Rescued BioCube 29G: A Work in Progress

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I thought this was the best place for my post as this will be a timely chronicle. I was offered a free BioCube 29G from one of my fraternity brothers...Last Night.

I was bit with the reef bug during my previous job where we had a 100 Gallon reef tank in the reception which i gazed upon all day, as my station was just opposite of it. I told myself one day I would get one and that day just so happened. I am reading everything I can on taking care of water, balancing the proper chemicals. but find myself a little unsure of my course of action and would appreciate some thoughts from the esteemed members of RS.

I would have liked to start my reef from scratch but i recieved my tank and setup for free so I want to get it back in working order. then look to improve on it. I have two fish, two coral, and about 30 lbs of live rock and sand. Also a alot of algae.

Below you will see the status of the tank currently. Badly overtaken with Algae, I believe my first priority is to cycle about 1/3 of the water, while cleaning the algae away from the live rock, the inside of the aquarium, and carefully from the coral.

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tank2.jpg

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After this water cycle begin testing and monitoring the water to balance the salinity and see where the water levels are and proceed based on the reading i get them.

I would also welcome some thoughts and guidance on equipment or upgrades...for the tank. I have some monies to play with as I didn't have to get the basics. The set up is apparently stock, but without a manual(which i have called OCEANIC for) i am not sure if I am missing anything, or where the filter goes for that matter. Even googled for one too.

I look forward in becoming an active member here and chronicling the tales of my tank here as well.

Thank you
 
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Merlin67

Merlin67

Member
The filter go into the slots in the right back, the center is where the bio balls and strainer are, the left back is the pump area. I would take the rocks out and scrub them. how old is the tank? You might want to get new bulbs and keep doing water changes to get rid of the hair algae. You can modify the back are with bio cube baskets and stuff if you search online.

InTank Media Baskets
aka Intank llc
 
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Merlin-
Thanks for the re-assurance, I am going to change out about 1/3 of it tonight and scrub the live rock and inside the tank to get the rest of it out.

Then begin to start tracking the waters vitals.

Reefmack-Thanks! I found that too as well, but called oceanic and had them send me the manual.

Any other tips for getting this algae problem under control?
 
GrendelPrime

GrendelPrime

Well-Known Member
another thing i noticed is the side shot of the tank i see aptasia which is something u dont want to have...but on a side note before u do anything i would get the basic test kits ammonia, nitrite nitrate and phosphate, no sence trying to fix something when u dont know whats causing it, figure out what is off in the water then form an attack plan once all the info is gathered, could be lack of maintenance that has the tank looking that way or source water thats high in phos or even old bulbs
 
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**Update**

TADA
FishTank.jpg


Been about a month and thought I would update people and also look for some advice. I think everyone should agree I've turned the old place around. After a few aquascapes i finally settled on bring it all to the center to promote better flow and better ability to clean the tank. I hope this will promote a long standing reef.

As for the livestock additions. I got a full fledged CUC in the tank. 8 Turbo Snails. About 15 hermits. 2 peppermint shrimp who have past on to the big aquarium in the sky. 1 Coral banded shrimp. Emerald Crab, Engineer Goby, Skipping Blenny, Anemone.

Coral Additions. Chili Coral, haven't seen any polyps since my last aquascape. A hammerheard, a mushroom and some zoa's. And the Kenya Tree Coral too.

Bio Cube changes. Punched the flast floor in the first chamber and sucked the gunk out. this cause me to relocate the filter to the second chamber under the water difused. Also a bag of ChemiPure below that. Upgraded the filter to a RIO 6F last week too. One Koralia Nano and the Hydor rotating head.

My request is for advice on updagring my filtration in the tank. I have changed my filter about 5 or 6 times as they have gotten so caked with stuff. This tank was neglected for a while. I see this InTank stuff but unsure and looking for some guidance. And of the bigger fish in the pond wish to lend advice?
 
Merlin67

Merlin67

Member
Looks so much better! nice job. Use Chemi-Pure Elite 11-12oz and 100g of the purigen pouch works great in those cubes. Check out online for the mods for adding the media baskets and the skimmer for the back. Remove those bio balls, etc....I like to siphon the back once in a while when you do a water change as well. Check out InTankLLC
 
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Merlin67 said:
Looks so much better! nice job. Use Chemi-Pure Elite 11-12oz and 100g of the purigen pouch works great in those cubes. Check out online for the mods for adding the media baskets and the skimmer for the back. Remove those bio balls, etc....I like to siphon the back once in a while when you do a water change as well. Check out InTankLLC
Click to expand...

Thanks Merlin.

Where do I put the chemi pure? Here what i have now. In the second chamber the water pours on to the difuser. Below that is the bi cube cartridge then below that is the chemi pure then the bio balls. The cartridge and the chemi pure are lying horizontally.
 
StevieT

StevieT

RS Sponsor
Wow that is such a difference nice work.

You basically could have paid for the media basket already by not using those stock cartridges. Filter floss goes on top and catches all the detritus then you just replace upon it's need. It is at a much lower cost then the basket houses much higher quality medias like chemi pure elite (especially for your algae) and purigen.

I would recommend removing the bioballs as in a small chamber they become nitrate traps. I suspect a lot of the previous owners struggle was due to the use of tap water, possibly mentioned here but make sure you are using RO/DI.
 
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Thanks Steve.

Checked out your demo tab on your website. It now all makes sense.

Can you or someone offer to school me on a refug? What are the benefits and purpose.
 
StevieT

StevieT

RS Sponsor
Well you either go with a skimmer or macro algae. With the media basket you sill could grow macro algae with the skimmer.

It all depends on what you want to stock. If you are staying away from SPS than go with the fuge basket. Simply drop it in, provide it light from behind or above, add in chaeto. It is easy to care for and does a great job of natural filtration. Manages proper pH through the night, removes nitrates and phosphates.

Added advise, paint that magfloat black to completely make it disappear. Krylon fussion
 
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Update to the reef.

Acquired a large open brain coral and some other various corals over the last weeks and some new lifestock. I think I am a little obsessed.

IMG_0368.jpg
 
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