Well here it is guys. My latest and greatest, bigger and better, well maybe not bigger but smaller 29 gallon Bio Cube. I have to say that out of the five SW tanks I've owned, this is my favorite. I love its simplicity and user friendly design. It's much easier and faster to care for than the 110 gallon Oceanic I recently parted with. Not to mention there are numerous opportunites to add and upgrade upon the existing system but there in lies the problem with taking away from the simple design of an already great setup. Anything that I add to the system will be contained in the system or cabinet and will have the look of a factory stock system. There will be no sump, refugium, buckets or basins of liquid or substrate. No visible wires or cables hanging from every corner. No noisey skimmer, chiller or reactors to take away from the main display. Just the aquarium and cabinet it rest on. I don't believe it is difficult as it may sound to maintain a nano reef in this way. With some thought process, ingenuity and trial and error, I believe it can be done.
After setting up the system, the first upgrade was a Skimmer. Lets face it. You must have a skimmer. So I decided to give the Bio Cube airstone driven skimmer a try. It does fit nicely in the rear 3rd chamber out of view and does opperate with virtually no noise. I did however upgrade the air pump to a Tetra whisper air pump that reduced the humming down a bit. Now for the skimmer to work properly, the water level in the 3rd chamber must be a certain level all the time. For this I added an Automated Top Off. For this I purchased some float switches online and made a plexi-glass bracket and attatched suction cups to the back of it. Routed the wires from the float switch to a double ended cord once used for a basement sump float switch to the powerstrip in the cabinet. Now I can plug my Maxi-jet 1200 gph utility pump into to other end of the double ended cord. For the resevior I found a square clear plastic gallon container at Walmart, cut a hole in the lid of the container big enough for the end of the cord to go through. Then I place the pump into the container and attatched an airline hose to the spout on the pump and ran it to the 3rd chamber. Filled it with R/O water and there you have it. An ATO. It works quite well and with the hood on the Bio Cube, evaporation is captured and mostly returned back to the system so I only have to refill it once every 10 days.
Another upgrade I made to the system was a miniature chemical filtration unit. For this I used a 1/2" black nylon pipe apprroximately 8" long and a 1-2 micron mesh filter sock, 8 o-rings and a peice of plexi glass for a bracket. First I cut the 1/2" pipe in two 8" long sections, then drilled holes all around each one except for the top 2". Then I heat molded and drilled the plexi glass to form the bracket to hold the two pipes and snap onto the back wall of the Bio Cube. This was placed in the 1st chamber directly behind the top return grate. I then cut the mesh bag and sewed them together so they could be rolled onto the pipes from the bottom. Then I used the nylon o-rings to secure the pipes onto the bracket and mesh bags into place. The upward current from the lower return forces enough water through the filter sock so no other form of mechanical water movement is needed. I currently use Purigen and Phos-ban in each tube for the chemical filtration. I would say that this works well, although I would like to see more water movement through the material but it does seem to do its job.
Another upgrade I made to the unit was a UV Sterilizer. For this I used a $50 9w unit from Petsmart, mainly because the replacement bulbs are only $25 and it seems to do a fine job at reducing algae blooms and keeping the water healthier. With some reconfiguration of the components, it fit nicely underneath the Bio-ball trickle system and there was even enough play between the dividers to run the wires through. The only downside will be taking all the Bio-ball's out when replacing the bulb.
With all these electronics and moving parts, there's alot of lost energy through heat. I wanted to figure out a way to keep the heat down without spending a small fortune on a chiller and something that wouldn't be an eyesore and create noise. I had an off the shelf aquarium cooling fan made by Zoo-Med. I think i paid $30 for it months ago. It hooks to the top of an aquarium and is used to cool the water through convection. Well with the canopy on the Cube, I couldn't just throw it on and I didn't want any more noise. Although it's not that noisey, every little bit adds up when you have several peices running at the same time. I decided to mount the fan next to the upper cord access hole on the rear wall inside the cabinet and with some modifications, redirect the airflow to a port through the back side of the canopy. For this I cut the swivel portion from the fan and integrated 1/2" PVC pipe with two 90 degree elbows to a port cut through the rear of the canopy. I used another 90 degree elbow on the inside to redirect the airflow to the water that trickles over the Bio-ball's. I cut a piece of filter floss to cover the intake on the fan to filter the incoming air. I wrapped all the piping in flat black vinyl tape so everything is uniform. To keep the water warm I use the 150w Stealth unbreakable epoxy filled adjustable heater in the 1st chamber. My temperature has stabilized at 77.2-77.8 degrees at all times throughout the day and night and to top it off, it's quiet!
I thought about upgrading the original main return pump but after taking it apart and inspecting the components, it's quite a quality piece so I decided to keep it. I also thought about upgrading the lights but the dual 36w power compacts do put out some quality light and this would be a costly endevour anyhow. Instead I added to the light output by installing 2 6w Stunner Strips from Ecoxotic with 24 individual LED's each. I chose the 403nm actinic purple and the 8000k daylight strips. These come with 3M super sticky double sided tape already installed on the back. I placed them to the underside of the access hood on the front of the canopy and routed the wires through the rear of the canopy. The 24 volt power supply was purchased separately and it can power up to 6 strips all together. I do have room for one more strip under the access hood and I plan to purchase the 8000k/453nm actinic blue strip soon. I also bought the reflectors for each of the strips which reflects the light toward the bottom. It almost doubles the output of usable light. I would recommend these lights to anyone but at $50 a strip, they aren't very cheap. I believe the shimmering effects alone, pays for itself.
I installed a titanium probe in the 3rd chamber to catch any stray voltage just in case. With all these electrical devices in saltwater, of all solutions, it's just dangerous. Not only could it kill you, even a little stray voltage could cause severe algae blooms, HLLE in fishes and the slow death of coral and invertebrates. I wouldn't be caught without it.
To give you guys better idea of my upgrades, I will post some pictures with the posting soon. I would like to hear from anyone who has any ideas or questions about nano aquariums or any size aquariums so reply at will! :yay:
After setting up the system, the first upgrade was a Skimmer. Lets face it. You must have a skimmer. So I decided to give the Bio Cube airstone driven skimmer a try. It does fit nicely in the rear 3rd chamber out of view and does opperate with virtually no noise. I did however upgrade the air pump to a Tetra whisper air pump that reduced the humming down a bit. Now for the skimmer to work properly, the water level in the 3rd chamber must be a certain level all the time. For this I added an Automated Top Off. For this I purchased some float switches online and made a plexi-glass bracket and attatched suction cups to the back of it. Routed the wires from the float switch to a double ended cord once used for a basement sump float switch to the powerstrip in the cabinet. Now I can plug my Maxi-jet 1200 gph utility pump into to other end of the double ended cord. For the resevior I found a square clear plastic gallon container at Walmart, cut a hole in the lid of the container big enough for the end of the cord to go through. Then I place the pump into the container and attatched an airline hose to the spout on the pump and ran it to the 3rd chamber. Filled it with R/O water and there you have it. An ATO. It works quite well and with the hood on the Bio Cube, evaporation is captured and mostly returned back to the system so I only have to refill it once every 10 days.
Another upgrade I made to the system was a miniature chemical filtration unit. For this I used a 1/2" black nylon pipe apprroximately 8" long and a 1-2 micron mesh filter sock, 8 o-rings and a peice of plexi glass for a bracket. First I cut the 1/2" pipe in two 8" long sections, then drilled holes all around each one except for the top 2". Then I heat molded and drilled the plexi glass to form the bracket to hold the two pipes and snap onto the back wall of the Bio Cube. This was placed in the 1st chamber directly behind the top return grate. I then cut the mesh bag and sewed them together so they could be rolled onto the pipes from the bottom. Then I used the nylon o-rings to secure the pipes onto the bracket and mesh bags into place. The upward current from the lower return forces enough water through the filter sock so no other form of mechanical water movement is needed. I currently use Purigen and Phos-ban in each tube for the chemical filtration. I would say that this works well, although I would like to see more water movement through the material but it does seem to do its job.
Another upgrade I made to the unit was a UV Sterilizer. For this I used a $50 9w unit from Petsmart, mainly because the replacement bulbs are only $25 and it seems to do a fine job at reducing algae blooms and keeping the water healthier. With some reconfiguration of the components, it fit nicely underneath the Bio-ball trickle system and there was even enough play between the dividers to run the wires through. The only downside will be taking all the Bio-ball's out when replacing the bulb.
With all these electronics and moving parts, there's alot of lost energy through heat. I wanted to figure out a way to keep the heat down without spending a small fortune on a chiller and something that wouldn't be an eyesore and create noise. I had an off the shelf aquarium cooling fan made by Zoo-Med. I think i paid $30 for it months ago. It hooks to the top of an aquarium and is used to cool the water through convection. Well with the canopy on the Cube, I couldn't just throw it on and I didn't want any more noise. Although it's not that noisey, every little bit adds up when you have several peices running at the same time. I decided to mount the fan next to the upper cord access hole on the rear wall inside the cabinet and with some modifications, redirect the airflow to a port through the back side of the canopy. For this I cut the swivel portion from the fan and integrated 1/2" PVC pipe with two 90 degree elbows to a port cut through the rear of the canopy. I used another 90 degree elbow on the inside to redirect the airflow to the water that trickles over the Bio-ball's. I cut a piece of filter floss to cover the intake on the fan to filter the incoming air. I wrapped all the piping in flat black vinyl tape so everything is uniform. To keep the water warm I use the 150w Stealth unbreakable epoxy filled adjustable heater in the 1st chamber. My temperature has stabilized at 77.2-77.8 degrees at all times throughout the day and night and to top it off, it's quiet!
I thought about upgrading the original main return pump but after taking it apart and inspecting the components, it's quite a quality piece so I decided to keep it. I also thought about upgrading the lights but the dual 36w power compacts do put out some quality light and this would be a costly endevour anyhow. Instead I added to the light output by installing 2 6w Stunner Strips from Ecoxotic with 24 individual LED's each. I chose the 403nm actinic purple and the 8000k daylight strips. These come with 3M super sticky double sided tape already installed on the back. I placed them to the underside of the access hood on the front of the canopy and routed the wires through the rear of the canopy. The 24 volt power supply was purchased separately and it can power up to 6 strips all together. I do have room for one more strip under the access hood and I plan to purchase the 8000k/453nm actinic blue strip soon. I also bought the reflectors for each of the strips which reflects the light toward the bottom. It almost doubles the output of usable light. I would recommend these lights to anyone but at $50 a strip, they aren't very cheap. I believe the shimmering effects alone, pays for itself.
I installed a titanium probe in the 3rd chamber to catch any stray voltage just in case. With all these electrical devices in saltwater, of all solutions, it's just dangerous. Not only could it kill you, even a little stray voltage could cause severe algae blooms, HLLE in fishes and the slow death of coral and invertebrates. I wouldn't be caught without it.
To give you guys better idea of my upgrades, I will post some pictures with the posting soon. I would like to hear from anyone who has any ideas or questions about nano aquariums or any size aquariums so reply at will! :yay:
