How to Make a Used Saltwater Biocube Look Like New Again

Coralife LED BioCube FRESHWATER Aquarium Setup Guide
w/ Info on Maintenance, Upgrades & Common Problems

QUICK LINKS:
1. Getting Started
2. Cycling the Aquarium
3. Adding Fish
four. Regular Maintenance
5. Upgrading Your BioCube
6. Mutual BioCube Problems

Annotation: We also have a Coralife LED BioCube Saltwater Aquarium Setup Guide.

ane. Getting Started
For accompaniment to this commodity, view the How To Prepare A BioCube Aquarium Video. Though the video focuses on setting up the BioCube every bit a saltwater aquarium, most of the video will utilise to setting upward a BioCube every bit a freshwater aquarium.

You but received your new Coralife LED BioCube Size 32 or Size 16 Aquarium. Now what? Setting up your BioCube is really a unproblematic process if yous�re patient and follow these seven steps.

Note: If you are setting up your BioCube every bit a reef aquarium or saltwater fish-simply aquarium please visit the Coralife LED BioCube Saltwater Aquarium Setup Guide.

Step #1 Position Your BioCube

Where should you put your BioCube? It should be placed shut to an electrical outlet and out of straight sunlight. Use either a GFCI outlet or power strip with a built in GFCI. A tertiary option is using the Stupor Shield GFCI Plug Adapter. Place your BioCube on a flat, level surface that can support its total weight. Do not underestimate how much a full BioCube can weigh. The BioCube Size 32 is hands over 300 pounds when full.

Yous tin can use the Coralife BioCube Size sixteen Aquarium Stand or Coralife BioCube Size 32 Aquarium Stand up. These Stands are designed specifically for BioCubes. We've posted the How To Build a BioCube 32 Stand Video on YouTube to help with associates.

It�s a good idea to leave a couple inches between the aquarium and the wall to route cords and let admission to the back of the aquarium if needed. Call back, once you fill your aquarium with water, moving the aquarium will merely be possible if you first drain the tank.

Step #ii The Pump and Filter Cartridge
Once the aquarium is in place, pull the ability cord connected to the main return pump out of the opening in the canopy located straight in a higher place the pump. Do non plug the pump in yet. Open the handbag containing the BioCube Filter Cartridge and rinse information technology in your sink with tap water. Place the cartridge on top of the media rack in the middle bedchamber.

The BioCube Filter Cartridge should be replaced monthly. Salvage coin by purchasing a multi-pack, such every bit the BioCube Filter Cartridge 12-Pack.

Step #iii Substrate and Hardscape
Earlier filling the tank with h2o, add substrate and hardscape. Hardscape consists of rocks and forest decorations. In planted aquariums natural rock and woods are often selected and locally due to the high shipping costs. When selecting rock, do not choose any rock that looks metallic or is known to contain metal. Do non cull any rocks that accept calcium, such as limestone. When choosing wood, make sure that sap is dry. Some woods have toxins that leach into the h2o and can kill fish. Some good wood types include Malaysian driftwood, spider wood, and manzanita forest.

Before adding rocks make sure that the rocks accept been cleaned of dirt and debris by spraying them with a hose exterior. Wood volition leach discoloring compounds called tannins into the aquarium water giving the tank an ugly chocolate-brown color. Soaking the woods for a few weeks to a month before putting information technology in your tank can help remove these tannins before you lot identify the wood in your tank. If y'all want to avoid the concerns associated with natural decorations you can purchase artificial decorations that are prophylactic for aquariums and don�t need any cleaning. Nosotros deport a variety of AquaTop Decorative Plants.

Once you have added your hardscape to the tank you tin can add your substrate. Calculation the substrate subsequently your hardscape volition aid to ballast your hardscape in identify. Live plants practice best with a soil similar substrate that allows plant roots to hands penetrate the substrate and absorb nutrients. Nosotros recommend Seachem Flourite Clay Substrate. One 7.vii lb bag of Fluorite will piece of work for the BioCube 16 and ii should exist used for the BioCube 32.

Your substrate needs to be rinsed to avoid excessive cloudiness once the tank is filled with water. Pour the substrate into a saucepan, and then button a hose to the lesser of the bucket and turn the hose on. Stir gently with the terminate of the hose and permit the water overflow from the bucket until all of the chocolate-brown cloudiness has poured out of the bucket. Once the h2o is running clear, dump out the remaining water and add the substrate to the aquarium.

Effort to avoid placing rocks very close to the viewing panels and then that you can easily clean the glass in the hereafter. It helps to employ aquarium glue or an underwater epoxy to concur rocks together and brand sure the structure is stable. We sell a number of adhesives for gluing together the stone and attaching plants to the rock and forest.

Step #4 Adding Plants
In a planted aquarium it is all-time to add together most of your desired plants right away. With lots of low-cal and a food rich substrate algae volition grow quickly if in that location are no plants using up the nutrients and calorie-free free energy.

When selecting plants wait for plants that have a crisp green color and are costless of blemishes or discoloration. Choose plants that are truly aquatic and take been grown underwater. Many aquatic plants are grown immersed with simply their roots in water. These plants tin be hard to transition to a completely submerged surroundings. There are likewise some plants that are easier to care for than others, including anubais, java fern, mosses, cryptocorynes, and sword plants. These plants are all practiced choices for beginners.

Once you have your plants you can add together them to the aquarium while the tank is notwithstanding dry. Apply Plant Tweezers to push rooting plants into the aquarium substrate. Some plants, such as mosses, Java ferns, and anubais grow naturally on rock and wood. You tin can attach these plants to surfaces using Two Little Fishies CorAffix aquarium glue. You don�t need to rush the planting process as the water plants can survive out of the water for a day or more. Once all the plants are in identify you lot are ready to add h2o.

Step #5 Adding Water
When adding water to an aquarium you need to make certain the water is condom. The most toxic substance in tap water is chlorine. Chlorine is designed to sterilize h2o and kill all life. This is obviously bad for your fish. Treating tap water with a water conditioner such as Seachem Prime number (earlier pouring it into the tank) will remove harmful chlorine.

In addition to chlorine, in that location may be other harmful compounds in your water. Because everyone�s h2o is different nosotros can�t tell you what may be in your water. For the highest quality water it is best to start with RO water. You can purchase RO water from your local fish store or grocery store, or you tin can go far yourself using an RO System. We recommend the AquaticLife RO Buddie 50 GPD Opposite Osmosis Arrangement. Because RO water is so pure it is skilful to add beneficial minerals back to the water before adding the water to your. We recommend Brightwell Aquatics Remineraliz.

In one case y'all have your water ready you can pour it into the aquarium. We recommend you direct the water to fall on top of the rocks or wood y'all accept added to avert stirring up the substrate and causing cloudiness. As you add water to the tank, the water volition starting time to overflow into the back filter sleeping room. Make full until the water level in the back chamber of your BioCube is near three/4 full.

Step #half dozen Time to Plug In The Pump
Once there is water in the aquarium, you tin plug in the master return pump and start water circulation inside the aquarium. However, brand sure the cord leading from the pump to the outlet has a baste loop. Drip loops should exist installed on every single piece of aquarium equipment to ensure the prophylactic of you and your home. A drip loop is where the cord coming from the pump or other aquarium device first dips down below the level of the outlet and and then rises support to the level of the outlet. The drooping slice of string ensures that whatsoever h2o that drips down the cord will drip onto the floor rather than enter the outlet where it could lead to an electrical fire.

After the pump is plugged in the aquarium volition exist cloudy. This should subside after a couple days. You can now motility on to programming your aquarium low-cal.

Step #7 Allow At that place Exist Light
It is at present time to program your BioCube lights. Before you start programming at that place are a couple things to keep in listen. The lights do non demand to come up on when the dominicus comes up. If you�re dwelling house in the evenings, then have the lights run when y'all�re home and non at work. Likewise, recollect that running your lights longer can lead to excessive algae.

A planted aquarium should accept a photo menstruation of twelve hours a mean solar day (plants in nature experience light close to 12 hours a day throughout the twelvemonth). Withal, you do not demand intense light for twelve hours. If your aquarium is in a room with ambience light, then running your LED lights six to eight hours a twenty-four hours is adequate. You can run the relatively dim Channel 3 blue LEDs when the chief lights (Aqueduct 1 & Channel 2) are turned off.

Starting time by plugging in the BioCube lights (make sure to include a baste loop in the ability string). Turn the hood on. But printing the Menu button to bike through setting the clock, and setting the on and off times for Channel 1, Channel 2 and Channel 3.

Press the Card button repeatedly until either the 12H or 24H is displayed on the screen, you can utilise the up and down arrows to switch between regular and military fourth dimension. One time you have selected your preference, press MENU again to set upward the clock.

A clock icon should exist displayed when setting upward the clock. Employ the up and down arrows to alter the hour. Afterwards setting the 60 minutes, printing Bill of fare again and so set the minutes. Pressing Menu again will have you to Channel 1 (you will see the numeral 1 in the lower left of the screen).

Aqueduct i is for the daytime LEDs. Nosotros recommend running these lights for four to half dozen hours a mean solar day. There should be the discussion on displayed on the right of the screen. Use the arrows to set the hour. Pressing MENU again will allow you to set the minutes. Pressing MENU once more will allow you to ready the off time for Channel ane the aforementioned way you set the on time. Pressing MENU over again volition take you to Channel ii, which is for the blue LEDs. We recommend running the bluish LEDs run for six to eight hours a twenty-four hour period, starting and ending about an hour before and afterward the white LEDs. You can set the on and off times just equally you did with Channel 1. If your aquarium is in a basement or a room that gets zero ambient light we recommend running Channel 2 for twelve hours a twenty-four hour period.

Pressing MENU another time will take you to Channel 3, the lunar light channel. Virtually people will run the lunar lights either a few hours after the primary lights turn off or all night long. Y'all can set the fourth dimension simply as you did for Channels 1 and Channel 2. Afterwards you program the lunar lights, pressing MENU will take you back to the time brandish. At that time you programming is complete.

2. Cycling the Aquarium
Cycling your BioCube Aquarium is a disquisitional footstep. The process of cycling is where the natural bio-filter of the aquarium is established. The vast bulk of the filtration in a given aquarium is non from the filter but from the living bacteria in the aquarium. The bacteria comes from the air, bodies of the fish, and substrate. This bacteria will break down fish and food waste into less toxic compounds so your fish and plants can live.

Stride #ane Add Bacteria and a Food Source
For the cycling process to kickoff y'all must first provide a food source for the beneficial leaner. If you are using a fertilizer enriched substrate such as Seachem Flourite Clay Substrate then the substrate will have some nutrients in information technology. While bacteria will naturally come up from the substrate and decorations you lot can speed up bacterial growth by calculation Brightwell Aquatics MicroBacter7.

Step #2 Expect for Nature to Works Its Magic
Once y'all accept added a food source for the leaner, your aquarium�southward ammonia level will rise. Ammonia is toxic to fish, but the nitrifying leaner in your aquarium will before long proliferate and brainstorm breaking downward the ammonia. When the nitrifying leaner break downwardly ammonia, information technology produces nitrite. Nitrite is less toxic than ammonia merely can yet exist dangerous to your fish. Some other group of nitrifying bacteria will and then proliferate and interruption down the nitrite. The byproduct of nitrite reduction is nitrate. Nitrate is only mildly toxic to fish, yet it�s still undesirable considering it can also crusade excessive algae growth. In nature, plants or a specialized group of leaner remove nitrate. In the aquarium either plants or water changes can remove nitrate. Add no fish to the aquarium while the levels of toxic Ammonia, and Nitrite are high.

Step #3 Monitor the Cycle
During the cycling procedure you lot will demand to monitor the aquarium�southward h2o parameters so yous can know where your aquarium is in the cycling procedure. Testing daily or every other mean solar day is sufficient. Y'all should test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate each fourth dimension you test. You can use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Primary Test Kit.

During cycling you will besides need to regularly add peak-off water to your BioCube. When water evaporates only the water leaves the aquarium, so yous should always peak it off with fresh water. As with your original aquarium water, your tiptop-off h2o should be conditioned with water conditioner or purified with an RO Organization. Make sure to fill the tank to the same level information technology started with. One time your test results bear witness in that location is no more than ammonia and nitrite in the water, the cycle is complete and you can begin preparing to add fish. The entire bike process usually takes iii-five days.

Step #4 Preparing for Fish
When you lot finish cycling you will need to perform your first water modify. The water change volition help to remove the nitrate left over from cycling your tank. About one/3 of the tank water should be inverse initially. This amounts to most i five-gallon saucepan for the BioCube xvi and 2 buckets for the BioCube 32. Make sure to set your water alee of fourth dimension just as you lot did when you initially filled the aquarium.

Earlier removing the dirty water you should clean the algae off the glass of the aquarium with a Coralife BioCube Algae Cleaning Magnet or an algae pad such as a Seachem Duo Algae Pad. And so you can remove water from the aquarium by using an Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer or Python No Spill Clean & Fill gravel vac. Unplug the master return pump and then place the gravel vac in the aquarium. Gently suck on the hose finish of the gravel vac to start the siphon so place the hose terminate in a bucket. Gently push the gravel vac into the substrate removing equally much waste product as possible. One time you have removed the dirty h2o from the aquarium, you can pour the new water you lot prepared into the aquarium and plough on the principal return pump. At this point yous should do your first cartridge replacement. You lot should replace the cartridge before yous add fish and so that your filtration is functioning optimally. Rinse the new filter cartridge just equally you did with your original cartridge.

3. Adding Fish
Calculation livestock is the most exciting function of setting up your BioCube Aquarium. Hither are some basic guidelines that can make it elementary.

Adding Fish
When selecting what kind of fish to add to your aquarium, consider the eventual adult size of the fish as well as the temperament of the fish. Fish that abound excessively large or are extremely ambitious should be avoided. You should as well avoid fish with difficult dietary needs and other difficult to satisfy care needs. Selecting fish should start earlier you walk into the fish store. Using the internet or an aquarium guide book can direct you to some species that are well suited for your aquarium. A quick listing of some suitable kinds of fish include: Tetras, Minnows, Barbs, Danios, Cory Catfish, and Kilifish. Once you lot take selected what kind of fish you would similar to add together, y'all will need to select the individual fish yous would like to purchase. When selecting fish make sure to choose fish from make clean aquariums with no dead or dying fish. Audit the fish to ensure it�s free of wounds, blemishes or spots. The fish should exist eating, plump, and responsive to stimuli. A skinny fish is prone to disease and is probable being bullied by its tank mates. Ask the employees at your local fish shop to feed the fish for you lot and but buy fish that you see swallow. It is likewise a expert idea to use the same food that you lot saw the fish eat.

Afterwards you pick out your fish you volition need to take it dwelling and acclimate it to your water. When y'all are transporting your fish try to keep the fish in a dark temperature controlled environment. Bringing a small cooler along is ideal. While a fish tin survive in a bag for long periods of time, yous want to minimize the stress on the fish by reducing the corporeality of time that the fish is in the bag. Try to go directly domicile after purchasing your fish. Once you have the fish dwelling house you tin can starting time the acclimation process. Float the fish in the bag on the surface of the aquarium for 15 minutes. This volition equalize the temperature between the water in the purse and the water in your aquarium. After the temperature is equal you can open up the fish bag and pour the fish with water through a net discarding the water. It is a proficient practice to never add together any water likewise your own to your tank since you don�t know what the water contains. Once the fish is in the net you lot can empty the cyberspace into the tank.

Be very careful not to add together likewise many fish besides apace or besides many fish in total. No more than iii to v fish should exist added at a time to the aquarium. Wait at least a week before adding more fish and terminate calculation fish in one case the tank becomes likewise difficult to keep clean or the fish continually fight over territory. For freshwater setups, the BioCube Size 16 Aquariums should take 10 fish (average length 1�) or fewer and BioCube Size 32 Aquariums should have xx (average length 1�) or fewer fish.

Adding Invertebrates
There are a variety of invertebrates you tin add to your BioCube. These include motile invertebrates such equally shrimp, snails, and crayfish. You lot can further categorize these into cleaner invertebrates and ornamental invertebrates. Cleaner invertebrates are much easier to care for and tin can be added shortly after the tank is ready. Cleaner inverts, oftentimes called the cleanup crew, tolerate dingy water well and don�t crave any specialized feeding. The biggest problem with the clean upwards coiffure is they often starve. Because of this, do not add together a cleanup crew until in that location is something to clean. Once yous notice algae growth and detritus accumulation y'all can add a cleanup coiffure. The most common cleaner inverts are snails and shrimp, especially amano shrimp and nerite snails. Brand certain not to add too many cleaners. This can lead to the clean upward crew starving and dying. If you lot are unsure of how many snails or shrimp to add together, and then remember that you tin ever add more down the route if there are still algae and detritus to feed them. Snails and shrimp are very hardy, just information technology is still a best practice to acclimate them in the aforementioned manner as you would fish.

Ornamental invertebrates, such every bit some more delicate shrimp species like crystal shrimp, are more than difficult to keep than fish and should be added later in one case the aquarium is more established. These shrimp tin can exist added in the same fashion as fish only keep in mind that many fish will eat shrimp so make sure to pick your fish accordingly. It is common for a BioCube 16 to house 15 or more shrimp and a BioCube 32 to house 30 or more. A last consideration is that smaller shrimp species may become sucked into the BioCube filter. These species are best kept in a specialized aquarium with a specialized filter.

4. Regular Maintenance
To keep your animals healthy and your tank looking skilful your, BioCube requires regular maintenance. You lot demand to clean the aquarium, feed the aquarium, supplement the aquarium, and service your equipment. To make sure that you perform regular maintenance it is best to stick to a schedule.

Daily Maintenance
Notice your animals. Brand sure that y'all await at all of your plants, fish, and invertebrates to ensure that they�re all eating and responsive.

Feed your tank. Fish should be fed on a daily footing and some shrimp should likewise be fed regularly as well.

Clean the drinking glass. It�southward all-time to clean your drinking glass daily. Using an algae magnet like the Coralife BioCube Algae Cleaning Magnet or the Flipper Nano 2 In i Magnet Aquarium Algae Cleaner volition make daily cleaning easy.

Top off the tank. Every day you should cheque the water level in your BioCube to make certain it�southward not too low. Once information technology has dropped noticeably top off the tank using conditioned h2o or RO h2o.

Supplement your tank. Many plant fertilizers are best dosed daily. This is particularly the instance with iron fertilizers.

Weekly Maintenance
Water changes. Water changes should happen at to the lowest degree monthly, simply many people prefer doing a pocket-sized h2o change every week rather than a large water change every month. If yous like adding lots of fish and feeding lots of food, then you lot may have to exercise weekly water changes.

Exam your water. When you lot starting time commencement your tank information technology is very important that you regularly examination your h2o. Testing weekly can allow you know where your tank is in the cycling process and it tin can also alert you to problems before they get out of control. In one case the tank is established you should still examination weekly for nitrate, and pH. We recommend using the API Freshwater Master Examination Kit.

Assuming you have cycled your aquarium properly, you should not need to test for ammonia and nitrite. However, if a fish or shrimp dies it may be an indication that you have ammonia or nitrite in the aquarium.

Supplementing your tank weekly with fertilizers is not as good as daily, but it can suffice.

Trimming your aquarium plants tin become a weekly action if you are successfully keeping fast growing plants. Yous can use Institute Scissors to trim and then remove the trimmed leaves with a net.

Monthly Maintenance
H2o changes. If you don�t do weekly water changes, you should do water changes at least once a calendar month. Change at to the lowest degree 1/3 of the tanks volume at least once a calendar month. Doing water changes more than often than this can assistance, only changing more than l% of the water at one time can be stressful on your animals.

Replace your filter cartridge. Replacing your BioCube Filter Cartridge monthly, simply every bit you lot did before you added fish. A fresh cartridge will be free of debris and take fresh activated carbon to absorb impurities. Clean the acme of the aquarium and the light lens. The surfaces of your BioCube will be splashed because of the h2o move in the aquarium. Over time this splashing will form difficult water deposits. The result is a crusty build-upward on the surface of the aquarium. Clean off this buildup with a damp rag. The well-nigh important area to clean is the lens cover of your calorie-free. When deposits build up on the calorie-free comprehend it will limit the amount of light entering the aquarium and getting to your plants. Cleaning the comprehend regularly can prevent this.

Add supplements. In aquariums with very few plants monthly fertilizer additions may be all that is needed.

Trim Plants. If you have slower growing plants in your aquarium, they may simply crave monthly trimming. You can trim the leaves with Establish Scissors and remove the trimmed leaves with a fish net.

Bi-annual Maintenance
Make clean the main return pump. Cleaning your main return pump will help it last longer and pump more water. Unplug the main return pump to the BioCube and remove it for cleaning. Detach the pump by removing the screen encompass past pulling it away from the main trunk of the pump. Then rotate the impeller embrace so that the grooves on the side are out from underneath the clamps on the pump trunk. After you lot�ve rotated the impeller cover, pull the impeller embrace away from the chief body of the pump. You can then reach inside the body of the pump and remove the pump�south impeller.

Once you lot have the pump disassembled you can clean all of the pieces with a tooth brush and and then re-assemble the pump. If yous have another pump in the aquarium to oxygenate the water, you tin can use vinegar to remove calcium deposits on your pump (you should always take at least one pump running). Pour some white vinegar in a pocket-sized container such as a bullpen, lower the pump into the vinegar, and then plug the pump in. Look for a couple hours, or overnight, and then rinse the pump off in the sink and return it to service.

Clean your light. Beyond regularly cleaning the lite encompass you lot should unscrew the light comprehend and employ compressed air to clean dust and debris from the LED panel and the cooling fan. This will assist insure that the calorie-free is properly ventilated and that the fan is functioning properly.

Clean whatever other electronic equipment. If yous accept added whatsoever other equipment such as a, circulation pump, or dosing pump, the pumps running these pieces of equipment should also be cleaned. Y'all can clean these pumps in the same way that you cleaned the primary render pump. If you have added a heater or chiller, recalibrating it regularly can ensure that it is maintaining the correct temperature.

Note Most SUPPLEMENTS:
Growing good for you plants will crave fertilizers and supplements to build new tissue. There are many plant supplements to choose from. For beginners,we recommend but using Seachem Flourish and Seachem Flourish Excel. Many successful planted aquariums will practise very well with only these 2 supplements. Flourish is a comprehensive all-in-i fertilizer and Excel is a carbon source that can help prevent algae. These supplements should be added at least monthly but weekly or daily additions are better because of the increased stability. The amount dosed is based solely on the amount of plants in the aquarium with more plants requiring more fertilizer.

If your exam results testify at that place is no detectable nitrate in the h2o, you will definitely need to add fertilizer. Likewise, if yous accept an excessive amount of nitrate yous should stop dosing with fertilizer.

5. Upgrading Your BioCube
As your aquarium matures, and equally you become more than experienced, you volition want to find ways to improve your BioCube. Yous can upgrade your tank�south filtration, add together CO2, add temperature control devices, and utilize automation. These upgrades will reduce maintenance and increase the functionality of your aquarium and so that you tin can keep more delicate animals with less work.

Upgrading Filtration
When you receive your BioCube the dorsum filtration area is intentionally left empty. This is and then that you can customize the filtration to your liking. The simplest mode to heave your filtration is to add some chemical filter media to the trays in the middle chamber of the filtration expanse. The most common filtration media is activated carbon. Carbon will help to ameliorate water clarity, reduce odors, remove heavy metals, and remove dissolved organic compounds. We recommend using the Inland Seas 6 oz Activated Carbon for the BioCube 32 and Inland Seas 3 oz Activated Carbon for the BioCube sixteen.

Another option is to add a form of resin filtration. Popular resins include Seachem Purigen, Poly-Bio-Marine Poly Filter Pads, and Chemi-Pure Greenish. Resins last longer than carbon and tin can remove compounds carbon tin can�t, such equally ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Resins are also improve than carbon at removing heavy metals.

There are multiple trays in the dorsum bedroom of the BioCube Aquariums, so using more than ane of these filter medias is possible.

A second way to upgrade the filtration is to add a UV Sterilizer. UV sterilizers are designed to kill everything in the h2o column with UV light. UV sterilizers are primarily used to kill algae, bacteria and parasites in the water. In planted aquariums dark-green h2o from algae is mutual and a UV sterilizer will remove this. UVs tin can too reduce fish disease and cease the white cloudiness from bacterial blooms. We recommend the Coralife BioCube Sterilizer which is designed to fit between the return pump and water output of the BioCube xvi and 32.

Upgrading Temperature Control
Many people will non need to add a chiller or heater to their freshwater aquarium. Any temperature between 76 and 80 is acceptable for a planted aquarium, and many aquariums will naturally stay in this range without any additional effort. However, if your home temperature is in the low 70s or mid 80s and then you will need to await into ways of spooky or heating your BioCube.

Heating the aquarium is much easier than chilling it. Adding a simple and affordable aquarium heater such as a classic ViaAqua Quartz Heater, or Hydor Theo Heater volition ensure that yous aquarium stays warm enough. The BioCube 32 can accommodate a 100 watt heater (Hydor Theo 100W Aquarium Heater), and the BioCube 16 only needs a fifty watt heater (Hydor Theo 50W Aquarium Heater). The heater is ordinarily placed in either the beginning or tertiary sleeping room of the BioCube. If you decide to place a heater in the third sleeping accommodation, yous will demand to raise the water level in the third bedroom so the heater stays submerged.

Aquarium chillers are far more expensive than aquarium heaters. Fortunately, the new LED BioCubes run much cooler than the older fluorescent BioCubes, which sometimes had estrus bug. Despite using LEDS, if your aquarium is in a hot room a chiller may notwithstanding be necessary. Before calculation a chiller, endeavour calculation a fan to stop heat from building up inside the aquarium. The Zoo Med Aqua Cool Aquarium Cooling Fan can be inserted through one of the back openings in the canopy of either the BioCube 16 or BioCube 32. The fan alone can drop the temperature 3-four degrees. Adding a nano chiller such as a JBJ 1/15HP Mini-Arctica Aquarium Chiller will insure that your aquarium stays cool enough. Chillers must exist plumbed inline, making their installation a little hard. The most common fashion to install a chiller is to use the principal return pump to pump water out of the aquarium, and through the chiller, and then pump back from the chiller to the outlet inside the aquarium. Because of the extra work required for the pump to push water through the chiller, information technology�s a good thought to upgrade your pump when adding a chiller.

Upgrading CO2
All plants apply CO2 to grow. Photosynthesis works by using calorie-free energy to plough water and CO2 into sugar, and since in that location is non much CO2 dissolved in the water CO2 can be a limiting gene for found growth. The simplest way to add together CO2 to your BioCube is with an Ista Disposable CO2 Prepare. To use, place the CO2 Fix Diffuser in the first chamber of the BioCube, and then press the push on the top of the CO2 container to add CO2 to the diffuser. The CO2 in the diffuser will slowly dissolve abroad over time. By and large, CO2 will need to be added almost once a day.

For more info encounter our Ista CO2 Diffuser Set Video.

For more than advanced CO2 set ups y'all tin utilise the Ista Premium CO2 Set. But like with the basic kit, you will place the CO2 diffuser in the first chamber and store the canister in the stand up. With the Premium Gear up you might just demand to replace your cartridge once per month.

Upgrading Automation
Adding automation to your aquarium tin aid you exercise less aquarium maintenance. It�s too an first-class way to maintain your aquarium when yous�re out of town.

The most common automation addition is an automatic acme off unit, or ATO. An ATO will go along the water level in your aquarium consequent.

There are a multifariousness of ATOs to choose from. An excellent option is the IceCap ATO. This ATO is affordable, reliable, and has small, discrete sensors that fit into the tertiary bedroom of the BioCube. To install the ATO, connect the sensors and pump to the control unit of measurement. Apply the magnet to identify the sensors right at the water level in the 3rd chamber. Place the pump in a container of fresh water and rout the pump�s hose back up to the aquarium and turn on the unit of measurement. The ATO will then maintain the tank�south h2o level at the point where you placed the sensors. Merely brand sure to fill the reservoir with RO water when necessary. With a v gallon reservoir you could take enough acme off h2o for a couple weeks.

Ane of the most common concerns people accept when going out of town is feeding the fish. You can ever have a friend or neighbor feed your fish, but often these helpers will overfeed the fish, leading to a muddied aquarium. An automated feeder such as the Hydor Ekomixo Fish Feeder will feed your fish a consequent amount of dry food on a daily basis. Feeders are also needed if you have a tank at work and you tin can�t feed your fish on the weekend. To utilise an automobile feeder, fill up the drum on the auto feeder with your choice of dry food. Then program the feeder according to the manual and test the feeder by having the feeder dump some food on to your hand. You tin accommodate the amount of nutrient by opening or endmost the door on the auto feeder.

If y'all�re just gone for a curt flow of time, you can have the feeding door open at the top of the aquarium hood. For a more permanent solution you tin cut a small hole in the awning and set up the auto feeder above the opening.

The last piece of automation to consider is a dosing pump. Dosing Pumps automatically add liquid additives on a pre-scheduled basis. Healthy planted aquariums require fertilizer additions and these additions are best added daily. Using a dosing pump to automate this task can save you time and ensure the additions are done consistently and regularly. We recommend using the Kamoer FX-STP Peristaltic Dosing Pump. The pump is controller through your phone or tablet using the gratis App and Bluetooth. Each pump simply adds one additive, simply you lot tin employ multiple pumps and control each one with the App.

6. Common BioCube Problems
Algae
By far the nearly common trouble all aquarists experience is unwanted algae. Algae is inevitable in an aquarium, just it can be managed. The get-go thing to consider when you come across algae is that some algae is normal and unavoidable. Fifty-fifty the about skilled aquarists have algae in their tanks. Needing to clean the glass of a light algae film weekly is normal. Algae blooms within the offset 3-6 months of setting up a new tank are normal. After about six months, when a tank has go established, if algae begins to cover rocks, sand, and plants, then you have a true problem that needs to be addressed.

The commencement thing to do when experiencing an algae trouble is to empathize that algae doesn�t come up from nowhere. Algae is growing in response to platonic algae growing conditions in the form of light, and nutrients, and improper CO2 levels. Almost algae problems in planted aquariums are due to an imbalance of these 3 levels.

Of these three levels the easiest one to balance is the aquariums nutrient levels. This is the easiest considering an aquarium�s nitrate level is a peachy indicator of the overall nutrients in the aquarium. Plants need nitrogen from nitrate but too much nitrate can fuel algae growth. When you are experiencing an algae problem, starting time by testing for nitrate. Your target range for nitrate should be between five-ten ppm. If your test reads out of this range you will demand to correct the nutrient imbalance in the aquarium.

To lower the nitrate levels in your aquarium perform water changes. Afterward the water change test the aquarium water again to see if you will need to perform more water changes to get the desired results. Keep in mind that a fifty% water change only removes 50% of the water and fifty% of the waste, so reducing a nitrate level of 80 ppm to 10 ppm would require three 50% water changes.

To increase the aquarium food levels, add a balanced comprehensive fertilizer such as Seachem Flourish. Dosing based on nitrate levels is all-time since nitrogen is the primary ingredient in Flourish. If the nitrate levels start to raise besides loftier, terminate or reduce the corporeality of fertilizer yous are dosing.

CO2 imbalances tin also crusade algae. A CO2 injection system tin often reduce algae past providing a CO2 balance that favors your plants over the algae. Yous can test with an Ista CO2 indicator to find out if your tank needs more CO2. If the indicator turns yellowish, so too much CO2 is being injected and you tin can reduce the CO2 flow. If the indicator is blue, then yous need more than CO2. If the indicator is green then your CO2 is just right.

Getting your lite levels just right tin be hard because at that place is non a good measurement of how much light your aquarium should receive. In full general, if both nutrients and CO2 are dialed in, and you run across both plants and algae growing, you likely have also much light. You lot can reduce light past reducing the amount of time the lights are on during the day. If nutrients and CO2 take been balanced, and your plants are struggling, they are likely not receiving enough light and you can increment the corporeality of fourth dimension the lights are on.

While balancing your light, CO2 and food levels tin prevent and slowly impale algae, you can speed up algae removal after an out break by manually removing the algae and calculation herbivores.

Information technology is incredibly of import when yous manually remove algae that you do not simply scrub the algae off of surfaces just as well remove the algae y'all have scrubbed off from the water. If you do not remove the algae from the water, the algae can settle on new surfaces and grow back. Or information technology tin die and then provide nutrients for the remaining algae in the tank. To remove algae from the aquarium turn off all water flow before you scrub algae and immediately perform a h2o change after scrubbing, directing your siphon to suck out all of the algae you lot just scrubbed off of the rocks, glass and plants. Yous can scrub the rocks with a tooth brush. You may discover it is easier to target the algae yous take scrubbed by removing the gravel vac from your siphon tubing and simply using the tube solitary to siphon out the h2o. Yous may as well want to trim off any plant leaves that are severely covered in algae and remove them.

Biological algae removal comes in the course of the aquarium clean upwardly crew. Animals such as snails, shrimp, and some fish tin be fantabulous algae eaters. Make certain when yous add a clean up crew to help solve an algae problem that you do so responsibly. When your tank has a lot of algae a lot of grazers can survive simply once the algae is gone they might starve. Because of this either only add a pocket-sized corporeality of grazers and rely on transmission removal to get rid of most of the algae, or exist fix to trade or give away some of your clean up crew once the tank is clean.

If the to a higher place treatments however don�t get rid of your algae trouble consider using Seachem Flourish Excel. Excel is a carbon source to help provide carbon to plants in aquariums without CO2 injection, simply it also functions as an algaecide. Regularly dosing Flourish Excel equally per the instructions tin can practice a lot to kill and prevent algae.

Disease
Fish can get diseases. Before going over how to identify and treat common fish diseases we must land that the all-time way to avoid ill fish is to only add healthy animals. Make sure to inquire your store what they do to prevent disease in their livestock and ensure that there are no obvious signs of affliction when you purchase your animals (encounter the Adding Fish department).

Despite your best efforts at selecting healthy fish and corals, affliction can nonetheless pop up. Rather than detail every kind of fish and coral affliction nosotros will categorize these disease together into groups and show the treatment for each.

External Parasites
External parasites include the virtually mutual fish disease ich also every bit the rarer diseases, neon affliction and velvet. These infections await similar spots or powder sprinkled on the fish. Luckily there are medications that will reliably eliminate these sicknesses. The formaldehyde based medication Kordon Rid Ich will remove these parasites. Unfortunately, this medication is extremely toxic to invertebrates then yous will need to remove the ill fish from your tank for treatment if you have shrimp and other invertebrates in your main tank.

Bacteria
Bacterial infections often happen after a fish has been wounded, just equally cuts can become infected in humans. Bacterial infections can look similar red coloring or swelling effectually wounds on a fish or cloudy or enlarged optics known as pop eyes. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Melafix is a herbal antibacterial arbitration that works well for helping these types of bacterial infections.

Fungal Infections
Fungal infections are mutual with some fish species including betas. Fungal infections look like a white cotton wool like build up on a fish�s fins, mouth or torso. Kordon Methylene Blue is very effective for treating fungal infections.

Running out of Space
Of all the problems to have the best one is running out of space. If your coral or fish brainstorm to grow too big for your BioCube you are left with ii options�removing some animals or upgrading to a larger tank.

If you lot decide to go along your BioCube just remove some big fish or plants yous can trade fish back to your local fish shop or with fellow hobbyists. While removing a fish is an all or nothing proffer, plants can be trimmed back with Constitute Scissors and and then bundled with Constitute Anchors for trading.

If you decide to upgrade to a larger tank you have many options. If you like the all in ane nature of your BioCube you lot may want to consider a larger aquarium from Red Body of water. In the medium sized aquariums from these companies the aquariums include filtration built into the back of the aquarium similar to the BioCube. The larger sized aquariums from these companies employ sump style filters that sit down under the cabinet.

When you make up one's mind to upgrade from your BioCube to a new aquarium, it is all-time if the new aquarium can exist in place and ready to fill with water before you move your livestock. When you movement your animals from one tank to the other, try to save as much of the original water every bit possible equally this contains beneficial bacteria and will cause less of a shock so if the animals are placed in all new water. You can apply all of your existing rock as it'll contains large amounts of beneficial bacteria. You will however want to supplant your sand, as sand tin build upward large amounts of waste over years of being in an aquarium.

Earlier you transfer your fish to the new tank, put the new tank in place and have it fix to be filled with water. You lot can add in your new rinsed substrate and whatever new rock you volition demand. You can and so institute the aquarium with the plants y'all take transferred while the aquarium is dry out. It tin can assist to trim back the plant roots earlier planting because the roots will quickly re-grow into the new substrate. If the new aquarium is but slightly larger, you tin can kickoff adding h2o from your erstwhile tank to the aquarium and then add all of the fish. You lot will not be able to completely fill the whole tank with your existing water, since the new tank is larger, so have some h2o prepared to brand upwards the difference once the animals are transferred. Add the water at the end. If your new tank is substantially larger, you may need to start with some h2o in the tank before transferring your animals. Practice your all-time to match the new water�due south temperature and pH to that of the sometime water.

Once the tank is filled yous can plough on the new aquariums equipment. When starting a new tank with the rock, plants and liv stock from the erstwhile tank, much of the initial bicycle is avoided. You may experience a minor cycle with some algae blooms, but it will exist nowhere about as long as the initial cycle y'all experienced with your BioCube. Because of this be ready to practice more water changes than normal in the starting time calendar month of the new tank since the tank is more unstable than normal and use Brightwell�s Microbacter7 to ensure enough of benign bacteria are present to filter the aquarium.

Finally, Enjoy Your BioCube!

Anybody at MarineAndReef.com wishes you the greatest success with your BioCube. Information technology may seem like a lot of work, but if you lot follow this guide, and if y'all�re patient and organized, you will succeed. The Coralife BioCube is both a smashing way to beautify your home, school or office, and a fulfilling hobby. It�due south also a great way for families to connect. If y'all want your children to empathize the ocean, biology, chemistry and mechanics, aquariums are a great pedagogy tool. Feel gratis to reach out to us with any questions you may have about your BioCube or other aquariums (toll free 877.878.9349 / sales@marineandreef.com).

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