Oceanic 30g cube owners, I need your help

[Candi]

I have a 30g oceanic cube that is a FOWLR for one green spotted puffer.

I purchased a aquaclear 70 filter to hang on the back to house purigen/carbon/etc... however it won't fit correctly!!!

The area that should fit over the edge/lip of the tank is a tiny bit to narrow so while the filter works it sits up above the water line pretty high creating a ton of bubbles/spashing/noise in my display.

If you look at your tank it's that inner black edge giving me the problems, do you think I could take a dremel and sand/shave it down a bit where the filter needs to fit w/o risking the integrity of the tank?

*edit to add, I think this is solely there to use to rest the glass top on, right? So in theory it shouldn't be an issue to file it down some in 2 small spots?

 

[jg_reefnut]

i too have a biocube 29 and have always just put the carbon were the bioballs are supposed to be without any probs. if u want to run them externaly then i sugest a canister filter.

 

[Candi]

I have a standard oceanic 30g cube, not an all in one biocube

 

[jg_reefnut]

if thats the case i would not recomend cutting the plastic surround its there to keep the tank from bowing try a canister fiter ive used them in the past with great success just clean them every month or two depending on your bioload

 

[nano7joy]

Think you mean a ledge on the top trim to hold the glass/canopies lid or top. ? If so trim only it but not the trim itself that goes around the top off the entire tank.IMHO

 

[Candi]

nano7joy: correct, I don't mean the fake wood looking trim around the whole tank, I mean the inner black "ledge" that is there to hold glass tops. Not talking about removing it, just filing it down about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch in 2 spots so the filter can clear it.

 

[nano7joy]

Thought so you should will be fine doing that since the <Fake wood looking trim around the whole tank> supports outwards not down wards

 

[nano7joy]

and protects the top edge form chipping

 

[Candi]

I got out my razor and dremel (ok so it's an electric nail file I used to use when I did acrylic/gel nails, same thing ) LOL

Took off the filter and inspected it and the tank again... decided it would be better to ruin a $30 filter then my tank (that rim is actually pretty solid/thick on the oceanic and there is silicone on the bottom seal so I didn't want to risk anything breaking/leaking) actually it wasn't to bad to modify the filter, just had to shave down part of it and basically remove the "sleeve area" that the tube fits into.. tight squeeze but it just fit and is working perfectly now

 

[jg_reefnut]

glad to hear you found a solution

 

[joedirt54]

Glad to see you made it work...I wouldn't have worried at all about cutting down the inside trim. I'd cut the entire middle trim off the back of mine if I had to.

Most of the force on a cube is on the corners. You could remove the entire top trim and silicone some 1/4" thick glass triangles in the corners and be more than fine.

Remember, a lot of the support and bottom tempering is there for idiots who don't level their tanks and/or carry them around with water in them. What you were thinking about on a oceanic 30cube is nothing like cutting the center brace of a AGA 45 high.

 

[obsled]

I've cut most of the trim out of the back of my BioCube 14. Mainly due to playing around with various configurations so much. Although, I do find it is easier to my hands in there!

I commend you on correcting the small before the large. Sometimes I forget that rule.