Andy's 8 Gallon BioCube

[Cassette87]

UPDATE!!

Well, today was my "fill it up with water and make sure that it doesn't leak all over my cabinet" day Everything seems to be in order... Only complaint is that the stock pump is rather noisy, not necessarily the pump itself, but the vibration is transmitted through the system. I'm not sure, but I sort of feel this will be dampened with everything else in the system. I've read about some people with BC 8's replacing the stock pump, so I'm going to look into this, and other possible mods before moving forward. On the plus side, I did find a few excellent pieces of LR from the 55 that i bought and sold to use for "base rock" I was really excited to get this tank going today, but decided I should wait if I want to do it right, so the tank sits empty again, for a day in the near future Man will this tank look great with a rainbow of zoas and rics

 

[Charlie97L]

a great pump to pop in there is a mini-jet 606.

a popular mod is to use that in concert with a hydror flo device for random flow... you won't need crazy amounts of flow for an 8 gallon with rics/zoas.

i picked up an 8 gallon BC as well, and i'm trying to decide to do a minimalist reef deal, or do a planted FW tank. i'm leaning toward planted, just due to the fact that top-off requirements of an 8 gallon might be problematic... and this will be my 2nd tank.

you can also swap fans out of there if you find they aren't cooling well, though i wouldn't recommend that without some wiring experience.

do you have a heater? you will need one to keep the temp up when the lights are off.

looks great so far! post more pics!

 

[Cassette87]

a great pump to pop in there is a mini-jet 606.

a popular mod is to use that in concert with a hydror flo device for random flow... you won't need crazy amounts of flow for an 8 gallon with rics/zoas.

i picked up an 8 gallon BC as well, and i'm trying to decide to do a minimalist reef deal, or do a planted FW tank. i'm leaning toward planted, just due to the fact that top-off requirements of an 8 gallon might be problematic... and this will be my 2nd tank.

you can also swap fans out of there if you find they aren't cooling well, though i wouldn't recommend that without some wiring experience.

do you have a heater? you will need one to keep the temp up when the lights are off.

looks great so far! post more pics!

Thanks Charlie! I'll look into the both of those, I have heard of the hydror flo, but wasn't sure if it was necessary for rics and zoas, but i suppose it cant hurt. I haven't bought a heater yet, but I plan on a small submersible for one of the back chambers I'll get some pics as things develop! Thanks again

 

[Charlie97L]

Thanks Charlie! I'll look into the both of those, I have heard of the hydror flo, but wasn't sure if it was necessary for rics and zoas, but i suppose it cant hurt. I haven't bought a heater yet, but I plan on a small submersible for one of the back chambers I'll get some pics as things develop! Thanks again

great, i would recommend the smallest (15w i think) VisiTherm Stealth heater... they aren't glass and so can't break and contaminate the tank.

 

[kathywithbirds]

Mike got one of those hydor flow doohickeys and it's sweet! Almost made me agree to downsize to a 24 aquapod... almost.

 

[caitrina]

So whats up with this tank? Hey Andy, I'm gettin Lynn's 24...lol...doing a little jig across my room...he he

 

[Cassette87]

Well, I've had everything ready to set up, but the heat here in Illinois has been insane latley.. and the temperature upstairs is much hotter than downstairs, and since there is no thermostat downstairs, the second floor always gets cheated. I know it seems like excuse after excuse, but with a system that will already be hot as it is... 85° room temps aren't going to help any! needless to say.. the tank still sits...

 

[Charlie97L]

well, the temp is definitely something to consider now, and deal with now.

i mean, next year, if you still have this tank up, and are living in the same place, it'll be 85 again... and if you're just waiting for temps to come down, well, it's a time bomb until next year.

i believe that a few places make nano chillers that might work well, but to my recollection, they really can't bring the temp down more than a degree or two.

i'm going full bore freshwater planted on my bc8. it's exciting.

i'm glad to see your's is coming together well!

 

[Cassette87]

..Update...!

Well, I got thefrom my boss at work to set up my BC8 on my desk at work! :whstlr: So my BC will finally be coming out of storage I'm probably not going to be adding any fish, or extremely valuable coral for that matter, since there is always a greater chance of a nightmare with a "work" tank. Does anyone know of any small fish species that would be self sufficient in an established system? Ideal list of inhabitants include:

8 nassarius snails
3 scarlet reef hermits
Cleaner Shrimp
Various Zoanthids & Pallys
R. florida? (if after a while I feel confident the system is stable and that no one will mess with it at work.. )

I think that's all I really intend to keep in the system, unless as I said there are any self sufficient fish that are small

 

[BigAl07]

Neon Goby

 

[lcstorc]

Clown gobies are great and very small. Or maybe some sexy shrimp. I have always wanted a tank with them.

 

[GeeWizzItsMe]

Tailspot blenny!

 

[Johnos]

I've just read 5 months of posts... Is this thing up yet?

:smack:

Pseudochromis, would be my suggestion for a fish.

 

[GeeWizzItsMe]

The tank is probably too small for a pseudochromis...

 

[goldenmean]

barnacle blenny

 

[InLimbo87]

Helfrichi firefish

 

[BigAl07]

I'm watching this one closely. Wife is going to have a Micro tank in her office soon.

 

[Cassette87]

Well Here it is in all of it's glory... My BC8's new home I think I'll be leaving it empty for a week or so while collecting supplies here at work... to kind of test the waters, you know? Need to make sure no one else in the company finds a reason to complain

 

[BigAl07]

Looks good buddy. You'll LOVE having it on your desk there. I wouldn't trade mine for anything but a BIGGER one on my desk. When I move up the "Corp" ladder I'm going to have one built INTO my office wall

Can't wait to see it "Wet" and running.

 

[caitrina]

lOOKS GOOD aNDY, YOU WILL LIKE IT THERE AND i BET OTHERS WILL TOO, UNLESS THEY ARE JEALOUS THEN THERE MIGHT BE SOME COMPLAINTS.:LOL: bEAUTIFUL FALL COLORS OUT THAT WINDOW TOO

Dag gone Cat!! sorry Andy didn't mean to type in all caps, kitty was up here . Even as I was typing I was thinking , man something is wrong with this, but I'm not yelling, the kitty is. Hopy you don't mind that I don't go back and re-type.