my biocube 14

what did and seems to work well for me.

first got rid of bioballs and used to bottles of seachem matrix a type of rubble media.

now chamber 1 far right. run skimmer and 50w heater tossed the old filter cartridge thats it

chamber 2 middle largest chamber. rubble at the bottom on top are bags of activated carbon bags. ontop of that are my filter pads just the soft cotton type sheet you buy in rolls. and then use the drip tray they provide to cap everything and disperse water.

chamber three should only have the pump and the sponge thats it. pretty simple. but the most difficult is to maintain water level.i keep mine at max level no higher.

if you are still unsure i can take pics of a step by step of what i did. just let me know

 

ok sounds good i understand it but i have heater in 3rd chamber because it wont fit next to skimmer in first

 

that would mean the 3 chamber is full of water still because the heater has to be submerged fully correct.

i placed the heater there because its big and ugly for the display. if i dosent fit thats okay find another spot. but do try to manage the water level.

keep up the good work

whatdo you think of the finer sand idea? i like to keep my sand white and clean and getting a good sand sifter goby will do the trick. but most fish we would buy are small and are unable to sift larger grains of sand. just a thought.

 

In my biocube i switched out the stock pump for a MaxiJet 1200 to give the return more gph. I'm with NU on this one - I have no problems with water noises from my cube and i wouldn't fill past MAX. If I had water sound problems, then I probably would fill it further, but I don't so I would make sure you maximize your drip distance and keep the water level between the lines.

 

chaeto/lr rubble/mud - refuge engaged!

Also, this "re-nutrify" progress you pose above does not exist in the JBJ nor the Aquapod.

 

I have the 29 gallon bio-cube (protein skimmer, heater in first chamber, bio-balls, factory filter in second chamber)... Just a couple of questions regarding all the suggestions in this thread (excuse my ignorance):

Why remove the bio-balls for rubble? what is the benefit to that?

And can you give specific instructions on how to set-up a mini-refugium in the middle chamber? What exactly would I need to put there? Would the refugium be better than having the LR rubble?

Thanks,
-AJ

 

I'm not sure about the bio ball question maybe cause live rock is a better biological filter?

and for your other questions to set up a fuge I think you would still have LR rubble but you would also have cheato or something.
also i guess you could take out the false bottom and put fuge mud at the bottom.

 

nothing wrong with bioballs in general, they work. the reason i choose rubble is because they pile up/ stack in a way that beneficial bacteria has a place to build up. plus the rubble is far more porous that plastic balls.

a fuge would require a light over the middle chamber nothing fancy maybe some high end LED's that you can custom make. and a definate switch to rubble. chaeto and caulerpa to help nutrify. they will also provide homes and breeding grounds for copepods. get rid of the blue sponge in the return chamber. and maybe a jump start with store bought live pods. there might be other methods but this is what im looking into. i plan to make this next month.

fuge lights should always be kept on for very simple reasons. maintain a balanced pH without much fluctutaions and to prevent toxins that may be released by the chaeto/caulerpa which occurs during the night.

 

I totally disagree 200% on this post.

Get rid of the bioballs, not because they don't work, but because they are too efficient at converting waste (ammonia in particular) into nitrates. In a reef tank, you want the live rock and protein skimmer to do the filtration. BioBalls - be gone! Replace it with Live Rock rubble...

Refuge lights should NOT be ran 24/7 . The ONLY time that should even be suggested is if you have CAULERPA .. Keeping the lights on 24/7 will keep it from going sexual and release toxins which has a super high chance of killing your tank creatures. But if you go with "Chaeto", you don't have to run it 24/7 which is actually the best thing to do as you don't want to deal with algae issues that most have from running their lights 24/7 .. Reverse Daylight, running refuge lights when your display lights are off, will ACTUALLY balance your pH .

Chaeto DOES NOT release toxins.. Your thinking of Caulerpa

On a final note - if you run a protein-skimmer, the "drip" is not necessary as this "turns" the water that your looking for. Thanks for the PM........


-Fritts

 

okay you obviosly love to disagree. definately earned the title. anyway.

our manufacturer skimmer are NOT efficient enough to be depended on its simply the icing on the cake. especially when they rate the same skimmer for a 14gallon to be used on a 29. just my opinion there are much better skimmer out.

Matt Rogers posted on his Refugiums thread
So, what is a refugium you ask? It is simply an area located outside of the main tank with tank water flowing through it in which caulerpa, or some kind of macro-algae plant, is grown and harvested. Caulerpa is reknown for its abilities to purify the water by greatly reducing nitrates and phosphates. Lights are put over it for the caulerpa to grow and the refugium also acts as a refuge for filter feeders such as copepods, or 'pods' so to speak. These little squirmies are a big part of a healthy reef and the refugium provides a safe haven for them from the inhabitants of the main tank.

With this hobby is seems you can't have a single methodology that doesn't have opposing camps or splinter groups. Refugiums are no exception. Among those that use it there is a divergence on the proper light cycle. Many simply leave the lights on 24/7 and there are good reasons for this. With 24/7, maximum growth rates are achieved and the caulerpa is prevented from going 'sexual.' What this means is that with pronounced dark periods, like many plants, a hormonal change will occur in some common caulerpa strains like grape caulerpa and spores will be released clouding the tank and making algae blooms and caulerpa growing in the main tank possible. Leaving the lights on in the refugium also prevents pH swings that can occur with opposite light cycles between the aquarium lights and the refugium lights.


And note the first sentence in the second paragraph of the two i copied from his post.

good luck bud