29 Biocube

[delslo]

Hello everyone, I am going to start a build page for my first saltwater. I purchased the tank used with a HA problem a minor aptasia problem and a red slime algae problem. After adding some snails and a sea hare the problem has subsided. The first picture is directly after setup, and the second picture was taken on day 7, and the final picture was taken today, 11 days or so after the move from the previous owner.

[cdylnicki]

Looks good delslo. 

Just make sure you are not playing with the system too much too soon (too many additions or moving rocks, etc)

Im lucky that I have a clownfish that bites me every single time I put my hand in the tank - he lets me know to leave the system alone!  I would say do not do anything to the system for another few weeks (except testing parameters, small water changes, etc.)

Thanks for sharing the pictures! 

[Malyon18]

Looking good Hugh

[delslo]

Thanks it is coming along. I am trading a purple kenya tree for some green carpet coral this week.

[aranyc]

looks great......

[Hookup]

Great start.   Do you run carbon?

[delslo]

I am at the moment. Should I be?

[Darth]

carbon helps "polish" the water and break down lager particles that can be skimmed out

[delslo]

Well some recent changes. We added a sixline wrasse, the green mushroom I told you all about. I was going to get a fuman chu lionfish, but it wouldn't eat and died a few days later. I am probably going to wait for a larger tank to bring a splinter (TMNT throw back) home. Instead we picked up a sand sifting starfish and a rose bubble tip anenome. The maroon is now happier than ever. We unfortunately had to rearrange the tank and on the third try we got it. I am trying to find someone to trade the 550 koralia for a 425. I want to have 2 425's in the tank. I find the 550 a little big for the 29 bc. Anyways here are the pics.....

[delslo]

I almost forgot we also added an emerald crab a whole bunch of snails and hermits and a banded pistol shrimp as a friend for the yellow watchman goby

[delslo]

I haven't posted for awhile, but there are a few updates. I have switched to RODI and now just added a new light. The Aquaillumination Sol into the bc29 hood

[delslo]

I haven't posted for awhile, but here are the pics of the light in the hood

[NanoSF]

I'm not sure having that AI in the hood is a good idea. The heatsink needs open air to let the heat dissipate when the fan comes on. Also that location has the light too close to the water IMO. In the picture is looks like the spread is too narrow and the light should be a bit farther away. I had an Aquapod with an AI and I had it 16" off the water. I made a canopy for it. It wasn't hard.

[delslo]

I'm not sure having that AI in the hood is a good idea. The heatsink needs open air to let the heat dissipate when the fan comes on. Also that location has the light too close to the water IMO. In the picture is looks like the spread is too narrow and the light should be a bit farther away. I had an Aquapod with an AI and I had it 16" off the water. I made a canopy for it. It wasn't hard.

I wish it was further from the water, but to maintain the look of the biocube I have to leave it. I cut holes into the hood to allow air to be pulled in by the two fans you see, and the lights are set to be on 8 hours a day currently and the heatsinks fan never turns on, so no issues.
As for condensation issues, it is contained within the biocubes clear plastic casing so it will actually suffer fewer issues than hung fixtures.
In terms of the light distribution I actually like the distribution, it allows lower light areas on the outsides and a complete range through the center and forward and back.

[mmaisonneuve]

Hey nice setup, to bad you have not seen my post about the modular led setup.

1) perfect fit in the canopy no extra heat issue and perfect setup.
2) No beam effect since there is no need for the lens (not deep enough)
3) You could have save $$$

Guys If you decide to go LED's please ask don't be afraid. I'll gladly share my knowledge.

[JetJumper]

You could always take the optics off of the AI Fixture.  Its not hard to do.

[delslo]

Hey nice setup, to bad you have not seen my post about the modular led setup.

1) perfect fit in the canopy no extra heat issue and perfect setup.
2) No beam effect since there is no need for the lens (not deep enough)
3) You could have save $$$

Guys If you decide to go LED's please ask don't be afraid. I'll gladly share my knowledge.

I wanted this fixture because of the sunrise sunset simulation, the lightning simulation, plus I plan on increasing the size of the tank whenever we move. 100 year old building and third floor won't support a bigger tank than a 29 in my opinion.

[mmaisonneuve]

Let make this clear for everyone then. I was able to program my Apex Neptune to do Sunset and Sunrise and cloud with the Modular LED kit. I made a custome RJ-45 Cable for it and using it I can do all what they do with the AI exept the Lightning.

[delslo]

Let make this clear for everyone then. I was able to program my Apex Neptune to do Sunset and Sunrise and cloud with the Modular LED kit. I made a custome RJ-45 Cable for it and using it I can do all what they do with the AI exept the Lightning.

Ahwell, I guess you live and you learn. Good job, I'm a bit lazy to tackle that sort of project.

[NanoSF]

I was aware that people were able to create fully controllable lighting cycles using LEDs and system controllers. My problem was that I would have had to buy a new controller since my old Reefkeeper didn't have that capability. Add the cost of the controller and the LED build and I decided to just buy an AI. Bigger systems and people with a capable controller already, this makes a lot of sense.

The other factor that is important to some people is appearance of the lighting unit. If you have a canopy that hides the unit a DIY LED build is great, but kind of ugly if it is exposed. Then there is people like Jetjumper that built a whole nice box for his LED units to solve this problem.

For me, hanging it over my rimless, I wanted a light that was as sleek as possible. Now that there are Radions and AIs are under $500, it is hard to build something if you have any of these factors against you.

[JetJumper]

  Not to thread crash, but this is something upcoming.  Thanks to someone on this forum, we had access to a CNC to make some rather annoying cuts easy and a paint booth!


As with regards to making the LED's dim and follow sunrise / sunset. If you don't have a controller, then the cost for that is more then buying an AI fixture with the control module.  If you want to go hardcore, get an Adrino and go nuts with that thing.  Cost you under $100 for controlling them.

[delslo]

  Not to thread crash, but this is something upcoming.  Thanks to someone on this forum, we had access to a CNC to make some rather annoying cuts easy and a paint booth!


As with regards to making the LED's dim and follow sunrise / sunset. If you don't have a controller, then the cost for that is more then buying an AI fixture with the control module.  If you want to go hardcore, get an Adrino and go nuts with that thing.  Cost you under $100 for controlling them.

I would love to one day get the neptune apex, but it's out of reach for now. I am probably going to pick up the ai controller if they ever come in.

[NanoSF]

What?? You have the AI going at 100% Man that might be a problem. That is a drastic light increase in a tank that had PC lighting before. Even without the increase factor, that is just too strong for that close to the water. You are going to get algae outbreaks for sure, and you are going to burn corals. Some fish won't like that either.

[delslo]

What?? You have the AI going at 100% Man that might be a problem. That is a drastic light increase in a tank that had PC lighting before. Even without the increase factor, that is just too strong for that close to the water. You are going to get algae outbreaks for sure, and you are going to burn corals. Some fish won't like that either.

No one has a controller, you can't get them anywhere, ray has a standing order for me with ai. Yeah algae outbreak big time had to back off lighting time to 6 hours. Everything else seems fine, no burnt corals though, but I am keeping an eye on things. I can't wait to get the controller though.

[NanoSF]

Ya I know the controllers are hard to get. I just think you shouldn't be using it until you get one. Did you call all the LFS? I know Ray has the most stock on AI usually, but you never know. I remember waiting on my controller, and it turned out Marinescape had some, or could get some easily.

[delslo]

Ya I know the controllers are hard to get. I just think you shouldn't be using it until you get one. Did you call all the LFS? I know Ray has the most stock on AI usually, but you never know. I remember waiting on my controller, and it turned out Marinescape had some, or could get some easily.

I have had it in there for ~1 month now, with a standing order with ray. I tried everyone in ottawa and no one has any. AI is out of stock too, so it's a waiting game now. Even the Reefkeeper contoller module for the AI is out of stock, and since I already gutted the hood I don't have any other option. I boosted my clean up crew to control the algae somewhat, and have increased my waterchanges and cut back feeding. I was running the light 30 mins on 30 off for 2 weeks, but it almost killed my RBTA, so I am back to 6 hours on. The lenses have actually helped, they focus the light, so I can keep the corals out of the intense light.

[NanoSF]

Well I hope you get one soon. Best of luck.

[delslo]

Finally go the controller for the AI Sol, looks better, just need to play with the colour a bit more.

[NanoSF]

Ya I saw Ray had them in and I thought of you.

[delslo]

Well I am gathering parts to make a sump for the tank. I got a bc14 today to use as the sump tank. Not sure if my MaxiJet 1200 will be up to the task to pump the water up or not. I have to do some research now.

[delslo]

The tank has been running for nearly a year and I thought it was time I post a pic:

[mmaisonneuve]

Well I did the test last night and the maxi jet 1200 does a great job pumping water from a bucket on the floor to the tank. I was unable to do the same thing using a BC29 spare pump that I have. I think I'll start using this maxijet for my water change.

[delslo]

Well I did the test last night and the maxi jet 1200 does a great job pumping water from a bucket on the floor to the tank. I was unable to do the same thing using a BC29 spare pump that I have. I think I'll start using this maxijet for my water change.

I'm glad to hear that

[delslo]

Well I finally got the courage to drill the tank, first time drilling glass, and yes I was a nervous wreak while I was drilling it. By the way I drilled it with the tank running, you can see the water cascade in the second pic. It was a huge risk, but I didn't have another way to do it. The piping is siliconned together and the duct tape is there to hold the piping together while the silicon sets, and an added safety measure. I put the hole in between the second and third, call it big 2, because I couldn't drill the third chamber in the corner (4th pic). A few cuts from breaking out the plastic in between the chambers two hours, and it was finished. I didn't put the hole at the bottom of the chamber because I didn't want to have to worry about the tank draining too much in the event of a power failure.

[Malyon18]

looks good man

[JetJumper]

I am curious as to why you used Silicone and not glue?  Silicone will not bond to the plastic.  It will hold it in place but you might see leaks form eventually.  This happened to me

Congrats on drilling the tank!

[delslo]

I am curious as to why you used Silicone and not glue?  Silicone will not bond to the plastic.  It will hold it in place but you might see leaks form eventually.  This happened to me

Congrats on drilling the tank!

I wasn't sure on which glue to use for starters, and I knew that the silicon would seal and the duct tape would hold it in place without worrying about a toxic system (glue) issue.

[mmaisonneuve]

First no need to worry especially with the PVC Glue...the blue one you can glue with wet pipe and it will still work out fine. I've redone my plumming from the main to the sump while the main tank was running, new Bulkhead, new PVC flex new valve....all the kit. I've just drain the overflow replaced the Bulkhead and did all the PVC with the blue glue.....5 min later restarted the pump the overflow quickly got full and everything was A1. I have to agree the Silicone will let got without warning.....if your lucky it's going to be a small leak....and if not the pipe will disconnect and it will be a catastrophic failure.

[JetJumper]

I see ABS and PVC pipe in there.  PVC = Grey / White colours normally and ABS is black.  You can get ABS -> PVC transition glue as well which I have used on running tanks.  Nothing happened to the inmates

[Hookup]

i'll admit to dumping a large (2oz or more) of the glue into my tank... while it was live... this was a few years ago... but nothign happened...

if you try it, you'll see that it immediately reacts with water and forms a hard(ish) film on the surface and never actually mixes into the water.

i do not recommend this... LOL.. but i'm saying it didnt hurt my system..

i've also glued pipes and put them into service 20min later.. .not 24 hrs of cure time... again, not recommending... just sharing...

[delslo]

Well we might be moving in the next couple months, might be buying a house next week (fingers crossed), so I will glue the pipes together after the move.

[JetJumper]

Congrats!  Always fun!

[delslo]

So, the move didn't exactly go well....I lost my Angel fish and my sixline, but everyone else survived. The corals are in... okay...well... they have seen better days. I am trying to find a new bigger skimmer.

[Hookup]

sorry for your loss... that sucks.

[delslo]

Big changes in the tank,
I have had it setup at the new place for 6 months now, unfortunately I have been somewhat neglecting it, but nonetheless the tank is stable. I decided it was time to do some work, so after much internal debate I decided to further modify my drilled bc29. There is now no back chamber, I just need to work on the rock scape and angle the light better.

[delslo]

Well more changes, I modified the bc14 sump tank to create a refugium, total cost $35. Just need to grab a light and some cheato and its up and going. I also picked up a bubble magnus nac5e. Overkill for the tank I think, but it's working. I have black footed trocus breeding in the tank so I must be doing something right, pictures to be posted tonight.

[delslo]

better late than never, refugium up and running, but since the change I have had a micro bubble problem in the tank, any suggestions would be helpful.

[delslo]

Well I still can't get rid of the micro bubbles, I switched to a braided line for the intake side thinking that the pump wasn't getting enough water, but it didn't stop it. I can't see the bubbles coming out of the return tube, but the micro bubbles are still prominent in the tank. Does anyone have any suggestions?