gahumphrey's 29G Vega Biocube

[gahumphrey]

Fully converted to 100% Soft Coral

 

Okay so I after being a nano-reef student for just shy of a year, I figured I'd start a thread on my 29G biocube.

Current Configuration:

20lbs sugar fine sand
35lbs live rock
inTank media basked in chamber 2
inTank Filter Floss
Chemipure elite
purigen
Tunze 9002 in chamber 2
50W heater in chamber 1
Vortech MP10
Cobalt MJ1200 pump in chamber 3
Hydor rotating attachement (removed this. just felt like it was limiting flow. Plus it stops spinning from time to time)
Matrix in a media bag in chamber 1
JBJ ATO
AI Vega (mounted on modded hood - need the hood to keep the pesky cats away)
AI Director
Innovative Marine MiniMax Desktop Media Reactor Running BRS Rox Carbon

Blue and Green Sympodium

Bright Green Alveapora

Blue/Red Palys

Green Bay Packer Palys

Blue/Yellow Zoas

Sunny D Palys

Dark Purple Palys

Green Teacup Polyps

Green Button Polyps

Pulsing Xenia
white leg hermits (damn pistol shrimp at em. They were the best little sand cleaners)
Yellow toadstool leather Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Pink Paly's Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Two different kinds of green Paly's (grow like crazy)
Eagle Eye Zoas Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Fire and Ice Zoas (Moved to 80G Shallow Reef)
Some kind of giant green Paly's (Moved to 80G Shallow Reef)
Green Frogspawn (one of the only original survivors from the old tank) Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Green Hulk Acans Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Deep Red Acans (Moved to 80G Shallow Reef)
Ultra Paly's not sure what kind but they are awesome (Moved to 80G Shallow Reef)
Green Star Polyps (they were hitchhikers on a Xenia rock - Xenia didn't make it) Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Duncan's (really good growth) Moved to 80G Shallow Reef
Joker Frogspawn (totally my favorite) Moved to 80G Shallow Reef

2 juvenile ocellaris Moved to 80G shallow reef
1 blue velvet damsel (my daughter insisted) Moved to 80G shallow reef
blue leg hermits (Pistol shrimp ate them)
red leg hermits (the Pistol shrimp ate all but one of these)
all kinds of snails (pistol shrimp ate most)
tiger pistol shrimp (little bastard)


This tank started out as a 29G tall tank I bought from my brother-in-law when he moved last year.

for the first four months everything was stable. It was pretty clear I didn't know what I didn't know about a reef tank.

I decided to move to LED's last december and that was the catalyst for all the change.

I started out with Marineland reef capable LEDs which was apparently not nearly enough power. The tank chemistry started to change. That's when I started jumping on forums and reading as much as I could. Man o man, there are so many opinions out there and tons of advice.

The first thing I learned was there are probably at least 5 different answers for every question and at least four of them are probably correct. I learned that every situation is very different. What works in one tank may not work in an identical setup.

Here's a list of things I learned on the old tank:

1) Xenia can thrive in one tank and change 1 thing and it can wipe out an entire colony. Even if your parameters are perfect.

2) Kids love to help use a magnetic algae scrubber to clean the front of the tank. Kids + magnetic algea scrubber + black volcanic substrate = a lot of scratched glass.

3) Too much research on lighting is never enough

4) Large Black Ocellaris clowns can literally take a chunk of skin out of your hand

5) If you have cleaning people - put a sign on the tank that tells them do not come within 30 feet of the tank with any cleaning chemicals.

Soooooo - all those things added up led to the perfect opportunity to move to a new setup.

January 2013 I invested in a new 29G Biocube.

Ditched the black sand.

Pulled out the preinstalled lights -replaced with Current USA LED strips
Pulled out Current LED's and replaced with Panorama Pros. 1 Blue/white combo, 1 white, 1 blue.
Bought some wireless LED controllers from Amazon.com so I could control them manually.
discovered inTank media baskets.
Bought a media basket and a refugium basket.

I tried to replace the Xenia five times. Every time it withered away. Finally gave up on that.

Used sugar fine white sand. Love it. Makes a mess of the tank for a looooong time.

after 6 months bought a Vega. Everyone said it was overkill. Probably right but i love the color combination and absolutely love how easy it is to control. I got on the Director beta list and added that back in July. Love it.

Now, almost one year later, everything is relatively stable. As stable as things can get in a 29G BioCube.

Here's a list of things i've learned from this build:

• This hobby is expensive
• This hobby is obscenely addicting
• When everyone tells you to be patient - listen!
• Expect cycling to take a good four months (it did for me anyway)
• If you have white sugar fine sand don't add a Goby until your tank has cycled (unless you're a fan of the movie "The Fog" and you want your tank to look like that
• Keeping your Clean up crew stocked is a must
• Rose Bubble Tip Anemones grow like crazy under Vegas. Mine went from being 3 inches across to 12 inches across in 3 months
• Bubble tip anemones don't always have bubble tips
• Queen Conch snails can be doctor destructo's
• Acans and Frogspawns are sworn mortal enemies and will fight eachother till one (or both) are wiped out (thanks to the queen conch pulling the frogspawn off a rock and dropping it on an Acan colony in the night
• Algae is like sh@#. It happens
• Frogspawns can bleach very easily when changing your lights
• I hate my tiger pistol shrimp
• Put your rock in first, then add the sand (or your pistol shrimp will re-architect your tank)
• Pistol shrimp (at least mine) is a predator. He has eaten white leg hermits, blue leg hermits, red leg hermits, halloween hermit, emerald crabs, nassarius snails, cerith snails, turban snails and small paly frags
• Glueing corals is an art - use just the right amount of cyanoacrylate and not too much epoxy (too much of both is an eyesore).

There are probably another dozen things I didn't mention - my self diagnosed ADHD prevents me from remembering everything and taking the time to type it all out.

Anyway, here are some pictures.

Next week I'll be starting a Nuvo SR-80 build. Like I said, this hobby is addicting and expensive...

I welcome any and all comments!

P.S. Thanks to the entire Nano-Reef community for the incredible advice - you all have been immeasurably helpful!

[gahumphrey]

Added an Innovative Marine Minimax Desktop media reactor. Could just be me but when the lights came on this morning the water clarity was exceptional. Been dealing with a slight algae problem that is likely from the bio load. The Blue Velvet Damsel eats and craps like crazy.

[reefintidefan01]

hey, I was wondering what chamber the media reactor was in and what media you are using?do you think theres enough space for the midsize model?can you keep the stock hood on?sorry for all the questions, just thinking of getting on myself and havent heard much of them on a bc29. tank looks great btw.

[gahumphrey]

hey, I was wondering what chamber the media reactor was in and what media you are using?do you think theres enough space for the midsize model?can you keep the stock hood on?sorry for all the questions, just thinking of getting on myself and havent heard much of them on a bc29. tank looks great btw.

Hi reefintidefan01. I have the desktop minimax in chamber 3 with my MJ1200 pump. It fits with no problems. It would also fit in chamber 1 if I moved the heater. The mid size definitely wouldn't fit in chamber 1. I think it probably wouldn't fit in chamber 3 either because of the return being right in the middle of the chamber. I have a Tunze 9002 in chamber 2 with an in tank media basket. There's not even enough room in there to fit a human hair. If I didn't have the Tunze in there I think I could fit a mid size minimax reactor with no problem. That's assuming the dimensions on IM's website are accurate. I just ran into a problem with a Cadlights Skimmer being about 3/8" wider than the specs on their site in my Nuvo SR-80 tank.

 

I'm using Two Little Fishies Phosban in the reactor. It seems to be doing really well. Algae is definitely getting better. I don't like how fine the media is. Even with using all the sponges, the media is getting through the sponges. It's a tiny amount but I'll be looking for a different media once this is exhausted in a couple months.

 

Thanks for the compliment on the tank! I think I'm going to remove the hood and build a custom mount for the Vega so I can get it a bit higher off the water. It's not getting enough spread and the light is heavily concentrated in the center of the tank which I think is aggravating the algae issue.

 

Let me know which route you go with the reactor and how it works out!

[reefintidefan01]

Hi reefintidefan01. I have the desktop minimax in chamber 3 with my MJ1200 pump. It fits with no problems. It would also fit in chamber 1 if I moved the heater. The mid size definitely wouldn't fit in chamber 1. I think it probably wouldn't fit in chamber 3 either because of the return being right in the middle of the chamber. I have a Tunze 9002 in chamber 2 with an in tank media basket. There's not even enough room in there to fit a human hair. If I didn't have the Tunze in there I think I could fit a mid size minimax reactor with no problem. That's assuming the dimensions on IM's website are accurate. I just ran into a problem with a Cadlights Skimmer being about 3/8" wider than the specs on their site in my Nuvo SR-80 tank.

 

I'm using Two Little Fishies Phosban in the reactor. It seems to be doing really well. Algae is definitely getting better. I don't like how fine the media is. Even with using all the sponges, the media is getting through the sponges. It's a tiny amount but I'll be looking for a different media once this is exhausted in a couple months.

 

Thanks for the compliment on the tank! I think I'm going to remove the hood and build a custom mount for the Vega so I can get it a bit higher off the water. It's not getting enough spread and the light is heavily concentrated in the center of the tank which I think is aggravating the algae issue.

 

Let me know which route you go with the reactor and how it works out!

 

Thanks for the info. I also have the Tunze and mediabasket in the 2nd chamber and the same return pump in the 3rd. I was also considering the two stage brs system so i can use it when i go to a 72-120 this spring all my sps are doing awesome but im running into ditritus for some reason while im not really registering anything on tests. are you running carbon in your minimax?

[gahumphrey]

Thanks for the info. I also have the Tunze and mediabasket in the 2nd chamber and the same return pump in the 3rd. I was also considering the two stage brs system so i can use it when i go to a 72-120 this spring all my sps are doing awesome but im running into ditritus for some reason while im not really registering anything on tests. are you running carbon in your minimax?

 

I've been running Phosban. Not really happy with it. It seems a bit to fine. I may switch to something like BRS high capacity GFO. I've had a detritus issue as well. I'm going to raise my lights up a bit higher. I moved my clowns over to my new 80G so hoping cutting down on the bio load will help too.

[gahumphrey]

Thanks for the info. I also have the Tunze and mediabasket in the 2nd chamber and the same return pump in the 3rd. I was also considering the two stage brs system so i can use it when i go to a 72-120 this spring all my sps are doing awesome but im running into ditritus for some reason while im not really registering anything on tests. are you running carbon in your minimax?

 

Just wanted to give you an update. I used Seachem PhosGuard for 5 days in the media reactor and then switched to Two Little Fishies NPS Bioplastics. The tank went from Diatoms on the sand and hair algae on some of the rocks to zero algae in sand and on the rocks. Still some algae that is visually shrinking every day on the back wall and one of the return nozzles.

 

I'm really, really impressed with the effectiveness of the reactor and the NPX Bioplastics and PhosGuard. The Phosban did nothing for me except made a mess in the media reactor.

[gahumphrey]

Haven't given an update in a while on my biocube. Two things I really struggled with are flow and algae/diatoms. Looks like I finally have both under control. First thing I did was to move the fish from this tank over to my new Innovative Marine SR-80 which, of course, reduced the bioload to next to nothing. Second thing I did was to add an Innovative Marine desktop media reactor. Currently running Two Little Fishies NPS Bioplastics. Love the product. Third thing I did was to remove just a couple pieces of rock - about 5-7 lbs worth. I really think that the rock formation I had (sort of like a U shape) was restricting flow. Oh, and I also took off they hydor rotating valve. It occasionally stopped spinning plus I really think it was limiting flow. The sand is now back to shiny white.

 

I also moved most of the corals over to the new tank over the past three weeks. I'll be converting this tank over time to a frag tank.

 

Lastly, I'm going to convert this tank to a rimless tank. I've seen about a dozen so far on youtube, posts here and in google images. The really look clean. That will also allow me to get the AI Vega at least 10" off the water which will help with the light spread.

[reefintidefan01]

sr80??nice!!!!!thanks for the info. Ill try those bioplastics that youve used. you have a build thread for the sr80??

[gahumphrey]

sr80??nice!!!!!thanks for the info. Ill try those bioplastics that youve used. you have a builld thread for the sr80??

 

Yep, here's the link: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/337985-gahumphreys-innovative-marine-sr-80-shallow-reef/?view=findpost&p=4572616

 

I really like these Bioplastics. They can definitely cause a bacteria bloom which a UV sterilizer will clear up pretty quick.

[reefintidefan01]

cool. im ordering mine tomorrow. hopefully ill have the same results. ill have to keep an eye on your new build..i love shallow reefs..

[Javious]

How long did you run the bio pellets before seeing a reduction in the algae? How much did you use? I have the same reactor and pellets. After doing the conversions I am targeting a total of 5 teaspoons of pellets, currently I have 2 in the reactor and am ready to add more. Did you stagger the amount of pellets or put them all in at once?

 

Thanks

[gahumphrey]

How long did you run the bio pellets before seeing a reduction in the algae? How much did you use? I have the same reactor and pellets. After doing the conversions I am targeting a total of 5 teaspoons of pellets, currently I have 2 in the reactor and am ready to add more. Did you stagger the amount of pellets or put them all in at once?

 

Thanks

 

Before I added the NPX I used Seachem PhosGuard for 5 days. Then I dumped those and filled the media reactor up about 2/3 of the way with the NPX Bioplastics. I know you're supposed to ease into them but I didn't. there's a lot of concern about the bio pellets causing a bacteria bloom. I definitely had that issue in my SR-80 but the water stayed crystal clear in the BioCube - most likely because it's an established tank. I saw the biggest reduction of algae after about 3 or 4 days. I can't say for sure if the PhosGuard helped or not. I'm sure the reduction in the bioload helped too from moving my clowns and the damsel over to the big tank. Both tanks are running the NPX Bioplastics and both are totally algae free. Sand beds are back to white.

 

I'm pretty confident the Bioplastics did the trick. I also dramatically cut back on the light for the first few days that I used the NPX pellets. I'm sure the Tunze 9002 is helping but I really don't care for that skimmer. Maybe it's the way I'm using it but it is very inconsistent with it's production of crud.

 

BTW, the only way I could get rid of the bacteria bloom in my big tank was to run a UV Sterilizer for 12 hours. That cleared it up right away. I had the bloom for a couple days before I decided to use the UV Sterilizer. Wish I would have done it sooner - i think the bloom made my yellow leather violently ill...

[Javious]

Thanks for the response. That's a lot of pellets, I wonder if I did my maths wrong. I am running the typical stack of filtration in an inTank rack. Filter pad, purigen and CPE. I think I will try it your way with that amount of pellets and shorten up the light cycle for a few days.

[gahumphrey]

Thanks for the response. That's a lot of pellets, I wonder if I did my maths wrong. I am running the typical stack of filtration in an inTank rack. Filter pad, purigen and CPE. I think I will try it your way with that amount of pellets and shorten up the light cycle for a few days.

Good luck. Keep me posted!

[reefintidefan01]

Do you have an ato for your bc? The tunze 9002 benefit greatly from on.are you in ga? I'm in tn and post on atlanta reef club a good bit.

[gahumphrey]

Do you have an ato for your bc? The tunze 9002 benefit greatly from on.are you in ga? I'm in tn and post on atlanta reef club a good bit.

Yup, I have a JBJ auto top off. It's my second one. First one was really inconsistent after using for (coincidentally) 30 days. I swapped it out for a new JBJ ATO and it's working pretty well. I give it a B+. I use the AutoAqua ATO in my Nuvo SR-80. That's way better. I give that one an A- (is tough to align because the glass is so thick). I may upgrade the JBJ to that one for my biocube.

 

Do you have an ato for your bc? The tunze 9002 benefit greatly from on.are you in ga? I'm in tn and post on atlanta reef club a good bit.

Oh, just saw that I missed where you asked if I'm in GA. I'm actually in Colorado. the ga in gahumphrey is just my first initials (george alan). :-D

[wishba]

Hi reefintidefan01. I have the desktop minimax in chamber 3 with my MJ1200 pump. It fits with no problems. It would also fit in chamber 1 if I moved the heater. The mid size definitely wouldn't fit in chamber 1. I think it probably wouldn't fit in chamber 3 either because of the return being right in the middle of the chamber. I have a Tunze 9002 in chamber 2 with an in tank media basket. There's not even enough room in there to fit a human hair. If I didn't have the Tunze in there I think I could fit a mid size minimax reactor with no problem. That's assuming the dimensions on IM's website are accurate. I just ran into a problem with a Cadlights Skimmer being about 3/8" wider than the specs on their site in my Nuvo SR-80 tank.

 

I'm using Two Little Fishies Phosban in the reactor. It seems to be doing really well. Algae is definitely getting better. I don't like how fine the media is. Even with using all the sponges, the media is getting through the sponges. It's a tiny amount but I'll be looking for a different media once this is exhausted in a couple months.

 

Thanks for the compliment on the tank! I think I'm going to remove the hood and build a custom mount for the Vega so I can get it a bit higher off the water. It's not getting enough spread and the light is heavily concentrated in the center of the tank which I think is aggravating the algae issue.

 

Let me know which route you go with the reactor and how it works out!

Hi gahumphrey,

 

I also have a Biocube 29, and you have given me great influence in using an Innovative Marine Minimax Reactor. I am wondering how you installed the 11" tall reactor in chamber 3, which has a water depth of maybe 3-4" from the MAX line. Am I to increase the amount of water in the tank, or perhaps the reactor will function perfectly fine in that depth?

This is an old thread, but it concerns me alot. I hope you will respond to this post..

 

Thank you,

Phil

[gahumphrey]

 

Hi gahumphrey,

 

I also have a Biocube 29, and you have given me great influence in using an Innovative Marine Minimax Reactor. I am wondering how you installed the 11" tall reactor in chamber 3, which has a water depth of maybe 3-4" from the MAX line. Am I to increase the amount of water in the tank, or perhaps the reactor will function perfectly fine in that depth?

This is an old thread, but it concerns me alot. I hope you will respond to this post..

 

Thank you,

Phil

Hi Phil. I increased my waterline in the back to about 3" below the top of the tank which is way above the "Max" water level line. At first I was worried about doing that but then i read dozens of forums where people were doing that. First thing they do is take out the bio balls, then they add a media rack with Purigen and Chemipure Elite. some use a skimmer next to the media rack, some use a refugium chamber. I have a Tunze 9002 skimmer. I have to use an ATO cause the skimmer is incredibly sensitive to water level.

 

I now have two IM MiniMax Desktop Media Reactors. In Chamber 1 I have one running Biopellets (Two Little Fishies NPX Bioplastics), then the water runs from there through filter floss, past the purigen, past the chemipure and then into the skimmer. That's recommended by most bioplastics companies. Then in chamber three with the ATO and the return pump I have my second IM MiniMax Desktop reactor running BRS ROX 0.8 Carbon. I also upped my snails. Astrea so far are the best for algae on the glass and back wall. Nassarius are great for stirring the sand bed.

 

Here's a picture of the back of the tank (looks like I need to clean it up a bit)

[wishba]

Hi Phil. I increased my waterline in the back to about 3" below the top of the tank which is way above the "Max" water level line. At first I was worried about doing that but then i read dozens of forums where people were doing that. First thing they do is take out the bio balls, then they add a media rack with Purigen and Chemipure Elite. some use a skimmer next to the media rack, some use a refugium chamber. I have a Tunze 9002 skimmer. I have to use an ATO cause the skimmer is incredibly sensitive to water level.

 

I now have two IM MiniMax Desktop Media Reactors. In Chamber 1 I have one running Biopellets (Two Little Fishies NPX Bioplastics), then the water runs from there through filter floss, past the purigen, past the chemipure and then into the skimmer. That's recommended by most bioplastics companies. Then in chamber three with the ATO and the return pump I have my second IM MiniMax Desktop reactor running BRS ROX 0.8 Carbon. I also upped my snails. Astrea so far are the best for algae on the glass and back wall. Nassarius are great for stirring the sand bed.

 

Here's a picture of the back of the tank (looks like I need to clean it up a bit)

Hi gahumphrey,

 

Thank you for the great detail on how to position not just one but two Innovative Marine MiniMaxs in the cube. After seeing your setup from the photo I am very surprised at how much equipment the sump can house! I can see that the MJ1200 and reactor fits rather snugly in chamber 3, but when I see my stock Biocube 29's chamber 3, there is some plastic divider which keeps the blue foam in place? Could you let me know how you removed this? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

Phil

[gahumphrey]

Hi again. If i'm correct i think you mean the divider at the bottom between chambers 2 and 3. I actually didn't remove the divider. The MiniMax Desktop that you see in chamber 3 is slightly above it so it still fits okay. I did remove the sponge so that I have better flow. The filter floss in the media rack does a good job catching any of the larger debris.

 

George

[wishba]

Hi again. If i'm correct i think you mean the divider at the bottom between chambers 2 and 3. I actually didn't remove the divider. The MiniMax Desktop that you see in chamber 3 is slightly above it so it still fits okay. I did remove the sponge so that I have better flow. The filter floss in the media rack does a good job catching any of the larger debris.

 

George

Thank you so much for helping a beginner like me.

Phil

[gahumphrey]

Any time!

[gahumphrey]

Been quite a few months since I've given an update.

 

First thing is that I pulled the BioPellets. They worked GREAT for the first few months. Then they continue to strip all the bad stuff as well as good nutrients out of the tank. All corals started to recede. All have been rebounding since pulling the bio pellets.

 

In all honesty, This tank has experienced some neglect as my SR-80 (80G) went through the same thing with the biopellets only there's a lot more expense invested in the big tank so that took the priority. That tank is on the mend too.

 

I have had aspirations of making the BioCube a full soft coral tank. It's all soft now but I was hoping to add a lot more variety than I have in there now. The opening post has an updated list of what's residing in the tank now.

 

I'll probably retire this tank within the next 6 months to stand up a new Innovative Marine Fusion Nano 20. I've really become a huge IM fan and right now this BioCube looks like a Frankenstein tank. The IM setup should be much cleaner.

 

Here is a new (almost) full tank shot. Will try to add some more pics shortly.

 

[gahumphrey]

few more pics...