My first tank 29g Coralife Biocube

[andymcl82]

Duncan

Frogspawn

GSP. Filled out nicely. And I practiced fragging with a little chunk I peeled off

Cespitularia. Grows a noticeable amount each day.

Purple/blue mushrooms. Glow green at night under the blue LEDs

..........

 

[andymcl82]

On to my favorites. The acans.

Cellphone pics do them no justice at all. The first one basically glows even with the 10000k on.

And last but not least my bleached brain that I'm trying to rehab. (I posted about it in the beginners forum)

FTS

I'm gona try and get my girlfriends nice camera and take some good pics sometime soon.

Just the actinics

 

[Scubafrog]

Great looking start! I am still waiting on buying my Biocube but your tank is great inspiration and a template for me. Thanks for posting!

 

[ghostgr]

Looks good!! I just got my 29g biocube set up 2 days ago. I'm already looking at getting a skimmer and that media basket. If you could would you be able to send me links or at least the name of the website where you got yours? How does the skimmer and water flow work with it being in the first chamber? I have my heater there right now. Thank you, and again it looks GREAT!

 

[andymcl82]

The media basket is from inTank so just google intank coralife media basket and you will find it. The skimmer is just your average slim skim nano you can get anywhere online. The skimmer is a real tight fit and blocks some flow so that the main area of the tank fills to the vents at the top of chamber 2 and a small amount of water trickles through the bottom vent. It keeps the water level right at the bottom of the plastic rim at all times . This has caused no problems so far and I can't think of any way that it will in the future. The small amount of water not going through the media basket is a small price to pay for not having to adjust the skimmer cup level all of the time due to evaporation, which was a HUGE pain. Obviously you could fix this with a ATO, but I wanted to put a refugium next to the media basket.

 

[ghostgr]

nice...im kind of thinking the same but not sure on refugium yet. what model skimmer do you have?

 

[andymcl82]

nice...im kind of thinking the same but not sure on refugium yet. what model skimmer do you have?

It is a Hydor slim skim nano. Here's the link. Just remember to get the Nano not the regular version.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23714

 

[Rjramos]

Hi, following along, cause I just started a 29 corallife biocube last month. I entered it in the Nano in 90. Competition. I also upgraded to my own made media and refugium baskets. When I upgraded the pump to mj 1200, the water started to spill through the bottom slat on the back display wall, like you mentioned. I glued a thin strip of plexiglas over the bottom slat on the filtration side, with plexiglas cement. It worked great, the water doesn't make it to the next slat up! Got the magnetic light from in tank on the back of the tank in refugium area. The chaeto has taken off! I also placed the small biocube skimmer in chamber 1, working great. So far just a bit of corals, but slowly stocking up, $500 worth maximum in corals.

 

[Rjramos]

The only problem I see now is that my temp gets up to about 81-82 when both PC lights are on. I'm thinking of installing a small blower to the back of the canopy to bring it down.

 

[ghostgr]

It is a Hydor slim skim nano. Here's the link. Just remember to get the Nano not the regular version.

Aquarium Protein Skimmer: Hydor Slim Skim Protein Skimmer

thank you andy.

thats a nice setup rjramos.

 

[andymcl82]

The only problem I see now is that my temp gets up to about 81-82 when both PC lights are on. I'm thinking of installing a small blower to the back of the canopy to bring it down.

I just leave the two small lids open and have the return pump breaking the surface a little. It helps push the warm air out it seems. On warmer days I have a desktop fan blowing fresh air over the lid. I live in Michigan so the temp outside can go from 65 to 85 in a couple hours. Plus I live on a college campus with no air conditioning. This method keeps my tank usually at 79 to 80.5. On real hot days it can jump to 82 but I've had no problems when that happens.

 

[Rjramos]

I have one of Those hydor spinning nozzles on the return, the stream breaks the surface every 10 sec or so. I run my a/c at 76, 78 when not home, but still I can't get temp down under 80. I don't think the 2 fans built into the canopy do enough. I'm gonna try putting a fan in the back, to see if it comes down.

 

[ghostgr]

Mine at night gets down to about 78 and then during day all the way up to about 81. my LFS told me those were good temps. I turn all my lights off when i go to sleep.

 

[fishroomlady]

tank looks really nice! your livestock looks to be nice and healthy!

 

[andymcl82]

tank looks really nice! your livestock looks to be nice and healthy!

Thank you! It's still a work in progress. Going to add more fish when I get back from vacation. Then more coral

 

[Scubafrog]

Just received my 29G Biocube last night but UPS lost the stand. I had to remove the light cover as the 10K Daylight bulb wasn't inserted in the socket. Can't wait to get the stand.

Is the fan suppose to only run with the Actinic light? How do you run your lights? Have you added any LED's?

 

[ghostgr]

Yes it's only suppose to run with the Acintic light on.

 

[andymcl82]

Just received my 29G Biocube last night but UPS lost the stand. I had to remove the light cover as the 10K Daylight bulb wasn't inserted in the socket. Can't wait to get the stand.

Is the fan suppose to only run with the Actinic light? How do you run your lights? Have you added any LED's?

I'm sorry to hear about that. Yes, only the actinic runs the fan. I'm currently on vacation in North Carolina but when I get home I'll post a picture of the led set up I'm getting from rapid led. I think I'm gonna order it tonight so it will be waiting for me when I get home.

 

[saltyphish]

Nice looking tank. I have a coralife 29 gallon biocube myself and love it. Lot's of upgrades/mods you can do to make them even better. I really like the black and white clown mixed with the regular clown as well.

 

[Scubafrog]

Yep, the tank and stand arrived together at my local UPS warehouse but for some reason the stand is missing. The tank arrived in good shape except for the one CF light being dislodged. Did you water test your tank before adding saltwater?


Good luck with the RapidLED retrofit. I really like their DIY instructions and the finish product looks really clean unlike some other retrofits that I have seen. Just don't think the wife will buy off on the expenseof the kit and me tearing apart a new tank when I still need to buy rock and fish. I think the stock lights will work fine for me for awhile as this will be my first saltwater tank and reef.

Looking forward to seeing the RapidLED kit once you have in installed.

Once again thanks for posting your pictures. Tank looks great.