BioCube 29 Gallon Cycling Help/Advice Needed!

Pisces28

Member
You're welcome. I can't recommend Coralife products, as they haven't impressed me in any way. I was looking for a compact powerhead system for my small tank when I ran across these pumps. I read a lot of reviews, and the main complaint was they got dirty quickly, and would stop pumping. The WP series have small openings in the case, and if there's a lot of debris and algae in your tank, they will clog up. I never had one stop pumping in over a year, so I thought I'd try their newer series, the RW. The openings on these pumps are much larger, so clogging should not be an issue. The main reason I chose these pumps is because of the power they deliver at their price point. I have 4 Sicce Voyager 3 powerheads in my 125 gallon tank, and they flow 1200GPH each... supposedly. I paid like $70 each for these, and had to have a separate wavemaker to control them ($75). The two RW-8 pumps come with individual controllers that communicate wirelessly. Set one as master, and as many as 7 more controllers as slave(s), and you control all of them with one controller. The two RW-8's (800-2000GPH each) will move almost as much water as my 4 Sicce pumps (1200GPH each). I think I'm going to downsize to a pair of the RW-4's in my 40G, retire a couple of the Sicce's in my 125G, and use the RW-8's to replace them. The Sebao RW-4 is rated up to 800GPH, and has the same wireless features as it's bigger brother, so a pair of those should be a perfect fit for your 29G. They also use DC current on the pumps, so they have soft startup... in the right direction.

I cannot, and will not, recommend Hydor Koralia pumps for your tank. I had 4 in my big tank, and they were okay... until I hooked them up to a wavemaker. It was horrible. They operate on AC current, so they randomly started in reverse. Hydor came up with the brilliant idea of putting a rubber bumper to catch the blades if they start in reverse, and bounce them back in the right direction. I think they started in reverse every time, because they always made a loud clicking/clacking sound every time they started up (check reviews). On a wavemaker with 4 powerheads, this can be a lot of startups in a short amount of time. My wife MADE me buy new powerheads the day I hooked the Koralias up. I sold them for less than half of my cost. Good riddance. I'll admit... they make great powerheads for mixing saltwater in small containers. If you want a steady flow with no start/stop cycles, they're great.

I only recommended Jebao pumps, but you be the judge. Check reviews, and keep an open mind. There are other great powerheads available, but I haven't found any that have the same features at their price point.
I ma looking to buy the Jebao RW-4 and i see some for $60 and others for $200. I am not too familiar with this product, so I thought I would ask first. You mentioned my tank will do well with a pair.. does that mean I have to purchase two? Or do they come as a pair? Also, I would have to put one on one side of the tank, and the other on the other side, correct?
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
They are sold separately, so you will have to buy two. One on each side of the tank, pointed at each other will give the best results. They're around $60 each. I haven't seen the RW-4 for $200. If someone is trying to sell them at that price, they'll be keeping them for a very, very long time! I looked at the prices for the WP-10, which is the older version, and they are priced almost as much. For a few more dollars, I would buy the new RW-4's. It can be too much flow if they are on high speed, but you can lower the speed to where you like it. If you ever need to turn up the flow to stir up the water before a water change, you will have that option. You can't do that with single-speed powerheads.
 

Pisces28

Member
They are sold separately, so you will have to buy two. One on each side of the tank, pointed at each other will give the best results. They're around $60 each. I haven't seen the RW-4 for $200. If someone is trying to sell them at that price, they'll be keeping them for a very, very long time! I looked at the prices for the WP-10, which is the older version, and they are priced almost as much. For a few more dollars, I would buy the new RW-4's. It can be too much flow if they are on high speed, but you can lower the speed to where you like it. If you ever need to turn up the flow to stir up the water before a water change, you will have that option. You can't do that with single-speed powerheads.
I have looked up the items yesterday and it appears that the RW-4 is indeed $60 and the WP-10 is $40 but I would definitely rather have the newer version, so I will be ordering it today. I am going to go with one for starters and see how it works, because at the moment, all I have in the tank is 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 fire shrimp, 4 Nassarius snails, and 1 scooter blenny (Got them all yesterday, as my LFS said my cycle was complete!)

I am looking into getting some out-of-the-ordinary cleaners, as my LFS does not have anything cool, except the fire shrimp who was $45 ! Do you know of any cool-looking cleaners that I can maybe order online?
 
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