13$ DIY BIOCUBE Media Rack

[AJ_Tsin]

With some eggcrate and nylon strips, i built a media rack for my 29g biocube. It took 20 minutes and allows a place to run cheato, and bag media without adding a pump, or slowing down flow. Best of all it barely costs a penny.

 

I know there are already racks similar to this in existence but heres a step by step on how to do it yourself.

 

I have a bunch of other articles like this on my aquarium's blog. There is a time lapse HD video and some other mods viewable on the blog. Feel free to check it out and post feedback here as I have been working on this setup for just over a year now and would love some criticism or advice.

 

 

ANYWAYS... Heres the rack build there are more photos on the blog but here is the streamlined version.

 

Recently the system has been experiencing problems in the rear filtration chambers. Currently there is a unit of Chemi-pure Elite sitting on the bottom of the tank. Not only is it quite likely that not much flow is actually running through the media, rendering it's duties almost useless, but also the bag often gets sucked into the gap between the middle and return sections. This creates a jam clogging the flow and ultimately creating larger problems. Detritus gathers possibly leading to nitrates, water begins flowing up and over the dividing walls and the return pump sometimes blows air because water is not entering the last chamber fast enough. With the media at the bottom of the middle chamber it is impossible to switch out the media or clean it without disturbing the entire the refugium.

A simple DIY solution is the answer.

 

Step One: Gather Tools. Some wire cutters, Scissors, Plyers, Lots of eggcrate, a tape measure, and nylon strips are all needed.

 

Step Two: Measure and Cut the Eggcrate. 4 total pieces are needed to be cut. Find out the width, height and length dimensions of your middle chamber and cut the pieces accordingly. You will be cutting pieces to cover the narrow side and bottom of the rectangular space

 

Each cube brand and volume is different so I will not post specific measurements to avoid confusion. The goal is to create an "L" shaped rack that is slightly smaller than the space, which will sit where the bio-balls used to sit in the middle chamber.

 

Step Three: Strap it Together. Nylon strips were used for a quick and easy way to assemble the rack, however epoxy or marine safe glue would also work just fine. When you have the correct width and height for the bottom and vertical pieces connect them with the strips.

Your rack is beginning to take shape. Make sure your vertical eggcrate pieces are about one square skinnier than the bottom piece. Because of the lip on the backside of Nano/Bio Cubes you will need to tilt the rack to get it in.

 

A square "ladder portion" was added to the build in order to have the media sit higher in the rack. This also allows for stacking media and it also makes the rack stable. This ladder portion is a square with all sides equalling the width of the vertical portion.

As the second vertical piece is attached you create an "H" shape within your "L". With this step the rack is basically complete.

 

While making sure the nylon strips are tight you can trim the tabs off and your eggcrate creation should look something like this...

 

The bottom of the rack should be a little less than the and length and width of your middle chamber while the height should be equal to the distance from the old false bottom to the top of the dividers.

 

Step 4: Insert the Rack and Media. Gently insert the rack into the middle chamber of your aquarium. Chances are you will have to wiggle it a bit to get past the lips and ridges that were used to hold the stock filtration in place. Hopefully you measured carefully because if you did not you will certainly find out now.

 

The rack should sit comfortably on the two ridges near the bottom of the chamber leaving a gap between the bottom of the tank and the bottom of the rack. (This is where the bio-ball drip tray used to sit when you bought the tank.) Once the rack is all the way in it should fit nicely in the middle chamber. Now the media is ready to be placed.

 

This method basically divides your middle chamber allowing chemipure, phosban, and/or carbon to be run in a bags while still leaving enough space to house cheato. As the water leaves your display it creates a tiny waterfall into the middle chamber and now that waterfall flows directly through whatever media you choose to run. Even more importantly the current created by the waterfall effect is absorbed by the media bag allowing your cheato and Fuge dwellers the calm low flow needed for refugium conditions.

Obviously reactors and mechanical filters are the more direct way to force water through a desired media, but in a small aquarium where pumps and heat are always concerns, this is a natural way to direct flow without spending much money or adding electricity into the mix.

 

-A.

Edited January 12, 2010 by AJ_Tsin

[AJ_Tsin]

BUMP

[StevieT]

Cool. Egg crate is about $12/sheet +tax at your hardware store.

[reeftankguy]

So where do you find a sheet of Eggcrate for under $5?

 

Nevermind Mr.T beat me to it

Edited January 8, 2010 by reeftankguy

[moto826]

they sell broke ones

[AJ_Tsin]

Cool. Egg crate is about $12/sheet +tax at your hardware store.

 

You are assuming you need to buy and consume an entire brand new 2' sheet of egg crate. Most aquarists have this lying around, I used scraps. However if I did not have this lying around I would have only used about 80 square inches of a new sheet anyways, leaving well over half of your $12 sheet of egg crate for future projects etc. once again proving to be cost effective.

[ldballoon4]

I built lots of things with eggcrate for the tank but never a "media rack", Good job.

 

"Best of all it barely costs a penny."

 

a beautiful hyperbole....

[AJ_Tsin]

I built lots of things with eggcrate for the tank but never a "media rack", Good job.

 

"Best of all it barely costs a penny."

 

a beautiful hyperbole....

 

Thank you for the kind words. I figured someone may find it useful as many of us have these supplies kicking around.

 

Cheers.

[Nemo Niblets]

Cool. Egg crate is about $12/sheet +tax at your hardware store. mine's better.

Heehee. THat eggcrate doesn't look cool either.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Nemo Niblets

[jeirdo]

Excellent idea AJ!

[bluefunelement]

I'm so lucky I have a plastic store near work that sells black eggcrate for $10/sheet

so trying this in one of my tanks!

[steve0xr]

Nice DIY

[AJ_Tsin]

Heehee. THat eggcrate doesn't look cool either.

 

Not sure why one would be aspiring to have a "cool looking" rear chamber in a Biocube. To me function and form are synonymous in this case. I am sure many would agree, rather then spend a fortune on machine or custom made acrylic mods, spend a few bucks on quick effective fix thus leaving cash to invest on some new frags, restocking additives, fish/coral food or leveraging hydro bills... after all that is the point no? Everything in the back of my tank is meant to service and optimize the livestock in the front of my tank.

 

Now if the corals we house and the setups we build don't look "cool" then we have a problem, and due to the subjective nature of "cool" I won't event touch this last statement.

 

 

Excellent idea AJ!

 

Thankyou Jeirdo, I figured rather than having to precisely cut acrylic and glue everything, some strips and egg crate can have the same effect, in fact the egg crate allows water to flow through the media from all angles, instead of a single stream which can still get clogged and hide nitrates which was the problem I was trying to avoid in the first place.

 

 

I'm so lucky I have a plastic store near work that sells black eggcrate for $10/sheet

so trying this in one of my tanks!

 

Glad to hear it. Some people appreciate building something for themselves. With this build there's no way you will use all that crate. Which means you can come up with a DIY using the remaining sheet and then tell me.

 

I know some people posting seem a bit bitter by this DIY as products like this are sold regularly, and by all means... I am all for small business and entrepreneurial endeavours as I own a business myself, but to pay for something you can make yourself sometimes does not make sense, especially if you enjoy doing so.

 

 

Any other feedback on the build, or the blog are greatly appreciated thanks folks.

Edited January 9, 2010 by AJ_Tsin

[blibo]

Great idea. Will definitely put this idea into my new bc29. This should go down as a sticky for biocube media rack. StevieT might have already paid the mod to delete this thread lol JK

[AJ_Tsin]

Great idea. Will definitely put this idea into my new bc29. This should go down as a sticky for biocube media rack. StevieT might have already paid the mod to delete this thread lol JK

 

Thanks blibo. I dunno if i'll get a sticky that would be cool though. It's just a simple idea put into practice in a different way which happens to only take a couple minutes to assemble. The real benefit of the thing is not trapping nitrates. I have seen a lot of media bags in closed rack-like setups that just gather detritus. I would rather that stuff pass through the rack leaving my media exposed and clean ultimately cleaning the water in a better fashion.

 

I do think it is a pretty easy and failsafe way to create this effect. However, getting the measurements correct is somewhat tricky so make sure you test pieces before you put it all together.

Edited January 9, 2010 by AJ_Tsin

[Nemo Niblets]

I forgot to say, good job! Very nice skills.

[AJ_Tsin]

I forgot to say, good job! Very nice skills.

 

Thankyou, I appreciate it. I sensed a tone of resent in the first post, so again thankyou..

[SaltineSage]

Thank you for posting this, wouldn't even have registered to me... The money I'll be saving will go right into spending on something else for my BC29 :-P

[crazydante23]

I built a media rack for my Cad a few weeks ago. It was super easy and I had the eggcrate laying around. It does the job.

[bird]

nice. I am going to do one myself. Thanks for the idea.

[AJ_Tsin]

nice. I am going to do one myself. Thanks for the idea.

 

No worries let me know how it goes and post pics in this thread.

 

Seems, a few people are gonna make one of these now. Goodluck

[ss21]

Ok so your directions say you need measuring tape and to measure your rear chambers. Since you did this mod on a bc29 could you post the dimensions of your media rack?

 

Thanks...I want to construct something and this is a perfect idea. Also I'm feeling lazy...

[StevieT]

You are assuming you need to buy and consume an entire brand new 2' sheet of egg crate. Most aquarists have this lying around, I used scraps. However if I did not have this lying around I would have only used about 80 square inches of a new sheet anyways, leaving well over half of your $12 sheet of egg crate for future projects etc. once again proving to be cost effective.

 

 

Yes, to start such a project if you have no scraps you need a full sheet of egg crate. You can't cost things by just the amount you use.

Edited January 11, 2010 by StevieT

[StevieT]

I figured rather than having to precisely cut acrylic and glue everything, some strips and egg crate can have the same effect, in fact the egg crate allows water to flow through the media from all angles, instead of a single stream which can still get clogged and hide nitrates which was the problem I was trying to avoid in the first place.

 

 

I know some people posting seem a bit bitter by this DIY as products like this are sold regularly, and by all means... I am all for small business and entrepreneurial endeavours as I own a business myself, but to pay for something you can make yourself sometimes does not make sense, especially if you enjoy doing so.

 

I wasn't going to respond since there have always been DIY egg crate racks, and many threads about them out there but the statement about it functioning the same is just false. Your rack does not force water though any media just keeps it suspended for easier changes. Which is helpful but when you say that a closed in box will cause nitrates is just a lie. A four sided media basket is far more effective and with filter floss on top all detritus is caught.

 

StevieT might have already paid the mod to delete this thread lol JK

 

Silly. There have been plenty of DIY rack threads before this. The mods may way too much money here to be paid off that easily.

 

I have seen a lot of media bags in closed rack-like setups that just gather detritus.

 

Where have you seen them?

[MikeTR]

I agree with Stevie.. if a $10 media rack made out of egg crate worked, he would sell it. I don't want just some of the water moving through the media.. I want ALL my water going through it. My system has only benefited from Stevie's rack. Thanks!