bio cube 29 questions

[rattler]

Hey there,
I have a oceanic bio cube that I have had since day one (Jan 2006). Now has come the time to do some mods on it. I have purchased a Radion 2 LED to mount on the hood not in the hood. Also just purchased a Tunze 9002 skimmer that I want to put in to the middle compartment as well as a Tunze nano ATO to regulate the level better for more consistent skimming as well as leveler parameters.
Has anyone out there done these mods to a bio cube? what should I watch for and what level do I need to set in compartment 2 and 3 for best skimming.

Another thing I was thinking about was a TLF 550 reactor fed by a MJ1200 pump to run carbon and GFO in. My concern is without a sump this reactor will be mounted below in the cabinet. Do they leak or is there a better reactor out there that will allow me to do this with piece of mind.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[Ken]

Hi there, I run a tlf 550 outside and it hasn't leak yet for over a year, but if you are worry about that have it sitting in a bucket and feed the lines from the sump. regards ken

[Myka]

I've always run TLF reactors hanging on the outside of the sump and they've never leaked. A 150 would be plenty big enough for your needs.

Sent from my Dungeon using mad Ninja Skillz.

[Wayne]

If your planning on using the Tunze 9002 which is a fantastic skimmer and I personally use it. You should get the InTank square cup for it. There is a few other accessories that they sell some are nice like the fish saver and the media basket InTank Link

[makana]

My tlf only leaked when I had to move it around to change out the gfo. Nothing a towel won't handle. That is without any type of hose clamp. I also found the mj400 on my 150 had to be dialed back to get the proper flow for gfo. As I understand it gfo needs to tumble and carbon shouldn't so they need different reactors.

Is there a way to run both in the same tlf?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by makana

I also found the mj400 on my 150 had to be dialed back to get the proper flow for gfo. As I understand it gfo needs to tumble and carbon shouldn't so they need different reactors.

Is there a way to run both in the same tlf?

GFO shouldn't tumble either. The correct flow for GFO will have the very top bit of the media just barely "bubbling", certainly the whole of it should not be tumbling. The ideal flow for carbon is much faster simply because carbon needs a lower contact time to do its job than GFO, but carbon will tumble at that high flow rate, so it needs to be held down (with a sponge or something). However, you can put them both in the same reactor and run it at GFO speed (~50-80 gph) it just means the carbon will not be as aggressive which is actually a good thing in some peoples' view.

[rattler]

Thank you for the in tank link and the reassurance of a tlf reactor!

Pulled the light out and was playing with it HOLY JEEEZ!! It is amazing the controlability of this unit. I'm looking forward to installing it on the bio cube!

Geoff