Nuclear Biocube 32 Build

[Flexin]

I’ve been trying to decide about the Steve’s L.E.D. option. Mainly just so I can buy whatever coral I like instead of what may or may not Work with stock lights. Still trying to decide what my overall plans are though for this tank. Cause right now my plan is this is a starting tank. Learn as you go. This is my first aquarium ever. Didn’t even do freshwater. lol but ultimately I already know I wanna get Atleast a 125 gallon tank. So may just leave it as is and grow what I can. Learn about testing and everything to set myself up nicely for the dream tank.

The stock LEDs lights work well. If anyone says they don’t, they have other problems

 

[Thirdeyesight17]

Very nice! What's the Id of the first picture?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I took egg crate and enclosed the bottom portion of the stock media basket. Added a grow light to the outside and black taped the glads so I don’t have the glow. The refugium has been working great ever since. Simple mod and more area for chaeto growth.

Sounds very similar to what we done. I haven't done the eggcrate but might try it. Put a cheap aquarium light on the back and taped it as well. Just ordered "hopefully" a better grow light. The chaeto is healthy with the old one but not really growing.

 

[Nuclear]

@Flexin wow! That’s some awesome coral! That inspiring! I love seeing pics like this! Good to see what others are growing and gives someone new like me an idea about placement. Thank you!

I’m still trying to learn what’s what. The purple in green I know is acropora, but Is it the GARF purple bonsai?

 

[Flexin]

I honestly have no idea lol, it was at my LFS completely flat, someone fragged it and just left the base. Someone who worked there said get it, it will be worth it. They were right. It’s encrusting in addition to growing out. That one was at the top. But I have a huge monti that I’ve fragged a few times in the middle and another sps at the bottom. I don’t post to brag, I post to prove the lights are good. People always want to say there are not, and then insist they don’t have any other problems, which I call BS. The tank is about a year and a half old now. I tried to mess with things and it seems to keep things simple works best for me. Bi weekly water changes, only three fish. It’s been a great experience.

 

[Flexin]

Sounds very similar to what we done. I haven't done the eggcrate but might try it. Put a cheap aquarium light on the back and taped it as well. Just ordered "hopefully" a better grow light. The chaeto is healthy with the old one but not really growing.

I zip tied the front and back completely, they only zip tied the front at the bottom. So it flips down so I can empty the fuge. I emptied it today and remove half of the chateo. The laser cut ones look great, but you never see it, so....

 

[Nuclear]

Today is day 12.... Diatoms blooming. Just a waiting game at this point on those. I’ve finished adding Seachem Stability. Still fiddling with heater. I think I’m close to having it dialed in. ATO is running good. Salinity is still hovering around 1.022, I have a refractometer in the mail. will bump this up when I do large water change after cycle. I’ll test water parameters tomorrow and update those....

 

[Nuclear]

Day 13

Water Parameters are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
Ph 8.2
Salinity 1.023

 

[Nuclear]

Tank Update Day 20

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ph 8.0
Salinity 1.025

Diatoms clearing. Today started getting green algae spots. May have skipped cyano, but I do have good flow. I’m moving in the next couple weeks, 1 hour away. From Tampa to Orlando for wife’s promotion, but I’ll be 20 minutes from World Wide Coral! Gonna keep letting tank cycle till after move. ATO running great. Still only using filter floss.

 

[JustDewwit]

Tank Update Day 20

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ph 8.0
Salinity 1.025

Diatoms clearing. Today started getting green algae spots. May have skipped cyano, but I do have good flow. I’m moving in the next couple weeks, 1 hour away. From Tampa to Orlando for wife’s promotion, but I’ll be 20 minutes from World Wide Coral! Gonna keep letting tank cycle till after move. ATO running great. Still only using filter floss.

20 minutes for WWC ,Lucky you. When you stop by, take a look at the 30g display near the front counter. Check out the lighting (HD Prime's) and ask Carlo's or Ricardo about the lighting in your cube and how it compares.

 

[Flexin]

20 minutes for WWC ,Lucky you. When you stop by, take a look at the 30g display near the front counter. Check out the lighting (HD Prime's) and ask Carlo's or Ricardo about the lighting in your cube and how it compares.

It matters not unless they share the settings... so yes you can get radions or AI Primes... but without the right settings it’s a shot in the dark... as with all fully adjustable leds, out of the box, the proof is above... so if WWC is willing to share their settings then that’s great. Will they? OP let us know...

 

[JustDewwit]

It matters not unless they share the settings... so yes you can get radions or AI Primes... but without the right settings it’s a shot in the dark... as with all fully adjustable leds, out of the box, the proof is above... so if WWC is willing to share their settings then that’s great. Will they? OP let us know...

They actual email the settings to you in-store so they can be downloaded for radions,prime,hydra via app. I recommended WWC because they help set up my Prime.

 

[Weikel]

I’ve been trying to decide about the Steve’s L.E.D. option. Mainly just so I can buy whatever coral I like instead of what may or may not Work with stock lights. Still trying to decide what my overall plans are though for this tank. Cause right now my plan is this is a starting tank. Learn as you go. This is my first aquarium ever. Didn’t even do freshwater. lol but ultimately I already know I wanna get Atleast a 125 gallon tank. So may just leave it as is and grow what I can. Learn about testing and everything to set myself up nicely for the dream tank.

If you want to keep the stock hood and upgrade lighting look into nanobox. They have a kit that I installed in about 20 min. Good stuff and is controlled via bluefish app on your phone

 

[Flexin]

They actual email the settings to you in-store so they can be downloaded for radions,prime,hydra via app. I recommended WWC because they help set up my Prime.

It’s great they do that. Vendors like that are helping the hobby in a huge way!

Don’t get me wrong, I have two AI Primes on my 65 and like them. But also understand how difficult it has been for successful tanks to share settings. So it’s great to see this information being shared and I wish the manufactures would do a better job. Having suggested ranges and settings out of the box.

But, for the nay sayers who insist that you can only have success with a LED Biocube by making an upgrade to the lights, sorry, you were doing something else wrong.

 

[Flexin]

If you wanted to make a refugium out of your stock media basket, this thread will help:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/32-biocube-refugium-stock-media-basket.425469/

 

[Nuclear]

Tank update. Tank made the move from Tampa to Orlando wonderfully. Water parameters are perfect. I’m now doing weekly water changes. Still only using filter floss on level 1 of InTank media tray. No other media, no skimmer. I’ve added a small CUC, some Corals and 2 clowns, 1 Ocellaris, 1 Black Ice....

Currently, I have a huge copepod bloom...

Just a waiting game right now. Researching what other corals I want, what other fish I might want.

 

[Slowlane]

Love my biocube.. +1 on the stock lights. Once I got my parameters in check and stable, I have seen a lot of good growth with my stock lights. I am thinking of going open top and bigger lights soon though.. I will still use the stock lights on a frag tank though

 

[Nuclear]

Love my biocube.. +1 on the stock lights. Once I got my parameters in check and stable, I have seen a lot of good growth with my stock lights. I am thinking of going open top and bigger lights soon though.. I will still use the stock lights on a frag tank though

I’ve been spending a lot of time at World Wide Corals. They have some open top tanks there. They look nice! My main problem is the corals I buy never look as vibrant at home. I’m thinking about taking my top off and running a Radion xr15

 

[JustDewwit]

I’ve been spending a lot of time at World Wide Corals. They have some open top tanks there. They look nice! My main problem is the corals I buy never look as vibrant at home. I’m thinking about taking my top off and running a Radion xr15

It's the lighting . When you switch to Prime or Radion you will see a significant difference in how the various spectrums change color depth .

 

[saxplayer]

+1 on this point. I've been running Biocubes for a long time and the inTank media basket and ATO are two crucial pieces of equipment. Looks good so far!

Sorry to hijack this thread - regarding an ATO for a biocube 16** (not 32) - I'm planning on having the 16 sit on a desk without the option to run any cords or pumps underneath the tank. Do you recommend any ATO device specifically that could hang off the back and still let the lid close and seal? I am going to have a heater in spot 1, a filter basket in spot 2, and I would like to do some kind of protein skimmer (Tunze?) but I'm not sure how / where I will be able to put it. I would prefer less things (hopefully no things) inside the main tank chamber.

Thanks!