bc29 build help

[uber420]

Let me start by saying I'm a huge noob when it come to saltwater please excuse me if I have the wrong terminology and what not. As far as the biocube goes its a used 29g. Looks liike the false bottoms have been removed and a tab cut out between the 1st and 2nd chamber in the back. There is also a plastic grid fish saver thing taped up between the main tank and the filter area (I plan to secure it with something better than tape). It has the stock lighting with 36w 10k day/deep blue lights. There is also about 1/3 of the canopy cut out of the back above the 2nd chamber for a skimmer I was told.

I was asked in the intro thread what type of coral I want to keep, well to be honest I don't know the difference or the types available. I'm assuming with the stock lighting I'm limited to soft corals? Eventually I will upgrade the lighting but thats once I get the hang of saltwater. Any suggestions for beginner corals?

I'm wondering what to put in the filtration part of the tank. I want to put a heater in the first chamber but does anythign else go in there? I've seen pics of a few with live rock and plants in the 2nd chamber, how would I go about setting this up? Since I have the canopy cut open already simple enough to put a small light back there for the plants but should I have some type of media basket?

 

[danbstrong]

Let me start by saying I'm a huge noob when it come to saltwater please excuse me if I have the wrong terminology and what not. As far as the biocube goes its a used 29g. Looks liike the false bottoms have been removed and a tab cut out between the 1st and 2nd chamber in the back. There is also a plastic grid fish saver thing taped up between the main tank and the filter area (I plan to secure it with something better than tape). It has the stock lighting with 36w 10k day/deep blue lights. There is also about 1/3 of the canopy cut out of the back above the 2nd chamber for a skimmer I was told.

I was asked in the intro thread what type of coral I want to keep, well to be honest I don't know the difference or the types available. I'm assuming with the stock lighting I'm limited to soft corals? Eventually I will upgrade the lighting but thats once I get the hang of saltwater. Any suggestions for beginner corals?

I'm wondering what to put in the filtration part of the tank. I want to put a heater in the first chamber but does anythign else go in there? I've seen pics of a few with live rock and plants in the 2nd chamber, how would I go about setting this up? Since I have the canopy cut open already simple enough to put a small light back there for the plants but should I have some type of media basket?

Can you post a pic of the filtration part¿ imo most coral are easy provided you keep up on husbandry but good ones to start with are zoas come in many different colors are small so dont take up room leathers are easy and forgiving but can grow very big star polyps easy but can overrun a tank pulsing xenia are easy but grow fast i grow my xenia on the glass so their easy to harvest as they grow but they are constantly pulsing which is neat to watch imo tho you cant go wrong with the zoas

 

[Convict2161]

Go here and check out what they have.

http://shop.mediabaskets.com/BioCube-29_c16.htm

It's probably why the false bottoms were knocked out. You can put a media basket and fuge in chamber 2 or you can do a media basket and a skimmer in chamber 2. Most will say you don't need a skimmer in a 29 gallon IF your religious with your weekly water changes. I have the Tunze9002 an do 5 gallon water changes every Friday and I honestly think running a skimmer is a waste (at least for me as I have yet to empty the cup)

I think inTank is a good place to start! You can run your purigen, filter floss and chemi pure elite in the basket and if you go the fuge route you can add cheato and seed the fuge with copepods. Your gonna did a fuge light also if you go that route, you can do a submersible light or one that goes on the outside and will shine through the window in the back. jbj make a fuge light and so does Coralife. You can also use a utility light with a deflector. The options are there it's all about budget and how far you wanna go.

As far as lights go. I found the stock lights to be junk for what I wanted to keep. Clams, sps, and other high light corals.

Now flow... If it came with the stock pump IMO I would upgrade with the MJ1200, the inTank site has it, it's just under a new name. It's worth the money your gonna want more flow.

I have the MJ1200 and a MP10 on my cube.

I also gutted the stock hood and installed the AI SOL BLUE LED fixture.

This should get your wheels spinning lol and bring about more questions.






















Oh and you don't need the MP10 I was saying what I use. I use to have 2 Koralia 425's but in a small tank heat becomes an issue so I took them out. The MP10 is unique as the dry side is the motor so it doesn't go in the tank and won't create heat. The Koralia's are in the water motor and all.

http://www.marinedepot.com/HD00715+HD00717+HD00924+HD00721-si.html

http://www.marinedepot.com/powerheads_pumps_icecap_ecotech_marine_vortech_propeller-ap.html

 

[uber420]

ok light upgrade and return pump upgrade is on top of the list.

I'll forego the skimmer for now, but eventually i'll get one.
found this page exceptionally helpful for me to undersatnd the concept:
InTank Media Baskets

I'm going to look into the AI SOL BLUE LED fixture you mentioned, any other lighting options worth looking into? How did you mod the existing hood? just gut it then cut a hole? As for lighting the fuge I'll get a submersible light locally.

Question about live rock and how/if I can store it, I've found some that I can get at $3/lb but I don't think I'm ready to put it in the tank yet. Is there an easy way to store it? Also is it better to get the LR from the store or from a private sale? The person selling it says its been running in his system for 2 1/2 - 3 years. What should I look for in quality live rock?

Thanks for the great info, keep it coming.

 

[Convict2161]

ok light upgrade and return pump upgrade is on top of the list.

I'll forego the skimmer for now, but eventually i'll get one.
found this page exceptionally helpful for me to undersatnd the concept:
InTank Media Baskets

I'm going to look into the AI SOL BLUE LED fixture you mentioned, any other lighting options worth looking into? How did you mod the existing hood? just gut it then cut a hole? As for lighting the fuge I'll get a submersible light locally.

Question about live rock and how/if I can store it, I've found some that I can get at $3/lb but I don't think I'm ready to put it in the tank yet. Is there an easy way to store it? Also is it better to get the LR from the store or from a private sale? The person selling it says its been running in his system for 2 1/2 - 3 years. What should I look for in quality live rock?

Thanks for the great info, keep it coming.

I gutted the entire hood and then used a dremel saw to cut the whole. I was able to use the stock splash guard which made me happy. There are a few good DIY LED kits for the BC29 that you can look into. A quick google search and you'll find some. It's really up to you which way you wanna go.

http://shop.stevesleds.com/Biocube-29-Gallon-LED-retrofit-kit-Biocube-29-Gallon-retrofit-kit.htm

Just an example. There are cheaper ones out there. I like the AI because well... I had the extra cash at the time and the controller is sweet! It ramps up from 7am to noon then stays steady for a few hours then ramps down until it hits moonlight setting.

If you could get the LR from a friends tank I would get it and put it in the tank. But if your not ready then wait... Your gonna want cured live rock BUT you don't need all LR a lot of people use base rock. Remember with LR comes hitchhikers. Some nice ones and some not so nice and the problem is you don't know until it's too late. I had a rough battle with majano which stinks! Also you could get worms and other not so nice things. Just something to be aware of. Some get LR an let it sit out in the sun to kill off anything (this is what I've read). So it's really up to you.

I did about 30 pounds of cured LR and 25 pounds of LS.



















The tank is 9 months old.

 

[danbstrong]

I gutted the entire hood and then used a dremel saw to cut the whole. I was able to use the stock splash guard which made me happy. There are a few good DIY LED kits for the BC29 that you can look into. A quick google search and you'll find some. It's really up to you which way you wanna go.

http://shop.stevesleds.com/Biocube-29-Gallon-LED-retrofit-kit-Biocube-29-Gallon-retrofit-kit.htm

Just an example. There are cheaper ones out there. I like the AI because well... I had the extra cash at the time and the controller is sweet! It ramps up from 7am to noon then stays steady for a few hours then ramps down until it hits moonlight setting.

If you could get the LR from a friends tank I would get it and put it in the tank. But if your not ready then wait... Your gonna want cured live rock BUT you don't need all LR a lot of people use base rock. Remember with LR comes hitchhikers. Some nice ones and some not so nice and the problem is you don't know until it's too late. I had a rough battle with majano which stinks! Also you could get worms and other not so nice things. Just something to be aware of. Some get LR an let it sit out in the sun to kill off anything (this is what I've read). So it's really up to you.

I did about 30 pounds of cured LR and 25 pounds of LS.

The tank is 9 months old.

Thumbs up thats one of the nicest biocubes ive seen

 

[danbstrong]

ok light upgrade and return pump upgrade is on top of the list.

I'll forego the skimmer for now, but eventually i'll get one.
found this page exceptionally helpful for me to undersatnd the concept:
InTank Media Baskets

I'm going to look into the AI SOL BLUE LED fixture you mentioned, any other lighting options worth looking into? How did you mod the existing hood? just gut it then cut a hole? As for lighting the fuge I'll get a submersible light locally.

Question about live rock and how/if I can store it, I've found some that I can get at $3/lb but I don't think I'm ready to put it in the tank yet. Is there an easy way to store it? Also is it better to get the LR from the store or from a private sale? The person selling it says its been running in his system for 2 1/2 - 3 years. What should I look for in quality live rock?

Thanks for the great info, keep it coming.

Youll probably be ok getting rock from friend id put it right in and start that cycle

 

[danbstrong]

Youll probably be ok getting rock from friend id put it right in and start that cycle

Also check ebay for lights lotta good deals not name brand fixtures but i hear people are having good luck with leds from ebay try and get dimmables tho

 

[22engine]

I love my biocube and Convict is a great help. I modded my hood with the AL Sol LEDs as well. I have a fuge and inTank basket in mine.

View attachment 111267



View attachment 111268

 

[Convict2161]

Also check this out if you haven't already.

If you do go with a skimmer I would go with the Tunze9002 and I highly recommend the airline upgrade shown here. It makes dialing in so much easier because with the inTank upgraded cup for the skimmer it's hard to get to the set screw on the skimmer, you'd have to take the cup off every time you needed to adjust the skimmer.

Photo Storage


Also a neat little tool to help keep your glass clean and can really get into some tight spots.

http://www.twolittlefishies.com/tlf_prod_access.html



Any questions just ask!

 

[Convict2161]

I apologize I forgot to answer one of your questions. Beginner corals. Some have there own opinions on this and the answer will differ. It depends on your lights and flow. Here's some sites that will help. Since you have stock lighting your kinda limited BUT still can have a very colorful reef tank of you stay with the stock lighting. There are plenty of beautiful mushrooms you can keep among other corals. These should help.

Also I just wanna touch on the stock lighting. the stock lighting will create heat issue, IMO it's a poor design by the company and the fans are loud and really don't do much. Thats one good reason about the LED upgrade. No fans, no noise and no heat.

Here are some sites for corals.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=597+2856

http://www.azfishkeeping.com/content.php?c_id=67

http://www.aquacon.com/Begcorals.html

These should get ya started.


Also here are some great sites that list hitchhikers that may be found on your live rock.

http://www.masa.asn.au/masawiki/index.php/Hitchhikers_Guide_to_the_Reef_Tank

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/

 

[Convict2161]

So.... Any updates of which way your going? What's the plan? Enquiring minds wanna know!

 

[uber420]

so far i'm just slowly gathering supplies got an api reef master test kit, and a bunch of salt. Got given about 20lbs of old dead live rock for addition after I pick up some free live rock this weekend (not going to use all of it but i thought better to have more for more options of arrangement). I've seen a bunch of led light fixtures on craigs list so I'm still looking into the light upgrade, I like the retro fit kit you linked to, I'm thinking within 1 - 2 months I'll be able to get new lights, until then I'll just stick with a couple low light corals, i like the Neon Eyed Zoanthid polyps, and some of the shrooms.

any upgrades I should make sure to get done before starting the cycle or is it gonna be fine to do the upgrades as I go?

I'm planning on starting the cycle this weekend with just the stock setup. I found
some maxi-jet powerheads at my LFS for a good price probably get 2 this weekend. As for the media baskets I'm going to order the ones from InTank unless they turn up in the classifieds or a lfs in the next couple weeks or I might just build my own would be easy enough to do with stuff from Home Depot or somethign like that (anyone able to give me measurments? )