The Biocube Resource Guide

[hemi]

Wow 4 hours later and thats with dialup.Great info on here.I just wish there was more on the BC8.I just set mine up tonight!!

[devonpayne24]

Got a question regarding the lights - I still have stock lighting but I was wondering if it was alright to let one 36 watt run through the night and just turn the other 36 on during the day... Is this a bad idea, or should I just turn them both off and keep running my 10 hour lighting time with the full 72 watt ??

Im running corals and two clowns

[hemi]

Well fish do not have eyelids so I say shut them down at night.If you want you could put some better moonlights in there.

[Monochrome5]

I'd love to have my tank added to the BC8 section of the guide, please.

 

BC8 OWNERS REPRESENT! We need more love

[loopup2u]

Ok, just finished a very informative and enjoyable 37 page read. New time reader first time poster. I have a new 14G Biocube, and I am very excited! I have ordered my media basket, filter floss, Purigen, and Chemi-Pure. Eventually I will probably decide to go with Chaeto. I also order the MJ900. So here comes my assult of questions.

 

1. One of my target fish is a Clown Anemone-fish, Ideally I would like to have a host anemone. The very fist page states that the original lighting is insufficient for anemones. Is that the general consensus? The upgrade that adds another CFL light, bringing the total CFL wattage would that be sufficient lighting for an anemone?

 

2. I have seen a lot of different in tank power-heads mentioned through out the pages, what is the general consensus for best option for the 14G?

 

3. I have not yet removed any false bottoms or bio-balls. If I just purchased this Biocube 14G new from Petco, will it be very likely that I have one that has the hole from chamber 2 to 3?

 

4. If I had said new tank, did they resolve the need for a fish-guard?

[uwwmatt]

1. One of my target fish is a Clown Anemone-fish, Ideally I would like to have a host anemone. The very fist page states that the original lighting is insufficient for anemones. Is that the general consensus? The upgrade that adds another CFL light, bringing the total CFL wattage would that be sufficient lighting for an anemone?

 

 

2. I have seen a lot of different in tank power-heads mentioned through out the pages, what is the general consensus for best option for the 14G?

 

3. I have not yet removed any false bottoms or bio-balls. If I just purchased this Biocube 14G new from Petco, will it be very likely that I have one that has the hole from chamber 2 to 3?

 

4. If I had said new tank, did they resolve the need for a fish-guard?

 

1. The general consensus on here is that you need to upgrade to t5 or metal halides to successfully keep an anemone. The CF upgrade won't be enough. There may be an LED option but I don't know much about those. Clowns can host other things besides anemones. Mine host frogspawn coral which looks very cool, and would work fine under your lighting. No guarantee though, sometimes they don't host anything.

 

My clown in frogspawn:

 

2. mp10 if you have the $

 

3.don't know the answer to that one

 

4. I believe so, ask StevieT to be sure though

Edited March 17, 2011 by uwwmatt

[StevieT]

3. I have not yet removed any false bottoms or bio-balls. If I just purchased this Biocube 14G new from Petco, will it be very likely that I have one that has the hole from chamber 2 to 3?

Petco moves a lot of product, you have a very good chance at getting that model.

 

4. If I had said new tank, did they resolve the need for a fish-guard?

 

Pretty much, but we still sell fish savers for the new version. Don't exactly know why maybe they didn't improve it 100%. I would set up the tank and see what you think first.

[Nor_Cal_Cuber]

./....

Fish:

2 Percula clowns

Tailspot blenny

Goby of some sort. Yellow watchman?? Would like one that gets along with the blenny.

Bangaii cardinal or marine betta. Will get one or the other. Any opinions?

 

Corals:

....

 

No go on the Marine Betta, you need a much larger tank, 55g min. IMO. Otherwise that's a pretty good load on that size of a system.

[maxst2]

In process of getting a BC29 and modding for LED lighting

[uwwmatt]

In process of getting a BC29 and modding for LED lighting

We need pictures

[superspec]

ive had an RBTA in my BC14 for 9 months now with everything stock except i dont run the stock filter.

[tiggs]

This is a quick and dirty mod I did to get more out of my BC protein skimmer that I thought I'd share. I'd include more pics, but it's pretty self-explanatory.

 

1. Remove the bottom from the skimmer.

2. Remove the reaction chamber (inner tube).

3. The obvious best solution would to be get a tube of similar diameter and longer length to replace, but like I said, my mod is ghetto What I did was take a standard plastic prescription bottle and removed the labels and cut off the bottom.

4. They're the same diameter and just the right length, so I attached the two with putty and super glue.

5. This puts the reaction chamber almost to the very top of the cylinder and produces a nicer skimate than stock.

 

The reason for this mod is that I wanted to place the skimmer in chamber 3 and mount it on the tab between chambers 2 and 3. This way, it can sit higher, but since the reaction chamber is longer, the skimmer is more effective with a lower water level and stock air pump. There are a bunch of different ways to accomplish something similar to this, but I thought it might help to share my experience. You can see the results below..

 

[atomic_dog]

What's the general consensus on filtration methods if you're not using chaeto? I have one of StevieT's media racks, but haven't had any luck in keeping chaeto alive back there. I think I'll try without it for a bit. Should I just use filter floss>chemipure elite>purigen on the three shelves, or are there other options I should look at?

Edited April 4, 2011 by atomic_dog

[Nitro Reef]

I'm new to this forum. I've learned quite a bit from everyone's input. I'm in the process of setting up my 14g Biocube. I'd like to get all my mods done before I add my water. I have one quick question. Did anyone remove the little wall in chamber 3 at the bottom that was used to hold the stock sponge in place? I was thinking of removing this little wall to make my maxijet 900 fit better. I'm not going to use the stock sponge and don't see a need for that little wall. Thanks !

[privitor]

i asked that same question here

Post About Removing That Tab

 

hope this helps you

Edited April 4, 2011 by privitor

[Nitro Reef]

i asked that same question here

Post About Removing That Tab

 

hope this helps you

 

 

Thanks Privitor !! That really helped. I'll do the same thing you did and remove some of the intake tube on the maxijet. Appreciate it !!

[jfarabaugh]

Created a How To for adding a HOB overflow and sump.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=0#entry3312361

[Nitro Reef]

Thanks to everyone's valuable input and my hours and hours of reading, I finally got my BC14 started today. My LFS just got a shipment of LR in yesterday. They had some really nice pieces. I used an Eheim cannister to help clear up the cloudiness after putting in the LS. So far, so good !!

 

 

[little_ocean_treasures]

Okay, does anyone else have this problem? I have a Biocube 14 with tab removed between chamber 1 & 2. I placed filter floss on top of drip tray in chamber 2 and have Purigen, more floss, and Chemi-Pure underneath. Anyways, if the floss on top of drip tray gets a little dirty (say after half a day) the water level lowers a bit in chamber 3...until I pull off the floss and then it raises again.

 

Now my concern is this, I used to watch the water level in chamber 3 and if it went down I would do a top off. What I didn't realize was most of the time the lower level was due to my filter floss being ever so slightly plugged and not evaporation at all. So when I did my top offs I was diluting my salinity. Thankfully I caught it after doing for a few weeks but way before adding coral and fish. But I now know it's not good to go by that chamber's water level to determine if a top off is needed or not.

 

So how does one determine when a top off is needed in a Biocube then?

[benoitcdc]

I usually check it when I change out the floss. Also, if I start hearing a water fall, I know its time to add some water. Having the floss get dirty enough with in half a day to where the water flow is reduced is a bit of a concern. Is it a new tank? You might want to change out the floss on a daily basis until your water clears up a bit. HTH

[superspec]

how would the salinity be diluted by doing a top off?

[little_ocean_treasures]

Yes benoitcdc, my tank is pretty new, about 2 1/2 months old. I have 6 snails, a hermit crab, and a fish I feed lightly every four days because he eats enough of the bugs that he really doesn't need more at this point. I tend to blow the rocks off every other day tho is why I think it collects fast in the floss. So much junk seems to collect on the rocks that it bothers me as I also have a ton of bug and worm like things living in them shoving junk and poo out the holes. lol And I mean not even a lot of junk in the floss, just a little, will lower my chamber 3 water level. That's what I don't get. I don't ever let my floss get really clogged and dirty as I know that is not good.

 

Also superspec, a top off with fresh water when not needed dilutes the salinity to lower than normal levels...which was what I was doing due to lightly dirty floss lowering the chamber 3 water level making me think it was evaporation.

[superspec]

why would you top off with fresh water and not the same water that you do water changes with?

[tiggs]

why would you top off with fresh water and not the same water that you do water changes with?

 

This is because salt doesn't evaporate like water. So when you lose water to evaporation, the salt stays in your tank and topping off with fresh water replaces what has been lost. If you top off with salt water, your SG will eventually start to creep up.

[little_ocean_treasures]

why would you top off with fresh water and not the same water that you do water changes with?

 

 

A top off is what you do when some of the water has evaporated in your tank and more fresh RO/DI water is needed to be added to replace it. You NEVER add saltwater to replace what has evaporated because the salt in your tank doesn't evaporate with the water. Instead it stays in the tank and will increase your salinity as evaporation continues. So you use freshwater to top off.