Biocube 29 filtration draw

[Steve Jones]

Fairly new to the hobby here. I have a Coralife Biocube 29. It seems that the draw of the pump and filtration system isn't as strong as it should be. I can watch back by the water intake ports in the rear right of the cabinet and lots of particles drift right by the vents and don't get pulled in. I'd say only 20-30% of what I see drift by gets pulled in. Is this normal? My tank is hardly ever crystal clear.

 

[cjd]

Is the bio cube new? or did you get it used ? have you checked the pump , take it apart ,clean it, make sure its together right. Many people that go with the all in one aquariums modify them one way or another . one of the first things usually is a slightly bigger better return pump for added flow through the system. also what are you using for additional flow in the tank ? (wave maker). an added power head with keep all the nasty stuff suspended in the water column so it can eventually make it through the filter system. I would Google modify bio cube 29 and see all the different things people do. Its worth a Google!

 

[cmcoker]

Agreed, I have the biocube 14 but I upgraded my return pump for the same reason. Some will cover some of the intake slots at the bottom as well to increase flow through the remains openings

 

[zoasaholic]

Yes it is normal,but what I have been doing is I filter out~ 40% of water from the tank to a container with filter sock(bio cube rear compartment) and put back ~30% very 10% wc.
Water always clear

 

[saltyphish]

I run a rio 6hf return pump on mine. major upgrade for flow. Are you using anything else in the tank for flow. I run a koralia 425 powerhead inside the tank for additional flow. Do you run a skimmer? I have horrible luck with microbubbles in my display from running skimmers. Tried everything nothing worked for me except to run my return pump inside a filter sock. I also run carbon in a intank media rack and my water is always crystal clear. I change the filter sock out every 2-3 days. Oh, forgot to mention I have a 29 biocube as well.

 

[zoasaholic]

Poor man filtration system

 

[Steve Jones]

Is the bio cube new? or did you get it used ? have you checked the pump , take it apart ,clean it, make sure its together right. Many people that go with the all in one aquariums modify them one way or another . one of the first things usually is a slightly bigger better return pump for added flow through the system. also what are you using for additional flow in the tank ? (wave maker). an added power head with keep all the nasty stuff suspended in the water column so it can eventually make it through the filter system. I would Google modify bio cube 29 and see all the different things people do. Its worth a Google!

Brand new cube. I also have 2 Hydor Koralia Nano 425 powerheads

 

[Steve Jones]

I run a rio 6hf return pump on mine. major upgrade for flow. Are you using anything else in the tank for flow. I run a koralia 425 powerhead inside the tank for additional flow. Do you run a skimmer? I have horrible luck with microbubbles in my display from running skimmers. Tried everything nothing worked for me except to run my return pump inside a filter sock. I also run carbon in a intank media rack and my water is always crystal clear. I change the filter sock out every 2-3 days. Oh, forgot to mention I have a 29 biocube as well.

Yes - 2 of the Koralia 425's. And the Coralife Protein skimmer. I have the Intank Media basket (w/ floss, Purigen, and Chemi Pure Blue) - also the Intank Fuge basket w/ Chaeto.

 

[Steve Jones]

What I can't figure out is that the tank has had NO fish in it for over two weeks (I am having to let it go 76 days fallow after an outbreak of Brooks - fish are all in hospital tank). So there is very little waste being produced. A couple of crabs and snails are all that is in there with the corals. Yet there is still ALWAYS particles floating around in the water. I change the floss every three days - and it does come out dirty, so it's catching something. Just not sure why it isn't scrubbing better.