Newbie with a 29gal Biocube that needs a bit of help...

[Aine]

Hello fellow Ottawa-Outaouais aquarium enthousiasts!
I just got my new BC 29gal. The first one I got was leaking and the ballast was faulty, so BC just sent me a new one and I got it today.
But I have been researching my stuff for the past 6 months, and noticed that many reefers did a few mods on their tank. Now that I'm a few hours away from putting water in the tank, I'm still wondering what to do...
I'll keep the stock pump and lighting (I only want a few soft corals), and I bought a powerhead and a heater. I will add 30lb of LR for sure. I was wondering about the bioballs: do I keep them? If not, I'll have more water in the tank, but should I put another filtering media in chamber 3?
What have you guys done with the bioballs?

Thanks!

[Zoe]

Don't keep the bio-balls... they get gunky quite easily and will pump nitrates in your tank.
You don't need to replace them with anything - just have an empty chamber. You could put some live rock rubble in that section if you wanted to, but if it gets too gunky, you get the same nitrate problem.

I'm sure you can give them away to someone on OVAS

[Adam]

A lot of people also put chaetomorpha into one of the compartments to act as a mini refugium.  Just make sure you have a light for it...!

[Aine]

So I've taken out the bioballs and I've moved the stock cartridge so that it doesn't inhibit flow. I've also enlarged the openning between charbers 1 and 2. I gues I should not be worrying beforehand, but I was thinking, so that the waters stayes clear, that I would add filter floss in chamber 2, and maybe, to clear the water after cycling, I would add purigen or chemipure or both.
I've heard of these products around forums... Are these any good? Is anybody using them?

A lot of people also put chaetomorpha into one of the compartments to act as a mini refugium.  Just make sure you have a light for it...!

Maybe I will do that... Indeed, I would love to have a green mandarin in a year or two, and maybe some chaeto in a refugium would keep the food supply going?
Any idea what type of light I should use?

Anyways, I'm getting my LR on Monday... I'll post picts! (right now, just salt water and sand isn't really interesting...)

[sniggir]

can't wait too see it, sounds like you are haveing a ton of fun

[Faerin]

As the others have said, you can toss the bioballs and filter floss. They will not contribute to your tank at all, and without regular (every few days preferably) cleaning, they start pumping nitrates back into your tank from all the collected detritus. Filling the compartments with chaeto and live rock rubble are both great ideas for some extra organic filtration.

I don't have any experience with purigen or chemi-pure, but I would personally avoid using any kind of chemical additives unless completely necessary. A healthy tank should not need any chemical filtration or additives, and there's no telling what may cause harm to the livestock in your tank.

Lastly, and you'll hate me for this, but I strongly advise against the mandarin. A 29g biocube isn't going to have nearly enough pod production to sustain a mandarin for very long unless you are supplying pods to the tank (this can get very costly), or have a fairly large refugium connected to the tank. These fish really are best left to larger tanks I'm afraid.