I don't know what the hell I'm doing Biocube *1 year update*

[Wjcastiglione]

1yr Progress pic:

 

 

3mo progress pic:

 

Here is my second hand tank that I will be building into a reef tank eventually. You will see pictures of the disgustingness that the previous owner neglected below. I'll update you along the way.

10/21 - bought tank from previous owner.
10/22 - bought the following items from Steve at In Tank (huge shoutout to Steve, he helped me more than his fair amount and was super timely along the way. He definitely earned my business!)

• Aquaticlife mini skimmer 115
• 6 ft of black hose *to mod the Aquaticlife skimmer for noise level*
• In Tank Media basket
• In Tank Fish saver guard
• Coralife 36W Actinic Straight Pin PC Lamp *to replace burnt out bulb*
• Filter Floss, chemipure, and purigen
• Filter Bags

10/22 - I also purchased a Jebao wavemaker for inside the tank from amazon.com.
10/22 - After realizing stock hood is shot - bought steve's LED retrofit kit.
10/22 - Buddy gave me 1200 marineland pump for tank.
10/26 - bought hydor ATO and toms lifter pump

10/26 - bought ocean direct live sand (20 lbs)

I will be soaking the tank in vinegar and water for the next couple days to clean it out (throwing out sand before hand). Attached are pictures below.

Let me know what you think or if you have any recommendations!

[VAReefDog]

Make sure to replace the actinic bulb as well if you don't know how old that one is- even if it seems to be working.

I would rec upgrading the return pump and not using the stock model. On mine- I used MJ1200 with the bulkhead split with Loc-line Y tube. The rest of the upgrades you listed - including the intank chambers work great. Steve is very helpful and makes quality products.

Good luck. I really like mine- it is a wonderful tank.

[Wjcastiglione]

Make sure to replace the actinic bulb as well if you don't know how old that one is- even if it seems to be working.

I would rec upgrading the return pump and not using the stock model. On mine- I used MJ1200 with the bulkhead split with Loc-line Y tube. The rest of the upgrades you listed - including the intank chambers work great. Steve is very helpful and makes quality products.

Good luck. I really like mine- it is a wonderful tank.

 

The pump was upgraded in the past. There is a marineland 900 in there. Read the specs on it, it's 1000gph. Hopefully this is good enough?

 

Tank is sitting in the garage running with 1/10 vinegar solution. Will leave for two days like this. Then clean on friday/saturday.

[Wjcastiglione]

Well guys... after plugging in the hood and tinkering with it for a minute - I realized that one bulb is not just burnt out - the ballast is also broken andddd to top it off the fan is bad...

 

Really wishing at this moment I would've played with this more at the sellers house...

 

10/22 - ... Wellllll, that's water on the bridge now, because I just ordered a 99% complete Steves LED retrofit package for the hood.

 

The budget is officially blown out of the water on the second day lol welcome to the salt water hobby.

 

Welp - a new one at the LFS was around $600 with stand and starter kit... I'm at $650 now - but everything will be brand new and sweeter than a new one. Soooo - off to the races.. (are these supposed to be locks dancing?!)

[Wjcastiglione]

My buddy has a 1200 marineland pump still fresh in the box that he never used. Perrrrfecttt! that just saved me $30!

[aquageek]

Looks like you're on your way. That is a good pump and should work well for you. The upgrade on the lights was a solid choice. That is one of the first things that I did. I went with Ecoxotic pro modules instead of Steve's. In hindsight, I wish I would have went with Steve's. The Ecoxotic aren't bad, but I think Steve's would be better. I am actually in the process of tearing down my BC 29 to take the back out and drill it for an overflow and return. Love this hobby! Will be following along.

[VAReefDog]

Sounds like it will all be for the best- the stock lights (which I run) are really not my first choice. Replacing bulbs every 6 mo and the they run hot. Good for you with the LED upgrade. Have heard lots of positives with Steve's LED's- good choice. Will make coral choices wide open in the future.

[Wjcastiglione]

Looks like you're on your way. That is a good pump and should work well for you. The upgrade on the lights was a solid choice. That is one of the first things that I did. I went with Ecoxotic pro modules instead of Steve's. In hindsight, I wish I would have went with Steve's. The Ecoxotic aren't bad, but I think Steve's would be better. I am actually in the process of tearing down my BC 29 to take the back out and drill it for an overflow and return. Love this hobby! Will be following along.

 

Sump? Tell me more, kind sir.

[Wjcastiglione]

Sounds like it will all be for the best- the stock lights (which I run) are really not my first choice. Replacing bulbs every 6 mo and the they run hot. Good for you with the LED upgrade. Have heard lots of positives with Steve's LED's- good choice. Will make coral choices wide open in the future.

 

Happy everyone approves!

[Wjcastiglione]

Heyyyooooo look at all the stuff that showed up in the mail today.

 

I'd like to extend a special shoutout to Steve from InTank for the sweedish fish which was packed with my goodies

 

 

[Wjcastiglione]

So today I bought:

 

• new heater
• salt
• testing kit
• acclimator

 

That stuff should all be shipped to me this week - however, I have no clue when the steve's LED retro fit kit will ship. Anyone that's bought one of these before - can you tell me the lead time?!

 

If it all shows up this week, I'll have water, sand, and live rock it in this weekend. Getting pumped!

 

Good news is: my buddy bought the same exact tank and almost virtually the same exact mods. So we're on the same page. Theory being: when its time to buy fish and coral, we'll get discounts for bulk buys.

 

P.S. I cleaned the tank today. Vinegar and water worked pretty damn well. Some scrubbing was required but all in all it turned out pretty clean. Look how clean she is. Shiny

 

P.P.S How do I get a moderator to move this to the members aquarium section?

[Wjcastiglione]

Well guys,

 

I started mocking up the tank tonight. it looks good in the corner I chose - howeverrrrrrrrrrr... I ran into a couple problems...

 

The spacer for my intank fish saver - and the water director for my intank media basket are too wide to fit in my back sump section?

 

... I ordered all the correct stuff as far as I know - however, somethings up.

 

Either-

• I ordered the wrong stuff and didn't realize it?
• Steve accidentally sent the wrong stuff (if he did, he has the BEST customer service, I'm sure it'll be fixed)
• Heres what I may think happened - I bought this tank second hand - sooooo, what do you think the chances are somewhere along the way the original tank broke - and was replaced with the coralife bottom while retaining the oceanic top? Is that possible?

See picture for reference:

 

 

[Wjcastiglione]

Spoke to Steve at in tank. I actually have an oceanic bio cube that has a taller back wall so I don't need the fish guard. And if you cut the wall my water divertor will fit once I cut the wall. So that's taken care of.

 

Purchased a hydor ATO and pump off a guy for $50 in my area.

 

Andddd I spoke to Steve's LEDs and they think my lights will be here by Friday - so, I should be good to go for this weekend!

[Wjcastiglione]

Also bought live sand today.

[Wjcastiglione]

Well guys, my Steve's LED kit is here and I installed it tonight. It's not 100% fully detailed installed, but I think I'll finish up the details tomorrow. I wrote a review about Steve's LED in the vendor section as my customer service experience wasn't the greatest - however, the product is fantastic. Here's a teaser shot.

 

I plan on having water in it tomorrow.

 

 

[Wjcastiglione]

Filled up the tank with water, sand, and LR tonight. See picture below. Lots of cloudyness going on.

 

Still working on the Steve's LED package - it's a lot of work for 99% complete to make this thing look and act like a professional install between the gasket around the intake fan and figuring out where to mount the lighting knobs. (I have something pretty slick worked out for this - stay tuned for more details)

 

I turned on the jebao wavemaker and let that run on the inside to get some flow in that without the stagnant water and the heater is on as well.

 

While filling the tank - I noticed that is a small leak in the silicone that separates the filter section between the main tank - where the water is the same exact level the main tank in all chambers - I'm not sure how big of a deal this is - someone tell me if I need to tear down and redo the seal?

 

 

[Toddy]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. You'll still get most of your water from the first chamber. If you ever have to tear down in the future I would just fix it then.

[Wjcastiglione]

Ok, here are some update pictures...

 

What I did to mount the dimmer knobs for the Steves LED kit is shown below. I took a black light panel switch cover, and plastic welded it to the top. I drilled a 1/2" hole for each dimmer knob, and screwed them into place in the old lighting switch area. the Plastic weld is drying right now - I will post pictures of the top later. It gives it a pretty factory look.

 

Also included - a snap chat screen shot my girlfriend sent of me working on the hood for your viewing pleasure.

[Wjcastiglione]

Welp, here is the finished product.

 

On here - you'll see the finished dials on the hood - and also a tank pic with the lights on. Still not sure where I want the color to be at - I guess I'll just tinker with it when it's time to put corals in. Don't mind the rock placement, still can't see what I'm doing - I'll aqua-scape later. (still cloudy)

 

Let me know what you guys think!

[Wjcastiglione]

Just so you guys understand just how bright this LED set is - this is my living room walking up to my house this evening.

 

 

[Wjcastiglione]

Ok guys,

 

Here's the update:

 

-I'm still struggling with aqua scaping. Every time I try to do so - sand is kicked up and I can't see a damn thing. I've tried 5-6 times now. It's really irritating me so far, I may pull it all out and silicone it together... haven't decided yet.

 

-I organized the cabinet a lil bit tonight - it needs a lil more work but it's definitely close. I mounted the Jebao wavemaker on the cabinet door with the ATO box.

 

-Got the ATO working and tested tonight. Works like a charm.

 

See pictures below for cabinet organization.

 

 

 

 

[aquageek]

Awesome progress! Love the lights, I was never a fan of the stock BC lighting. Aqua scaping can be quite tedious. My advice is to take your time with it until you find something you really like. I know what you mean though about kicking up sand, it does get aggravating. You just have to be patient . I will be doing some fresh aqua scaping myself here in the next couple of days - I will be using a reef epoxy to stick my rocks together once I have them placed well enough in the water.

 

As for you question a few weeks ago - yes, I am adding a sump. Tonight I will be drilling my BC29 using the kit I got from glass-holes.com for an overflow and a return. The sump is made from scratch using acrylic.

[Wjcastiglione]

Awesome progress! Love the lights, I was never a fan of the stock BC lighting. Aqua scaping can be quite tedious. My advice is to take your time with it until you find something you really like. I know what you mean though about kicking up sand, it does get aggravating. You just have to be patient . I will be doing some fresh aqua scaping myself here in the next couple of days - I will be using a reef epoxy to stick my rocks together once I have them placed well enough in the water.

 

As for you question a few weeks ago - yes, I am adding a sump. Tonight I will be drilling my BC29 using the kit I got from glass-holes.com for an overflow and a return. The sump is made from scratch using acrylic.

 

Thank you very much, I'm trying! Here's an updated picture of the aqua scape I'm going with for now.

 

So, what are you doing about that false back wall? removing it completely and extending the tank into that section? Is there anything you can do about the plastic exterior around that section on the side walls?

[aquageek]

Looking good! Yeah, I cut the false back wall out completely and removed the rim and the plastic trim on the outside including the trim that covers up the sump area.

[Wjcastiglione]

I want pictures of this.