I believe the hole is there because the newer BCs were having air trapped in the 2nd chamber so the hole is to allow the trapped air to escape. Don't know for sure. I have an older BC 14. Hope your live stock survive.

I diddnt use any glue, and it seems mine is working fine; I just moved the sponge up and wedged a piece of plastic in there (actually the sponge itself gave enough resistance to divert the flow.

One thing to think about, if you block it on the chamber 3 side, you need to glue it. If you block it on the chamber two side, you just need something light weight to vacuum seal the hole because the pump should be running ( no glue ). Downside to taht is, when you turn the pumps off the plug will fall.

Last Resort - Wet a bunch of filterfloss into a dense ball and shove it in there, if that doesnt slow it down, at least it will filter out particulate

Hi, i got the nano tuner's biocube fan upgrade kit, but fans are still very loud :/

In a moment of stupidity, i didnt order the variable ac/dc adapter because i didnt know what it was. Does anyone know if this adapter will let you control the fan speed - make it spin slowers to reduce the noise? thanks

http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php...products_id=119







i went to home depot and bought a stick of aquatic safe epoxy glue, applied PLENTY covering the hole and half the wall on both sides, it seems to do the job good once dried even though they are not sealants so to speak. Yeah i really like to have a chat with whoever decided to randomly drill on the hole there...

[quote name='gagaliya' date='Apr 3 2010, 11:27 AM' post='2777113']
Hi, i got the nano tuner's biocube fan upgrade kit, but fans are still very loud :/

In a moment of stupidity, i didnt order the variable ac/dc adapter because i didnt know what it was. Does anyone know if this adapter will let you control the fan speed - make it spin slowers to reduce the noise? thanks

http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php...products_id=119




Yes that's exactly what it does....

HEy guys, need a few recommendations. Ive had my BC8 up and running for about 8 months now. The stock parts are slowly dying on me. I am still a beginner as i am running on bare essentials. First one of the fans went out, i cant get it out because the screw is stuck( it just keeps turning and never comes out, how do I fix that). The other fan makes a loud noise when running. Also, one of my ballast went out and I just have one bulb on now. Ive been running on one fan and bulb for about 2 months now. I have no corals and just a pistol shrimp and goby pair.

I decided to get my tank back up and running and was looking at the LED retrofit for the BC8 on nanotuners. The total comes out to $360. Thats a bit pricey since im in college. I have no idea what other option there is. I dont want my tank running hot, i dont like high power consumption so i thought the LED's would be perfect.

Would it be cheaper to just build my own LED retrofit? Also, what lighting mods have you guys with a BC 8 have done? I can barley find and BC8 mods.

today my biocube temperature went up to 84F from the set 79F, even with both fans blasting at full speed (i also cut out the grills on the reflector to allow better airflow.

this is terrible.

it's warm today but not that hot, as the temperature continues to go up when the real summer is here, all my fish would be dead. I work all day so cant really stay home and take care of the tank. Checked out the chillers, cant find a good options for nano tanks and all are expensive and huge!

My tank is fully planted so i have to keep both lights running for 8-10 hrs a day further exacerbating the heat problem.

what do i do?

I've had the same temp issues this week with
my 14. I've dialed down my heater at least 6 clicks
now and it was 81 this am so I dialed it down once
more before leaving for work.

but how will dial down the heater help. If the room temp is 85F, it wont matter if the heater is set at 65F vs 80F for example, it will be off anyway.

if you are spending $$$ on the LED from nano tuners, upgrade the tank to a BC14. Tank is cheap, and see if you can get a used hood. I think the price of the LED kit is roughly the same, and you will be happier with more room. My BC14 did the same thing, after a couple of years. I ran one light with no fans for several months until nano tuners got their #### together for the LED upgrades (I ordered in October, didn't get the hood till February due to stock issues).

If no LED retro, you should be able to pull the fans out, just yank the stripped screw. Hopefully the three other posts can hold the fans. Buy quality, quiet fans, look at mods out there, maybe put a larger, quieter fan in there. Replace the ballast, and maybe do the 3.18 upgrade from nano tuners. Of course, adding up the ballast, lights, fans and such, you are probably over halfway to the cost of the LEDs..

Enjoy the thread!!!! Good info.

hey guys i got a question. on my biocube 14 after i added the maxijet 900 to the back and everything it is starting to kinda fill up almost to overflow into the back chambers over the wall. i have steviet's media rack and everything. any ideas on whats up? thanks any info would be great

Are all three chambers full to the top? when I added my maxi 900 and stevieT's media basket it was fine but when I took off the plastic peice that holds the media rack in place in chamber two it kind of started to move the water up in chamber three more because there was no restriction to slow the water down.

Im still researching everything. Can you keep any corals in a STOCK 29 Biocube?

no i have the water right under the top level in the media rack that has my filter floss on there. i have the little clear plastic thing from the media rack on but i have it where it is set all the way to the sides so for maximum flow but still flows through the media rack

You sure can, with limits. Check the tank threads to see what folks are able to keep.

I couldnt find the info or i m blind

I need to know if you guys keep blue small sponge square that placed in 3rd chamber on the bottom ??

What did you do with it ??

I already have a media intank system but havent set up 29 Bio yet.. I need to move to different place to live then i will set it up from there.

THANKS!
Jake

Remove blue sponge, its not needed.

Im trying to sort it out because the system I really want is going to cost me over $2500 to set up. And I probably will not be able to do that for over a year.

I could start with a biocube and work my way up. BUT..if I have to start upgrading things like lights, then I might as well just wait. That's why Id like to find out what I can store in the stock biocube with no upgrades.

Any thoughts?

THANKS!

You can keep softies and some lps in a stock BC 14 without any problems or major upgrades (lighting, chillers, filtering systems). If its only temporary until you get you other system up, I wouldn't wast your money on a BC but rather spend it on your future system IMHO. If you just have to have something now, the BC 14 is a good choice and after you have your other system up you could use your BC 14 as a QT, frag/grow out tank, or keep it as a softies tank. HTH.

Quicksilver I don't know what to say about that then..... I heard of people having issues when adding a maxi 1200 to the system but not the 900. I would say just watch your levels. it's okay to have the water high in chamber three. allows more water to flow quicker through the system. Sorry i wasn't anymore help to you.

I just got a BioCube 14g The LFS has one set up with a heavy load and isn't running a skimmer.
I was wondering ow many of you guys run skimmers in your BioCubes?

Also I have all the bio balls in the tank now. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about this.
I have read some people say use them and others say not to.
If I do keep them I could clean them every few months but it would be hard to get to the balls on the bottom.
Any Ideas? I would like to make a decision before the tank runs to long..

Thanks for any info.

I don't run a skimmer, but do weekly water changes. I would get rid of the bio-balls, sponge and carbon filter cartridge, then replace with media rack and filter floss. Check this thread out for specifics.

Unless you have a lot of fish, a skimmer will do more harm than good IMO...folks will debate this to the end of time, but there is some good articles on it out there. I've been running a BC29 for almost 2yrs now and with no skimmer and no problems.

Definitely toss the bio balls and stock filter and replace with Stevie T's media rack or similar. I run filter floss (change every other day), GFO and Chemipure in the media rack, and a clump of Chaeto in the other rack and it works great. I'd keep the stock blue sponge in as it traps crap before it gets to the pump (i.e. Chaeto bits) or your display. You just need to make sure to rinse it out at least every other water change.

Most important are weekly water changes with RO/DI water and a quality salt. Make sure salinity/temp does not stray too much, and make sure your params are straight, especially Ca/Alk/Mg if you have a lot of corals. One last thing, DON'T DOSE UNLESS YOU HAVE TO, and if you do, make sure you test for it.

Take your time and do it right, there's a lot of info out there and it can be overwhelming. Be patient and good things will come!

I have a BioCube 14 gallon its been running a little over a week. Since the start all 3 back chambers are the same water level. This wouldn't bother me but the water in the 3rd chamber isn't getting much movement at the top. Its building up a film on top. When I first started the tank the 3rd chamber was maybe 3/4 lower than the other 2 but now they are close to even. It has a window that has minimum and maximum but I'm way over that.
Any ideas how to stop this?

One more question. I want to remove the false bottom in the first chamber for my heater. How do I do that?

Thanks for any ideas.

I love this Biocube. I have a problem with a fan, it's making a lot of noise. I called customer support and they are sending me a new fan. was really impressed with the cs. no questions asked just said one was one the way. sweet.

11lbs Live rock
5lbs live sand
3 crabs
2 snails
1 peppermint shrimp
3 unknown small corals
pic included
When I do my first water change I'm going to rearrange the live rock.
more pics at
http://picasaweb.google.com/caughey/BioCube#

Click to view attachment

Hi Kevin,

Don't worry about the water level window on the side, just keep the water about 1/2" below the top of the chamber walls. I don't recall seeing scum on the surface of any of the chambers. What are you using for filtering? Basically for filtering you want water to enter via chamber 1, overflow into chamber 2 through filter floss (get rid of the bio balls) and then the water should flow under the wall and into chamber 3.

To remove the false bottom in chamber 1, I used a big flat tip screw driver and just punched it down, reached in and pulled it out. If you have a 1x1" piece of wood, you could do the same thing.

You are always going to have problems with the stock fans. Oceanic CS has been great and they do send out new fans but they will have the same problem in sort order. You can get better and quieter fans from nano tuners, Radio Shack, or any computer parts store. HTH

I have had this 29 HQI for about 3 weeks now. This is my first post, and lurking this forum has helped me immensely in maintaining my nano reef and modding my biocube. This is my first saltwater tank, and I was planning to start from scratch, but I found this amazing deal on craigslist for a tank that was only 3 weeks old. It was already packed with fish, crustaceans, and coral, and I was pretty certain I would kill everything, but the only casualty so far was 1 of 2 peppermint shrimp that happened during the tank move. I'm still trying to figure out all of the types of coral, and I should probably start a spreadsheet to keep track.

As far as fish go, the tank came with 3 blue-green chromis and a yellow wrasse. I added a pair of percula with the intent that if things get overloaded at 6 fish, the chromis would be heading to the LFS. So far, things are doing great, and a lot of the coral is growing quickly! I know that my tank size is slightly below the borderline for the yellow wrasse, but he seems pretty content to me and is definitely my favorite.

Here's a video I made yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pCfUKNtSVY

I added an underwater light for the refugium and finally was able to see the false floor that is built into chamber 2. My first impression was that I should knock it out, so that I could siphon it during a water change However, it is kind of nice how it suspends my clump of chaeto. I then realized that when I take my bag of chemipure out of the sponge slot to rinse during a water change, I could just slip the siphon into there to get the debris out of chamber 2. What do you guys think?

Hello group.
What is the best type of glue to use? I will be able to get the area dry but I need to know what will dry fast and be non toxic. I believe I have heard regular super glue is ok. Any know if this is true?

I need to plug up the little 1" hole from chamber 2 going in to chamber 3. Most of my flow is going through this hole instead of being pulled down through chamber 2. I am thinking of just gluing a piece of plastic over this hole. I know this was talked about on here before. Im going to try and find it now.

Thanks for any info.
Kevin

I was also going to knock the bottom out of chamber 1. I was at walmart and they sell heaters that are only like 4" long. So I got one of these instead and left the Biocube intact.

Great resource Thanks...has anyone put a real refugium in the bottom of a cube 29g with hood...if so how did you do it? thanks

I'm failing to understand how this increases flow. Say your running a pump that moves 246gpm how does removing this tab increase that? All I see it doing is lowering the water in the before chamber.

It allows more water to enter the second chamber at a faster rate, the output is the same but it balances the water levels between the three chambers. More flow does not mean more output in this case.

Chamber one does not drop when you remove this tab, it received the same input volume

How can the output be the same, but more water transfers to the 2nd chamber at a faster rate?

In a BC14 what skimmer should I use and what chamber should I put it in, if any? Also, does anyone use a MP10 in theeir BC14? Thoughts?

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=217683

Biocube 14. Please add me to the member's biocubes.

I have the biocube 8g and wanted to swap out the stock pump for the minijet 606. Will cutting the tubing and just slapping the minijet in there work?

Edit: Whoops, nevermind. Didn't realize the end parts came out.

Let me jump in and see if I can muddy the water a little more.

I think I might see were the confusion is. Fishdaddy, you are correct in thinking that total output should equal total input. If it didn't, you would either have flooding or the pump chamber would run dry. I think what StevieT is referring to is the laminar flow of water over the 1st wall in chamber 1. StevieT, if I'm wrong please let me know. With the tab in place or removed, you will still get 246gpm if you used a 246gpm pump. With the tab removed you get more surface flow. Think of it as pushing the same amount of water through a 1/2" diameter pipe verses a 1" pipe with the same pump. One comes out fast like a stream out of a garden hose and the other has a more leisurely flow but more surface area. The biggest advantage to removing the tab is that you get more laminar flow or surface area flow but the same gpm. This bigger surface area allows for more surface flow and this allows for better surface skimming and filtering. I'm not a fluid dynamics engineer but I play one on TV (). The bottom line is, same gpm flow but better surface flow/skimming. I hope that makes sense.

That makes sense, and I can see the benefit now. Thanks for clearing that up.

Since most upgrade the stock pump it is even more important to supply as much water as possible to avoid swings in rear chamber water levels. This makes it a recommend/ required modification.

*edit* I removed my question because I realized there's no point in carrying this on.

Thanks again benoitcdc for showing me an actual benefit to this mod.

why? Seems kind of pointless to delete a question

Because I already know the answer, and while I was looking into this mod I found out that you are "inTank". So I now asume any information you give on this mod refers to effecting your media baskets. Although I do not have one I can understand how spreading the water out when it hits the basket would help it flow through your basket more effitiently.

My argument was that this mod doesn't increase flow. It won't effect the water level in the 2nd and 3rd chamber ether. This of corse is without any basket.


Please excuse my iPhone typing.

I don't think you need a skimmer as long as you do weekly water changes.
(I don't use one)

+1

Awesome, Thanks for the replies! Another question I have is do you think I could add additional some fans to canopy? The tank water hits about 83 now and it will only get hotter as the summer goes on...I have the nanotuners 3.24 mod in it...

Thanks everyone!

Ditto.

Reefmonster,

What do you keep the room temperature set at? What temp do you have the heater set to? 83 is high. You may need to consider using a chiller or some sort of evaporative cooler like an algae turf scrubber if you can't alter the first 2 conditions. I don't think additional fans in the hood would be enough to drop the temp. You would have to remove the canopy and have a fan blowing over the water to get any cooling.

I keep the room temp at 78*. I think I'm getting heat from the powerheads. I have a MJ1200, and a MJ900 for circulation...I noticed the MJ1200 was really warm this morning...I also noticed that the ballast gets REALLY hot...Maybe I'll raise the hood and set a piece of eggcrate between it and the water...give it a bit of airflow. (I have two small kids and don't want something "dropping" in the water, but don't want my water to get to 90* either)... I did the 3.24 Mod, but didn't upgrade my ballasts...shame on me . I wonder if a MP10 would lower the heat qotient? Maybe an upgrade to LED's? No ideas at this point....A chiller is not an option...my wife says "NO", and she's the boss....

What do you guys think?

IMO with the BC14 unless you are in a heavy bioload situation weekly water changes should be enough to keep your system nice an clean. In addition if you have not already done so look into modding the stock filter to accept some polyester fiber fill and change it a couple of times per week.
You could certaily get an MP 10 for this tank as they are pretty much infinitely adjustable.



The Maxijets are definitely adding heat to the system especially with the top closed. Does the 14 gallon have the small part of the hood that opens in the back? If so you can dissipate some of the heat by keeping that part open. The MP10 added to the tank and the Maxijets removed will help to remove some of the heat from the tank.