BioCube 29

[Jaire]

I got a 29 gallon BIOCUBE, and Saturday bought 20lbs of uncured live rock. I have heard some people say to do weekly water changes and some saying not too. Some say run a skimmer and some say not to. What should I be doing? I know I am looking at 2-4 weeks before I can put anything else in the tank since I bought uncured live rock, but I want to make sure I do things correctly for this tank!

[FireWater]

Patience will be your best virtue.

On all my tanks I have set up I have never done a water change in the first month. After that I would do a couple of water changes over 2 weeks and check all the parameters. Once everything checked out ok I would slowly start to add inhabitants.

As far as water change frequency I have been told small water changes frequently are the best for smaller tanks - and I followed that with my BC29. I have since implemented the same schedule with my 90g after trying large water changes every other week. The results of water quality are far better with small changes frequently - in my experience. For reference I would change a gallon or 2 every 4 days on my BC29 and ran no skimmer. On my 90g I continually had phosphate build up with 15-20 gallon changes every other week - I have since gone to 5 gallons twice a week and water paramters have never been better.

Running a skimmer is 50/50 if you ask those that have kept smaller tanks. The problem with BC29's and other all in one cubes is finding a skimeer to fit w/oout modifications to the top or compartments.

This is just my experience.

[Jaire]

Thank you John. I was just concerned since I purchased uncured rock and wanted to make sure there were no extra precautions or steps I need to take for the tank to cycle properly. This is my first, so I'm learning as I go!

[Big_Pun]

i agree with firewater, i had 5 biocubes setup at once and small water changes weekly is good, skimmer is a personal choice, but shouldnt be needed if you do water changes frequently, do rock rubble instead of bioballs, also if you want to do a mini fuge in the rear chamber might want to start it now before you completly setup , just look thru the nano section alot of diff setups on biocubes