Second Biocube build just going to very different from the first one.

[Teecs]

I have a Biocube 14 that has been running for 2 months now and love it. Out of no where I found a Biocube 29. So I got a great deal on a Biocube 29 and decided to mod it out. With all the mods I have seen on this site and others. Only the ones I like of course. I was inspired by others on this forum with awesome tanks. Let me start by saying yes it's a AIO why drill it. But it's what I want to do. Anyway I am recording my build to help others on some of the mods like other post helped me. A lot of the mods I found were a bit out of date or the OP is not on here anymore to answer some questions I had. So here it goes .....

 

-so first thing was cleaning the tank which was pretty bad ( ran vinegar for 24 hours) rinsed left to dry another 2 days. Also removed all the false bottom in the back chambers.

 

 

- then to lowes to buy pluming parts

 

- I mocked things up before i started to drill which is pretty easy. But I will say I was scared to shatter the tank. I used 1inch overflow and 3/4 inch return.

 

 

 

 

 

- I wanted to use the durso method, but internal one to keep it looking cleaner. I still need to drill the top hole in the cap also I might be lowering it a bit so u can't see the cap from the front.

 

 

 

- if I was keeping the hood it would of been fine, it fit perfectly.

 

 

- issue was with the return they did not line up as u see in the picture will be fixing it tomorrow need another trip to lowes.... The main issue was using the stock return nozzle.

 

 

Tomorrow I will be fixing the return line and start the rimless process

Keep you guys posted.......

[pgrVII]

This is awesome.

[Teecs]

Today I went rimless

 

First cut I used a dremmel to get it started. When I got pretty close to going all the way through I switched to a razor blade.

 

 

I used a heat gun to try it make it easy to cut the the sealant to be honest it did not work at all.

 

I was going to make multiple cuts like I have seen people do on here. But I made one cut and started to pry the trim off and it just came off in one piece.

 

 

 

This was the worse part taking off the sealant. It took forever and felt like I was going no where.

 

 

 

This is how it looks like now I still need to get more of the gunk off but after a hour and a half I called it a night

Since it took so long I did not work on the return line.

 

 

 

[Simulated Fish]

Love where this is going! A+ so far

[Idaho ken]

Wow, that looks good with out the rim....does it feel any less sturdy??

[Rduboid1117]

Awesome build! I wish I could remove my lid and go rimless. Damn cats... Following!

[Teecs]

Wow, that looks good with out the rim....does it feel any less sturdy??

No not at all, the trim does not provide any structural support... At least it does not seem so to me

[Teecs]

Just picked up my sump and it fits nicely under the stand... Now to really start mocking things up..... Need some advice on the GPH rating for the return pump. I have seem some people do 350 gph other with 600 any ideas what would work best ?

 

 

 

[CronicReefer]

Just picked up my sump and it fits nicely under the stand... Now to really start mocking things up..... Need some advice on the GPH rating for the return pump. I have seem some people do 350 gph other with 600 any ideas what would work best ?

Nice looking sump, I'm using the R-100 on my new build. A general rule is to have 10x the volume of your tank flow through the sump per hour. Some people try to equal the flow rate to their protein skimmer and others run faster rates for higher flow in the tank if not using wavemakers.

[righttirefire]

I'll bite... where is this going

[tk-it-ez]

Wow great job on the tank. Tagging along.

[Teecs]

Nice looking sump, I'm using the R-100 on my new build. A general rule is to have 10x the volume of your tank flow through the sump per hour. Some people try to equal the flow rate to their protein skimmer and others run faster rates for higher flow in the tank if not using wavemakers.

This is what I am thinking Syncra Silent 1.5 Pump (357 GPH). The have one in my LFS and I don't feel like ordering it online since shipping to Alaska is crazy thoughts. If not I was thinking the 2.0 but that's 568 gph.

[CronicReefer]

This is what I am thinking Syncra Silent 1.5 Pump (357 GPH). The have one in my LFS and I don't feel like ordering it online since shipping to Alaska is crazy thoughts. If not I was thinking the 2.0 but that's 568 gph.

I'd probably go with the 2.0 if that is available as there will be some head loss and you can just use a ball valve or gate valve to control the flow. Just make sure the valve is down line and not directly connected to the pump's outlet. I may be wrong but I think the syncra pumps have a controllable flow so a valve wouldn't be necessary if they are.

[Idaho ken]

So awesome, I'm jealous!

[Teecs]

Was super busy all weekend so did not get much time to work on the tank. I finished ( sort of ) pluming the tank I will be trying a leak test soon. Hopefully during the week.

 

 

[Teecs]

Made some changes on the layout .... Less 90s

 

 

Also lined up the return to the stock nozzle

 

[Idaho ken]

Lookin good! When's the leak test lol?

[Simulated Fish]

Updates! How is it going?!

[Teecs]

Update

 

So I have been waiting on the return pump to come in. It took a while but it's here now . This week or weekend end the goal is to have it start running and cycling.

 

Here are some pics of some of my orders

 

 

 

 

[Simulated Fish]

Awesome, solid equipment choices. Are you going to run the carbon and GFO in bags or a reactor?

[Teecs]

Awesome, solid equipment choices. Are you going to run the carbon and GFO in bags or a reactor?

I have a BRS mini media reactor that I will be mixing and running both..

[z3speed4me]

Looking awesome so far.

If the RS-75 actually "fit" under the stand would you have used that instead of the nano refugium?

[Teecs]

Looking awesome so far.

If the RS-75 actually "fit" under the stand would you have used that instead of the nano refugium?

 

Not really, I like that the nano has a skimmer section and a refugium one as well.. The rs-75 only has one section

[Teecs]

Update

So did a leak test had a few issues but managed to fix it all... But the big issue was the loud sump drain .... I could not find a way to lower the noise ... I'm in a stand still ask I don't know if I want to do a reverse durso at the sump it might fix the noise .... Or just drill another hole and go with the Herbie method but would require a lot of work with moving pluming around but I'm going to see what I decide

[CronicReefer]

Update

So did a leak test had a few issues but managed to fix it all... But the big issue was the loud sump drain .... I could not find a way to lower the noise ... I'm in a stand still ask I don't know if I want to do a reverse durso at the sump it might fix the noise .... Or just drill another hole and go with the Herbie method but would require a lot of work with moving pluming around but I'm going to see what I decide

Did you drill a hole in the cap on the intake line? You need to start as small as possible and gradually increase the size until it becomes silent. If that doesn't work a wet vent would work without you having to do much modifications of the plumbing. Here is a picture of mine for reference. Ignore the black filter foam. You can see the small clear tube inside of the sump intake line. It's set in such a way so part of the clear tube is out of the water to allow air to be pulled in as water is gravity fed. The inner diameter of the intake line is 1.5" and the clear tube is 0.5". Hopefully you can find an easy fix for the noise.