What would do well in a Biocube?

[Classklown90]

I have the oldstyle biocube with 48 watts of compact flourescent and I was wondering what i could keep in there with good color. I only have a few softies in here and some zoas but the zoas never look good. Ive had it up for 3 years and i change the water weekly, everything looks good but nothing has much color. Anyone know why this could be?

 

[dirtycontour]

I have a baby toadstool I would trade for zoos I'd you're interested.

 

[Brando457]

In my 14g old school biocube I kept zoas, acans, and a torch w/ success. The acans I put mid to high and zoas on sand. I kept a pair of ocellaris clowns w/ a goby.

 

[mnat]

Which lights do you have on there and how often do you replace them? The CF lights we ran where the 50/50 bulbs and they really need to be replaced every 6 months.

 

[Classklown90]

I run the 10k and acintic. I do try to replace them within that range. Thanks dirtycontour but toadstool is one of the few things I do have in there

 

[Coolaid]

You know, the LED retro fit kits for the biocube are pretty cheap now. I don't know of the size you have, but it's something to think about. I had one, but decided not to sell or trade it because one of the LED's fried on it. I am pretty handy with building if you needed a hand putting it together I'd be happy to help out.

If you are looking to keep the stock lights, and just add some color look into carnation coral, flower tree coral, chili coral, some nps gorgonians are really beautiful.. Sun coral also.. All need special care, but so amazing looking. xenia, GSP, mushrooms all do well with minimal light. Many of the "starter" corals should work out. Softies are great to create subtle color changes, and play nicely against eath other with the right placement. I have seen some amazing soft only tanks. Surprised the the zoas aren't doing well though. Do you have multiple kinds in there?

 

[mnat]

I run the 10k and acintic. I do try to replace them within that range. Thanks dirtycontour but toadstool is one of the few things I do have in there

I ran that same combo for a little while but really prefer the 50/50 bulbs. I was a lot happier with the colors in the tank. I had a bunch of favias in there that all seemed to like it.

 

[Classklown90]

I ran that same combo for a little while but really prefer the 50/50 bulbs. I was a lot happier with the colors in the tank. I had a bunch of favias in there that all seemed to like it.

Well I am almost due for a bulb change. Will that make it really blue tho?

You know, the LED retro fit kits for the biocube are pretty cheap now. I don't know of the size you have, but it's something to think about. I had one, but decided not to sell or trade it because one of the LED's fried on it. I am pretty handy with building if you needed a hand putting it together I'd be happy to help out.

If you are looking to keep the stock lights, and just add some color look into carnation coral, flower tree coral, chili coral, some nps gorgonians are really beautiful.. Sun coral also.. All need special care, but so amazing looking. xenia, GSP, mushrooms all do well with minimal light. Many of the "starter" corals should work out. Softies are great to create subtle color changes, and play nicely against eath other with the right placement. I have seen some amazing soft only tanks. Surprised the the zoas aren't doing well though. Do you have multiple kinds in there?

Leds would be something id think about but I'm not sure where to get them now. Nps are nice but too much work. My sps tank is enough to deal with which is why my biocube is hardly stocked anymore. I have metallic green dragoneyes which are green but nothing great and greenbay packers which looked to have browned out a bit.. Oh and it's a 14 gal. Cube



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[mnat]

No the 50/50 actually comes out pretty white, probably like a 12k ish if I was just doing an eye test.

 

[Classklown90]

No the 50/50 actually comes out pretty white, probably like a 12k ish if I was just doing an eye test.

Thanks mnat, that's actually my favorite look. Next time I'm at the lfs I'll be sure to pick two up and see if it helps.

I realize I may sound like a beginner by asking this but what am I limited to by using CF? Obv no sps but what Lps can I keep and what can't I keep? I have never explored the limits of cf I had this tank a year with basic coral then upgraded and kept going up from there and kind of left this little guy in the dust :/ though the mushrooms, dragoneyes and leathers I have are all huge and my clowns/watchman are doing great.

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[mnat]

We have kept favias for a long long time upon our cube. We had some success with Duncan's and some acan but the acan do need to be a bit higher. Our trumpets thrived in there.

 

[Classklown90]

We have kept favias for a long long time upon our cube. We had some success with Duncan's and some acan but the acan do need to be a bit higher. Our trumpets thrived in there.

I'll try some favia, I'll leave the acans to the big tank

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[Fish Brain]

Monti Caps, Birdsnest and Chalice corals all did really well in my Biocube 8 with (2x18W) PCs.

June:

November:

I moved the caps to my frag tank cuz they got so big and re-did the aquascape.

(Notice the chalice growing off the frag plug in the lower right.)

 

[Classklown90]

Wow that's very nice. Did anything brown out on you? And were you doing anything besides weekly water changes?

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[Classklown90]

What do you guys think about this?

http://shop.stevesleds.com/Coralife-BioCube-14-Gallon-LED-retrofit-kit-BC14.htm?productId=79

Would this be good enough to keep sps? And what bulb combo would you have? I prefer a 12k look. Is this the cheapest retrofit I can get? I don't want to build anything myself

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[Fish Brain]

Wow that's very nice. Did anything brown out on you? And were you doing anything besides weekly water changes?

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As you can see in the last pic, I had some SPS frags in the upper half of the tank. I had a rainbow monti that browned out but it was at the bottom of the tank and the caps were blocking out most of the tank they were getting so big.

 

[Classklown90]

As you can see in the last pic, I had some SPS frags in the upper half of the tank. I had a rainbow monti that browned out but it was at the bottom of the tank and the caps were blocking out most of the tank they were getting so big.

Okay I see. If I keep the stock lights then I will surely try that. Any opinions on the light I posted?

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[Zippy69]

I used Steve's for my 12 gal jbj nano. They work fine and at max power....lots of light. I keep mine at 50%. There is no on/off, only dimmers. No big deal if you have it on a trimmer. I would recommend changing the led colors somewhat. I used the recommended one with the kit and find that the reds look poor. Green, blues are fine but the reds/ pinks wash out. The fan for the top is nice and quiet. The driver is a bit bulky but not like the ballasts that came with the nano.

 

[Classklown90]

I used Steve's for my 12 gal jbj nano. They work fine and at max power....lots of light. I keep mine at 50%. There is no on/off, only dimmers. No big deal if you have it on a trimmer. I would recommend changing the led colors somewhat. I used the recommended one with the kit and find that the reds look poor. Green, blues are fine but the reds/ pinks wash out. The fan for the top is nice and quiet. The driver is a bit bulky but not like the ballasts that came with the nano.

Thanks for the info. I don't believe I can do anything except change the ratio of blues and whites I don't see an option for other colors. Here's what the recommended setup is:

9- Royal Blue Luxeon ES 3 watt LEDs*(feel free to choose your own ratio)
5- 5,000K Neutral White Luxeon ES 3 watt LEDs (feel free to choose your own ratio)

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[Zippy69]

Contact them. He is great at responding to emails with questions.I am pretty sure you can tweak it with some of the other LEDs of the same brand but different colors.