29 gal. FOWLR Bio Cube in the planning stages

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Hendge80

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
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I'm new to the aquarium world. I've never owned a fish before so I'm looking for a lot of advice on sw fowlr tanks. Any and all advise will be greatly appreciated.

I've been researching the 29 gallon bio cube because of the square shape (pretty much all I have room for) and because it looks very simple to run.

Please let me know your opinions on he bio tube. Pros and cons. Also if it easier to run and set up than a normal 29 gallon tank.

Thank u
 
I have a biocube! It's great! You might as well do a reef with it because the stock lights give to a lot of options with corals:)
 
I'm a little nervous to have coral in a tank because I'm new at this and I'm assuming coral takes a lot more care than a fowlr. I figured I'd get my feet wet with the fowlr and maybe move to coral after a while.

How much time out of the week is dedicated to your aquarium? How often do you do water changes? Are there daily jobs in keeping up with it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have enough time in the week to commit to the fish and tank.
 
I also have the 29g biocube and enjoy it immensely. :-D

I spend maybe an hour a week on it total. That includes the water changes of 3g a week and changing out the filter floss every few days. I usually scrape any algae from the corners every week or two takes another 10-15 minutes.

Now when I first started the tank I spent more time with it. between testing and water changes and other things I spent more time on it. But it has stabilized so it's almost care free now. I am also just running a fowlr for now as I have 2 other reef tanks already.

I'd reconsider corals, I think the easy ones are just that, easy. Once your water parameters are good you can add some zooas or mushrooms in with no problem. :)
 
Well what you can do is set it up as a fowlr and put only reef safe fish in it, then when your comfortable you can add some soft corals. Lps and soft corals aren't hard to keep... All you have to do is feed some of them a few times a week with a turkey baster. And depending on your salt mix you may need to dose some trace elements. All in all as long as you just keep Lps and softies, a reef set up isn't much harder and you might as well start with it. Just make sure too keep up with your pwc(10% weekly)
:D
 
Thanks...I will defiantly consider some of the coral recommendations.

My next question is live rock and base rock. How do u know how much total rock to use? Is it just preference or is there a formula? Once that is decided...how do u determine how much live rock and how much base? I will assume coral only grows on live rock.

I warned u that I'm in the dark on almost everything involved with this. I have a lot of questions.
 
i have about 35-40lbs of rock in my 29g cube. I started with abotu 80% base rock and 20% live rock. base rock or dead rock will become live over a few weeks and after a couple months you wont be able to tell the difference. :)

Coral can be placed on any rock, live or not.
 
Oh ok. So I don't have to go crazy with the live rock.

When starting, is it hard to get the tank levels stabilized in order to add fish? I wasn't very good at chemistry so this is also a concern for me.
 
Have you read the sticky on the forum for cycling? I'ts really not that hard but patience is gonna be key. :)
 
I did not see that stickie but I'm reading one on saltwater tank set up which seems to be informative. It will help me figure out the approximate expenses.
 
Thank you Carey. I read it and sounds like a time consuming process. Good thing I'm a patient man.

I'm researching costs of supplies and was wondering if anyone could recommend some websites they've used in the past.
 
Thank u for the websites...I just hit hem hard and got an idea of what this set up will cost me. It's an expensive hobby. I'd hate to see what it would cost to set up a large tank.

I have the spot in my house to set up the tank and I have all the plans in my head....just have to get my wife on board.

Thank you for your help so far. I appreciate it.
 
No worries. :) Good luck with the wife. She will love the colors of saltwater though so maybe it won't be such a hard sell. lol

It is expensive up front but after youre all geared up with everything that you need it's just a matter of buying salt and ro/di water associated costs.
 
Carey

In an earlier post on one of your threads u recommended the Bio Cube 29 package deal from InTank.com. What exactly does that do for the Cube that the regular set up doesn't?
 
I feel it's more user friendly. :) It's just a matter of changing out the media every few months and replacing the filter pad on the top shelf a few times a week. It doesn't allow nitrates to build up as they can with the bioballs. I run purigen, chemipure elite and the filter pad in my media tray. Helps keep the algae in check with the chemi pure elite in the back too and keeps the water crystal clear.

I use the fuge for keeping macro algae which can help with nitrates as well as gives a home for pods to grow for my pod eating fish. :)

You can get similar results without the addons I would think with proper maintenance. Some people use live rock or base rock in the back instead of the bioballs so that's another option.
 
And for the amount rock need Carey is dead on with her amount. The norm for proper biological filtration is 1.5-2lbs per gal of water.
 
What kind of recommendations do you guys have for a heater, thermometer, powerhead for the biocube? I've been looking at the websites and have no idea what products are good and reliable so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
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