MPevine11's biocube 29 HQI BUILD ( + questions )

[MPevine11]

Wow... That is very very nice looking actually. Freakin' clean. Lol. Careful with the Mag-Float though. Mine eats my glass. I like their new HQI setup.

I'd go with halides, but the bulbs are so expensive to replace and my dad would kill me if the electricity bill went up $20 a month just over one light bulb.

thank you: haha yea i live with my rents will i can find my own place, im giving them $30 a month for this tank and my piranha tank



i had to change the scape because i got more rock, heres some pics

 

[MPevine11]

Also added some moonlight Leds for 1 hr before the lights turn on, and 2 hrs after they go off

they are 'stunner' 24 led's, one foot long, MODEL # 8010
they are abit larger then the light, so they hang off a bit, but to the un-trained eye cant tell.

Camera was acting up, LOOKS WAY BETTER IN PERSON!

here you can see it sticks past about an inch

 

[STiTCH87]

I like your wall...

 

[uhupong]

Also added some moonlight Leds for 1 hr before the lights turn on, and 2 hrs after they go off

they are 'stunner' 24 led's, one foot long, MODEL # 8010
they are abit larger then the light, so they hang off a bit, but to the un-trained eye cant tell.

Camera was acting up, LOOKS WAY BETTER IN PERSON!

here you can see it sticks past about an inch

where and what do u hang moon light with ? I bet it looks nice.

 

[pillowfish]

Looks like you are off to a great start!

 

[cilyjr]

they make some moonlights that clamp to the tank rim. sorry if this an already answered (i skimmed to get up to speed) question but what are you doing with the chiller question. i am not sure a chiller is needed as your light is above the tank on an arm over an open tank as apposed to some of the hqi tanks that have an enclosed hood. i feel surface agitation and a fan may be enough to cool the tank. this provided the room is ac'd.

 

[The Ng Thing]

The rock-works lookin good, well planned lol...

I like the lionfish pic too, i hope it doesn't stress out any of the little guys you put in the tank...

 

[MPevine11]

Reef Nutrition

so my lps has alot of this 'Reef nutrition' products, like:
*macro Feast
*tigger pods
*roti feast
*oyster feast
*phyto feast live
*photo feast
*arcti pods
*fuzzy phytes (red)



as most of you kno the new biocube HQI has the middle chamber fuge, i plan to get cheato as i have the JBJ nano light now. can i add any of these to the fuge to breed and stuff?

( i also plan to have a fuge in the tank stand later on )


Edit:
in the pamphlet it says the * Arcti pods * are good for LPs coral, Fish like mandarins and other fish nd inverts.

i've been reading on green mandarins and was thinking of getting one when my tank is more estiblashed. the pamphlet says that *roti feast,*arcti pods,*tigger pods afe good for mandarins. would i add these to the fuge, or feed like daily?

 

[MPevine11]

no one uses this stuff?

 

[MPevine11]

where should i place my powerhead when it comes in? where do you guys think it would be most effctive?

any help is great

 

[STiTCH87]

If I personally had a biocube and a Tunze or Vortech (Which I do plan to buy a Vortech for my birthday this summer) powerhead, i'd put it on the back wall blowing against the front glass. But then again i've never tried so IDK.

Location varies with everyone's preference, with rockscaping, and coral needs. One location for one person may blow sand for another. Tinker around til you get it how you feel it works for you.

 

[yukyuklee]

If I personally had a biocube and a Tunze or Vortech (Which I do plan to buy a Vortech for my birthday this summer) powerhead, i'd put it on the back wall blowing against the front glass. But then again i've never tried so IDK.

Location varies with everyone's preference, with rockscaping, and coral needs. One location for one person may blow sand for another. Tinker around til you get it how you feel it works for you.

theres one problem with putting the vortech on the back blowing to the front... theres a false wall on the biocube

 

[STiTCH87]

theres one problem with putting the vortech on the back blowing to the front... theres a false wall on the biocube

Yes. I believe he purchased a Tunze though? Not sure if they wll apply to the back wall properly. I'd think the magnet would fit in the fuge area or something.

Me personally I have a normal 29g so a Vortech for me on the back should be NP I hope.



M, did you end up getting a Tunze or no? Sorry if you answered that already, I may have missed it. Either way, whatever you purchased, i'd place it wherever works best for you like I said previously. Don't get discouraged if it takes awhile. I've had my tank running for nearly 4 months now and till find myself readjusting my powerheads sometimes. And my rockwork. And my corals. And my heater and wires. Lol. Having OCD can be good, and bad.

 

[MPevine11]

i have ordered the vortech mp10. i think it will be here probaly friday.

 

[STiTCH87]

Oh niiice! You must tell me how you like it once it arrives! I'm so extremely interested in buying one for myself. I think you'll be extremely happy with it. Takes up virtually no room inside the tank, and if you wanna talk quiet... It's about as silent as a powerhead gets. They even sell a 72 hour battery back-up for it that would be great to own if a power outtage ever arose for a long period of time (though rare, but hey if I had the money to blow i'd think about it.)

Vortechs are so extremely adjustable. Just make sure you start at 200gph and slowly work your way up to comfortable GPH (i'm going to try around 500-600gph personally if I can make it that high without blowing sand, corals, and fish all over the place.)

I've heard they have a sea crest mode and a night mode. And also a feeding mode where the pump shuts off for 10 minutes so you can feed. That's freakin' awesome.



http://cgi.ebay.com/VorTech-Battery...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ca988f292

That's the battery backup just in case you are ever interested in looking. I wish it had a plug to attach a heater too. Because keeping flow is fine, but blowing around 200-1500GPH of water that is only 70- degrees is not going to accomplish much if the corals can't take temperature drops. Luckily my town rarely ever has black-outs.

 

[tigerslacrosse4]

the vortech power heads are really something you have a controller that comes with the power head so you can adjust the flow to oscillate the current to mimic waves etc. you can set it for at night where the waves would be lighter and a feeding mode like previously stated its really wild i think you will be very happy with it only problem with this power head on your tank would be the false wall so its going to be shooting water into the flat pane of glass rather than the curved part so you will have to find a way to re direct the current.

 

[Andy V]

There is no way you will keep a Mandarin alive in that tank unless you have very, very docile tankmates. There is not nearly enough rock to sustain a large enough pod population, even with the refugium. Furthermore, even if the Mandarin takes frozen, it will not compete for it against more aggressive eaters. And that means aggressive eaters, not aggressive fish. Trust me, I tried this twice and both times I had to rip out the rockwork to catch the Mandarin to give to someone with a larger tank.

And I would avoid using the mag float as well. It will detsroy your glass. Use a razor for a tank this small. That's all I use. It works better than anything else and I don't have a single scratch.

 

[MPevine11]

im thinking the vortec the left side pushing towards the right, then getting a tunze for the back wall to face towards the front wall. just a small one if tunze makes any smaller size powerheads.

 

[STiTCH87]

That Tunze may clutter your tank up though. Along with they don't make any that are too too small. Maybe a Koralia Nano will move it enough, idk. But it still takes up a decent amount of room inside the tank compared to a Vortech. Maybe you can put a piece of liverock against the back right wall, put the vortech on the back left, and it will clash into the rock and move around the tank instead of clashing head on into a flat wall?

Not sure. But i'm sure with tinkering that no matter what you'll be fine eventually. It's all trial and error as is anything to do with SW for the most part it seems.

Also, +1 on the mandarin. They are near impossible to keep in a small tank, nevermind that difficulty of upkeeping a pod population to feed it, and like said before, even if it takes frozen, it will be last in line to anything else that eats frozen.

 

[MPevine11]

http://www.globeaqua.com/skimmers_euroreef.html


Is that skimmer deffenntly for the HQI biocube?

just want to make sure before i order it..........