My Biocube 29 build

[floridian reefer]

 

 

 

been a while but nothing really new to post. i got the 4.36 light kit in and put it together so here are some new pictures, tell me what ya think.

new lights

anemone crab stays on gorgonian

lawnmower blenny

my mandarin

i caught this guy at our beach

rainfordi

emerald crab

mirror shot to see back of tank, i scrapped the glass

have to have fan to help cool down

not seeing a difference in temp like others claimed? any idea why?

birds nest

star polyps

right side

front.

left side

sun polyps hiding under the rocks in the back

gorgonian

favia that was about gone when i got it from the lfs for $10 worth a shot, coming back slowly

mushrooms

cucumber, never moved since i put him in right there?

5 types of zoas

hammer

cleaner shrimp, more mushrooms, and the right side of sun polyps

green and purple frog spawn

green finger leather, and ricordeas

green hair algae, my favorite!!

little piece of gorgonian

just fed my brain

candy canes eating too

[evokid511]

nice tank! what mods/ lighting do you have on it?

 

props for another florida reefer!

[floridian reefer]

thanks,no mods, stock lighting. just replaced bioballs with LR. just ordered 4.36 light kit from nanotuners too help out a lil. everything is doing good just not really growing expect the gorgonian, the bird nest frag is sprouting another arm, and the leather is growing a little but nothing from anything else not even the zoas, more pics tomorrow

[LostinWater]

Great job. I have a BC 29 and have a sunpod 150w on it and it works great. Keep us updated.

[floridian reefer]

Great job. I have a BC 29 and have a sunpod 150w on it and it works great. Keep us updated.

appreciate it, what mods have you done to yours beside lighting??

[evokid511]

yeah i wouldnt expect much growth for those corals under the stock lighting... once you upgrade theyll flourish... i have the fishneedit 150w mh and i saw an instant change for the better in my corals... you may want to check out the biocube resource guide and look at some of the easy to mods like cutting the tab between the first and second chamber to increase flow and ditching the filter pad for filter floss and getting some carbon in there also

 

assuming you havent done this already

[floridian reefer]

yeah i wouldnt expect much growth for those corals under the stock lighting... once you upgrade theyll flourish... i have the fishneedit 150w mh and i saw an instant change for the better in my corals... you may want to check out the biocube resource guide and look at some of the easy to mods like cutting the tab between the first and second chamber to increase flow and ditching the filter pad for filter floss and getting some carbon in there also

 

assuming you havent done this already

 

 

i have some carbon sitting on the LR in the second chamber but havent cut the tap. i have the cheap little protein skimmer in chamber one that is really worth a flip so far. whats with ditching the filters fot floss? just cheaper to replace? how do you get it to stay in spot their?

[streetsong]

You should check out the biocube resource guide. Click the banner at the bottom of my post- It will give you info about making modifications, using filter floss and other cool stuff.

[evokid511]

i have some carbon sitting on the LR in the second chamber but havent cut the tap. i have the cheap little protein skimmer in chamber one that is really worth a flip so far. whats with ditching the filters fot floss? just cheaper to replace? how do you get it to stay in spot their?

 

 

yeah check out the resource guide gives you everything you need to no... but toss that filter pack it comes with and just put filter floss on top of the grate in chamber 2 and replace it every day or so when it gets dirty

[floridian reefer]

yeah check out the resource guide gives you everything you need to no... but toss that filter pack it comes with and just put filter floss on top of the grate in chamber 2 and replace it every day or so when it gets dirty

 

 

ah okay i was wondering where to put it, yea ive been reading the guide. so let me see if i have this right, the back of chamber 2 is a peice of glass that can be scrapped clear?

[LostinWater]

appreciate it, what mods have you done to yours beside lighting??

 

I added lock-line for the return and have it splitting in a Y. Chamber 1 I removed false floor and heater is in there. The tab in between chamber 1 and 2, I cut that to open up more flow. Chamber 2 I removed the media tray and false floor there too. Chamber 3 upgraded stock pump to maxijet 1200 but soon to upgrade again to rio 6 or better. I have one Koralia 1 and 3 in main tank. Those are really the only mods I did. I used to have a custom skimmer in chamber too. It worked well for a while and then just stopped doing much.

 

If you've got more questions, just let me know.

[evokid511]

ah okay i was wondering where to put it, yea ive been reading the guide. so let me see if i have this right, the back of chamber 2 is a peice of glass that can be scrapped clear?

 

 

the newer biocubes come with this "window" behind chamber two already but if its not there then yes you can scrape a section off and put a fuge light there... the entire back of the BC is made of glass just painted black so you gotta scrape it off where chamber two sits

 

I added lock-line for the return and have it splitting in a Y. Chamber 1 I removed false floor and heater is in there. The tab in between chamber 1 and 2, I cut that to open up more flow. Chamber 2 I removed the media tray and false floor there too. Chamber 3 upgraded stock pump to maxijet 1200 but soon to upgrade again to rio 6 or better. I have one Koralia 1 and 3 in main tank. Those are really the only mods I did. I used to have a custom skimmer in chamber too. It worked well for a while and then just stopped doing much.

 

If you've got more questions, just let me know.

 

 

hey dont mean to jump in and thread jack but i just read this and you did the loc line Y return on your biocube? hows it working? im want to do that to mine very soon... i checked your thread out but couldnt find much about the loc line... what diameter loc line did you use? thanks!

[floridian reefer]

not a problem im curious about the loc line also.

yall dont have a skimmer in your tanks?

what do you do for water changes?

what size tank is yours?

 

opened up right after i finished taking previous pictures.

left side

right side

big gorgonian

little gorgonian

[LostinWater]

Having a skimmer is always good, but since the tank is so small, just weekly water changes would be best. I'm pretty bad and do a 50% water change about once every 3 weeks, but my tank has been up for 3 years and also my tank is currently not at my place, at my mothers. I would like to do a change once a week for my tank. What questions do you have about loc-line?

[floridian reefer]

i ordered a power head to put in their to help with the flow, if i split the line and upgraded the pump would it be sufficient flow,

is 5 gallons every 2 weeks alright you think, currently doing it weekly, tank is almost 7 months old

 

you said you had a skimmer in 2 whats in there now?

[evokid511]

i dont run a skimmer but if i did i would get the aquaticlife 115 and put it in the first chamber... but i do 4-5 gallon water changes every monday... everything goes down on monday ( my day off ) so thats tank day haha

[JakeF150]

NICE !!

 

I have 3.36 upgraded. its nice but its heat water up a little...before stock it was usually 78 with upgrade it raised to 80-81 even upgrade fan so keep eyes on your water temp since you ordered 4.36- might be raise much higher.

 

I know sounds like waste time but if i were you, i would return i4.36 kit and wait for them to release 2 different of T-5 hybird under the hood!

 

check this out!

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=240304

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=216671

[Meengineer0128]

Pretty nice tank man. I agree, you should skip the pc upgrade and go with T-5's. Ditch the hood altogether IMO.

[evokid511]

if your down to ditch the hood for 150 bucks you can get a fishneedit 150w mh and be able to run anything you want... i have it and love it!

[floridian reefer]

well i just discovered the placement of the leds suck with the new setup, they light up the back of the tank, dont really see any coral except the gsp

[floridian reefer]

whats some ways to keep the tank cooler, without a chiller, got to 82 today

[Degener8]

Open the back lid and point a fan into it. You will use more water in top off fue to evaporation but the temp will be down because of evap also. Best solution minus a chiller.

[floridian reefer]

yeah i guess thats my only option i just hate it because of the looks but gota do what i gota do i guess. i wonder if there are beter fans than what came with the light kit they sent?

[Degener8]

Umm I don't really know if you know this or not but having the rubble rock in the middle chamber is about the same and possibly worse than the bio balls ...

 

The rubble is only going to collect deterius over time and slime up and close off the pores in it and become a nitrate factory just like bio balls do.

 

really you looks like you have plenty of rock in the display so there is probably no need to have it in the back. Instead of that I would look into a media basket and or some cheato for nutrient export. Great that your running carbon.. It would be better if you used a media basket and got more flow through the cabron.

 

Just a thought..

 

Oh and I love the gorgonia and Leather coral.. leather kinda is hiding on the side but I love those typed of finger leathers so its still a beauty.

 

How long have you had the gorgonia and has it shown any growth? is that a NPS or Photo gorg?

[floridian reefer]

non photo, and yes its been growing, when i put it in that spot about 6 months ago i pushed it down into the sand and now there are about 5 i guess polyps coming out next to it like its creating another staulk and the peice in the front was half the size when i put it there, i think that one was doing beter in the high flow, about the live rock, i guess i should look into changing it, i thought i had plenty of rock. and it would probably help my green hair algae problem. thanks for your input