Skimmer/Refugium mods

BrothaWolf

BrothaWolf

Well-Known Member
Ok I promised some photos of my new skimmer setup and I figured I would throw in a few of my new refugium mod. Skimmer was custom made by Sapphire Aquatics specifically for the BioCube 29. Hood fits perfect with the skimmer in place. Had to add about 1 gallon of water to fill the skimmer. Its been up and running for about a week or 2 now. So far Ive only been running it at night due to the amount of microbubbles it throws into the display. Ive been assured by Kyle at Sapphire that once its worked in this will stop... it seems to have lessened but only time will tell. Skimmer runs pretty quietly skimate is light green and wet... I may tweek it a bit to get it dryer.
On to the next mod... Woodstock sent me such a nice ball of chaeto and I figured it deserved a home of its own instead of just sitting in a back chamber of the cube. I had it in chamber one at the top. With my light mod it was getting plenty of light from the top and thru the surface skimmer... I guess I have too much time on my hands. On a whim I purchased a CPR hang on refugium. They were on sale at thatfishplace I got the smallest one not really sure how it would fit. A little messing around with the powerhead connection... Dremmel to the refugium center support... I added a piece of egg crate to keep any bad fish out of the overflow... hole saw to the back of the BioCube hood (G/F CRINGES everytime I go near the tank with powertools) and VOILA... I cut a cover out of come clear plexi, got that tiny coral life pc fixture, added an extra 4 gallons of water (2.5 in the refugium and another 1.5 in the rear chambers).... a few pounds of live sand some live rock one EVIL clown fish and Woodstocks chaeto!!! Hmmmm... I think Im out of mods... oh wait Ive got that modular hose and some powerheads to play with!!! :thumbup:

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BrothaWolf

BrothaWolf

Well-Known Member
Swapped out the PH that I was using on the fuge It was rated at 152 gph but was sucking 2 much water out of the display. Replaced it with one rated at around 80 gph. Water level looks right now. Still tweaking the skimmer to work with the new setup. With all the extra water skimmer was filling the cup to quickly... Seems like the right balance now...
 
BrothaWolf

BrothaWolf

Well-Known Member
saltwaterfarm said:
Hey Brothawolf... Can you come do that to mine?:thumbup:
Click to expand...
Take me out for crabs and i will! (youre gonna have to take the yucky stuff out for me though)

99% of the micro bubbles are gone now. Skimmer is producing nice skimmate now dark green tea looking stuff. Have to empty the cup about every 3 - 4 days. I think I will still only run the skimmer at night though to give the coral more time to eat during the day. Anyone have any comments on only skimming 12 hours a day?
 
saltwaterfarm

saltwaterfarm

Well-Known Member
I guess I'll have to wait until summer... I cook the crabs at home, the beer is cheaper. See you in a few months then...
 
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o2zen

New Member
I am new to this. I plan on doing the mod you did with the lights but why did you add on the back chamber and what is chaeto?

Did you change out the stock pump or do anything to chamber 3? I just started my tank tonight and notice the pump connection to the bulkhead is dripping every few minutes which is throwing a ton of bubbles into the tank. I need to correct this and before I did was curious what people are doing with the pump and powerhead that comes stock?

Thanks.
 
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o2zen

New Member
I also wanted to add that when I filled my tank my 3rd chamber is way over the max line but when I trun off the pump the water levels out and is below where they tell you to fill it in the instructions. Is this normal with the tank?
 
BrothaWolf

BrothaWolf

Well-Known Member
o2zen said:
I am new to this. I plan on doing the mod you did with the lights but why did you add on the back chamber and what is chaeto?

Did you change out the stock pump or do anything to chamber 3? I just started my tank tonight and notice the pump connection to the bulkhead is dripping every few minutes which is throwing a ton of bubbles into the tank. I need to correct this and before I did was curious what people are doing with the pump and powerhead that comes stock?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
The back chamber is a refugium. Im growing chaeto and red grac which are types of macro algae. Growing macro algae in a seperate tank will help remove nitrates from your water. Nitrates can build up in your tank over time and are very harmful to fish and corals. They can also cause algae blooms in your display tank. I also have live sand and rock back there and a few snails and maybe one or 2 hermit crabs. So not only is it eliminating nitrates but also giving my filtration system a boost and adding a few more gallons of water in the back.
As long as you stay up on your water changes its not necessary but it is still beneficial. I just like to tinker...
As for pumps.... at the moment Im running the stock pump and everything in the tank is happy. Ive played with the maxijet 1200 and the rio HF6 both pumps created more flow but I found that my corals began to close and my fish were having a hard time swimming so I went back to stock. The 1200 does about 295 gph and the rio does about 350 I think. I have a bunch of loc line I will probably start playing with after the New Year to try and move the flow a bit and then I will go back to playing with pumps and see what happens. If you kept track of your water as you filled the tank the capacity is probably really only about 21 gallons of water (Oceanic is VERY deceptive and misleading on the box for the BioCubes No where on the box does it say the tank holds 29 gallons of water... bastards! Maybe if you filled it to the top edge like a regular tank including all the cahmabers in the back but it doesnt run like that) so the stock pump will give you the 10x minimum flow for a reef. It all really depends on what you plan on keeping in the tanks as to the kind of flow you want. Are you doing a reef or fish only?
If youre doing a reef you will probably want to ditch the bio balls and maybe use a filterbag full of live rock rubble or a protein skimmer in chamber two) If you plan on keeping them then dont fill the tank over the max fill line.

As far as your tank blowing bubbles... DITCH that cheap filter thing with the carbon in it that they give you and THROW IT AWAY its GARBAGE. It clogs up quickly and keeps the water from flowing to your pump correctly. Your pump sucks in air and then blows BUBBLES. Try that before you start siliconing your bulkhead. It was happening to me also.


o2zen said:
I also wanted to add that when I filled my tank my 3rd chamber is way over the max line but when I trun off the pump the water levels out and is below where they tell you to fill it in the instructions. Is this normal with the tank?
Click to expand...
Yes this is normal. Nothing to worry about.
 
YumSaltWater

YumSaltWater

Member
Im interested in doing something like this for my tank.
You know, when i have money.
I have a 24 gallon aquapod reef tank which is doing fine although my nitrates are usually up.
Where can i find detailed instructions/pricing on modding my tank like this?
Thank you for your help.
 
BrothaWolf

BrothaWolf

Well-Known Member
YumSaltWater said:
Im interested in doing something like this for my tank.
You know, when i have money.
I have a 24 gallon aquapod reef tank which is doing fine although my nitrates are usually up.
Where can i find detailed instructions/pricing on modding my tank like this?
Thank you for your help.
Click to expand...

hmmmm I dont know about the aquapod. Aquapod has a hinged top which will make it harder to retrofit something but not impossible. Unless you have the halides... I just winged it with my biocube. Grabbed my cordless drill and my hole bits... Sapphire Aquatics may actualy make a fuge for the aquapod
 
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