Biocube 32 with sump - skip cycle?

[nickng]

As for sumps, I used the eshopps nano cube. It’s great except for one major drawback. The under channel below the skimmer section is impossible to clean. I end up having small feather duster worm living down there. A better sump would have been the Fiji cube 15, where one can diy a wall to split the large sump for a separate refugium and skimmer. Or the bashea ss Mano. Personally I prefer the Fiji because the location where the filter floss/sock holder is perfect for inserting a klir d-4 v2 fleece roller.

 

[nickng]

Problematic area in the eshopps sump that is hard to clean out. The flow direction in the refugium section is really good. It spins the chaeto like a ball naturally.

 

[nickng]

Similar sized Fiji cube, can easily add a wall with holes in between to create a separate refugium and skimmer section

 

[I.love.blennies]

Thanks, Nick! This is priceless advice. I really appreciate it.

I don't really want the higher turn over rate, but it seems that if I want an overflow with 3 ports (to do a beanAnimal setup) all of the commercial options require the two holes for that. Perhaps there's a reason here. Maybe the beanAnimal is overkill for a tank this size. Do you feel your overflow setup has kept you happy? One less pipe would be nice, as well.

 

[nickng]

Oh if you want to do the bean animal. Then the Fiji cube is perfect. There’re two drain pipes side by side at the filter section, you can always put the 3rd pipe ie the emergency at the skimmer section

 

[nickng]

Thanks, Nick! This is priceless advice. I really appreciate it.

I don't really want the higher turn over rate, but it seems that if I want an overflow with 3 ports (to do a beanAnimal setup) all of the commercial options require the two holes for that. Perhaps there's a reason here. Maybe the beanAnimal is overkill for a tank this size. Do you feel your overflow setup has kept you happy? One less pipe would be nice, as well.

My herbie overflow can actually handle a very large flow rate. I actually have to throttle the flow a lot with the gate valve. I am running my DC return pump ( a sicce SDC 3.0) at 95+%. The flow rate is definitely much more than the 300gph flow rate of the original coralife supplied pump. I don’t even need to use any wave maker and the surface agitation is so strong that the light shimmers on the sand.

 

[nickng]

I suspect the bean animal is for higher flow rates. I recently acquired a 100 gallon IM100 ext tank and it uses a bean animal to get higher than 1000 Gph flow. For everything I have seen available in the market ie redsea, innovative marine, Fiji cube, waterbox etc, all use herbie style for tanks 80 gallon and below. Bean animal only at 100 gallon and above.

 

[nickng]

In case you’re are wondering about overflow noise, mine is absolutely silent with the simple modifications I did to the weir. In fact the foaming sound of the bubbles in the skimmer is way louder than the overflow…

 

[nickng]

Wish I found this diy sump before getting the eshopps nano cube.

 

[I.love.blennies]

wow, that's pretty cool. im still trying to find the time to drill this tank. looks like it will be a few weeks because I have household chores stacked up for a few weekends out right now. I appreciate you posting this for me.

 

[nickng]

wow, that's pretty cool. im still trying to find the time to drill this tank. looks like it will be a few weeks because I have household chores stacked up for a few weekends out right now. I appreciate you posting this for me.

Thanks, glad I can be of help. My intention is to post all the relevant info I found online and my own experience so others can benefit and avoid re-inventing the "same" wheel twice.
Anyway be patient, take time to plan things out. Also try to see if you can arrange your sump and drain to make space for a roller fleece... great when you are out on two weeks vacation and don't have someone to help swap out filter socks.

 

[nickng]

And by the way, try to add a strong UV sterilizer or plan the space to put one, it'll prevent velvet from wiping out the entire fish tank. The video below mentions the actual exposure power needed for ich and velvet.

 

[stalkem]

And by the way, try to add a strong UV sterilizer or plan the space to put one, it'll prevent velvet from wiping out the entire fish tank. The video below mentions the actual exposure power needed for ich and velvet.

I added a coralife turbo twist on the back side of chamber 3, and pump out through that and back in to the return nozzle. That stays on 18 hours a day.

 

[nickng]

I added a coralife turbo twist on the back side of chamber 3, and pump out through that and back in to the return nozzle. That stays on 18 hours a day.

nice... did you remove the metal reflector that can rust inside the turbo-twist? Apparently it's a known issue, not sure if coralife fixed it.
Since my biocube has a separate sump the UV with it's own small pump is recirculating in the skimmer chamber of the sump just next to the return pump. The UV is on 24/7 in the sump.

 

[stalkem]

nice... did you remove the metal reflector that can rust inside the turbo-twist? Apparently it's a known issue, not sure if coralife fixed it.

Ummm, nope. Didn't know that was a thing! I guess we live and learn.