my biocube 14

Thanks for the post!

-John

 

IMO not having light cycles seems super artificial. Isn't the point of having a salt water tank to create a mini ecosystem?

 

I don't understand how keeping lights on 24/7 in the fuge maintains a constant pH. I thought that was the point of the alternating light schedule, to even out pH between on and off light cycles - 24/7 fuge lighting to maintain pH makes little sense. 24/7 lighting is not natural either, plants, algae, etc also need a resting period. Not to mention the pods will not be happy with 24/7 lighting.

Let us not forget or overlook the fact that plants only convert carbon dioxide into oxygen during light periods so when you alternate the light periods in your two tanks that keeps the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance fairly level.

Edit...Something just hit me... Did I read there was a suggestion that you could use LED lighting for the fuge? Whaaaaaat? Not unless you don't want anything to grow! But then, what's the point?

 

I wanted to say hi to you biocube user. I also got one for christmas. It was given to me on the 23rd so I am on day 11 of my cycle. I would put a picture up but this is my first day on the forum and I don't know how to do that yet.

 

Welcome!
It's awesome to find more people using cubes!

-fritts

 

Seems that I'm getting PM's and "Visitor Notes" already from this thread which is totally negative.. So I'm going to point out some advice I feel is wrong and help you understand why I'm trying to point you in the "right" direction.

Carbon during the cycle: NO DON'T DO IT
http://www.3reef.com/forums/asap/should-i-run-carbon-during-cycle-55259.html

During the cycle process, the ammonia spike is what starts the cycle. This is why you will see some people suggest throwing in a bit of frozen shrimp and let it break down. And in some cases you will see people say to urinate in your tank (don't urinate in your tank!) and lastly you will see people say throw a damsel in there and it will help start your cycle.

The thing about running carbon is that it is designed to REMOVE chemicals in your tank. Carbon also has a rep of releasing phosphate into the system. Phosphate is something you don't want unless you really like hair algae. From what I have gathered, it's almost a 50/50 split on running carbon at all. Running carbon during the cycle will only cause your cycle to last a lot longer or give you a false reading that your cycle is over and once you add stock to your tank - another cycle will start because it's far too much for the carbon to handle. That's why you will find most of us "reef" folk shun the use of carbon during a cycle.

BioBalls..
(This seems to be where I get the negative PM's and Visitor Messages)
BioBalls are great in a reef tank if you enjoy having to pull them out every couple of weeks and cleaning them. Not just a rinse but SCRUBBING. Bioballs break down waste and turn it into nitrates. That we all agree on, however they also have a serious issue with collecting detritus. Not a small amount, but massive amounts. Ontop of that, it's well documented that when you take these lil suckers out to clean them, you will end up having a "mini-cycle" . Cycles, when your tank is already established, causes major stress to all the living things in your tank. That is why you will see more and more people using live rock rubble as the environment in your tank will love you for it and live longer.

Cube Refuge-setups...
While this can remain a heated discussion on running lights 24/7 or bioballs and lr .. I know what has worked for myself and hundreds of others. Not only that, you can google biocube mods and come up with a bunch of things and a huge list of stuff from other people.

This is the basic setup I do on all the cubes we get. I'm using my biocube template tho since that is the discussion we are taking on.



I have also gone a step further at times, and taken a small cup and cut it into two and placed it at the bottom of the display (where the bottom intake is) and placed a healthy amount of chaeto in there as well. As seen next:




Other than that, I use a protein skimmer in all my cubes. So filtration is, more or less, 100% natural.

Let me know if I can help out in any other way? I don't take kindly to rude PM's or visitor notes but I'm always more than happy to respond to a post if needed!

-Fritts

 

Not my thread... but I appreciate the advice. I am going to be removing my bio balls for the LR and Chaeto today.

So does Chaeto not have the same issue if you cycle the lights as Caulerpa (going sexual...)?

Someone else earlier suggested that a small LED light might not be sufficient for the BioCube fuge, is this true? If so, recommendations for an alternative?

-AJ

 

Chaeto does not have the same issue. Chaeto is actually rated as one of the best to use with nano-reef keepers as it just does its job with out any additional needs or special tasks!

On the LED light, I personally don't think it will work either. I have tested this theory personally by trying to build a USB Green house using 3 led lights.. it was a failure.. lol...

I have a small 15watt 50/50 clip on light that I use. I scrape off the black paint on the back and have my clip on pointing to the center. I picked up the 50/50 light at deathco, err, petco for like 13.00 US.

One of the guys I mod with, is using this:

 

As Fritts stated, and one thing I forgot to mention in my post last night is that the cheato won't go sexual like the calupura. It will however grow like crazy and remove nitrates like crazy once you get good lights on it. Right now I have two 40watt bulbs on mine which is totally insufficient so I'm making a Lowe's trip here in a little bit for more adequate lighting. LED's don't contain near the wattage you would need to keep the fuge happy. Also don't forget about the pods, they like darkness too, and you won't end up with as many with lights on 24/7. Sure, there are people who prefer the 24/7 lighting, but do some googling on it, you will find that the general preferred method is rotated wiht display tank lighting.

Anne

 

So I did my conversion of the 2nd chamber over to a fuge this afternoon. I have about two inches of LR rubble in the bottom and some chaeto above it.

At least for now I have attached a small 8" flourescent lamp to the back hood lid.

I also scraped all the black off the back so the fuge will get some light that way.

Does that seem like sufficient light?

-AJ