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UNICORN

Bubbles
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HELLO

i just purchased a bio 29 g and i have a viper 150 w

iam curious if there are any upgrades i can do to this unit myself to improve the quality of the water

can i put a extra filter in the drip tray for added carbon or can i put the carbon directly on the drip tray // or can i do something in chamber 2 where the bio balls are to enhance the water .

please all advise welcomed :p
 

DREUTZ

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I removed all bioballs and all shelves in the back chambers.

I put an aquaticlife mini protein skimmer in chamber 1,

a ton of chaeto, Purigen in a filter bag, and my heater in chamber 2

Chemipure elite in chamber 3 with the stock return pump. It seems to have worked out well for me.

When you do this you disregard the water level Gauge on the side and also you would need some sort of fuge light.
 

UNICORN

Bubbles
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thanx

i really appreciate the help now why do i need a light source in chamber 2 and do i have to remove the sleaves at the bottom of the chambers or can i do the carbon in the bag and heater without the cutting off lolol.. and what dose the chemical in chamber 3 do ? thanx again
 

DREUTZ

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i really appreciate the help now why do i need a light source in chamber 2 and do i have to remove the sleaves at the bottom of the chambers or can i do the carbon in the bag and heater without the cutting off lolol.. and what dose the chemical in chamber 3 do ? thanx again

Light source for chamber 2 is to grow the chaeto. I'm assuming you are going topless with that light you have, but I don't know how much light would go into the rear chamber where the chaeto is. The chaeto needs light to grow and with that it will consume nutrients. Also people run the fuge light at the opposite time of the display light which keeps the pH stable. There is a slight fluctuation in pH when you compare the level with the lights on and the lights off so running the opposite keeps a light on almost all day.

I would recommend to remove everything out of the rear chambers. The shelves seem to inhibit water movement and encourage detritus and other junk to build up under them. (I learned that the hard way) I also have a koralia nano powerheads in the rear chamber under everything to stop detritus from settling out at the bottom.

The chemipure elite removes phosphates and silicates and I think also organic particulates. It also keeps the pH stable. It comes in a filter bag and all you do is rinse it with RO water and throw it in an area in the back that has water movement.

The Purigen in chamber 2 absorbs nitrates.

I did a few other modifications in chamber 1 to get my skimmer dialed in. I don't know if they are necessary if you chose a different skimmer though.
 

JonnyIce

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Hmm...i originally had (currently have) heater in chamber 1 and skimmer in 2...but i like that idea...especially since I prematurely shaved the wall between 1 and 2 and now cant keep water level high enough in chamber 2 to run my skimmer LOL
 

DREUTZ

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I also cut the baffle wall to get the water for the skimmer right and still be able to close the hood properly.

Hmm...i originally had (currently have) heater in chamber 1 and skimmer in 2...but i like that idea...especially since I prematurely shaved the wall between 1 and 2 and now cant keep water level high enough in chamber 2 to run my skimmer LOL
 

UNICORN

Bubbles
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thanx for the info

so what exactly are the sleeves and how would i remove them can you clarify what the benefit of removing them is? and the alge goes in chamber 2 with the heater instead of the bio balls if i understood correctly lol now my tank is only a week old when its time to take make the switch from bio ball to alge do i do it slowly or all at once?

iam using a viper 150w
would that be enough light for the alge

thanx iam learning
 

DREUTZ

Reefs R Madness!
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thanx for the info

so what exactly are the sleeves and how would i remove them can you clarify what the benefit of removing them is? and the alge goes in chamber 2 with the heater instead of the bio balls if i understood correctly lol now my tank is only a week old when its time to take make the switch from bio ball to alge do i do it slowly or all at once?

iam using a viper 150w
would that be enough light for the alge

thanx iam learning

I'm not exactly sure what you are referring to as "sleeves". I think you are talking about the shelves. The benefit is to promote flow in the rear chambers which is an attempt to discourage detritus and other junk from settling to the bottom. Another benefit is to give you as much room as possible for modifications that people want to do on the tank. To remove the shelves I took a hammer and a long wooden kitchen spoon and put the handle end of the spoon in all the corners and gently hit it with a hammer to pop the silicone. I also used a knife in some spots to score the silicone to make it easier to bang down. Once you bang them all down and remove them, shine a flashlight down in all the chambers to make sure you removed everything you want because if I remember correctly there are multiple levels of shelves in the first chamber. In the future I'd recommend to shine a flashlight down to see how much junk is at the bottom of the chambers and siphon it out as necessary.

If you go by my orientation, (chamber 1- skimmer, chamber 2- chaeto, heater, powerhead, chamber 3- return) you are correct about removing the bioballs and putting the heater/chaeto in there. I also put a piece of egg crate in chamber 2 in an attempt to stop the chaeto from coming in contact with the heater. Here is a thread with some pics of my setup. Some mods have been made. I removed the blue floss and put my purigen there and also changed my light from that ghetto DIY home depot fixture to the JBJ fuge light. I spent like $30 on that POS that was a serious fire hazard and it eventually burned out and I replaced it with the JBJ which IMO was worth the extra money for a solid light.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/76686-best-skimmer-bio-cube-2.html

There are other people that have set up there tank differently, I think chamber 1- heater, chamber 2- Stevie T media rack (houses chaeto and chemipure I think) Tunze 9002 skimmer, chamber 3 return is an example. I put some links at the bottom with a ton of info...

If you don't mind, I think taking the bioballs out may cause the tank to recycle, but if you do I'd say to remove them slowly.

This is the "Biocube Resource Guide". It is pretty long, but it has all the modifications that people have done to their cubes:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180788&hl=

Here is the link to the Stevie T media/fuge racks. I think they have added more since I last looked so the fuge racks are new. You put that right against the wall between chamber 1 and 2 so the water flows into the basket and through the media or fuge and then down through the bottom.

http://shop.mediabaskets.com/BioCube-29_c16.htm

(If you went Tunze skimmer you need the custom skimmer cup if you want the top to close correctly)

Good Luck with the tank!
 

UNICORN

Bubbles
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i already startred my cycle so i dont want to risk it doing those modifications once my tank is completly cycle i will introduce chaeto. can i put the chimi pure in a bag in chamber 3 or unerneath the protein skimmer in chamber 1

now from past experience my water tends to have lots of phosphates in the past iave used a chemical phos something lol to help with the phosphates hopefully i will not experience this issue in this tank but just in case in what chamber would i put that phos/- chemical
 

UNICORN

Bubbles
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i just wanted to update and thank all you guys for your help i had bought a damaged biocube so i had to replace it i figured this would be the perfect time to do some modifications. i added chateo with some bio balls to chameber 2 chemi pure in bag chamber 3 and phosblock in bag chamber 1 with skimmer hopefully i didnt screw anything up if you all have any other tips please feel free to let me know oh and some fish fiber on drip trey
 

JonnyIce

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I replaced the stock pump with the MJ1200...not sure where the 400 ranks in relation to that one...I then used the stock pump for my ATO...one issue though is its really hard to get the tubing onto bulkhead at the return...like REALLY hard.
 

DREUTZ

Reefs R Madness!
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i just wanted to update and thank all you guys for your help i had bought a damaged biocube so i had to replace it i figured this would be the perfect time to do some modifications. i added chateo with some bio balls to chameber 2 chemi pure in bag chamber 3 and phosblock in bag chamber 1 with skimmer hopefully i didnt screw anything up if you all have any other tips please feel free to let me know oh and some fish fiber on drip trey

I'd ditch all bioballs. Although I've never used them I have heard that they become a "nitrate factory" after a while and degrade you water quality.
 

UNICORN

Bubbles
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i removed all bio balls just have chateo in there now i need a 10 w light for the back! any cheap recommendations where can i pick one up ?

i also remove the bottom chamber 2 place chemi pure at bottom put trey back on and sat chateo on top of trey because haveing the chemipure in chamber 3 wasent getting enough water to make a difference is this better ?
 
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