Putting together a 29Gal Coralife Biocube...

[dburt520]

Hello,

So a little background about myself. I am new to the hobby myself, however while growing up my dad had a few reefs tanks (very successful). He ended with a custom made 120G set up and decided it was time to give it up when he moved.

I spoke to Santa today and he informed that the kids were getting a 29Gal Biocube (5 yo and 2 yo). I personally have been reading, and reading, and reading, and reading, and... you get it... for weeks now (was thinking about doing a 60gal cube, but the 29Gal seemed like a better start, if we enjoy it as a family I can always upgrade later). But it seems the more I read, the more confused I become.

I wanted to get started off on the right foot, so please, if something doesn't look correct, let me know.

Here is what I have already (it was a package deal at the LFS and it was all on sale for a very good price...)

1. Coralife Biocube 29 Gallon
2. Coralife BioCube Protein Skimmer
3. Eheim Jager TruTemp 100W
4. Coralife Digital Thermometer

Here is a list of the items I plan to purchase for this tank (no live stock/rocks/etc, just hardware type stuff).

1. (2x) - Hydor Koralia Nano Circulation Pump/Powerhead 240gph
2. Cobalt Aquatics MJ1200 Multi-Purpose Powerhead/Pump
3. Hydor Koralia Smart Wave Pump Controller
4. InTank Biocube 29 Fuge Basket
5. InTank Biocube 29 Media Basket

I plan to keep the lighting stock for now, just going to put them on timers to actually utilize the sunrise/sunset feature that the tank has built in. The tank will be a LPS reef with 2 Ocellaris Clownfish.

Does anyone see anything that does not look right... or should be different?

Thanks
Dave

 

[terrypercula]

Sounds good so far. Maybe swap the Koralia nano 240 for 425's but with the upgraded return pump it may not be necessary. Bio cubes are nice systems tons of room for upgrades too. Enjoy!

 

[Crna]

I was thinking the same as Dave, but it sounds like you're on the right track! My kids love our biocube!

 

[dburt520]

OK, I did place my order... I did step up to the 425GPH from advice here as well as another forum.

I also ordered the Fuge basket... for 25$ I will give it a shot. It sounds like some use it with success, others don't think a fuge that size will do anything helpful.

I found a tank I really liked so I am planning to set mine up close to that. He had the following:

Heater/Skimmer in chamber 1
InTank Fuge Basket and InTank Media Basket in chamber 2
and the MJ1200 in third chamber. I can always move my heater from chamber 1, to chamber 3 if I don't have enough room in chamber 1.

The tank I was looking at that I really liked (water was crystal clear, everything looked extremely healthy and was growing like crazy, plus he was using stock lighting) was using the InTank filter floss on tray 1, Purigen on tray 2 and Chemi-Pure Elite on tray 3 (it was tied to tray 2 and hanging). I think this is what Intank recommends as well? Is it OK to start off with Purigen and Chemi-Pure, or shall I wait and see what the water levels look like and then go from there?

And as mentioned, we (as a family, mainly wife and I) have been looking for a bit, talking about it off and on for a year or so. When my oldest daughter saw this months TOTM and he was hand feeding his fish, she got very into it. Of course, she wants a Dory and a Nemo, hopefully it doesn't spoil the fun when I tell her the tank is to small for a Dory, but we can do a Nemo and a Marlin...

 

[Crna]

I have the media basket in my BC14, and I really like it. Just put LED's in both tanks, so getting the media and fuge baskets for the 29 has to wait until next month. I have the heater in chamber one, but I'm not sure if the one you're getting fits. My four-year-old loves our clownfish, but it is killing him that he can't have a Dory. It sounds like you have done some good research!

 

[dburt520]

Yes, to much research... Well I guess you can never research enough, but like I said, the more I read sometimes the more confused I get.

I have had my father guiding me along the way... He had a custom built 120gal Reef (was TOTM here I believe) so he has a little bit of knowledge to share, however an Aio and a nono are new to him.

If I learned one thing from him and his tanks it was "do it right from the beginning and save yourself time, money, headache and everything else in the long run."

It can get expensive and time consuming very quick, which is why I opted for the 29 as a first tank as opposed to the 60 we were looking to build.

Thank you for the help, hopefully soon I'll be posting some pics and I'm sure I'll be back looking for more answers. This site is an amazing source of knowledge.

 

[dburt520]

Ok, just to update this post... I will start a new post, with pictures of course once the sand storm settles down.

I got the tank up and running today, and all worked out PERFECT thus far, with some minor tweaking.

I went with the Aquaticlife 115 Mini Skimmer, and within the first 6 hours I am getting slightly yellow water, I am happy with that as I read that skimmers tend to need a week or so to break in.

I have the latest version of the Coralife Biocube 29, from pictures, and speaking to a few folks the back of it has different dimensions than the other versions. The 115 is a perfect fit in the current version and requires no force, or twisting/prying to get in, just fall right in. I ended up making a stand for the skimmer out of Egg Crate material. I did the silencer mod already as it woke me up about an hour ago with some gurgling sounds, which seems like it is normal based on feedback online, however the silencer mod fixed that right away.

The MJ1200 is a good amount of circulation, I am happy with it. I didn't receive my flow pump set up today (damn you UPS for not picking up on Christmas eve), so that will be here on Monday, however I am confident in what I ordered, so not worried about that much. InTank was closed this week so that didn't ship yet either, but I have read nothing but good reviews, so I am sure that will all work out great as well.

So, now onto the next phase, cycling. Perhaps I should make another post about this, however you guys have been very helpful so far. I purchased 30'ish lbs of cured live rock, and the first thing that I realized is that aquascaping is really an art... built a structure, took it down probably 7 or 8 times before I found something that I liked. I also went with a 1.5-2 inch sand bed, and put the rock directly on the bottom glass and filled in sand around it.

Light timers are also working perfectly (Power Strip/GFCI/Timer combo from HD, 2 of them with half of the system on one, half of the system on the other in the event of a tripped power strip or some sort of failure, I still have some flow and some lights).

The only thing I think I need/want now is a digital thermometer... can someone make a recommendation or two? I have the Coralife one, however the reviews seem all over the board, not sure that is my best option (even though I already have it).


Also, after researching for several nights on the topic of salt mix, I ended up going with Red Sea Coral Pro Salt Mix for a few reasons... I can get it locally for decent price, and the reviews of the salt mix were all positive. The only thing i found odd were the mixing instructions, as well as online reviews, all recommend to only mix for 2'ish hours before putting into the tank. Does that seem too short to anyone, or is that OK? I see other salt manufactures, as well as hobbyists recommend 24+ hours.

Thanks
Dave

 

[Crna]

That's awesome Dave, know it's good to have things up and running! Which chamber did you put the skimmer in? I've been trying to decide between the Aquaticlife and the Tunze... Did you end up going with the Neotherm heater? I've found the built in thermometer to be accurate. I've seen very mixed reviews of the digitals as well, it seems that a lot of people just go with glass. Eventually I would like to get a reef keeper/apex controller, and it seems the temp monitoring on them is very good.
Did you save the stock return pump when you installed the MJ? You can just drop that in the bucket to mix salt. So far I've just been getting water from my LFS, but from what I've read, most just leave the salt mixing with a heater overnight. That way it's well mixed, warm, and ready to go.
Very true about rock scape! We just re-did ours last week...

 

[billygoat]

Very nice, I have a Bio Cube as well

 

[sfniners84]

Im excited to see some pics. I to have just recently set up the 29 bio and have not done any modifications. I will post a few pics as well to see what is thought.

 

[dburt520]

It is not much to look at now, but figured I could start my thread in hopes someday it looks as nice as some of the others here.

Filtration: Happy with this set up so far. love the skimmer, and fuge basket/Sump sponges fill chamber 2 perfectly while still allowing plenty of flow.

Aquatic Life 115 Mini Protein Skimmer
Eshops Sump Sponges (2 of them, going to rinse them with weekly water change)
Filter Floss
InTank Fuge Basket already growing Cheato





Circulation: I am happy with where it is at right now, although I don't have anything in the tank, the flow looks to perfect the way the pumps are pointed and functioning.

MJ1200 Return Pump
(2) - Hydor Nano 425 - Love them so far.



We have a decent idea for livestock, although it will be slow, and small. Only fish that we are planning is a pair of clowns. other than that it will be all LPS.

Lighting:
DIY Custom LED set up. Parts are ordered and it should be done this weekend by the looks of the brown Santa... Going with a 28 LED set up consisting of Cool White, Warm White, Blue, Royal Blue, Cyan, and HV. It will all be controlled with my RKL. Can't wait to get the LED's installed... The stock lighting is fine for us, however I live in Arizona and this will help out with the heat problems in the 115+ deg days. We also REALLY want a clam or two, which was the driving factor for the LED's. The wife originally said no, until I told her she couldn't have a clam, and then the answer quickly changed to "Ok, start researching and get it done".

As most know, the BC's get hot... mine was up in the mid 80's (85-86) with lights on a normal cycle (house temps were 74-75. I did a little fan mod that cost me around 30 dollars, however I put the fans on a speed controller to turn them up/down to control airflow as well as noise.






The temp stays a steady 79 now with the help for the RKL+ and the fans. 78.8 - 79.2 is all it will fluctuate.



Also installed an ATO that I set up through the RKL. I used the aqua lifter pump and the Digital Aquatics switch. So far it is working flawlessly and i have it set on a timer that only allows it to run for 7 seconds every 4 hours.


And lastly are a few FTS's just for a reference to see where the tank is now, vs where it is a year from now.







Thanks
Dave

 

[dburt520]

A few updates here:

Got my LED's DONE! They look incredible. It was a complete DIY project, I made my own heatsink (hobby machining is another hobby of mine) and I went with 5 CW, 5 WW, 8 RB, 6 BL, and 4 HV. Went with the inventronics 40W drivers and I am controlling them with the RKL ALC, and am very happy with everything thus far.

Here is an FTS with the LED's on, running 65% Blues, and 40% Whites. The shimmer is awesome, and just like most pictures, it doesn't do it justice.

As you notice in the pic, I added my clown fish pair. They are ocellaris clownfish. The LFS had a clown tank with roughly 20 clowns in it, so picking two was tough, but I actually got the two that I wanted. The LFS let us pick the exact ones, and even put them in a "holding tank" so we can watch how these days acted together. They seemed very cordial and friendly towards eachother, and the coloring is awesome so its what we got.

Here are a few more pics:

A week ago we also added our CUC, just a few small snails and a few hermits. We also added a cleaner shrimp, that is doing awesome. He will come to my hand when I stick it in the tank, the kids love it. He eats right out of my fingers.

And lastly, a little cable management. As you can see by the pics above, it was a disaster. I tried to organize it, but I absolutely hate wires, so I came up with this solution. It gave me a bit more room on the upper shelf of the BC29 stand. I am using the bottom as a reservoir for the ATO as pictured above, so tank storage is limited to just one shelf.

 

[dburt520]

An updated FTS: Added a few corals and I changed the rock structure around some. After buying a couple of corals I realized that the first rock structure was going to be terrible for coral placement. I also added an MP10, which so far has been the best purchase I have made. It took me about a week to get it dialed in with the right setting and placement, but I am loving it so far.

An update with some coral pics!! Each frag was only 5$ (even the duncan which has 8 total heads on it...)

 

[dburt520]

Just a few new coral pics. Everything is looking better and more at home each day. Move the duncan to an area with a bit more flow and it seems to be loving it.

 

[dburt520]

Moved a couple pieces of rock around and here is an updated FTS:

Being a noob to nano tanks, I am now understanding that a good looking rockscape does not always mean easy coral placement. But I am finally happy with it. May add one more piece to the top left to form an arch, but I'll have to find the right shaped rock.

 

[Mr2KiEu]

nice looking tank. I like the cable management. My cords are a mess!

 

[Tahiti]

Nice looking Biocube.

 

[ASpec]

Looking very good, cool mod you did with the fans!

Keep the Duncan in good flow and medium light and watch it explode! I know many sites claim low flow is better for Duncan's but mine as yours is doing better with good flow.

 

[gigabyte]

nice cube! i like how you have the fans.

 

[dburt520]

Thanks guys! The duncan and torch are both doing awesome... everything is really, but those two have doubled or tripled in size in a very short time. The duncan has sprouted two new "heads" and they are getting big fast, its amazing how fast it grows.


Unfortunately im already thinking about an upgrade... I know it is only two-three months in, however I am just not entirely happy with the BC. Don't want to go huge so I am thinking about building a 40B... I could still use my LED's in the 40B, would just put them in a fixture as opposed to my homemade heatsink and almost all of my other equipment could be sold or reused.