SPS in stock biocube

[Miamialum620]

I went a little crazy this past weekend for the @WWC live sale as many of us did but in my haste to snag a deal before anyone else did I ended up with mainly SPS frags. Have any of you had success with maintaining or growing these coral with a stock led 32g biocube?

The frags I got were:
Honeycomb leptastrea
Gorilla Nipple zoanthids
Green birdsnest
Golden pavona
Purpilicious echinata
Neon goniastrea
Mystery frag (I believe a lord)

I have 2 hydor koralia nanos in the tank along with a variable flow adapter for the return. I know there are kits out there to upgrade the lighting but this tank is in my high school classroom so I’m honestly not trying to break the bank. Any tips or advice on placement on these new additions to the tank would be greatly appreciated.

Here’s a pic of the tank so you can get an idea of my aquascape. I’ve relocated the 2 circulation pumps to the back wall of the tank pointed towards the front glass (1 on the left under the return and 1 on the right side between the intake grates).

 

[Ron Reefman]

The fact that it's 32 gallons isn't an issue other than it's slightly more difficult to maintain water parameters at stable levels than a bigger tank, but it's very doable.

To me, the issue may be the led light fixture on your 'stock' bio-cube. Some stock cubes have great led fixtures and some have rather weak led fixtures. The weak one may keep sps corals alive, but aren't really providing enough light to make them happy (i.e. healthy and growing). What can you tell us about the light fixture? How many leds? How many watts? How many colors? How many channels? Or at least what brand and model is your bio-cube?

Does the system have a skimmer?
How long has it been running (assuming it's been cycled for some time)? It looks very new and the water looks a little hazy?

 

[Surfer311]

The stock lighting may have changed since I had a biocube but at the time they came standard with 2 x PC bulbs. I tried to keep a few montis in it but did not have success in that system, do not think the lighting/par was sufficient.

Also, I had to modify the top/lid to stay open a bit with an aftermarket cooling fan as temperature crept up quite a bit throughout the day (80+) with the lid closed.

 

[PirateDan]

I didn’t have any luck with sps until I upgraded my lights. Steves leds.

 

[Miamialum620]

I got the biocube last year in September directly from the company Coralife so it’s one of the newer ones with LEDs. Here’s a screen shot of the specs according to their website.

 

[Miamialum620]

The fact that it's 32 gallons isn't an issue other than it's slightly more difficult to maintain water parameters at stable levels than a bigger tank, but it's very doable.

To me, the issue may be the led light fixture on your 'stock' bio-cube. Some stock cubes have great led fixtures and some have rather weak led fixtures. The weak one may keep sps corals alive, but aren't really providing enough light to make them happy (i.e. healthy and growing). What can you tell us about the light fixture? How many leds? How many watts? How many colors? How many channels? Or at least what brand and model is your bio-cube?

Does the system have a skimmer?
How long has it been running (assuming it's been cycled for some time)? It looks very new and the water looks a little hazy?

I took that picture shortly after doing a water and filter change so everything was stirred up. The tank has been set up since September so it’s still fairly new. There is a TUNZE 9001 protein skimmer as well.

 

[Surfer311]

I got the biocube last year in September directly from the company Coralife so it’s one of the newer ones with LEDs. Here’s a screen shot of the specs according to their website.

Very interesting and great that Coralife switched them over to LED, makes alot of sense. The issue is the PAR values, if I’m reading correctly will not be near enough for sps.

There really isn’t any other limiting factors to keeping sps in it other than light assuming you maintain stable water chemistry, salinity and temperature. Are you running an ATO on it? Am guessing so if it’s a classroom tank and isn’t being serviced over the weekends.

I understand completely not wanting to dump additional $ into the system, especially if not keeping it at your home. Give it a try and see how they do under the stock LEDs, worst case scenario is you may have to choose between either upgrading the light or trading away the frags. Something tells me you will upgrade the lights. :D (Kessil, Kessil! Lol.)

By the way, I love the Biocube. Great all-in-system, have seen some insanely successful grown-out mature mixed reefs in them!

 

[PirateDan]

Very interesting and great that Coralife switched them over to LED, makes alot of sense. The issue is the PAR values, if I’m reading correctly will not be near enough for sps.

There really isn’t any other limiting factors to keeping sps in it other than light assuming you maintain stable water chemistry, salinity and temperature. Are you running an ATO on it? Am guessing so if it’s a classroom tank and isn’t being serviced over the weekends.

I understand completely not wanting to dump additional $ into the system, especially if not keeping it at your home. Give it a try and see how they do under the stock LEDs, worst case scenario is you may have to choose between either upgrading the light or trading away the frags. Something tells me you will upgrade the lights. :D (Kessil, Kessil! Lol.)

By the way, I love the Biocube. Great all-in-system, have seen some insanely successful grown-out mature mixed reefs in them!

Kessils are a great choice but with steves leds you can keep the top on and there less expensive and you can grow anything.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Miamialum620, Surfer311 is correct. The PAR of 53 to a peak of 81 at just 12" deep isn't good enough for growth and probably not even enough to keep them healthy over the long run. The sps would be OK in there for a month to maybe even 6 months, but you really want a PAR of about 200 as a minimum for most sps corals. I have a 40g cube (diy) and I run my PAR at 200 at 20" deep and 90% of my corals are zoas not sps.

 

[jabberwock]

I am afraid the stock LEDs are not enough for SPS. I have the same setup. All my softies like it high up in the scape.
I hear great things about Steve's LEDs upgrade, but don't have them. They cost as much as the entire biocube.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I am afraid the stock LEDs are not enough for SPS. I have the same setup. All my softies like it high up in the scape.
I hear great things about Steve's LEDs upgrade, but don't have them. They cost as much as the entire biocube.

Good quality leds, either DIY or from a manufacturer are going to cost money. But an Mars Aqua led fixture would be more than enough light (it won't fit in the top) at just $100.

It's actually a shame that some companies sell a tank with such inappropriate lighting.

 

[golfer88]

If your gonna upgrade just pull the lid off and do a radion xr15 g4 on a rms Mount. I have this on my biocube and I have tons of high end acros that grow really good for me.

 

[Uwharrie]

I didn’t have any luck with sps until I upgraded my lights. Steves leds.

Are you running them on a controller or by hand? What settings are you using. I still have a heck of a time dialing mine in

 

[Miamialum620]

I worry about taking the lid off of it entirely with me not being there on weekends and days when the school is closed during the week.

It is a shame that they would sell a tank with such insufficient lighting but i can’t really complain considering Coralife donated the tank to me. The GSP and zoanthids I have in the tank don’t seem to be enjoying the lighting to much either.

I also agree that to pay upwards of $300 for the LED upgrade when the tank costs the same price is a little crazy. Maybe I can find a used upgrade kit somewhere online.

 

[Surfer311]

I worry about taking the lid off of it entirely with me not being there on weekends and days when the school is closed during the week.

It is a shame that they would sell a tank with such insufficient lighting but i can’t really complain considering Coralife donated the tank to me. The GSP and zoanthids I have in the tank don’t seem to be enjoying the lighting to much either.

I also agree that to pay upwards of $300 for the LED upgrade when the tank costs the same price is a little crazy. Maybe I can find a used upgrade kit somewhere online.

Does the lid still have the access door that flips up? If so, am wondering if you could run 1 kessil a160we on a gooseneck right thru the hole. The light fixture is very small/skinny, think you could line up the led matrix right at the hole entrance. On my biocube 8 I did this with a small led hockey puck back in the day because I desperately wanted shimmer in the tank and it worked surprisingly well without having to remove the lid. FYI - I just snagged another a160we here on the used forums a couple of weeks ago for $160 shipped, plenty of light for your tank so keep an eye on the forums if you decide to go that route.

Otherwise, am sorry to hear your softies aren’t doing as well as desired. I would guess the stock light setup would work fine for softies and alot of lps.

 

[PirateDan]

Are you running them on a controller or by hand? What settings are you using. I still have a heck of a time dialing mine in

1305 ch1 1295 ch2 using hurricane x control I mostly have lps so can’t go but so high but sps I have are growing.

 

[PirateDan]

1305 ch1 1295 ch2 using hurricane x control I mostly have lps so can’t go but so high but sps I have are growing.

 

[jabberwock]

Does the lid still have the access door that flips up? If so, am wondering if you could run 1 kessil a160we on a gooseneck right thru the hole. The light fixture is very small/skinny, think you could line up the led matrix right at the hole entrance. On my biocube 8 I did this with a small led hockey puck back in the day because I desperately wanted shimmer in the tank and it worked surprisingly well without having to remove the lid. FYI - I just snagged another a160we here on the used forums a couple of weeks ago for $160 shipped, plenty of light for your tank so keep an eye on the forums if you decide to go that route.

Otherwise, am sorry to hear your softies aren’t doing as well as desired. I would guess the stock light setup would work fine for softies and alot of lps.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! I am gonna get me one of those!

 

[jabberwock]

Good quality leds, either DIY or from a manufacturer are going to cost money. But an Mars Aqua led fixture would be more than enough light (it won't fit in the top) at just $100.

It's actually a shame that some companies sell a tank with such inappropriate lighting.

Well, they are posting the output right on the box. They are not claiming it will do something it will not. As an entry level AOI at that price point, I think they did GREAT!

 

[Miamialum620]

1305 ch1 1295 ch2 using hurricane x control I mostly have lps so can’t go but so high but sps I have are growing.

Is that something you installed in addition to the stock biocube lighting? I just have the lights programmed using some settings i found online (pictured below) and modified it a little to fit with the school day.