ctreefers 8gal BC office tank

[ctreefer]

Hi all,
In the process of planning for an 8 gallon Biocube I picked up from a local reefer. I plan to use in my office space at work.

I'm going to remove the PC's and replace with some Bridgelux LED's. My plan is 3 4500 whites, 6 RB and 1 violet. I'm going to power them on a Meanwell constant current driver (700mA) but make 2 strings of 5 LED's to cut the power in half. (would have gone with a dimmable driver but had this one lying around and want to see if it will work).

I've passed this by my direct boss and he says go for it. Our building is leased so for all I know the owner of the building may not appreciate it. Keeping my fingers crossed. I figured an 8 gallon totally enclosed system (partially hidden behind a large plant) might survive the scrutiny of that group. Anyone have any issues ever in situations like this?

Inhabitants will be taken from my 60cube. I'm going simple with some shrooms, green leather and maybe a piece of frogspawn and some button polyps. Cleanup will be a couple astreas. Maybe a shrimp but I dislike the thought of spot feeding and watching the shrimp steal everything.

Haven't decided on sand bed yet. Any suggestions? I like the look of it and am leaning towards a SSB.

Not sure on flow either. I have a spare tunze 6025 but I think that's way too much for that tank. May have to buy a smaller pump to supplement.

Will do weekly 1 gallon water changes to keep up with system needs.
I'll take some pictures tonight to show progress.

BTW, why do I not see any 8 gallon BC's very often? I notice they aren't for sale anymore either. Were there any problems with them?

[ctreefer]

as promised, here are some shots of the build thus far:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube2.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube1.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube3.jpg

[ctreefer]

drilling then tapping for my LEDs
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube4.jpg

LED's mounted to frame
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube5.jpg

[ctreefer]

I ripped out everything from inside the hood and mounted some brackets that my frame will mount to. I decided to keep the moonlights that came with the hood. They're just glued to the top of the housing. I hope they stay there.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube8.jpg

[ctreefer]

squeezing everything back into the top.

This is where I'm at now. Will do some more work tonight.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube9.jpg

[ctreefer]

Oh yeah, here's where some of the inhabitants are coming from. My 60 cube.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/IMG_2364r.jpg

[JasonBJones]

Nice looking tank. How is the color separation of the LEDs?

Looking forward to watching this progress.

[ctreefer]

Thanks Jason, not sure how the separation is yet. I need to get something in the tank to see how it looks. Lot's of shimmer just from the pump return aimed at the surface.

Overall, I'm pretty happy.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube10.jpg

this image has the cover back on. I wasn't sure if I should do this due to cooling but felt it needed protection from the water since the LED's are so close.

[ctreefer]

Here's a shot with the lights on.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube11.jpg

and the tank
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/biocube12.jpg

I will say I ran it for about an hour and felt the hood and it was warm to the touch. I'd guess around 100-120. I ended up taking everything out and reinstalling one of the two fans in the bay that was open and hooked the fan up to the other switch which had no function anymore. Put it all back together and ran for another 2 hours and the hood feels cool other than a slightly warmer zone over the LED's but if I had to guess a temperature its probably only about 10 degrees above ambient.

[ctreefer]

This is going to take awhile...

I think I need a total of 20 runs to the break room to fill these up with RO.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/8gal1_12_2012.jpg

[vinoex]

You have RO in your break room?

[ctreefer]

LOL, yeah they just removed our old Poland Spring unit and replaced with a portable RO unit that dispenses both hot and cold water. I tested TDS and sure enough 0. It's pretty neat. It even has a digital readout telling how many gallons outputed since last membrane replacement. I'll have to check regularly since it gets much more usage than my home RO unit. Not sure how often it will get serviced. Opened up the base to take a peak while no one was there and it looks like its a 3 stage unit w/o di which is good for me.

[ctreefer]

quick question for either 8 gallon or 14 gallon biocube owners. the tank is running now for about 4 weeks and I am planning on making the media basket for the 2nd chamber this weekend. I seem to be getting some light spillage from the LEDs into the back chambers and was wondering what everyone thought about if it might be enough to place some chaeto in chamber #1.

[ctreefer]

What would everyone suggest for clean up crew for an 8 gallon Biocube?

Right now I have 2 astrea and one blue leg. The diatoms have passed and there's a thin layer of algae on the glass and rocks each morning. I'm running the purigen with carbon and polypad right now. Getting some chemipure in this week and will replace carbon with chemipure once it's in.

Also what are your recommendations for a fish?

It's quite the challenge to listen to coworkers come in every morning and ask where the fish is/are. I think I'm ready to add one this week.

[scolley]

Cool build! I just saw this. Nice. :thumbsup:

I've always been fascinated with office tanks. Will be interesting to see how this turns our long term. It CANT be easy. But RO/DI in the break room is awesome.

As for fish, I'd heartily recommend some of those Orange Lined Cardinal fish they periodically sell at Diver's Den, like the ones I just got. They are TINY, but because they shoal, it's a big clump of motion moving about your tank. They do a good job of catching the eye, even if not particularly colorful.

Good luck with the build!

[ctreefer]

Thanks. I'm wondering how it will turn out myself. So far so good but it's just the beginning. Planning on checking out a LFS at lunch. Haven't been to the one in Southington since they changed hands but it's right near a good lunch joint so I may check it out and see what they have. It was a good little shop before. Maybe they'll have some of the lined cardinal fish.

[fickle1]

Tank looks great. I am a few months into my office tank as well. I am in a similar situation as you with the water. I work at a liquid fertilizer plant who happens to have an industrial sized RO/DI unit with a 5000 gallon storage capacity. They don't miss a few gallons lol.

I went back and forth several times on stocking my 8 gallon. I settled on a firefish, yasha goby and a few sexy shrimp. I am probably right at the max of the stocking on these sized tanks. Having the free water makes weekly water changes a lot easier.

[ctreefer]

Yeah, LOL, I guess you wouldn't miss a few gallons from that. I find myself walking back and forth at water change time with multiple 16oz cups until I've made it to 1 gallon.
I recently just started bringing in water from the home tank and might do that in the future. I have a bunch of the old Mrs. Wages pickling lime containers that hold about 40oz that I've cleaned out and when I do a water change at home I'll just grab 3 of those containers and bring them to work filled with tank water that I know the parameters on (and that the corals came from originally.) I'm finding this makes me keep up on doing water changes on the home tank so in the end both tanks may be better off.

anybody see any harm in this?

[ctreefer]

Oh, BTW, that lunch trip to the old pet store was a total waste (lunch was good though). They changed owners to a mini chain that has dogs and cats as well. Their saltwater section used to be really worth checking out and the prices were always good. Now it's neither of both. Too bad.

[Clarinet_Reefer]

Any updates on the BC 8?

[PL-Reef]

Nice little build man! Your hood looks great, definitely some inspiration for my new led's.