Biocube 29 Fuge Setup

Adam113 · Feb 1, 2018

Hey everyone,

I have a 2 year old Biocube 29g. Everyone is happy and doing great, but I’ve been battling nitrates for about a year. Looks like my current filtration isn’t cutting it and some corals are getting upset.

I’m setting up the media rack and a fuge next to it in chamber two with the following, chaeto, and this light:

Mingdak LED Aquarium Light for Fish Tanks,18 Leds,7.5-inch,white https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X84LMHK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_oOZCAbHNVGTTY

Any concerns, suggestions, etc...? What’s the best lighting schedule for this fuge setup. I’ve read opposite of display lighting.

Adam113 · Feb 1, 2018

Nobody???

Heliarc19 · Feb 1, 2018

It looks like plenty of rock for bio filtration, the Chaeto is always a good idea imo. I would try that light. As for light schedule I would do Opposite dt or 24/7

Heliarc19 · Feb 1, 2018

what is your maintenance schedule?

Water Dog · Feb 1, 2018

If everyone is great and healthy, don’t make changes for the sake of chasing numbers. Is there a nuisance algae problem as a result of the high nitrates? What are your nitrate numbers?

I ran a fuge basket in my BC29 for awhile, ended up taking it offline. It’s pretty cramped back there and the chaeto didn’t really have enough room to tumble. After a while, it would fall apart and the rear chambers became a serious detritus trap with strands of chaeto everywhere.

Load up the media basket with floss, Purigen and ROX carbon in a bag, and if you feel like nitrates are still a problem, be more aggressive with the volume of your weekly water changes. IMO however, if everything is thriving and you have no algae issues, leave well enough alone.

Adam113 · Feb 2, 2018

Water Dog said:
If everyone is great and healthy, don’t make changes for the sake of chasing numbers. Is there a nuisance algae problem as a result of the high nitrates? What are your nitrate numbers?

I ran a fuge basket in my BC29 for awhile, ended up taking it offline. It’s pretty cramped back there and the chaeto didn’t really have enough room to tumble. After a while, it would fall apart and the rear chambers became a serious detritus trap with strands of chaeto everywhere.

Load up the media basket with floss, Purigen and ROX carbon in a bag, and if you feel like nitrates are still a problem, be more aggressive with the volume of your weekly water changes. IMO however, if everything is thriving and you have no algae issues, leave well enough alone.

Nitrates stay around 40+ PPM. Some corals have struggled recently that used to flourish. I lost my chalice, my GSP stopped looking as healthy, etc.... I did about 15 gallons of changes last Saturday and Sunday and I’m already seeing stuff looking more healthy.

Got my nitrates down to around 10, and I’d love to keep them there as that was the numbers where my tank was looking best in the past. Hoping the fuge will help that, as I really would rather not make 50% water changes anymore.

My maintenance schedule since day 1 has been 15%~ changes every Saturday. During changes I vacuum sand and change filter floss.

Adam113 · Feb 2, 2018

Heliarc19 said:
what is your maintenance schedule?

Answered your maintenance question above

Water Dog · Feb 2, 2018

When you do water changes, in addition to vacuuming the sand bed, do you also thoroughly vacuum out the rear chambers? You’d be absolutely shocked how much detritus can build up back there. When I ran my BC29, once a week I’d do 5 gallon water changes thoroughly vacuuming both the sand and rear chambers. It got to the point where I had to dose KNO3 (stump remover) to get my nitrates up.

Adam113 · Feb 2, 2018

Water Dog said:
When you do water changes, in addition to vacuuming the sand bed, do you also thoroughly vacuum out the rear chambers? You’d be absolutely shocked how much detritus can build up back there. When I ran my BC29, once a week I’d do 5 gallon water changes thoroughly vacuuming both the sand and rear chambers. It got to the point where I had to dose KNO3 (stump remover) to get my nitrates up.

Yup, I suction from the rear chambers then go and vacuum the sand. I may try the media chamber alone first and monitor that before setting up the fuge. Right now I just gave filter floss at the top of chamber two and sometimes run carbon before the return pump. The issue is that the water isn’t really being directed or forced through the media or the carbon.

Water Dog · Feb 2, 2018

What worked well for me was an Aquaticlife 115 skimmer in chamber 1 with bunch of Seachem Matrix biological media in a filter bag underneath the skimmer. Then in chamber 2 in the media basket, the blue and white bonded floss pad (changed every 3 days), the 100ml Purigen bag (lasted about 2 months) and then a bunch more Seachem Matrix biological media in a filter bag. Then I n lieu of the fuge basket, I had a nano media reactor running ROX carbon. Chamber 3 was my ATO sensor, heater, Apex probes, dosing lines and return pump.