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3K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  jon luciani 
#1 ·
Greetings, all.

My wife and I have just purchased a 29 gallon Oceanic BioCube, and noticed that it does not include a protein skimmer.:doh: Obviously, we would like to add one, and would like a little assistance with the selection.

Criteria
First, we would like NOT to have to cut holes in our new 'Cube, so, anything completely submersible - or close to it - would be acceptable.

Second, if you are familiar with the BioCube setup, do we even need a protein skimmer? Our bio-load will include a Tridachna, a Lawnmower blenny, snails, hermits, one cleaner shrimp, some soft corals, eventually, hopefully, a nice fan coral, and perhaps some mushrooms. We were thinking about a percula or two, and an anemone. I would really like to add three or four chromis.

Any info would be greatly appreciated. :help:
 
#2 ·
skimmers are great to have, but not a necessity. if you do regular water changes and you are very good at siphoning out all of the detritus than you could do a 29 without a skimmer. you can get some HOB skimmers that are pretty good. AquaC remora is good suggestion. there is also the CPR BakPak. you might need to double check the skimmer height to make sure it will actually hang on the tank.

G~
 
#3 ·
If your nano has a complete hood like my Aquapod does then your either gonna have to remove the hood completely do fit a hang on skimmer on the tank. a purchase a Fission nano skimmer. Which in my opinion will not be able to handle a 29g tank. I had one on my 12g and took it off and sold it. i felt it wasnt doing its job, and that weekly water changes would be just as good.

If you really want a skimmer on the tank, the best small nano skimmer available right now is the AquaC Nano Remora. I dont know much about it, other then it is a HOB type filter. and can be found here:

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_protein_skimmers_aquac_nano_remora.asp?CartId=
 
#5 ·
#7 ·
Biocube Protein Skimmer

:confused:Hi,

I just started cycling a Biocube 29g with LR and LS. I have a Biocube Protein Skimmer in the middle back chamber. It does nothing, doesn't collect anything in the cup, it doesn't even bubble. It hums so I know there is power going through it, adjusting the air flow knob doesn't help either. Are Biocube Protein Skimmers pieces of crap or do I have a bad one? Is there anything I should try that will make it work? Thanks!
 
#8 ·
:confused:Hi,

I just started cycling a Biocube 29g with LR and LS. I have a Biocube Protein Skimmer in the middle back chamber. It does nothing, doesn't collect anything in the cup, it doesn't even bubble. It hums so I know there is power going through it, adjusting the air flow knob doesn't help either. Are Biocube Protein Skimmers pieces of crap or do I have a bad one? Is there anything I should try that will make it work? Thanks!
Welcome to the Reeftank!

I have not found a small skimmer designed for a nano tank that works, I have not used te one you mentioned but can imagine it's like the ones I have tried.
 
#9 ·
The Biocube skimmer actually works ok for what it is. Given the limited space there are not many options and many people don't want to cut the hood. When I worked at the LFS, the Oceanic rep said they researched many designs and simply could not come up with a small enough pump driven skimmer that worked well in the small amount of space the Biocube has. We took one of the Oceanic Biocube skimmers and set it up on a tank to test it out. Like any airdriven skimmer it needs constant tweaking but it did work. Another protein skimmer benefit is increased oxygenation which can benefit any tank.

Prixmo67 - The skimmer is simply an air pump and an airstone. If you do not have any bubbles than this should be easy to troubleshoot. Chances are that you have the check valve installed backwards and it is blocking the air flow. Also, the wood airstone needs to be replaced every month or two. Start disconnecting the air tubing from the pump to the skimmer one piece at a time and find out where the stoppage is. Once you have bubbles, you have to adjust the physical height of skimmer to set the level of the bubbles. It must be installed in the first section so there is a constant water level.
 
#10 ·
BC protein skimmer

Thanks for the advice! I had the skimmer assembled right, but there was a rubber piece inside a connector in the tubing line that I removed and now it makes bubbles just fine. In the assembly instructions it never said to remove that piece...it is actually still in the tubing in the assembly diagram! I didn't think I was suppose to remove it. The trouble now is if I have the protein skimmer, a small heater, and the stock filter in chamber #1 it makes ALOT of noise. I could handle the drip noise it made before, now it's like a waterfall going over the side from #1 to #2. I removed the bioballs when I got the biocube, they probably would buffer the noise but I heard they are crap. I have LR rubble and filter floss in chamber #2. Any ideas how to lessen the noise? Thanks!
 
#11 ·
Raise the water level. The only reason the level is kept low to begin with is so the bioballs are kept above the water, hence the name wet/dry filtration. Bioballs need to be kept in an aerobic enviorment and will not house the correct bacteria if submerged. Since you removed the bioballs there is no reason that the water can't be almost all the way up to the top. You want at least 3/4 to 1in drop from chamber 1 to chamber 2 so the water surface won't get scummy.

On a side note, placing live rock rubble and filter floss in the same aerobic enviorment will cause the same nitrate problem that bioballs cause. I would pull out the filter floss unless you want to change it every few days. The liverock will be ok as long as it is submerged and will actually act as a pod refuge even without additional lighting. Just be sure to clean the detritus out of there once and a while.
 
#12 ·
I have been changing the filter floss daily, it seems to be trapping lots of crap. I started up the cube on Thursday, and Saturday the water was pretty clear already. I have a huge bag of ff, so I'll probably use it up and then not use it anymore. Thanks for the great advice. :agree:
 
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