Biocube In Tank Upgrades and various ?s

[MsAmethyst]

I need direction on what I can find that is budget friendly but good pieces of equipment/items.

Circulation Pumps

Skimmer

Return Pumps

Heater with overheat protection shut off and display temp

Thoughts on UV sterilizers? Which ones?

Best snails for CUC

What have you found works best or that works great for you!

 

[jsker]

Bump

 

[Diesel]

Mini skimmer that fits in the back of the bio-cube is always a great upgrade.
A ATO (auto top off) for RODI to keep the NSW on level.
One small wave maker is a great upgrade as well.
You must have a heater, just a small 50W in the back and set on 76F on and 78F off.
A cuc is always nice but not needed if your tank isn't cycled yet.

 

[jsker]

Thank you @Diesel

 

[Water Dog]

What size Biocube?... Sorry, just saw your other thread, it's a 29.

Skimmer wise, I use an Aquaticlife 115 skimmer in chamber 1 where the the water level stays constant. It takes some time, but once broken in it skims very well for an AIO nano skimmer. I use an InTank media basket running floss, Purigen and Chemipure Elite and the InTank Fuge basket with chaeto both in chamber 2. Heater and ATO sensor in chamber 3. With the water volume of the BC29, go with at least a 100 watt heater. I use a Cobalt Neotherm 100... pricy as far as heaters go but I found it for a good deal on Amazon. Flow wise go with a Jebao RW4, not terribly expensive with decent reviews and will give you good random flow in your tank. I wouldn't really worry about a UV sterilizer. Hope this helps and good luck with your build!

 

[Bunnee911]

The aquaticlife will need some mods to be optimal. YouTube is your friend here. I have the Intank media and fuge. I use pillow floss from the craft store for filtration. Keep fresh chemipure in the media basket.

 

[smokin'reefer]

Best thing budget wise is keep it stock. Simple. My daughter kept me from totally pimping out her cube and honestly it does better than my reefer 450 dollar for dollar. I did upgrade her lights to a Steve's LED but now I think the stock lights would have more than sufficed. Nitrates stay below 10 with weekly water changes and bio balls are still pretty clean and tank is 8 months old.

 

[pdt7361]

I had my BC29 for a while and did most of the same upgrades mentioned here....
Chamber 1 was my Aquaticlife 115 skimmer (with airline and magnet mount mod)
Chamber 2 was the inTank media basket (floss, purigen, chemipure), inTank fuge basket, and JBJ Nano Glo LED
Chamber 3 was return pump and heater

For additional circulation I added 2 Hydor Koralia nano 425 powerheads on a wavemaker. I also upgraded the power compact lights to LEDs to give me more coral options.

 

[bubbasguppies]

I had my BC29 for a while and did most of the same upgrades mentioned here....
Chamber 1 was my Aquaticlife 115 skimmer (with airline and magnet mount mod)
Chamber 2 was the inTank media basket (floss, purigen, chemipure), inTank fuge basket, and JBJ Nano Glo LED
Chamber 3 was return pump and heater

For additional circulation I added 2 Hydor Koralia nano 425 powerheads on a wavemaker. I also upgraded the power compact lights to LEDs to give me more coral options.

I did that too with mine and did two custom LED pucks.

 

[Bunnee911]

I had my BC29 for a while and did most of the same upgrades mentioned here....
Chamber 1 was my Aquaticlife 115 skimmer (with airline and magnet mount mod)
Chamber 2 was the inTank media basket (floss, purigen, chemipure), inTank fuge basket, and JBJ Nano Glo LED
Chamber 3 was return pump and heater

For additional circulation I added 2 Hydor Koralia nano 425 powerheads on a wavemaker. I also upgraded the power compact lights to LEDs to give me more coral options.

My setup exactly. I added a Tunze nano ato.

 

[my86iroc01]

Tunze skimmer and intank media basket.

 

[pdt7361]

I also swapped out the power compacts for a custom LED setup that I mounted into the hood. I had looked into some of the retrofit kits but decided to do something different for more spread and save money.

 

[my86iroc01]

I did those same lights myself. They get great coverage.

 

[pdt7361]

For the small blue strips, I kept the existing moonlights and just rearranged them. I was also able to keep the stock fans and use the same switches.