# biocube owners unite!



## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

Hi i want to start a thread where all the biocube owners can share their mod tips/tricks to make the biocube work as a planted tank. I hope i am not the only one who's using a biocube as a planted tank!!

I will start:

1) Remove the bottom panel from the intake chamber for better flow/room, throw away the top drawer of middle chamber and all filter media/carbon/bioballs.

2) Seal the big hole in the wall between middle chamber and output chamber with epoxy stick, apply plenty to make sure it holds.

3) cut off 2-3inches of top wall between intake chamber and middle chamber to ensure smooth flow, and water do not overflow to output chamber without being forced down the middle. 

4) place heater in intake chamber (good water circulation), then place sponge on both intake chamber grills, place 2 bags of bio media followed by two sponge in middle chamber, make sure it covers the whole chamber. I just use the aquaclear hob bio + mechanical filter replacements. Cut the sponge slightly bigger than the chamber, so it has a tight fit.

5) fill all 3 chambers full of water, up to the wall height between output chamber and middle chamber. 

6) turn the output nozzle downward to completely remove any surface movement.

Now the big problem i have is co2 diffusion, i havent found a good method yet. Ceramic disk causes bubble all over the tank not to mention it's not very efficient. Powerhead reactor inside intake chamber next to the heater with sponge on output doesnt seem to diffuse the co2 well either, or maybe they are not getting distributed to the main tank (i have 3 bubble per sec, and co2 level still isnt high when it should be massive overdose in a 14 gallon). co2 reactor on the outside is what i will try next once petco ships me that diy internal filter mod niko posted, however i have a feeling it will look very ugly with that big lump of plastic in the tank for all to see. 

The best method is inline reactor between the output tube in the output chamber, however i dont know how to mod it, as you need almost something similar to the aquamedic reactor 1000 but much smaller and custom fit to the output tube.


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## kcrossley (Mar 25, 2010)

Wow, nobody responded yet. That sucks. There has to be more of us Biocube owners around. Just so you'll know, I'm also trying to start a Biocube thread on this forum: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/104735-official-biocube-thread.html

BTW, how did you remove the bottom panel from the intake chamber?


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## kcrossley (Mar 25, 2010)

newguy said:


> Ceramic disk causes bubble all over the tank not to mention it's not very efficient.


This is one of my problems. How did you resolve it?


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

newguy said:


> Powerhead reactor inside intake chamber next to the heater with sponge on output doesnt seem to diffuse the co2 well either, or maybe they are not getting distributed to the main tank (i have 3 bubble per sec, and co2 level still isnt high when it should be massive overdose in a 14 gallon). co2 reactor on the outside is what i will try next once petco ships me that diy internal filter mod niko posted, however i have a feeling it will look very ugly with that big lump of plastic in the tank for all to see.


Any chance of fitting the eheim filter (from Petco) inside where the Powerhead was?

(ooops... I dont have a BioCube... but am familiar with em. hope I'm still allowed to post [smilie=u: )


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## kcrossley (Mar 25, 2010)

Big_Fish said:


> (ooops... I dont have a BioCube... but am familiar with em. hope I'm still allowed to post [smilie=u: )[/QUOTE]
> 
> Absolutely, we Biocube owners can use all the help we can get.


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## effox (Mar 29, 2010)

I just have my CO2 tube duct taped down the electrical cord of the water pump (until I'm 100% that everything is gravy). I have the CO2 tube ending right in front of the the water pump's input cover.










It sucks the CO2 into the water pump, and the pump's impaler mixes the CO2 with the H2O.

It diffuses the CO2 perfectly in my case anyways, (you can't even see small bubbles), and there's no CO2 evaporation\bubbling in the 3rd chamber, so I know it's working.

Try this before you build a reactor, or add a power head to diffuse the CO2.


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## effox (Mar 29, 2010)

Fab a back plate that covers all three chambers, you'll save some fish doing this. I've happened to find them in all three chambers. If a fish gets into the 2nd chamber, they won't last long.

I sized it out, and cut it from a piece of plastic with a dull utility knife.

It would probably be sexier being metal and zip disked into nice clean lines, but for now it is what it is.

Front view of divider:









Installed:


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## effox (Mar 29, 2010)

effox said:


> ...
> It sucks the CO2 into the water pump, and the pump's impaler mixes the CO2 with the H2O...


I've just read adding a airstone will cause the impeller to have a longer life span, so I'll be adding this as well.


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

To answer a few questions, yes you can easily mod it to have a canister filter, and also external inline co2 reactor to another pump, but that kind defeats the whole purpose of all-in-one cube  I tried to make minimal mods and keep everything in the biocube.

One additional note, the fans in the biocube are absolute crap, very loud after just 2 months, and one already broke. Also they turn off when the lights are off, which is bad during the summer as the thing will get very hot. I replaced with the nanotuner kit, made a solid difference and more importantly very quiet now (make sure to pick the correct one for your size).

http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=365


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

the newer version of the biocube (the one i got from 2009) has built in plastic now that prevent the fish from jumping to the back chambers.



effox said:


> Fab a back plate that covers all three chambers, you'll save some fish doing this. I've happened to find them in all three chambers. If a fish gets into the 2nd chamber, they won't last long.
> 
> I sized it out, and cut it from a piece of plastic with a dull utility knife.
> 
> ...


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## effox (Mar 29, 2010)

newguy said:


> the newer version of the biocube (the one i got from 2009) has built in plastic now that prevent the fish from jumping to the back chambers.


Yeah that was a critical error they made...


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## gbbari (Apr 3, 2010)

Serious question - given the size of the fish population in your small cube, why is CO2 supplementation necessary? I would think your fish will supply all the CO2 the plants need.


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

gbbari said:


> Serious question - given the size of the fish population in your small cube, why is CO2 supplementation necessary? I would think your fish will supply all the CO2 the plants need.


Not even close.  we're trying to achieve 10-30 PPM dissolved co2. the amount of co2 given off by even a tank full of fish is barely measurable.


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## newguy (Mar 18, 2006)

yes my biocube is very overstocked, but it noway will provide enough co2 comparable to a pressurized system  wouldnt that be nice though....

what the fish does provide is nitrate for my plants. I reduced ferts down to once very 2 weeks now and even then only add a tiny amount of n compared to rest nutrients (pk, micro), and the plants are still growing like crazy. Going to pull out the entire stock of rotala soon, just dont have the time to do a massive trim every week, and if i dont they grow so fast it completely blocks the lighting for the dwarf sags, a few sags already turned yellow due to lack of lighting because i didnt have time to trim the rotala and left it for 1 extra week. 

going to pull all the rotala out, so only the sags are left in the tank = no more trimming!!

for those of you looking to start a high tech biocube planted, i would go with dwarf hairgrass instead of dwarf sag, and just float a few fast growing stem on top at initial setup dont plant them, once things become stable, throw the stem plants away. I regret not doing that, it will be a mess when i try to pull the rotala out now, as they are all rooted very deeply.


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