replentishing RO/DI water as evaporated

My current load is 6 swimmers with a decent cleaner crew, various softies and a few LFS.

At time of start my vitals are:

Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = <5 ppm
Phosphates = .10 ppm
Magnesium = 1350 ppm
Calcium = 430 ppm
Alkalinity = 10.9
Specific Gravity is 1.025

I will be doing a 4g water change weekly with RO/DI water and Reef Crystals.

My goal is to get those phosphates and nitrates down naturally. without using phosguard to "treat" the process. Hair algae, bubble algae and slime algae is starting to take root and I want a reef, not a forest! We shall see!

Any thoughts on running from floss to CP Blue to fuge to skimmer are appreciated!