Biocube1982 February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 Ok, so I am absoutely new to the whole saltwater fish/reef tank. For the past 10 years I had a 100 gallon fresh water tank with 2 Aligator Gars and 3 Giant Green Terrors which was very easy to maintain. I recently moved to a new condo and want to start a saltwater fish/reef tank. I have been reading up on the things I would need to maintain the tank, along with the different types of sea creatures that can be put into the tank. I also read that it is recommended to start off with sand and a nice sized piece of live rock. Anyway, Last week I went and purchased a 29 Coralife Biocube tank, which I think is the perfect size for me to start off with. I've herad different stories from how easy it is to maintain the tank because everything you need is in the system, to saltwater tanks are hard to own. I have also youtube'd differnt videos of Biocube setups which look amazing, and noticed that alot of people have customized their Biocubes with extra filtration systems and protein skimmers Can anyone out there the owns a Biocube or any kind of saltwater tank, give me some tips and advice about starting my Biocube.
Muddy357 February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 I have 2 up and running and I love them. The first thing I recommend is upgrading your lights to one of these led retro kits http://www.rapidled.com/oceanic-biocube-29-kits-1/ after that it all depend on what you want to have in the tank weather it be FOWLR or a LPS softie tank or SPS tank.
BowieReefer84 February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 First, welcome to the club! I ran a fully modded biocube for a couple years. Here is my build thread http://wamas.org/forums/topic/39572-mikes-29gal-biocube/ I loved that tank. Ask any questions.
YHSublime February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 Welcome! I would figure out what corals you want to keep, and what you want to grow first! I'm only about 4 months in, and you can follow my biocube 14 build. I'm having a blast with it. I'm looking to uprade my lights like Muddy mentioned above, and I would do that before you start running. If you only want to keep lps, you'll be ok, IMO. I didn't do any mods, except knock out my floor in the first panel of the chamber to put a thermomoter in. I do a 25% water change once a week (no problem with 14 gallons) and only keep rubble rock and filter floss (change out about 2x a week) in my center chamber. Again though, I'm only doing LPS, and easy to grow corals, SPS will not do well unless you upgrade your lights.
flooddc February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 (edited) Welcome! just dive right in! Oh! go bare bottom. I have seem a few very nice bare bottom biocube! Edited February 19, 2013 by flooddc
Muddy357 February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 I found that my LPS did ok under the stock lights but never fully opened up so I upgraded the lights to the LED's and everything is thriving now I also gutted the middle chamber in the back of the tank and turned it into a refugium with cheato and a jbj fuge light. I do a 5 gallon water change every 2 weeks and everything is stable and thriving.
Biocube1982 February 19, 2013 Author February 19, 2013 Thanks all for the warm welcome, i love this site lol. I had no clue that there were so many configurations and upgrades that I could do for the Biocube system. Thank you for all the amazing suggestions. Will keep you all posted on my progress!
jimlin February 19, 2013 February 19, 2013 i love all in one tanks. it takes a little more work than the south american cichlid tanks, but well worth it. plan ahead and put together a list of stuff for the tank and take it nice and slow. for small systems like yours, stability is the key. stock lights, you are able to keep soft corals. may want to upgrade lights if you plan to keep more light demanding corals. not sure if you have a ro di unit, but it is a good way to filter water going into your tank.
Quantum Aquaria February 20, 2013 February 20, 2013 welcome. we've got several All-In-Ones here, including a Nanocube. Lots of different ways to run them and all can be very fun. A 29 gallon Biocube is a really good size and can be modded in lots of different ways. As the saying goes, before I got into reef tanks, I was just a normal guy, now, I'm an electrician, a plumber, woodworker and an architect
YHSublime February 20, 2013 February 20, 2013 As the saying goes, before I got into reef tanks, I was just a normal guy, now, I'm an electrician, a plumber, woodworker and an architect hahaha
NamReefs March 3, 2013 March 3, 2013 welcome. we've got several All-In-Ones here, including a Nanocube. Lots of different ways to run them and all can be very fun. A 29 gallon Biocube is a really good size and can be modded in lots of different ways. As the saying goes, before I got into reef tanks, I was just a normal guy, now, I'm an electrician, a plumber, woodworker and an architect Lol
zygote2k March 3, 2013 March 3, 2013 In my experience, especially if you're a noob, I'd go with the stock Biocube setup and actually learn the limitations of these All-in-One tanks BEFORE making any upgrades to lighting and filtration. The manufacturer has designed them to be simple and easy to use if you have the proper husbandry to accomplish it. There isn't any reason why you shouldn't be able to keep it stock and have a beautiful little mini-reef. Read some of Julian Sprungs' past articles and take a look at his 10g tank from 20 years ago done very simply. If it were me, I'd get some fresh live sand and a couple pieces of rock and a starter fish and let it cycle for a month, then start adding additional livestock once a month. If you take it slow and easy and don't let the thousands of opinions steer you in a hundred different directions, you'll have a thriving ecosystem in 6 months to a year. Read up on things- The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium vol 1-3 The Reef Aquarium by Delbeek and Sprung vol 1-3 Dynamic Aquaria by Adey and Loveland Reef Invertebrates by Calfo Read as much published literature BEFORE reading forum posts. Oh, and welcome to the club.
sachabballi reef May 8, 2013 May 8, 2013 ok so how is it going? Tell us where you are at with the new hobby and your set up!
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