biocube filtration

Recently got my friend into the saltwater hobby, and he bought a 14 gallon biocube, I told him its more difficult to care for a smaller system. But he said he was up for the challenge. We started setting it up today, and wasn't sure how affective the bioball filtration in the tank was. I was just thinking about pulling the bio balls out and adding rubble rock and some chaeto algae. Does anyone have the bioballs in there biocube? Are they affective? Or should I lean towards the rubble and chaeto. Give me some input...

 

my friend too has a 14g oceanic biocube. took the bioballs out. nothing but a nuisance. currently there is some filterfloss that gets changed weekly and she has talked about chaeto but has no way to get a light to it at the moment. i do know that my LFS has a 28g cube setup with sand / chaeto and a mangrove growing with a sweet suction cup lamp. they also have a 10 or 14g with the same deal but no mangrove. appears to work

 

Ok thanks, just wasn't to sure if the bioballs were worth keeping in the tank. I'm gonna take them outta the tank and add some rubble today so excited for this new set up

 

Bio Balls are perfect. Those who mistakenly think they are "bad" get that from those who don't keep them clean. I have the 14 gal. Oceanic Biocube and it has a drip tray that you put filter material on top to catch debris. Rock rubble must be maintained too as debris can collect in/on them as well.
I have since switched over to this; BioCube 14 Media Basket - inTank, LLC
but I use Bio Balls in my wet/dry in my sump of my 55 gal. In the basket I have ceramic rings and Chemipure elite. I am considering trying some of this; BioHome in the basket.

 

I like bio-balls in a larger setup. It seemed such a hassle to get them in and out of the small compartment. This BioCube Media Basket is awesome. I was considering building something like this for her, but someone already did. This is truly a great find!

 

It depends more on what the tank stocking plans are. If it is going to be FOWLR I would leave the bio-balls in. If it is going to be a reef I would start looking into ways to make it a chaeto fuge. In either case I would leave them for now. It's going to be awhile before the tank stabilizes enough to try any of the no-nitrate corals, and the bio-balls will help make the filtration a little bit more noob friendly. Let the tank fully cycle, and get the fish stock in and fully settled. Then start taking the bio-balls out a little at a time. They're a lot of LED lights that are meant to be water proof that should fit in the bio-ball section that could be used for a small chaeto fuge.

 

Yes, someone in another forum I am a member of, found it and posted the link. I think it is "great" too.

 

I took out half the bioballs and put a handful of chaeto on top which is lit my 50Led X-mas lights. Its working well so far as long as i rinse them out once a week in old tank water

 

Thanks you guys, the tanks set up and is cycling, we have kept the bio balls in the cube for right now but plan on putting some chaeto back there once the cycling is done and he starts adding some livestock. I almost have completely convinced him to get a account on this site... I can start to see his obsession in the hobby to begin

 

i have a reef biocube 14 and i am still using the bioballs. I have a pair of black clown fish and a engineer goby, as well as peppermints, snails and hermits. I think as long as your doing weekly water changes of 10% or more you should not worry about high nitrates unless your system is severely overstocked. Just keep an eye on the nitrate levels and dont overfeed, only a few times a week. If you are wanting to house SPS in your tank i would consider removing the bioballs, but not until a much later date. You should start out with softies and LPS, than once the tank is established (6 months at least) you could start removing them slowly, about a handfull at every weekly water change. Maybe add a new chunk of live rock to the display (if you have room) to counter balance the reduction of filtration media ( just a thought). I think bioballs are great as long as you keep them maintained and clean, i rinse, and only rinse my balls LOL in waterchange water every month or so, just to remove lose crap. its all preference really. My nitrates reach about 40 every week than a good water change lowers them to 20, which is fine for softies.