SelectedByNature Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Just setting up my first salt water tank and I was wondering if anyone has been using the new LED Biocube (32) and what upgrades or suggestions they've found useful? I know people mention about the return pump upgrade... Is that really worth it? I have two wavemakers already for flow. Is the lightning decent for softies and such? I don't know much about par and every but I do have rock reaching near the water surface... Thanks for any imput, SBN 1 Quote Link to comment
StevieT Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 The pump in the coralife series is decent. I would run it first and see what you think A good upgrade would be the Cobalt MJ1200 if you thought necessary 1 Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted December 29, 2016 Author Share Posted December 29, 2016 Great thanks Stevie. So better pump better filtration? Or is it more for flow purposes? Quote Link to comment
StevieT Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 IMO it's for the filtration. You still need more flow in the display for corals so it can help, but not its' sole purpose. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 The upgrade for pump is for better filteration. Most of the Aio's come with pretty low gph pumps so many choose to upgrade. As far as ai've heard the lighting in the biocube is good for softies and some lps Quote Link to comment
msparklym13 Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Yay for BC32! I actually bought the hood for my BC29 in October. Not sure how experienced you are but I ended up changing the back chamber to the media basket with ChemPure- I think the new 32 does that and got rid of Bioballs? I can't remember but it sounds like you are off to a great start! Welcome and enjoy the ride :-) I am upgrading my return pump and a little thing I didn't know was to have an extra pump running in tank. A few months ago the hose from my sump disengaged in the middle of the night and by noon the next day all my fish were dead. It was a sad learning lesson but now always operate with two! Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Thanks! Yes I'm super excited about my new biocube! Correct they no longer have the bioballs and have their own basket now. I was considering upgrading the pump but when I looked into the one I currently have versus the one people say to upgrade to (MJ1200), the difference is only about 30 GPH, doesn't seem like very much. Unless it's a quality thing but Stevie said the coralife one is pretty decent. That's horrible about the crash. How did the pump stall cause death so fast? But also how do you run two pumps from the back chamber?? SBN 1 Quote Link to comment
Smoke Inator Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 I'm happy with my 32 but, it took plenty of $$$ to get there MJ1200 with the increased flow i was able to add the korilla (sp?) rotating deflector which agitates the surface of the water quite a bit. MP10-QWD Positioned on the right upper side towards the front. Does a great job with current for the corals.I'm thinking of another one opposite side towards the back Coralife skimmer in chamber one, hate it but nobody has confirmed the usual BC29 ones fit in chamber 1 yet. IM Desktop reactor for carbon & gfo in chamber 2. the cost of replacing purigen and chemipure didn't make sense to me. now i can run whatever i want in the reactor. The intank media basket for the 32 should arrive this next week, i plan on using that in chamber 2 as well but remove the middle shelf and make it a fuge basket with filter floss on top coralife uv sterilizer, they are cheep and probably don't do anything but it is what it is. The best non tank purchase was an "ADJ Products PC-100A AC POWER STRIP" it fits perfectly on the shelf and the rack mounting tabs hide behind the door - 8 plugs Upgraded my lights this week to nano box retro so i can have SPS...install thread in the sponsor forum. keep the original lights as long as you can if only doing softies. I found that i had to keep softies middle to high but now with my upgrade they are low and loving it. I don't have many corals yet...but now my lights are set its time to go wild a bit :grin: Keep us posted on progress! Ron 1 Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Hi Ron, Thanks for your post of interesting ideas. Does the koralia deflector not work with the stock pump as well or? The intank media basket must obviously be better than the stock one? I checked it out and based on the pic it seems much smaller than the stock one taking only half of chamber two instead of the whole chamber. (Allowing another device in chamber two perhaps?) So a reactor is a better investment than chemipure/purigen? A lot more expensive up front but less in the long run? Isn't it just buying carbon/gfo instead of chemipure/purigen? (Also I think purigen can be reactivated?) I'll probably keep the stock light as this is my first tank and I want to start off slow with weeds like xenia! Haha All input is very appreciated! I have no issues dropping $$$ as needed but if it's for avoiding maintenance that isn't required for me, I have many freshwater tanks and I love maintenance. Quote Link to comment
msparklym13 Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 I'm happy with my 32 but, it took plenty of $$$ to get there MJ1200 with the increased flow i was able to add the korilla (sp?) rotating deflector which agitates the surface of the water quite a bit. MP10-QWD Positioned on the right upper side towards the front. Does a great job with current for the corals.I'm thinking of another one opposite side towards the back Coralife skimmer in chamber one, hate it but nobody has confirmed the usual BC29 ones fit in chamber 1 yet. IM Desktop reactor for carbon & gfo in chamber 2. the cost of replacing purigen and chemipure didn't make sense to me. now i can run whatever i want in the reactor. The intank media basket for the 32 should arrive this next week, i plan on using that in chamber 2 as well but remove the middle shelf and make it a fuge basket with filter floss on top coralife uv sterilizer, they are cheep and probably don't do anything but it is what it is. The best non tank purchase was an "ADJ Products PC-100A AC POWER STRIP" it fits perfectly on the shelf and the rack mounting tabs hide behind the door - 8 plugs Upgraded my lights this week to nano box retro so i can have SPS...install thread in the sponsor forum. keep the original lights as long as you can if only doing softies. I found that i had to keep softies middle to high but now with my upgrade they are low and loving it. I don't have many corals yet...but now my lights are set its time to go wild a bit :grin: Keep us posted on progress! Ron Dang Ron you have an awesome setup!!! Wowsers I am BC Jealous!! Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Is that IM reactor the only one to fit in the biocube 32? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Chemipure is so expensive for what it is! I saw no difference in using it to any other media. You can buy phosguard, purigen, and matrix carbon in bulk which will last mnths(plus purigen can be regenerated) Put them in media bags, place in basket call it a day. With chemipures, the other media can be used up before the carbon is or vice versa, it doesn't last as long as claimed, and you can't control the qty your tank actually needs. 1 Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Thanks Clown! You're very helpful. So you're not an advocate for media reactors for nano tanks then eh? (Especially for those with good maintenance tendencies?) May the new year bring you much coral growth! P.S. Does anyone have media bag suggestions? I have the stock media tray with the new biocube and seems like it would take a huge media bag to cover the tray. Right now I only have a small bag placed under the heavier flow area... I would post a picture but I have no idea how to! Haha Quote Link to comment
msparklym13 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Thanks Clown! You're very helpful. So you're not an advocate for media reactors for nano tanks then eh? (Especially for those with good maintenance tendencies?) May the new year bring you much coral growth! P.S. Does anyone have media bag suggestions? I have the stock media tray with the new biocube and seems like it would take a huge media bag to cover the tray. Right now I only have a small bag placed under the heavier flow area... I would post a picture but I have no idea how to! Haha Let me just say- Clown79 has helped me SO much! Advice is always on point- So so helpful I wouldn't know what to do without people like Clown and a few other experts who stick around to keep us from going crazy! Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Do I have too much rock? It's hard to see but I have three pillars seperated in the middle by a chasm. The back rock structure reaches pretty high. I'm more concerned with maintenance (the back wall is a bit tight to get in there for gravel cleaning) and sand real estate (is a beach needed or will the tank be "ugly" without a decent beach?). EDIT: Picture too big to upload Quote Link to comment
Smoke Inator Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Is that IM reactor the only one to fit in the biocube 32? Sorry, dont know, its the only one i tried Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 I'm not against reactors or any equipment but I don't believe they are necessary on small tanks. With large tanks, it makes your life easier. For some they prefer using everything thats available. I often suggest starting out simple and as you advance then advance the equipment. I always believe in stupid simple because the more you add to the equation, the more complicated things get. There are some fantastic tanks out there run with next to no equipment. Any media bag from a lfs will work just buy the size that will fit in your media basket. I use small ones because my media basket is small. Thank you msparklym13 Try resizing your picture. I have to with all of mine. How much rock(lbs) is in the tank? 1 Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Okay cool thanks. I bought aquaclear "30" media bag from LFS and figured it would be good as my tank is 32 gals but it's very small compared to my big (stock) media basket. The only thing I'm considering buying as the mj1200 return pump and the new intank 32 biocube basket. Awesome I will definitely keep it simple until something isn't working before I consider reactors and skimmers. Unsure ro/di unit is worth the investment also since I get can free ro/di water (kinda) from a family friend in 5 gallon jugs. Granted I should prob test that water to make sure it's what I think it is. I have approx 40 lbs of dead rock and 20 lbs of aragalive sand. I tried resizing but I can't lower the quality and the resizing does work but I can't lower it to 1 MB without making the pic irrelevant. Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Top view had to modify it heavily and make the top/left rock seem bigger but it feels like a lot of rock (although the aquascape from the side and front looks awesome imho). Only concerned a bit about access for maintenance... Thoughts? Quote Link to comment
Reefergrower Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Hard to say without seeing the whole thing. You can download an app on your phone to reduce image size. I have one called image reducer and it works great. Either that or start a photobucket. I like all the space your tank has on the sand bed. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 40lbs is a lot of rock. You can get away with 25-30 in a 32g 1 Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 What are the negative aspects of having excessive rock other than less swimming space? I really like my aquascape Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Theres less room in the tank which can cause difficulties in cleaning Quote Link to comment
SelectedByNature Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Hmm. Yeah. Well I did build it vertical and not along the sand perhaps it might be okay ... I hope... Quote Link to comment
Reefergrower Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Lets see some pics of the front! ? Quote Link to comment
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