Chris 29 biocube trials and errors before a 65 G

Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
jsindorf said:
Beautiful tank - congratulations!

I just got a 29g BioCube yesterday -- it's still empty. From your experience, how should I set it up? (what do find works best in each of the three back segments?)

Did you upgrade the lighting or the fans?

How much extra flow did you add? I see at least one extra pump in the tank.

thanks
Joe
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Thanks , congratulation on your new tank, you'll have fun.

Ok first leave your lighting alone, its fine as it is, i didn't touch the fan nor the lights, if you do upgrade your lighting you gona have heat issues, so don't .
Second , The oceanic pump can be replaced by a Maxi-jet 900 to add more flow and the elbow that connects the tubing and the pump can be replace. I used a larger piece of tubing, check the pic you'll see what i mean.
Inside the tank itself i've put a Koralia Nano to give a different flow: look at the pic. Now thats about just the best mods you can make ; the rest is lost money. Soon i'm getting this.....SR3 Protein Skimmer for Oceanic BioCube, Aquarium Supplies | Pet Solutions for the second chamber.

In the first chamber i've got rid of the bottom panel and put a bag of PHOSLOCK to fight phosphate buildups, in the second i made a refugium( Its not working enough to be useful, so my next protein skimmer is going there. You can do the same AFTER your tank is up and running. Keep the bioballs for now ; i kept mine for 6 months before doing anything with the middle chamber( there is also a grid in the second chamber that can be removed). Now the third chamber where the pump is you can put a bag of Carbon to help clarify and purify your wanter(Change it every month).

If you have other question just asks .:angel2:
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
Basile said:
Unfortunatly the ideal a good one is not practicle in this small cube. The benefits are hardly noticeable. So don't bother with this mod. So to replace the fiasco i bought the protein Skimmer for the second chamber, sold on
Pet Solution, the SR3 Protein Skimmer for Oceanic BioCube is suppose to be the best for that type of cube, we'll see, i should get it next week.
46307581SR3PROTEINSKIMMERbiocube29.jpg
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Well i got it today, and install it. Mhmm....it sure makes alot more microbubbles than the previous one, too much infact. But the instruction says its normal for the first 48 hours of use. So i'll wait for it to break in as they say. But its skimming power is obviously greater than the little one i had.:bluenod:
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Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
Well its been a few hours and i can see a difference in the collection cup, still a bit, not much of microbubbles comming out of the return pump but should resolve like they said. I think i got a winner. will keep posted with new pics.
 
N

nanomax

New Member
I just bought the 29 for my daughter. We are going to set it up together to eventually house seahorses. I know this will take some time..

I've read through your posts and they are very helpful! I'm a big believer in learning from others experience. How is the skimmer working? I like that idea a lot. I won't need more flow, won't need more lighting, etc. Other than the skimmer, is there anything else you'd suggest we do? I may actually have to add a chiller to the system at some point.
 
AndtheBonus

AndtheBonus

Member
Very nice tank! It has come a very long way! I do disagree with one thing though :eek:. I would remove the bio balls right away before water even goes in the tank and I think most people would agree with me. The bio balls are just going to be a nitrate factory. If you do happen to start the tank with bio balls I would remove them slowly and let your tank adjust. This is just my 2 cents but don't get me wrong your tank looks fabulous!
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
nanomax said:
I just bought the 29 for my daughter. We are going to set it up together to eventually house seahorses. I know this will take some time..

I've read through your posts and they are very helpful! I'm a big believer in learning from others experience. How is the skimmer working? I like that idea a lot. I won't need more flow, won't need more lighting, etc. Other than the skimmer, is there anything else you'd suggest we do? I may actually have to add a chiller to the system at some point.
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Well one thing i know is that seahorses don't need strong currents. you know you can't have any other fish with the seahorse? They need lots of time to eat so no competition from other fishes. The big SR3 skimmer works great.You'll need to cultivate lots of copepods for the horses. Good luck with your project.:clink:
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
Basile said:
Well i got it today, and install it. Mhmm....it sure makes alot more microbubbles than the previous one, too much infact. But the instruction says its normal for the first 48 hours of use. So i'll wait for it to break in as they say. But its skimming power is obviously greater than the little one i had.:bluenod:
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Well this protein skimmer works great, a bit noisy for a bedroom, but it does what's suppose to do. i empty it every other day. More water wasted though. so keep an eye on your water volume and parameters. Remember some water evaporates but you'r also taking some out with the skimmer's cup. Salt ration remember your salinity..... Make the proper fill ups with the proper water.Got to go to my :golf: lesson seeya.
 
aquaman3680

aquaman3680

Well-Known Member
Tank looks great! I'm interested to see how you like the SR3. I was considering it for my bio-cube but decided to go with the Sapphire Aquatics 29BCR
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
yungreefer2410 said:
i'm sure you can can the skim mate drier. that sounds really really wet to me
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Yes i actually can, but when it takes about a week, i feel i'm not doing enough to skimm.So i got half way, you can control the skiming 3 ways with the SR3. The depth of the cup, the water level, and your air intake. Its pretty flexible. The skimmate is a dark brownish yellow with a fair amount of sediment. Like i said too dry i feel the thing is not doing enough, to each is own i guess. If you have other input please don't hesitate to share.:turntable
 
Craig Manoukian

Craig Manoukian

Well-Known Member
I'm sure you'll have the same success with the 65 gallon tank with what you've learned with the 29 gallon. You new aqua scaping look will be very good I'm sure.
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
Well after 15 months of reefing, i made an average of my controle tests i did during that time, i'll try to show my graphs later, not sure how to put them up here, but it shows my average of my parameters during those 15 months of the tank, with highs and lows.

This is after the cycling was done.

Average readings;

Amonia ; 0 ppm

Nitrites No2; 0 ppm

Nitrates No3; 10 ppm with a high of 30 on november 28 2008 ( 2 months execptionally without water change)

Ph ; 8.1 low of 7.5

DKH ; 8 ppm

Calcium Ca; 360 ppm

Phosphate ; Po4; 0 ppm

salinity 1.024

So i think the system is stable even though i leave it alone for 45 days at a time. Any thoughts on how to improve, do you think the nitrates are a problem at that level (av; 10 ppm)

The fish are fed every 2 days ; when i'm gone.
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
Well, i got a new critter in my tank, he was given to me by someone. Its a tigercowry. I was told he eats mostly algae, but he nibbled on my starpolyp. Not really bad, because these guys grow really fast anyway. But is there any othe thing these guys nibble on? I got like you see mostly LPS, and a sponge.Is he a danger to my other critters, snails and hermith?
 
K

kayteleann

New Member
It's beautiful! Thank you for posting your adventure. It was what I needed tonight being very frustrated with the progress in my tank. My hubby is big into the spending of monies on this project and I'm getting very confused by all the technical do dads. But seeing that you've also done some modification and it still worked out makes me feel much better! Thanks again
 
Basile

Basile

Well-Known Member
A sad day

Well, it was a sad day, the day i decided to sell the cube. But got to move on in the hobby and the cube didn't give much options. It was a great tool to learn the trade and hours of enjoyment. A few missteps but a very positive experience. The fishes are being transfered to a larger tank, my LPS and softies are being exchanged for sps now since i have the equipment to support them. Will still have a few for diversity but sps all the way now. You can follow the rest at my slow 65 g buld up thread, thanks for all that posted here.

:biker :biker :biker :biker :biker :biker :biker :biker :biker
 
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