New Biocube 32

[larryl]

Great start, welcome to R2R! My first tank was also a biocube.

 

[Crofty]

I wouldn’t think it would need to run all the time though. Probably right that an hour or two won’t be enough but basically I was just saying I don’t think it would need to be a 24/7 thing. How long do you run your if you don’t mind me asking? Also thanks for pointing out the chamber one wasn’t the best placement

I only run the UV when I start to see something undesirable starting to bloom up. Typically 24/7 for a couple weeks until conditions improve. Have only had to do that maybe 3 times.
I keep thinking about setting it up on a schedule but it hasn't seemed that necessary so far.

 

[Crofty]

Hello reef fam, over the last month and a half I have taken a box of water and made it and aquarium. Now the challenge is to turn that aquarium into a living “tiny” reef. My two clowns are very happy in their 32 gallon home, but I’m at the point now where I’m starting to plan ahead for corals and a tiny bit more livestock. Reason for this post is I’m at an intersection when it come to filtration. I’m stuck at wether or not I wanna run a fuge. Right now I’m running the BioCube filter thing with some filter floss over the top of it. 2nd shelf is chemipure blue and in the bottom I have some marinepure “gems” in a media bag. I know that fuge are good for nutrient removal and ph balance but I’m not planning on having anything in here but softies and maybe LPS at the most. Point is I don’t want to have a fuge just to say I have one. So what’s everyone else suggest? To fuge or not to fuge.. lol. I will add that I am a total OCD nut and I already have enough of the current filtration I mentioned to run for 12 months, so if I make a change it won’t be right away unless something happens and the tanks requires it. Either way thanks for your input and I can’t wait to hear your opinions. Thanks reef fam

I was all set to do a fuge as well. Bought the InTank media basket and everything. But now I don't see it as needed or worth the effort to set up in the Biocube. The 6 fish I'm feeding just don't seem to generate enough nitrate or phosphate to make it worth while. I do have a good CUC though.
I've have phosphates creep up from time to time but its too easy to just throw in a small bag of Chemipure Elite to manage it.
Have you considered going with an algae scrubber instead? Ill probably go that route with a drop in unit if I start having real issues with phosphate.

 

[BifrostReefer]

I tried a chaeto fuge with the intank media tower, never got it to live. I tried 2 different lights, but both were cheap Amazon lights. It's tough in such a tight spot.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

I was all set to do a fuge as well. Bought the InTank media basket and everything. But now I don't see it as needed or worth the effort to set up in the Biocube. The 6 fish I'm feeding just don't seem to generate enough nitrate or phosphate to make it worth while. I do have a good CUC though.
I've have phosphates creep up from time to time but its too easy to just throw in a small bag of Chemipure Elite to manage it.
Have you considered going with an algae scrubber instead? Ill probably go that route with a drop in unit if I start having real issues with phosphate.

Thanks for the response and for sharing your findings. I don’t plan on stocking very heavy fish wise and will be keeping simple corals so I was sorta thinking exactly what you said was happening in your tank. As for the algae scrub we I haven’t really thought about it, not really sure how I would do it in such a small tank/stand footprint although it would be nice to have one

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

I tried a chaeto fuge with the intank media tower, never got it to live. I tried 2 different lights, but both were cheap Amazon lights. It's tough in such a tight spot.

This was kinda what I was afraid of also, I wasn’t sure if there was enough room to actually do anything. Like I said I didn’t wanna do it just to say I had one, lol. If I had one I would want it to be beneficial. Thanks for sharing your experience, you definitely help save me some money and aggravation

 

[lubeck]

I’ve had my second chamber filled with live rock rubble and cheato. I used to harvest weekly in the beginning but now just once a month or so. Been going a year. I have a mandarin goby so need a safe place for pods.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Hey guys, I’m debating on upgrading my return pump on the BC32… I’m not having any issues with it but I like to try and fix a problem before it’s an actual problem and I’ve had a good bit of people tell me that they return pump and the lights are the two things I’ll end up changing sooner rather than later. The light I’m not to concerned with right now, but the pump I may be. If I’m gonna change it then I’d like to do it while the tank is still maturing and settling in so that I can keep my hands out of the water as much as possible moving forward. So I’m looking for suggestions from any with experience with these. I was thinking mighty jet maybe but I wanted to get more opinions on it. Thanks for the help reef fam

 

[lubeck]

This one is working very well for me.

 

[diverjm]

I have the Sicce Syncra 1.5 pump with a VCA random flow generator in mine. I’m extremely happy.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

This one is working very well for me.

Right on, I’ll check into it for sure

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

I have the Sicce Syncra 1.5 pump with a VCA random flow generator in mine. I’m extremely happy.

Thanks for the response, I will check that one out also

 

[littlefoxx]

Hello reef fam, I’ve been a member here for a few years now but sadly I haven’t posted very much. Right after getting my first attempt at a reef set up (40b tank) unfortunately my family went thru some turmoil. I won’t get into that in here but the facts are I had to tear it down and for the last few years I’ve been waiting to try again. Now I am at that point finally and I hope this go is able to run its course and I hope to share it with you all. With that said let’s get into what I have thus far.

Stock BioCube 32 LED
BioCube stand
20# Caribsea life rock
20# Caribsea special grade
100w titanium heater w/ InkBird controller
EcoTech MP10

Right now the tank is cycling. I did the initial fill up with Nutra-Seawater to help get more beneficial bacteria to work along with the live sand and biospira.
I’ve been told by numerous people that I don’t need to wait for cycling and with modern tech fish in cycling is the way to go but I’m old skool. I’ve got 2 shrimp in a bag with the lights out and letting nature do it thing. I’m a week in and when I check I have ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate showing so I’m heading in the right direction. Hopefully by the end of the year I will be showing you guys a nice successful 32 gallon BC. I know that I am a newbie and I am 100% open to all constructive criticism and I will always be open to taking help and advice from those of you out there that are already successful. I look forward to getting comments and using them to make this a successful venture.

Unfortunately right now my lights are off so it’s super hard to get a go picture but I’ll put up something just for a beginning reference point. I look forward to building this tank and I hope to get more positive feedback moving forward than negative, lol.

God Bless
Semper Fi

Welcome to the bio cube gang haha. I’ve got one too. Right now it’s home to two baby clowns, a bubble tip anemone, a camel shrimp, a few sexy shrimp and a baby blue tang. (BEFORE anyone comments about the blue tang, I have a post about him in my blog, but long story short he is a rescue in bad shape and needs some time to heal before going into my main bigger display tank!!!) anyway, these tanks are fun! I love your rock work for sure!!

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Small update for you reef fam on my BioCube. My amazing girlfriend showed up at my house with what she called a “reef starter pack” lol. For someone that doesn’t know anything about saltwater or corals I have to admit she really caught me off guard with it. I’m not 100% what all she got but I will post pictures up for you guys to see since this is a build thread and all that. She can it with

1) cheaper shrimp
2) orange spotted goby (hard to get a picture)
3) 2 nassarious snails
4 small hammer coral
5) a clove coral of some kind
6) yellow candy cane
7) purple and green blasto

I had nothing to do with picking these and I’m really not sure about the blasto/candy cane. I could be wrong about what they are. However when this picture are taken they have only been in my tank since 8pm last night. Hopefully everything is happy and will survive. I would love to hear your feedback and any tips for where to place them would be appreciated as no I just have them in the sandbed (obviously)

 

[littlefoxx]

Hey guys, I know I haven’t updated lately but I was at the point of letting tank settle in and deciding on first fish to put in. I finally decided on two small but beautiful Wyoming white clowns. Now that I have them in and my tank has been running for a month dark I think I’m at the point of starting to ad a little light to the tank. I’ve found some “bc32 light schedules” online but they are for full fledged coral growing settings. I’m looking for something that can bring the whites in slowly to keep uglies to a minimum while still allowing the life in the tank to start coming on. So with that said I asking if anyone out there with a BioCube has any suggestions for a good new tank light suggestions.. thanks in advance fam

Mine is on a 8 hour white light, and 4 hour blue toward the end of the night that fades before going dark.

 

[rmorris_14]

Welcome to the biocube club! It’s a fun little tank. Mine is a work in progress. I run stock everything minus the intank media basket. It seems to be working well since I got it second hand in November of 21.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Welcome to the bio cube gang haha. I’ve got one too. Right now it’s home to two baby clowns, a bubble tip anemone, a camel shrimp, a few sexy shrimp and a baby blue tang. (BEFORE anyone comments about the blue tang, I have a post about him in my blog, but long story short he is a rescue in bad shape and needs some time to heal before going into my main bigger display tank!!!) anyway, these tanks are fun! I love your rock work for sure!!

Looks good my man, thanks for the kind words an hopefully I can make it into a nice little tank

 

[littlefoxx]

Small update for you reef fam on my BioCube. My amazing girlfriend showed up at my house with what she called a “reef starter pack” lol. For someone that doesn’t know anything about saltwater or corals I have to admit she really caught me off guard with it. I’m not 100% what all she got but I will post pictures up for you guys to see since this is a build thread and all that. She can it with

1) cheaper shrimp
2) orange spotted goby (hard to get a picture)
3) 2 nassarious snails
4 small hammer coral
5) a clove coral of some kind
6) yellow candy cane
7) purple and green blasto

I had nothing to do with picking these and I’m really not sure about the blasto/candy cane. I could be wrong about what they are. However when this picture are taken they have only been in my tank since 8pm last night. Hopefully everything is happy and will survive. I would love to hear your feedback and any tips for where to place them would be appreciated as no I just have them in the sandbed (obviously)

Your candy cane coral needs lower light to prevent bleaching. I have one in my main tank if you are interested in seeing placement I can post a picture

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Your candy cane coral needs lower light to prevent bleaching. I have one in my main tank if you are interested in seeing placement I can post a picture

Absolutely, I want to try and get them in a place where they will succeed

 

[littlefoxx]

Absolutely, I want to try and get them in a place where they will succeed

So I showed the whole tank. I have a mushroom, war coral, palm tree coral, an Acan, and a few zoas in addition to the candy cane. They like low flow which is why it’s at the bottom and it likes moderate to low light so that’s why it’s where it is with my rock scape, gets enough light but is also shaded to not get too much. Lights are 90 Red Sea with white light at 60% and blues at 40%!