LED BioCube 32 Setup!

hdsoftail1065 · Oct 1, 2018

Flexin said:
Welcome and congrats on the new tank.

I stayed with the stock media basket and use Purigen as my chemical skimmer. Nano skimmers don't work well, compared to the regular size ones. Here is a thread for converting the bottom of the stock media basket into a refugium basket.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/32-biocube-refugium-stock-media-basket.425469/

Thanks for sharing the link, I'm going to "borrow" some of your ideas. :)

cjwb2012 · Oct 1, 2018

hdsoftail1065 said:
That is...if your thinking about a nem.

Well I'm actually building this tank for my son who fell in love with the display tank at our LFS. Same tank with a few nems. I never really considered anything other then getting a few anemones. Its good to hear you had good luck with the stock lighting which is what id like to stick with. I understand that will restrict what type of corals I can stock but I'm fine with that trade-off.

hdsoftail1065 · Oct 1, 2018

cjwb2012 said:
Well I'm actually building this tank for my son who fell in love with the display tank at our LFS. Same tank with a few nems. I never really considered anything other then getting a few anemones. Its good to hear you had good luck with the stock lighting which is what id like to stick with. I understand that will restrict what type of corals I can stock but I'm fine with that trade-off.

That's cool building it for your son. We started with 2 very tiny RBTA sump rescues in March. Now we have 6 that I know of, my wife said she spoted another one. To give you an idea how quick they can split. Had some in the past that never split. Strange creatures. When my big tank matures I plan to put no more than two. Plus side is they are pretty easy to sale or give to friends in the hobby.

Lovemyreef2015 · Oct 2, 2018

Welcome to R2R

Ryan winder · Oct 2, 2018

Sorry I don’t know if it’s been said but I too recently purchased a Biocube. In chamber 2 I run an intank media basket( which is great) and also a tunze 9001 skimmer. It skims but it kind of a pita to work around and with. Also I wouldn’t even consider using it without some form of ato. I’ve been considering selling the skimmer and replacing it with a Santa Monica filtration .6 drop in algae scrubber. They are similarly priced

somethinq else · Oct 2, 2018

I disagree with the ato on a bio cube. Do it manually daily. An ato for a biocube is begging for trouble. I dont think theres a person in the reefing hobby that hasnt at some point had an ato stick and flood out a floor or saturate their water to the point of killing corals. Play it safey

Ryan winder · Oct 2, 2018

somethinq else said:
I disagree with the ato on a bio cube. Do it manually daily. An ato for a biocube is begging for trouble. I dont think theres a person in the reefing hobby that hasnt at some point had an ato stick and flood out a floor or saturate their water to the point of killing corals. Play it safey

While I agree that it could be a problem. the tunze osmalator uses an optical eye with a mechanical float as a back up so you don’t have to worry about anything sticking. it also comes with the nice max run time option so in the event that it gets stuck on only a predetermined amount of water can enter the system. I have mine in a 1 gallon top off reservoir. Due to the small surface area of the Biocube and the hood preventing lots of evap I fill my resevoir with 1 gallon once a week. I did my research on nano skimmers and couldn’t find a single one that would fit into the back of a Biocube and skim efficiently at anything but a perfect water level.

Teri NewbieReefer · Oct 2, 2018

Great Start on your tank! (I'm new to this reef stuff, too, but these guys know their stuff.)

Flexin · Oct 2, 2018

Ryan winder said:
While I agree that it could be a problem. the tunze osmalator uses an optical eye with a mechanical float as a back up so you don’t have to worry about anything sticking. it also comes with the nice max run time option so in the event that it gets stuck on only a predetermined amount of water can enter the system. I have mine in a 1 gallon top off reservoir. Due to the small surface area of the Biocube and the hood preventing lots of evap I fill my resevoir with 1 gallon once a week. I did my research on nano skimmers and couldn’t find a single one that would fit into the back of a Biocube and skim efficiently at anything but a perfect water level.

I also like an ATO, the Smart ATO has an auto shut off. It also knows how much water it normally provides and if over that amount it has another alarm and also shuts off. No mechanical parts. Have two on separate tanks and have not had a problem. Not to say it can’t happen so I understand being cautious. If you have a schedule to top off and stick to it, that’s great. If you want an ATO there are some solid options out there that either have backups or smart to know when to shut down.

somethinq else · Oct 3, 2018

My auto uses an optical eye as well and has all the safety precautions as well however "suction flow" over takes the pump and there's nothing you can do about that except run your line up stream if possible. I don't have the liberty of running a 1 ball top off. I had e a 340 gal set up and actually run thru about 3 gallons a day min. But 1 falling dump in a 32 gal set up could throw your salinity off a few points. That's sort of the buyer beware type of subject. I certainly wish no one any bad luck but the pros and cons should always be made aware.

Katrina71 · Oct 3, 2018

Ryan winder said:
Sorry I don’t know if it’s been said but I too recently purchased a Biocube. In chamber 2 I run an intank media basket( which is great) and also a tunze 9001 skimmer. It skims but it kind of a pita to work around and with. Also I wouldn’t even consider using it without some form of ato. I’ve been considering selling the skimmer and replacing it with a Santa Monica filtration .6 drop in algae scrubber. They are similarly priced

Curious. Can you post a link for the scrubber?

Katrina71 · Oct 3, 2018

If you are running the stock hood and lights, you WON'T need an ATO. Very little evap. Spend your $ on Coral instead.

Ryan winder · Oct 3, 2018

https://www.marinedepot.com/Santa_M...mp33zxb165SWSHNi4UoUDuQDxyp3mtGkaAs18EALw_wcB

Ryan winder · Oct 3, 2018

Oh that link was for the 1.2 they make a smaller one that’s half the price

Flexin · Oct 4, 2018

Another note on an ATO, if you get one, be sure it has a back flow or siphon break. Also, check the break hole to make sure it stays unobstructed.

cjwb2012 · Oct 8, 2018

Nice! Thanks everyone for the information. A little update after about a week. Tank is still doing good. Been monitoring all my levels and it seems to be cycling nicely. Getting some algae as you can see and I have added a clean up crew to take care of business which they have done a good job so far. You can see how over grown the bridge rock was until the snails got up there and ate it all up. Now the floor is getting some algae growing and the hermits have been going to town. I ended up with 5 hermits and 5 snails which they seem to be doing a decent job so far. And Ive certainly been keeping the lights on too often so Ill readjust that accordingly. I also added some spare shells since one of my hermit was roaming around without one. Figured he planned on murdering one of my snails but within about 5 minutes of dropping in new shells he hopped right into one way to large and hes been chillin in there since.

cjwb2012 · Oct 28, 2018

Update, Tank is cycled and happy.

Current situation:

Lawnmower blenny
Firefish Goby
Fire Shrimp
GSP
Zoanthids
Kenya Tree Coral
Some type of mushroom coral
Clean up crew

Water changes have been bi-weekly and Ive finally managed to get the whole water change system more organized.

cjwb2012 · Oct 28, 2018

Current Pic

cromag27 · Oct 28, 2018

somethinq else said:
I disagree with the ato on a bio cube. Do it manually daily. An ato for a biocube is begging for trouble. I dont think theres a person in the reefing hobby that hasnt at some point had an ato stick and flood out a floor or saturate their water to the point of killing corals. Play it safey

i only use spectrapure atos, so i don’t have to worry about this problem. :)