Biocube 29 MUST mods?

[torsten329]

So, I've been doing a lot of research on the forums as well as the Biocube section. I was just curious to what you would absolutely do to a stock biocube. It's currently been up and cycling for about two weeks now with about 30 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of sand.

 

Any suggestions on what I should modify to upgrade my tank for the long run?

 

Thanks in advance

[Buck0land]

Upgrade the lighting to LEDs and take out the bio balls and put in a media basket.

 

So, I've been doing a lot of research on the forums as well as the Biocube section. I was just curious to what you would absolutely do to a stock biocube. It's currently been up and cycling for about two weeks now with about 30 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of sand.

 

Any suggestions on what I should modify to upgrade my tank for the long run?

 

Thanks in advance

[CaptainErratic]

So, I've been doing a lot of research on the forums as well as the Biocube section. I was just curious to what you would absolutely do to a stock biocube. It's currently been up and cycling for about two weeks now with about 30 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of sand.

 

Any suggestions on what I should modify to upgrade my tank for the long run?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Widen flow between chambers 1 and 2, remove false floors and bioballs, Rio 6hf return pump, locline on return, skimmer, stevieT media rack... RapidLed DIY retro, maybe a vortech Mp10

[altolamprologus]

THB there aren't any "must" mods. You can run a reef just fine all stock. Mine is almost completely stock and it's doing a lot better than some people with a whole bunch of mods and fancy equipment (not trying to sound arrogant I swear)

[CaptainErratic]

THB there aren't any "must" mods. You can run a reef just fine all stock. Mine is almost completely stock and it's doing a lot better than some people with a whole bunch of mods and fancy equipment (not trying to sound arrogant I swear)

 

That is pretty true. Most of its your preference. Some things just aid you if you have increased bio loads and want to keep certain corals

[roly01]

if you guys want ideas you can check out my thread have pretty much all the mods done to my tank

[Lawnman]

Upgrade the lighting to LEDs and take out the bio balls and put in a media basket.

Not true you do not need to upgrade the lighting.

 

Widen flow between chambers 1 and 2, remove false floors and bioballs, Rio 6hf return pump, locline on return, skimmer, stevieT media rack... RapidLed DIY retro, maybe a vortech Mp10

Not true you do not need locline or a skimmer or leds.

[altolamprologus]

Not true you do not need to upgrade the lighting.

Agreed. Anyone who disagrees, look at my 29 gallon thread in my sig. Softies, LPS and even a dozen sps with stock lighting.

[Lawnman]

You can keep softies and some LPS under the stock lighting. On my biocube I first removed the bioballs and the false floors. Then I got a media basket and a better return. Then I added a koralia nano for more flow. That kept me happy for a few months. The. Do alot of research and plan your next purchases.

 

See my avatar those zoas were grown and kept under stock lighting. I then upgraded and added more PC bulbs and kept tons of LPS and a few SPS.

[Euphyllia]

MUST buy the inTank fish jump guard to prevent fish from falling over the back wall!

MUST remove the sponge filter, or clean it religiously every few days.

MUST make the middle chamber into a sump by scraping the black paint off the back of the tank and putting a light back there.

 

[torsten329]

Thanks for the input! I did widen the flow between chambers 1 and 2 already. I was having trouble keeping water in the 3rd chamber, but that did the trick. Plan on getting rid of the bioballs soon. Thanks for the StevieT info. Definitely will be looking into that a little further.

 

I guess more I less I was wondering what exactly are the benefits of adding pumps to increase flow? I noticed a lot of people added pumps to theirs.

 

Thanks again

[Lawnman]

MUST buy the inTank fish jump guard to prevent fish from falling over the back wall!

MUST remove the sponge filter, or clean it religiously every few days.

MUST make the middle chamber into a sump by scraping the black paint off the back of the tank and putting a light back there.

 

LMAO a sump is below the tank. Why does everyone think the need a fuge in a 29 gallon tank? After 30 lbs of rock and sand you will have around 20 gallons of water. If you change 5 gallons a week that is a 25% waterchange. You do not need a skimmer or a fuge. Why do you need a fish guard? They make rimless tanks and fish do not jump out. I have a rimless open top tank with 19 fish and I still have them all.

 

Thanks for the input! I did widen the flow between chambers 1 and 2 already. I was having trouble keeping water in the 3rd chamber, but that did the trick. Plan on getting rid of the bioballs soon. Thanks for the StevieT info. Definitely will be looking into that a little further.

 

I guess more I less I was wondering what exactly are the benefits of adding pumps to increase flow? I noticed a lot of people added pumps to theirs.

 

Thanks again

Extra flow is always good in a reef tank. Keeps cyano algae at bay and runs more water thru your filter media etc.

[StevieT]

StevieT wut

[torsten329]

Sort of a noob question here, but if you use a media rack, how often do you recommend changing filter floss and chemipure?

[Lawnman]

Floss every week. Chemipure I think every 3 months.

[roly01]

Floss every week. Chemipure I think every 3 months.

 

it depends i usually have to change my floss twice a week, it all depends on your tanks stock, i have 4 fish, heavy cuc, and i like to feed, so my filter floss gets a dark yellow/brownish color by the 3rd to 4th day. i do weekly 25% water changes and my skimmer is running 24/7.

 

the best rule to go by is if its starting to take a turn towards brownish then your going to need to change it soon.

[inTank]

It's very tank dependent. I change my floss 2x's per week. Sometimes I can get by with 1x. Main thing is to feed with the filtration pump off.

[Euphyllia]

LMAO a sump is below the tank.

 

Sorry, I live in Soviet Russia. The sump is actually in the tank.

[torsten329]

Thanks for all the input. Definitely looking into getting the media rack and stuff. Would you suggest that I invest in a pump to help out with stuff or would I be fine without one? If so what kind would you suggest?

[Euphyllia]

Thanks for all the input. Definitely looking into getting the media rack and stuff. Would you suggest that I invest in a pump to help out with stuff or would I be fine without one? If so what kind would you suggest?

 

Yeah, not absolutely necessary, but extra gph always helps.

[StevieT]

Go with the Maxi Jet 1200

Add more flow in the tank like Vortech MP10 or Koralia 750

[pache11]

I'm late to jump in this thread. I have a JBJ 12 in addition to my BioCube 29. I bought the 12 a year earlier and thought that the 29 would be easy as well. The Cube has a lot of different issues compared to the Nano. 1st major deal is that the Cube doesn't surface skim like the Nano. The Nano keeps the water surface alot cleaner with the optional surface skimmer. Has anyone used the same thing on the Cube and blocked the lower opening? The Cube also drinks makeup water like no other tank I have used as well. Going to replace one compact with LEDs, the compacts seem to add a bit wider spectrum than just the LEDs.

 

Any comments or ideas are appreciated, Thanks, Pete

[Dramad1]

Go with the Maxi Jet 1200

Add more flow in the tank like Vortech MP10 or Koralia 750

^^^ this is what I have done and couldn't be happier. Throw a skimmer in the mix and media basket and done

[aquageek]

Another vote for the skimmer. I do weekly water changes on my 29G biocube and I still get some nasty looking stuff in the skimmer cup. You may not "need" it, but it will definitely help make life easier as far as water quality goes.

[Mazzy21]

Ya know, I pretty much ALWAYS see the suggestion of upgrading the return pump to a Maxi-jet 1200 or something equally powerful and I'm kinda stumped by it. I bought my tank used (though never actually saw water) so maybe the person I bought it from had upgraded the pump and I just don't realize it, but I have the Oceanic HQI model and the return pump says "Oceanic" on it so I have assumed it's the stock pump. My pump totally kicks. So much so that there is about three inches of displaced sand in the front of the tank even AFTER I repositioned the nozzel more upward to try to stop blowing sand out of place.

Think maybe the issue of the return pump is only with the Coralife models?? Because from what I'm seeing on my tank there is just no way you need to upgrade that stock - Oceanic - pump.

**I should add that I still consider a powerhead of some kind a must in any tank so I suppose if all this time I am misinterpretting and what people actually mean is "upgrade the pump so that you won't need any other source of flow" then I could see that. But to upgrade the stock return pump in addition to whatever powerhead(s), to me that is jsut wasted money based on amount of flow kicked out by the Oceanic stock return pump.