To Biocube detractors

[Zoa_Fanatic]

People say these tanks will not grow anything but softies but that’s completely false. I have had candy canes, hammer coral, and recently acans snd all are flourishing in my biocube 32 led. My candy canes and hammer coral have been in here almost a year and have never stopped growing. Same for my blasto wellsi. If you’re interested in a biocube do not be afraid of not being able to grow LPS coral. I assure you, they will.

 

[KeMiKiLL]

I've see others say this as well. Can't wait for my BC32 to be done cycling!

Most of the detractors I've seen haven't owned a BC, or owned one a while ago. The hoods on the ones available now are different.

 

[reefcoralclam]

I’am going Montipora at the top

 

[ExpensiveSushi]

My Biocube 32 with stock-lighting has been going just under a year and I will agree that the variety of coral that can thrive is much bigger than is generally purported. I did built my rockwork to give me a ledge at 1/3 and 3/4 from the bottom so i could have some levels to try some of the corals that would benefit from higher PAR.

Here's some of the coral highlights and a pic showing location in my tank:
Great Success
- Duncan (1 head to at least 10)
- Frogspawn (2 head to 8)
- Torch (1 head to 3)
- Gorgonian (5 inches new growth)
- Chalice
- Cyphastrea
- Seriotopora (2 branches/4 tips to LOTS)
- Pocillopora (2 branhes to a mass)
- Zoas & Palythoa
- Pipe organ

Surviving, but not thriving (slow or no growth)
- Blasto
- Favia (no real growth)
- Acan
- Candy Cane

I am trying some Psammocora now...

I don't have a high touch care regimen. I don't target feed. I do a 5 gal water change about every other week. Tank for the most part runs happy.

@Zoa_Fanatic I'd love to hear your Acan story.


June 2020

March 2021

E/S

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

My Biocube 32 with stock-lighting has been going just under a year and I will agree that the variety of coral that can thrive is much bigger than is generally purported. I did built my rockwork to give me a ledge at 1/3 and 3/4 from the bottom so i could have some levels to try some of the corals that would benefit from higher PAR.

Here's some of the coral highlights and a pic showing location in my tank:
Great Success
- Duncan (1 head to at least 10)
- Frogspawn (2 head to 8)
- Torch (1 head to 3)
- Gorgonian (5 inches new growth)
- Chalice
- Cyphastrea
- Seriotopora (2 branches/4 tips to LOTS)
- Pocillopora (2 branhes to a mass)
- Zoas & Palythoa
- Pipe organ

Surviving, but not thriving (slow or no growth)
- Blasto
- Favia (no real growth)
- Acan
- Candy Cane

I am trying some Psammocora now...

I don't have a high touch care regimen. I don't target feed. I do a 5 gal water change about every other week. Tank for the most part runs happy.

@Zoa_Fanatic I'd love to hear your Acan story.


June 2020

March 2021

E/S

The candy cane surprises me. Mine is growing so fast that the tissue is growing on the rock it’s on because it can’t buil skeleton fast enough.

 

[KrisReef]

I resent the slur; "Detractors," and would prefer "Biocube Denier." I'm not saying they can't grow coral they just don't have enough space for coral and larger fishes. (My wife likes fish, so you understand my own delicate situation.)

Nice set up, @ExpensiveSushi ! There may come a time when I downsize and I will be glad you folks have blazed the trail.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I think people confuse the new Biocubes with the old ones. The biocubes were very bad when they were introduced, but as they years have gone by, more and more things are being fixed. Some people say par is only 90 at the max but it’s simply not true for the new cubes. Marine and reef customer service replied this to me from their experience with their biocubes when I was asking about the par:
“You will get about 80 par 1ft down which is low but fine for softies. In the top 6in it is likely close to 200-250 par which is fine for easy SPS.” I’m not saying that the Biocube is without its flaws, such as the false back wall, poor filtration setup all together (chamber 2’s media basket and pump), but all of these issues have been addressed by third parties (ie inTank, etc) which make this tank very easy to get started on.

 

[uhgster1]

I’ve had acros in a 10 gallon Nuvo. There was a time not too long ago that aquariums with volumes of less than 30 gallons were considered "experts only" endeavors. Thanks to the knowledge gained over the years and much more discerning internet researchers there’s not that much mystery anymore. It’s now at a point where smaller aquariums are easier to keep than the larger ones. The only restrictions are for keeping the larger fish that everyone really wants.

You do always end up upgrading though.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I resent the slur; "Detractors," and would prefer "Biocube Denier." I'm not saying they can't grow coral they just don't have enough space for coral and larger fishes. (My wife likes fish, so you understand my own delicate situation.)

Nice set up, @ExpensiveSushi ! There may come a time when I downsize and I will be glad you folks have blazed the trail.

I kept a 2ft engineer goby in mine for 7 years. But they are eel like so it wasn’t that bad

 

[Rangens32466]

Good Stuff - Just getting ready for my BioCube build and need all the information I can get

 

[MaxTremors]

I recently decided to go with a Nanocube instead of the biocube (I have an old 29g one from like 2007 with compact fluorescents). The both have advantages and disadvantages over each other, but what sold me on the Nanocube was the more powerful stock lighting (that can be controlled via their app, their app kinda sucks, but it works), and the dual returns with the wave maker. Both are pretty great tanks, I know that rounded and non-rimless tanks are out of vogue, but they really are great little tanks. I started my nanocube a few months ago, this is what she looks like so far (I need to get a lens filter for my phone so pictures don’t look so blue, doesn’t look nearly this blue in real life, also ignore the little half water bottle, I got this Xenia frag that was just getting blown around too much to acclimate so I put in the there to acclimate for a while):

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I recently decided to go with a Nanocube instead of the biocube (I have an old 29g one from like 2007 with compact fluorescents). The both have advantages and disadvantages over each other, but what sold me on the Nanocube was the more powerful stock lighting (that can be controlled via their app, their app kinda sucks, but it works), and the dual returns with the wave maker. Both are pretty great tanks, I know that rounded and non-rimless tanks are out of vogue, but they really are great little tanks. I started my nanocube a few months ago, this is what she looks like so far (I need to get a lens filter for my phone so pictures don’t look so blue, doesn’t look nearly this blue in real life, also ignore the little half water bottle, I got this Xenia frag that was just getting blown around too much to acclimate so I put in the there to acclimate for a while):

Im not sure the stock lighting is more powerful. I have both tanks and they look comparable to me. I have issues with the dual returns as well. They out out ALOT of flow. When I had an earlier tank breakdown I had to shield some of my bigger LPS in the nanotube while I set my biocube back up since the output is massive. But overall both great tanks. I have several older models of both as well and theyre still kicking.

 

[MaxTremors]

Im not sure the stock lighting is more powerful. I have both tanks and they look comparable to me. I have issues with the dual returns as well. They out out ALOT of flow. When I had an earlier tank breakdown I had to shield some of my bigger LPS in the nanotube while I set my biocube back up since the output is massive. But overall both great tanks. I have several older models of both as well and theyre still kicking.

The stock lighting in the biocube has an average par of 53 at 12” of depth with a peak of 81. The Nanocube has an average par of around 110 at 12” of depth with a peak of 130. At the top in the center, the biocube has a par of around 250, the Nanocube at 3” depth in the center has a par of around 630. Par is incredibly difficult to judge with the naked eye, I agree that they look fairly similar, but the Nanocube’s lighting is significantly more powerful than the biocube’s (for reference, those values are for the the 28g wifi Nanocube and the 32g LED biocube). Also the Nanocube has an app that allows you to adjust the strength of the lights and color spectrum and set multiple timers/profiles.

As far as the flow is concerned, I think both are inadequate and require a supplemental powerhead/wavemaker. What I like about the Nanocube though, is that it comes with a controller (though it’s about as basic as controllers get) to alternate back and forth between the two returns. But if you’re finding it too powerful, you could always replace them with a less powerful pump.