Filter in my 20g Biocube

Hi everyone. Nice little community you have set up here.
I have a 20g biocube and since my husband has left the province for collage I have been looking after it. It has all the original filter stuff going on. The bio cubes, the piece of foam beside the pump. I removed the cartridge a while ago because it needed replaceing and i never got a new one. I'm not one to put anything more than what is necessary, and I hate to buy things that i can substitute with something something i can make my self. This being said, I have heard some disheartening things about the biocubes and am rethinking them in the middle chamber. Is there something else that would be better in here than the biocubes? (this is an established tank with a little over 30 lbs of live rock, so the biofilteration is imo adaquate) I was wondering if there is a make shift replacement thing that people have found usefull for the filter cartridge that is in the first chamber. Also, we never did put a protien skimmer in this tank but i'v been thinking more and more about adding corals and was wondering what one is a good one for a tank this small and where you put it in the 3 chamber filter system.

Any advice that can save me some time and effort is apreciated

Hey there...First off..Thanks for joining my site...Glad to have ya here

We have a 29g biocube..and in the middle chamber, we removed any filters ect...We put in live rock rubble & chaeto..and placed a small flouresant light in there...Great filtration..

Shannon *Admin* wrote:Hey there...First off..Thanks for joining my site...Glad to have ya here

We have a 29g biocube..and in the middle chamber, we removed any filters ect...We put in live rock rubble & chaeto..and placed a small flouresant light in there...Great filtration..

I'm with Shannon on this. One of my tanks is also the BC29 and I have done the same...no filter pads, no bio ball, just live rock rubble in the center chamber. I even removed the sponge between the second chamber and the return chamber. The odd time I may fire in a small bag of activated carbon for some passive filtration if I think the water looks a little yellowish. I did have the bio cube skimmer in place but really its not worth the $50. Weekly 10-15% water changes are all that is required to keep up your water quality.

HTH
Matt

so, cookieman, what do you use to trap debris and stop it from returning to your tank? Do you vacuume the bottom with your changes. I personally do vacuume but i know several others who cringe at it.

As for me, I never vacuum...I feel it removes crutial bacteria and pods..
As for trapping debris, thats what the live rock rubble does, I never have anything really return into the tank after it filters through the rock & cheato..
Just my 2 cents..maybe someone else will chime in with there thoughts

supafreak wrote:so, cookieman, what do you use to trap debris and stop it from returning to your tank? Do you vacuume the bottom with your changes. I personally do vacuume but i know several others who cringe at it.

Yes I do vacuum. I feel its a benefit in avoiding debris/detritus build up in my tanks.

Matt

i used to not vacuume, and when i did i was horrified at the smelly stuff that was being picked up by the syphon. Can't be good for my livestock. However i have heard that if you have a really good clean up crew (sandsifters and such) they can be pretty effecient at removing stuff.

Anyways, really silly question here, but i'm nor sure on the size of my biocube. It is the oceanic biocube. Measurements are (including the black filter area on the back, and the top also 20X20X18. I could be off a tad, but does this work out to a standard size for the biocube? I can't find anything on the different sizes oceanic made of the biocube

Its a 29g I would say..I think that's what mine is here measurement wise..
Cookieman will know for sure..

The tank is a 29. Actual water volume in the tank tends to be somewhere in the area of 20 gallons after, heaters, pumps, substrate, and live rock is added.