Sparky's Biocube.

S

sparky5785

New member
Well here we go again. Maybe with a little more patience and a tiny bit of good luck ill have more success. Its a 29g Biocube and it was filled on June 28, 2012. Currently the stock lighting is running and I plan to upgrade the hood with the 24x3w rapidled 29g Biocube dimmable led retrofit kit. I really hate the stock lighting its so yellowish and i prefer a 17-18k look so hopefully i can afford the retro soon. I'm using the stock return pump been thinking about upgrading that but I'm not sure its necessary. Let me know what you think a good option would be. As for other equipment I'm running a 100w Eheim Jager Heater and two Koralia Nano 425's. I would like to add an ato and maybe some kind of skimmer whether it be a hob or drop in. I am using 30lbs of Caribsea special grade reef sand and 25lbs of Marco dry Key Largo rock.

My livestock plans are two clowns a dwarf angel a jawfish or blenny and maybe a sixline or other small active fish depending on how full the tank gets. As far as corals mostly zoas palys and lps maybe a hearty sps like a birdsnest perhaps.

I have some questions. During my cycle should I run any media? Either way what media would you recommend? I was thinking purigen and chemipure elite. What do you think of Stevie's media baskets and fuge basket? Also considering just putting cheato in one of those clear shower baskets somewhere in the tank. Any other ideas or recommendations are very welcome.

Here's some pictures for you all.

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Here's a daylight shot after the water has cleared I do like how clear the water is but hate how yellow the tank looks.

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U should change the lighting to some of jims PAR38 bulbs.. I run one on my biocube zoa garden/frogfishtank and the lighting looks great and i get good growth from the light
 
jeppun21 said:
U should change the lighting to some of jims PAR38 bulbs.. I run one on my biocube zoa garden/frogfishtank and the lighting looks great and i get good growth from the light
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I would do that but I can't go open top with the cats. So I'm gonna do the rapidled retro which screws right into the hood. BTW Jeff do you still have that koralia nano 425 I payed you for? Would you mind shipping it to us? Ill pay you for the shipping. It could probably go in a flat rate box.

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sparky5785 said:
I would do that but I can't go open top with the cats. So I'm gonna do the rapidled retro which screws right into the hood. BTW Jeff do you still have that koralia nano 425 I payed you for? Would you mind shipping it to us? Ill pay you for the shipping. It could probably go in a flat rate box.

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Oh darn.. Yeah u dnt to catch the cat making sushi now lol.. Yes i still do have ur koralia.. I'll actually be by dre and tiffs house nxt weekend to pick up some zoas.. Do u want to meet up around the streamwood area.. I also have the frag rack free of charge for u if u want.. Pm me and lmk
 
jeppun21 said:
Oh darn.. Yeah u dnt to catch the cat making sushi now lol.. Yes i still do have ur koralia.. I'll actually be by dre and tiffs house nxt weekend to pick up some zoas.. Do u want to meet up around the streamwood area.. I also have the frag rack free of charge for u if u want.. Pm me and lmk
Click to expand...

I could have snagged that from you when I was out there and brought to the Mills yesterday.
 
InTank media basket fits form and function, although realistically it's expensive. I purchased the whole kit though which makes for a clean installation in the rear of the aquarium. I have one in my Biocube, nicely built and like I said fits its function. There is always the egg crate option too. When I cycled mine I just ran filter floss and some carbon. I didn't feel the need to put in the purigen until I got some inhabitants. I also use the Hydor-flo on my return outlet for more random flow instead of it just blasting off the glass. I like your rock work, just proves my need to re-scape mine!!
I have the Aquaticlife internal mini-skimmer 115 in the RH side compartment. It fits nicely enough you can still close the back lid and not see it or hear it. You'd need to mod the cord hole in the hood a little to fit it, and it works pretty good. Also, if you go to nanoreef.com there is a section for Biocube mods if you weren't aware of it. If you need bulbs for your hood, I have lots of new ones for cheap!!! They are the stock Coralife bulbs, I bought them and then upgraded to LED's myself.
 
Well after much back and forth on it, I finally took Jeppun's advice and decided to get a Par38 bulb from Coral Compulsion. Jimmy was awesome to work with as he has always been. He took the time to show me all the bulb choices over his own tank. He even did a side by side comparison of the two bulbs I was deciding between. Ultimately I went with 20K full spectrum. Needless to say i like a bluer tank. I like the fact that they are dimmable and if i wanted to add a second bulb its as easy as clamping it on. Here is a pic its not really this blue in person.

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Since Cecily is breaking down the 75gal and this is going to be our only tank we are going to try to do it big. We already have the LEDs today we are buying a EcoTech Marine MP10wES. I have looked at inTank andi like the media baskets but i do not know if they will work for me as the previous owner of the biocube notched out the first baffle after the intake section so i dont know if it would be too tall. Im also looking at getting a Tunze 9002 with the inTank collection cup. Also i finally want to get a controller looking at a ReefKeeper Lite based on features price and what I want it to do. Turn on and off the lights monitor and control temp just the basics. If anyone has any of these used that would be a great find as well.

As far as livestock we are thinking 2 clowns, a linear blenny, a pair of randalls gobies with pistol shrimp and either one of the less aggressive dottybacks like a magenta or a small wrasse like a sixline. For corals we are going to focus on zoas mostly with some ricordeas and a couple of lps.

Let me know what you think and if theres any issues you see with our plan.

Thank you
 
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