Biocube lighting/hood

[tombraider23]

We purchased a 29 biocube off craigslist. The hood is completely shot!

We could replace the entire hood for $100 (eBay), gut the hood and put an LED light strip inside or hang an LED and leave it open. Opinions? We want to have it be a reef tank and eventually (1-3 years) a seahorse tank (move incompatible livestock to 75). What do you suggest?


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[BigRedsReefs10]

I would either look into a led retrofit kit (DIY or send the hood in) or go topless and get a nice led unit. I'm pretty sure Dave over at nanobox has great retrofits for the bio cubes, and his new lime arrays are super clean and give unbelievable color to the tank

 

[carey]

I had my biocube open top with a t5 fixture over it and really liked it that way.

You can do the same with an led fixture, kinda depends on your budget though. An aqua illumination nano would do really well over the tank but are about $300 new.

 

[tombraider23]

We are leaning toward leaving it open. Is there another LED that we could hang above that's a bit lower in price? We kinda got messed over on the tank and spent most of our 2nd tank fund on it. We have $100-$150 left. Is that possible?


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[BigRedsReefs10]

A Tao panel off eBay or amazon would fit nicely in your budget and allow you to keep anything you'd like. Just be sure to get a dimmable unit as they're pretty strong

 

[tombraider23]

Thank you! It also came with bio balls. If I remember right, they are a breeding ground for nitrate and not good. Is that right?


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Yeah most of that bio type filtration products are for fw. The rock in the tank provides all the bio filter you'll need.

 

[tombraider23]

Thank you!


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[tombraider23]

Another question. We have a protein skimmer in chamber 1. I was looking at the intake media baskets for chamber 2. Would you suggest that or a refugium with live rock and Chaeto?

To quiet the fall into the second chamber, ideas?


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Oh I'd go media rack and chemical filtration over a fuge that small all day every day. IMHO fuges need to be pretty big to have the nutrient export ability that most think they do.

 

[tombraider23]

Thank you. I found them on our local CL for $20, so I think we will go that way.


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[tombraider23]

Another!

This one?


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Yep those are them, you can probably find the blue and white only for a little cheaper, but both work great

 

[tombraider23]

We decided to go with the full spectrum. The other ones were only a few dollars less. Can't wait for it to get here! Temporarily using a freshwater hood/light so I can see!


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Looks nice, I really like your scape . Don't see too many like this any more

 

[tombraider23]

Thanks! I haven't finished yet. Should be by tonight!


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