29 Gallon BioCube advice

[ekvikmost]

I am having a problem with the well on the far left staying full. How important is it for that water to stay above the minimum level? Also this morning it was all the way to the top of the well (way above the maximum level). Is that bad? I noticed that the filter cartridge seems to affect how much water stays in that far left well. I took my cartridge out of the grooves for it and just stood it up in the far right well at an angle and that seems to have improved the amount of water that flows into that chamber, but I am nervous about the water level in the far left chamber. Can it fall below minimum and be safe? Can it go above maximum and be safe?
If it falls below do I just pour water into the well?
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[kmc]

I would put the filter back in the grooves and let it run for a bit and settle down. I try to run mine with the level closer to max than min. Through evaporation the water level will fall and once it dips below the min level the pump will start to suck air and blow air bubbles.To raise the water level I usually pour it into the pump well on the left. What you will find is that when you turn the pump off the entire back section fills up. So if your left side is full to begin with you may have a problem when you turn off the pump. The way I understand it is that the water is supposed to sort of trickle through the bioballs. There is a cutout in the right side divider that allows the water to spill down onto the tray above the bio balls and then down through the balls into a sump where the pump takes over and sucks it out and pushes it up and through the return nozzle. Pretty cool set up for a beginner like me.
Hope this helps.

 

[24aqua]

i also have the 29 biocube and not happy at all ive lost a fish(diamond golby) and a couple coral. ive had it 4 about a month and have replaced the filters 6 times thats what causes the sump to get low. my golby would sift the sand around (also fine sand wasnt a good idea)and the filter gets filled up with sand not allowing enough water to go through. stock up on the filters or when you do a water change try to clean your filter off in the old water it will only help for a day or 2. i have have had a few times when returned home from work and nothing but bobbles,even in the middle of the night,it stresses my fish and coral.hope that helps. wish i could return it or write a letter to oceanic cuz ive had nothin but problems.sorry for the long speech!!

 

[ekvikmost]

I just got off the phone with Oceanic and talked with one of their tech reps and he said that there is a problem with the filter (DUH FIX THE PROBLEM) and that you can put the filter on top of the bio balls or you can have it loose in the far right well. As long as water is running through it. He also said you could take it out and buy bagged carbon from your LFS and use that. Basically you don't need to use that filter. So I am going home and will lay the filter on top of the bio balls for now and will get a bagged carbon at the LFS this weekend.
Seems like a silly solution that Oceanic should fix, but now I know how to keep the water level above the minimum line.
The tech also said that it can stay at the max without any risk of problem.

 

[24aqua]

i guess thats gonna have to do. thanx for the info!!!!

 

[chipmaker]

Yet another quality american designed product hits the shelves without much of any kind of testing or quality control being done. And its just not these nano or bio cubes thats done that way kits most of everythng in todays day and age where workmanship and craftsmanship is not a part of the day to day routine of conducting business.
Since the filters and such are not right and Oceanic acknowledges this, I woul dhave asked for a darn refund on the retail price of the filter etc that can not be used or for them to supply my bagged carbon. Its a heck of a note to buy a new item and still have to buy more and throw away stuff that came with the item just to make it work albeit mediocre at most.

 

[blondie_00]

i dont have any problems with my bio cube. never have i had it have problems with the water level....the filter does kinda suck but i did the same with getting some bagged carbon from the lfs. also...i went and used the bio bag filter and just laid the bag with out the carbon on top of the bio balls. ..just for a little extra filtration.

 

[lbaskball]

I have not had a problem with the water level. The water level seems to remain on the maximum or a little above maximum which is okay. The only problem that I have had is the water noise. If you dont use bioballs, the water will drop in that middle chamber and it is loudd as if someone is peeing. It annoyed the heck out of me. I dont want to use bioballs because they become a nitrate factory. So I decided I add another sponge and on top of that put a carbon bag.
I think there is an advantage of having that stock filter. In my biocube it has collected some good yellow slimy stuff. Its working to the benefit for me. The water level on 1st chamber fills all the way up until it falls on the side to chamber 2 then goes to chamber 3 at the maximum level. Water has not evaporated in my tank, I barly have had to put in a small cup of water to keep the level every week.
Oh the other thing that annoys me is that the NIGHT LIGHTS doesnt have a DAMN SWITCH!!!! why would they make a light without a switch? Its annoying to plug and unplug from the cord. Geez.
overall 3 problems
1)the compartments are wayy too small to get your hand inside (def would need small hands)
2)the water noise if you are not using bioballs
3)no switch for the night lights.

 

[blondie_00]

i leave the night light on all the time. dont have a problem leaving it on....isnt the moon out all day anyway? so doesnt it kinds stimmulate that? i dont know i was just taking a big guess lol

 

[kmauger3]

I just started with my tank but have been reading for about 2 days straight on what people have done to their 29gallon cubes. The best thing that I have seen is this
1. Take out the stock filter and throw it away(I did this)
2. Buy filter floss and take some of this and sit it on top of your bio ball over fill tray(I did this)...This filters out all the large wastes before they get to the sponge on the pump.
3. Buy a purigen bag at a pet shop. This bag filters the water and helps keep levels metals/nitrate/ammonia levels down.(I did this)
4. Buy a carbon bag and put it in the third chamber(I did this)
5. It was recommended to cut the flow over in the 1st to 2nd chamber in the back. I cut it to where the slit in it was level all the way across. This flows into your filter floss and filters out all the large pieces. When I did all this my water level evened out in all my back chambers and allowed me to add an extra gallon of water. I invested about $30 in all of this, but you have to think that this is the cost of one fish. I have not had a fish die so I figure I'm about even on all of this. Filter floss is dirt cheap too so filter replacement is very cheap because the carbon and purigen hardly ever need replaced and the purigen can be recharged.
6. I also got a little 8w aquarium light at a local pet store for about $12 then shaved off some of the black paint in the back and mounted the light there with velcro. This is to build a fuge. I am going to put live rubble/rock in there with some macroalgae and take out the bioballs. The bioballs require too much work and help breed bad stuff for your tank if they are not cleaned regularly.
This is the best info I have found on making your biocube easy to maintain.
Hope I could help.

 

[supermotocrazy]

The problem with the water being to low in the third chamber is a simple fix. slide the stock filter up in the grooves about half an inch. this will allow some water to bypass the filter and increase the flow. the stock filters are too restrictive on flow.

 

[ahmoser]

I have had similar problems with my 29, and I just rinse the filter about every four to five days. But it can be a pain in the but, so does anyone have more info on this? Maybe expand on the modification that kmauger3 was saying? I am very interested in the refugium idea in the middle comp. Is chemi-pure the same as purigen filter?

 

[kmc]

I have replaced the bioballs with LR rubble. I found a filter material called poly pad at the LFS. Cut it to size and place it in front of the stock filter. I put two of the chemi-pure carbon filter bags on top of the LR rubble in the middle chamber. I still use the drip tray over the middle chamber. I run the water level in the tank just high enough to barely trickle over the back wall of the main tank. This keeps the surface clear. All of these combined have really made a difference in the water clarity. I still have to top off with water once or twice a week. Usually the water level in the pump well drops so that is where I pour in the top off water.

 

[dleft1]

I read how Ekvikmust called Oceanic. I laid the dirty filter (without cleaning it) that was restricting the flow from the 1st chamber on top of the bio-balls and placed the drip tray on top of it. Water flow increased through all 3 chambers and the water level in the final (3rd) chamber was finally slightly above the "max" line. Easy fix using what Oceanic gave you.

 

[pettyhoe]

I keep my water line way above max. It is only a measurement to help you gauge how much evaporation you have. Just do not go below the min or you will have bubbles that will kill your fish. Take the bio-balls OUT, they are trate factories, just replace it with LR for filtration. If you are having flow problems, cut the slit from the 1st to the 2nd chamber, it helps tremedously. Also, ditch the stock filter and buy filter floss, its easier and cheaper to replace, and I think the carbon has ill effects on the water quality once it has been used for over a week, as well as being very restrictive. You can add about another gallon of water if you want to make it a 30, it should hurt anything, I've read about people running there water so high that is barely creeps over the back wall and they have no problems. I personally keep my water level about a half to 3/4 of the way up the middle chamber and clean the blue filter every water change.

 

[nemo's dori]

I just started my 29g bio cube on May 1st. I had been reading everything I could find on others setting up their tanks and any kind of modifications that were done. So after all my reading and after talking to my lfs, I have removed the filter cartridge from the very right section, removed all of the bio balls from the mid section and put 2 jars of seachem matrix on the bottom with a bag of seachem purigen on top of the that with one layer of filter floss/foam floss over all. Then I put the grate back in it's place and laid the filter cartridge that I took from the right section and laid it on top of the grate (fiber side up) of the mid section. From Day 1 I have had excellent water flo. After adding 40 lbs. of CaribSea's Aragonite West Carribean Reef Live Sand, my water was totalling clear after only 8 hrs. I have decided to take it very slow. I only have one 3 lb Fiji Buna Crown and one 4 lb Kaileni Table Top live rock so far. My water readings have been perfect since the 8th, so after getting bored just watching the barnacles open and close for a week and a half, I added 3 hermit crabs. Now this is entertainment, lol! After I add another 15 lbs or so more of live rock (which will be over the next month or so), I just found a fairly local person who has lots of frags she sells for a really good price. So I'll be going to see how they look. Anyway, I know this posting is a few months past the last one, but I thought that this might help with any filtering problems. I'm extremely happy with this set-up so far!

 

[huskerreefer]

Originally Posted by PettyHoe
I keep my water line way above max. It is only a measurement to help you gauge how much evaporation you have. Just do not go below the min or you will have bubbles that will kill your fish. Take the bio-balls OUT, they are trate factories, just replace it with LR for filtration. If you are having flow problems, cut the slit from the 1st to the 2nd chamber, it helps tremedously. Also, ditch the stock filter and buy filter floss, its easier and cheaper to replace, and I think the carbon has ill effects on the water quality once it has been used for over a week, as well as being very restrictive. You can add about another gallon of water if you want to make it a 30, it should hurt anything, I've read about people running there water so high that is barely creeps over the back wall and they have no problems. I personally keep my water level about a half to 3/4 of the way up the middle chamber and clean the blue filter every water change.

Actually if you keep the third chamber filled above the MAX line you will not get the effect of the "Wet/Dry" filtration that the tank was designed for. The water needs to trickle over the bioball area.

 

[fishedout]

Hello everyone,
I bought a 29 gal Biocube a few months back and I have since realized that this tank has a lot of flaws. The tank didn't have enough flow and the filter was always getting clogged.
The fix, first I bought an Oceanic BioCube protein skimmer and placed it in the 1st chamber; there is hook on the protein skimmer, hang it directly onto the filter in the 1st chamber. The instructions say to remove the filter and replace it with the protein skimmer, but thats an error on Oceanic's part. Make sure the filter is in its tracks.
Second, the water flowing from chamber one to chamber two (middle chamber) hardly has any flow. The channel is not wide enough. I took a saw and cut the rest of the plastic off, creating and wider channel and allowing the water to flow more freely. This helped the water to filter faster and it keeps the water quality cleaner.
Third, make sure that you use Nutri-seawater, it's the best water for your reef. The mixed water from the stores suck. The Nutri-Sea water is cleaner and the coral love it; and you don't have to add additives such as calcium, strontium, iodide, etc, because the water is already balanced with these nutrients.
Fourth, the flow coming out of the pump was not enough to circulate the water around rocks in my tank, so I added a Koralia nano powerhead. This helps circulated more water around your tank, so you don't have any "dead" spots without flow. The powerhead's magnets can actually be installed in the 3rd chamber (use the rear magnet and hold it in the 3rd chamber and place the powerhead in the tank where the water returns to the tank). This will disguise the powerhead on the back wall and it keeps the look of the tank clean and consistent.
Hope this helps all the frustrated Biocubers out there.

 

[coastie5685]

the only issue i have with my 29bc is the hood. the lighting is out of wack but bought it used so who knows.
ditch the filter cartridge in the first chamber....
ditch the bioballs in the middle chamber and add chemi pure elite with chaeto algae and heater....
the return pump is fine
dont bother with going by the required min. max. line on the side of the tank. fill it allllllll the way up to the top.
easy as that.