Biocube 32 owners with stock lights...

[CindyKz]

Any issues with not being able to control your daytime light spectrum? I've noticed the day lights are very white compared to the spectrum I use in my other tank (combo T5/LED with more controllability)

The stock lights support the growth I want but they don't look all that pretty. Also , I have a persistent cyano problem despite improving flow and controlling nutrients. As white as the day lights are, I don't know how much red spectrum is in them. Too much red in my other tank always caused algae problems, esp cyano.

Debating if it's worth an upgrade, and wondering if I'm the only one who has ever had issues. Reading the forum, it seems like a lot of people upgrade immediately and never even use the stock lights.

Cindy

 

[Steve509]

I’ve had the biocube 32 for ~6 months now. Just using it as a holding tank until my new house is finished. I have not upgraded the lighting and have lps and soft coral that have done fine with the exception of my hammer who doesn’t like the higher nitrates. I agree that the spectrum is not the best but I have not had any issues except the red bubble algae and vermetid snails that were brought in from my old aquarium.

 

[SoftballReefer]

my lights schedule took a few months of messing with. i never got red algae but my glass would get very dirty. my corals have all atleast doubled in size.

 

[ALW]

my lights schedule took a few months of messing with. i never got red algae but my glass would get very dirty. my corals have all atleast doubled in size.

My glass needs to be cleaned daily! How did you stop it? (if you did) Debating on a Tunze 9001 skimmer

 

[tom szuminski]

I'm having a hard time trying to find data and PAR levels in the 32 gal Biocube. Does anyone know this information? I can not afford a PAR meter, so I need data from all you guys.

 

[wheels 45]

I'm having a hard time trying to find data and PAR levels in the 32 gal Biocube. Does anyone know this information? I can not afford a PAR meter, so I need data from all you guys.

If you go to the coralife website you will see the spec for the BC 16 and the 32.

For the BC32, I found this
New LED Coralife BioCube size 32 features a new, modern design. Compatible with all existing BioCube accessories from Coralife.

*Average output at 12-inches

• PAR* 53
• Peak PAR* 81
• LUX* 2200
• Peak LUX* 3430

I don't really understand it myself though. I'm going to be getting a Coralife 32 soon. Hope this helps!

 

[tom szuminski]

THANK YOU, for your data. I have a frogspawn in the middle of the tank ON THE BOTTOM and it is doing awesome. I also have a rock of green star polyps right next to it and it too is happy as can be. I recently put a rock flower on the bottom rocks and it has NOT moved at all. I guess it is happy!!! When I switched tanks from an old biocube 28 (with compact fluorescents) to the new LED 32, I lost a green birds net and a purple polyp birds nest. It may have been the light change, but may have other deterrents??? I kept my old sand and transferred it to the new tank and this action must have taken a toll on the good bacteria beds??? who knows what was the cause. The new tank with LEDs is awesome. I'm getting colors I never had from the old tank. Thanks, again, for the PAR data

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Any issues with not being able to control your daytime light spectrum? I've noticed the day lights are very white compared to the spectrum I use in my other tank (combo T5/LED with more controllability)

The stock lights support the growth I want but they don't look all that pretty. Also , I have a persistent cyano problem despite improving flow and controlling nutrients. As white as the day lights are, I don't know how much red spectrum is in them. Too much red in my other tank always caused algae problems, esp cyano.

Debating if it's worth an upgrade, and wondering if I'm the only one who has ever had issues. Reading the forum, it seems like a lot of people upgrade immediately and never even use the stock lights.

Cindy

I just have been running the moonlight spectrum for 12 hours a day and that seems to stop the crazy algae. The lights are poorly designed and the white lights are ugly. My suggestion would be to get a cheap black box LED because they are much more worth the money. To sum it up, you could run the lights supplementally for 1 hour each day (white spectrum) and leave the other 7 hours for the moonlight spectrum.

 

[CavalierReef]

The first lights to come on in mine are the blues and they stay on all day while the whites ramp up and ramp down. I never have just the whites on. I have 2 hammers doing very well using this schedule on a 10 hour day.

 

[Alex Cataldo]

The manufacturers of these lights don't know how to keep coral. All this light did for me was grow a crop of GHA. I would just get a black box led because they're cheap and work great and remove the lid because the tanks nice but the lights not. I also hate the white light along with the controls. Here is a link to the Black Box

 

[Alchameth]

When I had the stock lights in mine I limited that peak white to I think 4 hrs a day, it can grow some algae.. I ended up modding the hood some, upgraded the vent fan, added a second, cut the clear part and replaced the stock LEDs with the Orbit Marine IC PRO 2 pack 18-24" the lights fit in the recess and the rim that the clear part screwed into was perfect to drill some holes and cable tie the metal extensions on the new lights to

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I’ve run a biocube 32 for six months. It cracked due to a furnace incident. Anyway, i ripped the hood off to use on my old nanocube until my new biocube comes in. My corals LOVE the stock LEDs. My candy canes went from dead (literally dead) in my old tank to almost 15 heads now in six months. My hammer is only a month into my tank and it’s split into two heads already. I’m growing LA Lakers zoa from 5 to 30 polyps in two months. Run the color enhancing LEDs with the white. It helps. Also, the green algea on the glass issues goes away with a protein skimmer.

Pics of my Zoa colonies and the progression of my dead candy canes attached. Last three pics are chronological order of how my candy canes looked before the biocube.

 

[CavalierReef]

That looks great! What skimmer are you using?

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

That looks great! What skimmer are you using?

The coralife skimmer specifically for biocube. I’m not sure the name and numbers it was given to me by my brother when he tore down his old biocube. I’m looking to get a newer version for Christmas this year.

 

[Bpoff123]

The coralife skimmer specifically for biocube. I’m not sure the name and numbers it was given to me by my brother when he tore down his old biocube. I’m looking to get a newer version for Christmas this year.

What's your light schedule look like with the stock lights?

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

What's your light schedule look like with the stock lights?

7am-6 Pm whites, 8am-6:30pm color enhancing LEDs, 6:00-11:00 Pm blues