29gal Bio Cube / Frag Tank

spanko

spanko

Active Member
In chamber #1 where the filter pad is there is a false bottom grate. Take a screwdriver and push down on one corner of that plate. Got to put some muscle to it but it will pop and then you can remove that grate. You will then be able to put in just about any heater you want to.
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2719264
In chamber #1 where the filter pad is there is a false bottom grate. Take a screwdriver and push down on one corner of that plate. Got to put some muscle to it but it will pop and then you can remove that grate. You will then be able to put in just about any heater you want to.
thanks spanko! I was affraid to push too hard but I will try that , why would they put that in there i wonder/??
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
thanks Kc

Well I got the heater in
actually instead of pushing that shelf down , I took my handy bone cutters and just snipped the grate and made a hole large enough to slide the heater in
anyway its in and all good! I put 3 pieces of LR from my 40gal in there. I will post some pic's later after I put the egg crate in their. I hope to move some frags in there by Fri.
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
ok..not very impressed with the bio cube right now!
My NEXT problem is..the 1st Chamber , the one with the pump , I cannot get the water level higher then half way between the LOW and HIGH lines on the side of the tank
The water in the tank is as high as it can be without spilling over into all three chambers at the back wall. But I can't keep enough water in that first chamber
WTF ???
Starting to think I should have stuck with the JBJ!!!!!
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
It is a self leveling system. Just keep putting water into the back until you get the lever you want. My level in the back chamber where the return pump is goes over the entire little window.
OOPs I bet I know what is wrong now that I think a little. Are you still using the stock filter pad. Here is a simple mod for that. Cut the white padding off of it and all the carbon on the inside will fall out. Then get some polyester fiberfill from one of the fabric stores. The stuff they use to fill pillows with. Very inexpensive and will last a long long time. Then just use the plastic filter frame and put some of the fiberfill on it.
Part of the problem with the biocube is flow from the tank to the return. that stock filter pad clogs up quickly and cuts down on the water supply to the pump causing it to suck air. Test this by just taking the stock filter out completely and fill the back chambers.
The other thing most people have do is to cut the opening in the wall from the first chamber to the second chamber wider. NOT DEEPER, wider. The slot is only about 1/3 of the way across the top of the wall, if you cut it the same depth but go about 3/4 of the way across it will also increase the flow.
 
rtspeed

rtspeed

Member
Originally Posted by nwdyr
http:///forum/post/2717961
NO i did not , I went there they and acted like they didnt know what I was talkin about
So i ordered it on line from those 2 guys (cant say here) it was only 235.00 on sale right now

u should of let me know and i would of meet you there and got u the deal.
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2720059
It is a self leveling system. Just keep putting water into the back until you get the lever you want. My level in the back chamber where the return pump is goes over the entire little window.
OOPs I bet I know what is wrong now that I think a little. Are you still using the stock filter pad. Here is a simple mod for that. Cut the white padding off of it and all the carbon on the inside will fall out. Then get some polyester fiberfill from one of the fabric stores. The stuff they use to fill pillows with. Very inexpensive and will last a long long time. Then just use the plastic filter frame and put some of the fiberfill on it.
Part of the problem with the biocube is flow from the tank to the return. that stock filter pad clogs up quickly and cuts down on the water supply to the pump causing it to suck air. Test this by just taking the stock filter out completely and fill the back chambers.
The other thing most people have do is to cut the opening in the wall from the first chamber to the second chamber wider. NOT DEEPER, wider. The slot is only about 1/3 of the way across the top of the wall, if you cut it the same depth but go about 3/4 of the way across it will also increase the flow.
thanks bro!!
see blazin THATS how you reply with useful information
 
jdsr1970

jdsr1970

Member
just for curosity, what does the two gray blocks represent on the sketch; and what are the ATO floats for. I am new at this and tried to take the bioballs out once which mess my hole system.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by jdsr1970
http:///forum/post/2720973
just for curosity, what does the two gray blocks represent on the sketch; and what are the ATO floats for. I am new at this and tried to take the bioballs out once which mess my hole system.
They represent a bag of Purigen and a bag of Chemipure Elite. They are now laying at the bottom instead of standing up at the side.
ATO = Automatic Top Off.
As water evaporates from your tank it leaves behind the salt. Since that makes more salt in less water your Sg will go up. Therefore you need to top off with fresh RODI or distilled water to bring the volume of water back up and the salt level (Sg) back down. The floats, when the water level reaches a certain low point, actually turn on a pump in a 5 gallon bottle of fresh water and pumps fresh water into the tank until the float reaches a certain high point then the pump shuts off. One of the floats does both of these jobs the other is a backup in case the main one fails.
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
Hey Spanko , I took out that carbon filter pad that came with the tank and the first chamber filled up
Thanks for the idea ,now I will just fix it so it don't block soo much flow and I should be good
Also put the frag rack in today and 3 pieces of LR. Also moved a couple frags over for a test run , tomorrow I am going to try to do some fraggin so I will post updated pic's then. Thanks again Spanko!
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Glad that it worked. Did you cut the wall between the filter chamber and the large middle chamber?
 
jdsr1970

jdsr1970

Member
one more question for Spanko.
I see you do not have any bioballs in your design. How does this work?
Once I took the bioballs and replace with rubble lr and was a complete disaster, all levels went off / dead fish. But strangely a mushroom, rose anemone and suncoral survived after reinstalling the bioballs.
 
nwdyr

nwdyr

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2721961
Glad that it worked. Did you cut the wall between the filter chamber and the large middle chamber?
Nope all I did was take out the filter cartrage , I have to replace it with something that wont slow the water flow soo much! Also on the right chamber I cut through the grate at the bottom ( The one you said to push down) and made enough room to slide the heater in. It all worked out well ,thanks again for the help!
Grubsnaek: READ BEFORE YOU SPEAK!!!!!!
 
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