Receiving already running BC14...advice wanted

Cloudburst2000

Active member
Hey all, my sister and brother-in-law will be moving in about three weeks. They asked me if I wanted their BC14 that they have had for about 2-3yrs. I was like 'a fully-stocked free tank??? SURE!' Of course, almost all the stuff in the tank including the rocks came from when I broke down my 25g tank to upgrade it. They did add a couple new corals (in addition to the frags I gave them) including green star polyps and an acan. Their tank is running really well and everything has grown especially the hammer coral which I will need to frag down it has gotten so large. Anyhoo, when they got the tank from another local reefer, I helped them mod the rear chambers to add in a fuge. I am possibly interested in making some additional mods to the tank. I can house the live stock in my other tanks while making changes.

I would like to potentially upgrade the lighting on this tank. Does everyone like the Rapid LED retrofit upgrade? Does it grow coral well including sps? Is the upgrade easy to do? I don't have much experience with electronics like lighting. I have always just bought full light set-ups so this would be my first foray into fooling with lighting mods. A couple local guys have built their own lights so I might hit them up for help if the upgrade needs more experience behind it. Any other suggested lighting upgrades out there besides Rapid LEDs?
I did contemplate removing the lid and adding something like the JBJ nano LED light but all my other tanks are rimless and it might be nice to have one tank with a lid...something different. But I am not against removing the hood either. Anyone got pics of a Biocube14 without the hood and the lighting they use? If I see a setup I really like I might be persuaded to go hoodless again.

Also, I have an old CPR Aquafuge 2 (the kind with the built-in skimmer) lying around. I thought it would be a good way to increase fuge area and to grow pods to seed my other tanks. Is it possible to add the aquafuge to the back of the biocube? Is there any way to mod the rear of the hood so that the Aquafuge might work or would I have to remove the entire hood for it to fit? I have the Aquafuge gathering dust so thought I would see it I could use it somehow.

If I decide to leave the hood, is there a skimmer besides the little biocube sucker that would fit into the tank? I am a bit underwhelmed with the biocube skimmer so would like other options. If I remove the hood, the aquafuge will be added which has a skimmer incorporated into it so in that case getting a skimmer won't be an issue.

Any other mods that people suggest would be greatly appreciated. The only current mod done to the tank has been to convert the middle chamber into a small fuge.
 
Hey all, my sister and brother-in-law will be moving in about three weeks. They asked me if I wanted their BC14 that they have had for about 2-3yrs. I was like 'a fully-stocked free tank??? SURE!' Of course, almost all the stuff in the tank including the rocks came from when I broke down my 25g tank to upgrade it. They did add a couple new corals (in addition to the frags I gave them) including green star polyps and an acan. Their tank is running really well and everything has grown especially the hammer coral which I will need to frag down it has gotten so large. Anyhoo, when they got the tank from another local reefer, I helped them mod the rear chambers to add in a fuge. I am possibly interested in making some additional mods to the tank. I can house the live stock in my other tanks while making changes.

I would like to potentially upgrade the lighting on this tank. Does everyone like the Rapid LED retrofit upgrade? Does it grow coral well including sps? Is the upgrade easy to do? I don't have much experience with electronics like lighting. I have always just bought full light set-ups so this would be my first foray into fooling with lighting mods. A couple local guys have built their own lights so I might hit them up for help if the upgrade needs more experience behind it. Any other suggested lighting upgrades out there besides Rapid LEDs?
I did contemplate removing the lid and adding something like the JBJ nano LED light but all my other tanks are rimless and it might be nice to have one tank with a lid...something different. But I am not against removing the hood either. Anyone got pics of a Biocube14 without the hood and the lighting they use? If I see a setup I really like I might be persuaded to go hoodless again.

Also, I have an old CPR Aquafuge 2 (the kind with the built-in skimmer) lying around. I thought it would be a good way to increase fuge area and to grow pods to seed my other tanks. Is it possible to add the aquafuge to the back of the biocube? Is there any way to mod the rear of the hood so that the Aquafuge might work or would I have to remove the entire hood for it to fit? I have the Aquafuge gathering dust so thought I would see it I could use it somehow.

If I decide to leave the hood, is there a skimmer besides the little biocube sucker that would fit into the tank? I am a bit underwhelmed with the biocube skimmer so would like other options. If I remove the hood, the aquafuge will be added which has a skimmer incorporated into it so in that case getting a skimmer won't be an issue.

Any other mods that people suggest would be greatly appreciated. The only current mod done to the tank has been to convert the middle chamber into a small fuge.


i pulled the hood on mine, and never looked back. Its great for excess heat, and i am running a phosban on it which works well. I have a radion over top right now, but im switching to a larger tank in 2 weeks. the phosban is now on the back so you only see the tubes. great little tank, just too small for my tastes!


20120929_190504.jpg
 
Same dilemma

Same dilemma

I too have an old 14G biocube that i'm contemplating what to do. I had bought the tank when I broke down my 52 gallon. I've seen the Retro lighting kits and they seem nice. I saw today in a LFS some led kits and was blown away. I haven't been in the hobby for a while and just seen the LEDs. Skkye-light Tablet 92w was the one I saw sitting on the back of a fluval. They had some sps and lps and seemed to be doing well. I don't think I want to do the retro and am debating pulling the lid myself. Would be nice but I wonder about noise and moisture.
 
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