thoughts on the 29g biocube?
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glb
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How did you get the gha under control? I'm still battling it after a temp spike crash last year. I'm using a phosban reactor which is really working well, but I'd be interested in what you did.
Scubafrog
Well-Known Member
Weeks upon weeks of 5 gallon water changes and plucking it out by hand. One week I did a 10 gallon water change. After I picked out the algae I would place it in a bowl of freshwater while rinsing my fingers at the same time in the bowl before placing back in the tank. I kept getting discouraged when it kept coming back. My rocks and sand were covered. I also removed the rocks that I could, scrubbed them with a tooth brush and rinsed with RO/DI. My only glued down corals are zoas so they don't mind the RO/DI rinse. I also added six turbo snails (3 at a time) and three margarita snails. I also have been dosing a capfull of MicroBacter7 daily for a week and a half now. I still have a few small tuffs of GHA but nothing like it was. I also had what looks like the green snot algae with trapped air bubbles. Right now I can't figure out why my sand keeps turning brown. :tongue:
Good luck with your battle.
Good luck with your battle.
IdahoNano
Active Member
I've had my Coralife BioCube 20 for a little more than 3 months now, and love it. I don't have issues with water pouring out the back when I open my lid. I havn't ran into any issues, and have the stock lighting. Maybe on day when I can afford it, I'll go for an LED system, but, until then, I'm happy with the stock lights. I've tossed the original bio-balls that comes with it and have went with the typical upgrades of the InTank media basket with purigen and chemipure. I do use the coralife skimmer and UV with good results, and whithin my budget. I would say go with what you can afford. If you can afford the more $$$ systems, go for it, but for me, this cube works great.
Scubafrog
Well-Known Member
If my 10K and Actinics are on for awhile I usually don't get a build up of condensation. Mainly the condensation happens when no fans are running. It is this condensation that gathers and runs down the back when I open the whole lid. Not a lot of water but enough to notice and bug my type A self. 
On a daily basis you won't have this issue since you have the smaller lid in front for feeding and the lid in the back for accessing the skimmer cup, filtration, etc...
On a daily basis you won't have this issue since you have the smaller lid in front for feeding and the lid in the back for accessing the skimmer cup, filtration, etc...
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How is your 9001? I love mine except when I shut my biocube return pump off for feeding. Chamber 2 fills and then the collection cup pops off the skimmer.I am a SW/Reef newbie and started my first tank (Biocube 29G) back in Sept. 2014. I am enjoying it but it is definitely a love/hate relationship.
I like the Biocube because it is all enclosed and has a clean appearance. No skimmers or filters exposed. My only complaints would be that the fans are loud, the lighting could be better, and I don't like how water pours out of the lid and down the back sometimes when I open it.
I originally had it set up based on the filter modifications of ReefThuz on YouTube. Check out his videos if you haven't already. I have since replaced the filtration with an inTank Media Basket and a Tunze 9001 skimmer. Both in the middle chamber. I also have a Hydor Koralia Nano 425 pump. I'm almost thinking I need two. I also have a Coralife mini UV sterilizer that I run occasionally and a Cobalt Aquatics 75W heater and added two more blue LED strips.
Here is a full tank shot. Sorry it isn't the greatest.
Good luck with your adventure!
Riddler05
Community Member
I too had a very love/hate relationship with my 29-gallon biocube. If I had to do it all over again I would probably not buy the 29-gallon biocube. The reason is because I got addicted quickly to this hobby and the biocube severely limits your upgrade options. I decided to upgrade to LEDs, however, if you want to keep the hood there is only about 3 options available to you, were as other systems have a lot more options for upgrade lighting (not just LEDs but also if you wanted to upgrade to T5 or MH). I also wanted to add a skimmer, which was probably not needed but like I said I got addicted to this hobby. Again there are only a handful of skimmers (maybe 4 I can think of) that will fit into the back compartment of the biocube, and I wasn’t very impressed with the performance of the nano-skimmers. I also wanted to add a media reactor (which again is not required), and there are very limited options for media reactors that you can use without cutting or removing the lid.
I guess what I am trying to say, is if you want to keep relatively easy corals and not make many upgrades then the biocube is a great system. However if you are the type of person who always wants to tinker with things and you think you will be making a lot of upgrades, then you will probably save a lot of money if you start with a different system. After about a year and a half with the biocube I upgraded to a 90 gallon and couldn’t be happier.
This is just my 2 cents, some may disagree with me.
I guess what I am trying to say, is if you want to keep relatively easy corals and not make many upgrades then the biocube is a great system. However if you are the type of person who always wants to tinker with things and you think you will be making a lot of upgrades, then you will probably save a lot of money if you start with a different system. After about a year and a half with the biocube I upgraded to a 90 gallon and couldn’t be happier.
This is just my 2 cents, some may disagree with me.
Scubafrog
Well-Known Member
I feed my fish with a turkey baster so I don't turn off my pump when feeding. I feed Black Jack Reef Crack so I let the uneaten food feed the corals.
Although, whenever I reach into the tank or float a bag with new corals the tank water does rise enough to make the collection cup float off.
