Opinions on Bio-cube 32 LED

meldu512 · Jan 1, 2018

Hello All,

I would like to hear from others who have set up and kept a Bio Cube. Specifically, I want to set up a reef tank without doing all the engineering of a normal tank build, (been there, done that). Will the LED's be sufficient to maintain a bubble tip anemone, a few LPS like Duncan coral, Hammer Coral, and softies? I've seen there is an upgraded lighting system available but like the look of the Bio-cube system as it comes from the box.

jsker · Jan 1, 2018

Yes LED's do a great. Just make sure that you purchase a decent light.

CindyKz · Jan 4, 2018

I keep softies, zoas and a hammer in mine, all doing very well. I've read numerous reports that the stock LEDs won't support a BTA. Haven't tried it personally.

Tofer · Jan 14, 2018

Yes the lighting will support Duncan ,hammer and soft corals . Im not sure about bubble tip but I have 3 rock flower anemones in my and doing fine . My duncan's have gone from 1 heads when I got them to 8 to 10 heads .

CindyKz · Jan 24, 2018

Tofer said:
Yes the lighting will support Duncan ,hammer and soft corals . Im not sure about bubble tip but I have 3 rock flower anemones in my and doing fine . My duncan's have gone from 1 heads when I got them to 8 to 10 heads .

Are_the_rock_flower_nems_still_doing_well?_Thinking_of_adding_one_to_my_BC32.

webmanny · Jan 24, 2018

The stock LEDs are not strong enough for any location in your tank. If the BTA decides to settle high in the rock work, you may be in luck, but I decided to go DIY to avoid issues. This is my build thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/32-gallon-biocube.345535/

Tofer · Jan 24, 2018

RFA doing well

Devan Petersen · Jan 24, 2018

My wife has this light on her 32 cube. it works very well. has all the features of the more expensive lights. it is a really great value.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078F9KY26/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

John3 · Jan 27, 2018

At one point there were places selling just the biocube tank/glass for like 120. If I had to do it over I would have went that rout. I’ve removed my canopy for a Radion led light. I upgraded the circulation pump. Added a skimmer and heater and ato. Never used any of the filtration stuff that comes with the tank.

There’s was a lot less evaporation with the lid which was nice but then again there was always condensation over the light housing which I think played a role in reflection some of the light.

hdsoftail1065 · Mar 19, 2018

My wife has 2 bta's in her 32 Biocube, 2 hammers, mushrooms, frogspawn, bubble and a few other things she had to have. Most will go into 144 at a later date. All done great with the stock LEDs for the past 6 months. One bta likes it 1/2 way up the rockscape, the other likes it down towards the bottom. We just installed Steve's LEDs a couple of weeks ago, it's to soon to give my opinion, but they are much brighter than the stock lights.

cedwards04 · Apr 9, 2019

I have been kicking around maybe doing a small biocube for my daughter and only having a rbta and clownfish pair in there. Sounds like the stock LEDs may be sufficient for that?

webmanny · Apr 10, 2019

cedwards04 said:
I have been kicking around maybe doing a small biocube for my daughter and only having a rbta and clownfish pair in there. Sounds like the stock LEDs may be sufficient for that?

For sure. I have even seen SPS growing under the stock LEDs. You should be fine.

clarke.matthew1 · Apr 13, 2019

A lot of people say the stock is not enough for BTAs, didnt have one in mine but went ahead and upgraded to Steve's LEDs. Very happy with the lights and easy install. I want to do a BTA and SPS so it was easy for me to spend the extra money

Norman's_Tank · Apr 16, 2019

I am running the stock LEDs and have gotten good growth from my monti cap and some of my zoas but to me the color is horrible. I'm going to bite the bullet soon and upgrade. Good luck

Hemmdog · Apr 16, 2019

I had stock for awhile, couldn’t grow anything but gsp and zoas, the color was awful. A far cry from the beautiful reefs you see here on r2r. I did a Steve’s led upgrade, it was ok, still not what I was looking for, the condensation was a killer as well with the lid being shut. The leds started to burn out one by one from that. Decided to pop the hood off and mounted a kessil 360we then 360x & had a lot of success with that. Now after owning my biocube for a little over a year it’s sprunk a leak from the bottom getting progressively worse everyday. I just completed a new 40 breeder build with a sump to replace the biocube. I really thought I would of gotten more years out of that thing, who knew.

Norman's_Tank · Apr 16, 2019

Hemmdog said:
I had stock for awhile, couldn’t grow anything but gsp and zoas, the color was awful. A far cry from the beautiful reefs you see here on r2r. I did a Steve’s led upgrade, it was ok, still not what I was looking for, the condensation was a killer as well with the lid being shut. The leds started to burn out one by one from that. Decided to pop the hood off and mounted a kessil 360we then 360x & had a lot of success with that. Now after owning my biocube for a little over a year it’s sprunk a leak from the bottom getting progressively worse everyday. I just completed a new 40 breeder build with a sump to replace the biocube. I really thought I would of gotten more years out of that thing, who knew.

That sucks! I had a Nuvo37 that randomly burst so I had to pick up a tank the next day and the bio cube was my best option. Imagine how I feel going from a Kessil to the bio cube lighting. It has been rough.

Hemmdog · Apr 16, 2019

Norman's_Tank said:
That sucks! I had a Nuvo37 that randomly burst so I had to pick up a tank the next day and the bio cube was my best option. Imagine how I feel going from a Kessil to the bio cube lighting. It has been rough.

Omg

I feel your pain haha. Oh it’s torture using “bad” lights after you’ve grown accustomed to industry standard stuff, no doubt about that haha.