Bio Cube Owner's Thread

[GBE378]

I just am currtently setting up a BC29 and just got the live rock today.

Here are some pics is a little cloudy still.




I am also see if my old Super Skimmer 65 will work as a HOB skimmer. Its been out of commission for a while so its creating alot of microbulbble and will prolly take a while to break in again. Also had to make a little modification to it, with the return. Not sure if its going to work but theres nothing in it for now and if worse comes to worse I take it out and try somthing else.

[MyMonkey]

Cool. Did not know that back panel came off. Hmm...

[MyMonkey]

Wow rjwilson37! Nice looking tank there. Care to expand on the system. Skimmer, mods, additive, corals etc? Also, what is the green and purple variety front right. Looks to be a matting coral of some type.

[Sharkbait1]

I'm in for sure !!

jr nice looking tank.
jfro I have the same nanocustoms upgrade. 150MH 2x36W Atinic. The cords on the ballasts should be long enough so that the can just sit inside the stand pretty much where ever you want.

But I know we need pics.. Here it is a few weeks ago. I have since re-aquasaped and think it looks better but still not the way I want it..
I do 2 WC a month and on 1 of them I reaquasape. I have a bucket in the yard that I keep "spare LR" in so I get a "new" tank every month.



I have since added a good clean up crew and most of the algae is gone!

[ggk1988]

Here is a really old picture of mine. I will post a new photo once I beat some hair algae.

[smartang22]

I have a 14 gallon Biocube that just turned one year old! I upgraded the pump to a maxijet 900, took the bioballs out and replaced with LR rubble and chemipure, and I hid my heater in the right chamber. I upgraded the lighting with the system from Nanotuners. It was super easy to install and the tank is much brighter now.
I currently have a cleaner shrimp and a clown nmed Clownt. I have rics and zoas and yellow polyps, pink xenia, a large feather duster, purple and red shrooms, chaeto, and a pom pom crab. I love it!

I don't have any pictures, but I will post them. I am giving some overgrown xenia to a fellow RC member this weekend so I will take a picture after I ship those off. They grew like a weed, just like everyone said they would. But being a beginner I wanted to have a hardy, aquacultured specimen so that I could grow some confidence. But I am just happy that I could give them away.

[jfro]

I noted earlier that I'm waiting for Pergo flooring to be installed before going forward with my BC29 but I'm getting crazy anxious. I need to get the tank ans stand in place and start putting the system together. I've learned from experience that it's easier to get it set-up right to begin with and minimize the modifications.

Does anyone want to recommend a good heater for the BC29? My heater will plug into my chiller - any recommendatons?

[jfro]

Well, I decided to put the BC29 in my office at work. I've got the rock set-up and water running through it but I need to add some more salt to get the salinity dialed in.

I have a question for whoever is using a chiller with the nanocustom upgrade. Where to you have your pump? Mine is in the middle chamber, but that's where I'll put some LR Rubble and some Chaeto. Hopefully, the Chaeto won't interfere with the pump.

Anyone have a mod that works well with the pump and Fuge?

[chromiumlux]

Just what I've been looking for!
Count me in. I've got a 14g bio cube. No pics yet--need to figure out my camera and how to upload.

[jcvkang]

i have an 8 gallon and 14 gallon biocube.

unfortunately, i'll be getting rid of the 14 gallon and giving my 8 gallon to my parents.

i just got a Red Sea Max the other day. it was a time for an upgrade.

[rjwilson37]

Here is a recent full tank shot, including the stand.

These tanks are so sweet...

They take up so little space and give any room a beautiful look with a piece of the oceans reef in your home.

[jfro]

My tank is up and running at work. I needed to break down a tank at homeed and add some critters and live sand to the new work tank. I used old, dried rock from past tanks to aquascape the new tank.

Since I needed this work tank up and running quick, I ordered Bio-Spira to cycle the tank quickly. By reading the Bio-Spira reviews and instructions, I knew I needed to add inhabitants within a day or two to get a bio-load in the tank so the nitrifying bacteria the Bio-Spira introduced could survive.

Having said all that. the Bio-Spira didn't work as adverised and I've suffered significant loss. I got an immediate Ammonia spike - 0 Nitrites and acceptable Nitrates. I learned a lesson the hard way.

I'll keep everyone posted as things progress. I think today's survivors will make it but there will be no more additions until the levels are where they need to be.

My bottom line - don't trust Bio-Spira, don't trust quick fixes, don't trust product reviews. Just stick with the traditional tried and true methods.

[rjwilson37]

I typically use already cured LR from a LFS. I make sure and get LR that has already been at the LFS for 2-3 weeks, which has already had 80-100% die off in there tank, not mine. I have always setup my tanks this way and have a very short/small cycle period and can add fish and corals within 3-5 days. I also use the Hagen Cycle product, which gives the nitrifying bacteria cycle a boost, and I have never had a problem setting up a tank.

The tank 2 posts above never even had an algae bloom, as it was setup and was ready very quickly.

[jfro]

rjwilson37 - Noted. This was the first time I tried to jump start the cycle, and the last time. I dry-scaped the tank and liked it's look so I didn't add any LR - plus our LFS is not reliable or very good. I added quite a bit of live sand and thought it would help.

Anyway, I'm confident it'll end up where I want it to. I love the bright colors of your tank. I see you have a Snowflake Eel as your avatar - have you ever kept one in an aquarium?

[rjwilson37]

Originally posted by jfro
I see you have a Snowflake Eel as your avatar - have you ever kept one in an aquarium?

Yes, I had mine in a 10g nano when I first got him, he was there for about 8 months. He was very small at about 8" or so and was about 10" when I moved him into my 55g tank and later my 90g tank. I was trying to do SPS in my 90g and needed to take him out because of the high bioload between him and all my fish. I then moved him into an Aquapod 24g where he was until about 3 weeks ago, when the lighting went out. He was in there with 2 damsels and a Maroon Clown. I traded him in since I no longer have the 90g and wanted to do something a bit different with this tank. He will be missed, especially by my youngest daughter who thinks he was the coolest. He was just to big for the Biocube at over 24", so I had the fish store find him a new home.

[jfro]

Cool. What about a Snowflake Eel in a reef community RSM tank (34G)? Is that asking for trouble?

[rjwilson37]

Originally posted by jfro
Cool. What about a Snowflake Eel in a reef community RSM tank (34G)? Is that asking for trouble?

That would work, if you don't have any crabs or shrimp. Plus... You have to make sure it is a closed system, because eel's are pretty much escape artists with there curiosity.

[melanotaenia]

[i]

[/B]

awesome; very clean

any closer shots?

[rjwilson37]

Originally posted by melanotaenia
awesome; very clean

any closer shots?

Thanks!

[jfro]

rjwilson - If you don't mind sharing, do you get your livestock online or from an LFS. If online, who do you use. Your corals are beautiful.

[rjwilson37]

I get them from LFS's. VI Pets for the 2 big zoa rocks and Preuss Pets for the small zoa rocks, ricordea and frogspawn.

You just have to visit them a lot when your in the market for a new coral, and pay the price when a nice specimen comes in.

[hyperboy]

My BC29

[WM15]

i just move my 24 gallon nanocube that was leaking into a 29 gal biocube. and so far im liking it. ill put up some pics soon.

[WM15]

[jfro]

Very nice tanks guys. My BC29 is cycling so I'll hold off posting pics until I have something to show. I'm hoping I can toss in a small cleanup crew in about a week.