Biocube 14 .. pump and filter questions.

[Legion455]

Hey all ...

I have a Biocube 14, 2 months old now (w/ LR, etc... ) .. and have some questions, as I'm starting to mod it, .. Maxijet 900, ... intank basket, rapidleds,...etc...

I know just enough to be dangerous as I had a reef tank almost 20 years ago ,... and now forgot more than I ever knew... :(

anyway ... my Biocube 14 is stock ... and the 1st chamber only has a heater ... 2nd chamber drips onto Bioballs. 3rd chamber has foam and the stock 123GPH pump ... it looked to be functioning correctly, as the 2nd chamber was not full of water (maybe 1/8 water in the bottom), therefore the water was dripping onto the Bioballs, and I seem to remember that this is what you want .. tank water dripping over the bioballs, which are not comopletly submerged. ... ie there is an air/water mix ... I also seem to remember that higher water flow over the bioballs is not necessarily better... you want a nice trickle so that the bioballs can do their work properly.

I changed out the pump to a maxijet 900 and now the second chamber is 2/3 full of water... (so the mj900 doesn't blow air)

Is this correct, and more importantly, when I get the intank basket (removing the bioballs) , this would completely submerge the bottom 2 media... using the maxijet900 ...

so,... is more GPH better in this case ,... and is it ok to have the 2nd and 3rd trays in the inbasket completely submerged ,... or should I go back to the 123GPH stock pump ... allowing for more of a 'drip'?

it seems like if the 2 levels were submerged,... the water would have a tendacy to flow 'around' the media and not necessarily thru it.

anyway,... if some of you gurus out there would enlighten me, ... I sure swould appreciate it, .. as I want the pumps and filters working properly for the Biocube 14.

I'm also wondering if I should get a protein skimmer for the 1st chamber, as I want the water to be crystal clear. .. or as good as it can be,... and I always thought adding a protein skimmer to a reef tank, was a 'must', yet I've read here that this might no longer be the case.

thanks!
Legion

[coralsnaked]

First off I'd ditch the Bio-balls. They are nitrate factories and not worth the trouble of cleaning routinely. I can tell you how I have successfully set up my 12 gal nano cube. First chamber has three stacked sponges which come about 1.5” below overflow to gain some oxygenation into sponge. I only routinely clean the top sponge and the other two completely submerged acts as a bacteria refugium. This flows to second chamber which is an up flow chamber where I have removed the bio balls and utilize two bags of ceramic disk, again for the bacteria refugium. This leaves plenty of room for other carbon bag or Purigen bag or whatever on top where there is good flow to an over flow to the third chamber where pump and heater are located.

I utilize 15lbs of rock and a ½” substrate and have a very stable system where I house a mated pair of Skunk clowns, 1 Skunk cleaner shrimp and about 12 Red-legged crabs in a garden of Zoas, Palys and a large GSP that the clowns host during lights on period. My water params are: Salinity 1.025, Temp 79.5 F, Amm 0.0, Nitrite 0.0, Nitrate <5, PO4 0.02, Ca 425, Alk 9.5 dKH, Mg 1450 ppm. And since my clowns eat like cows I usually run a bag of carbon I change monthly and a mixed bag of Purigen and PhosGuard I change weekly. I do 1 gal water changes weekly using Tropic Marin Pro and dose only 1 X weekly of Saliferts All in One, and this usually keeps my foundation params up nicely w/ only Zoas and Palys. In addition I also dose 0.5 ml of iodine X1 monthly to insure my Zoas have good uptake and growth. Doesn’t hurt for the crabs and shrimp as well. No skimmer on this tank.

Merry Skerry

[Legion455]

thanks for the post!!
what pump do you run? and what is the water level in the 2nd chamber?

take care
Allen