Do I need media basket for my 29g biocube?

[polancoeddie]

I was wondering if I needed a media basket? My biocube has been running for about 3 weeks now. Can I just stack them up without the media basket? I have a filter floss with carbon in it on top of the overflow bracket. Under that I have a purigen bag. And under that I have chemi pure elite. I do have some bioball in the their at the bottom. Not sure if I should take them out. A lot of people say to take them out but my lfs has a biocube running with no problem with them..

 

[mrcoffee2]

Id take the filter floss out that is a nitrate trap. Unless you are changing it frequently like every day...

As for the bio balls I do not have much experience with them. I did not use them on my biocube 14g. No one seems to rec them so I just did not add them.

Since the tank is so new id probably not run the chemipure / purigen yet, but it probably will be fine.

For my 14g I just toss the chemipure and purigen into the second chamber and water falls down on top of them. - Hope it helps

 

[Rjramos]

I took everything it came with out of that second chamber and replaced with media and refugium baskets. You can probably get away with what your doing but the flow through the media will not be as good, water will pass around the media by path of least resistance. The bio balls, as long as they are submerged will not produce nitrates directly, although detritus in and around them at the bottom will. You can see my upgrade and pictures under my "nano in 90" thread, "rjramos 29 biocube". Hope this helps.

 

[polancoeddie]

What do you guys add on your media basket? If the filter floss creates nitrates then how you filter out food, big debris, ect

 

[Rjramos]

The filter floss when using a media basket is submerged underwater on the first shelf. A drip plate on top of the media basket drips onto this top chamber. The next shelf holds the purigen and the last compartment holds the chemi pure bag.

 

[polancoeddie]

Got it im going to try to build a media basket useing egg crate and acrylic glass this weekend

 

[Rjramos]

I made these myself, egg crate for the shelves and plexiglas. The most difficult part was drilling those holes on the sides of the refugium and the drip plate,the piece cracked on me twice. Gotta go slow and work from both sides on a drill press. Something I discovered late in the game was heating up the drill bit with a torch also prevents cracking. inTank has open sides on their refugium basket, which takes all this drilling problem away. I just didn't like theirs, so I did it my way.

 

[polancoeddie]

Wow nice.. were did you buy all the parts and plexiglass

 

[Rjramos]

If you can find a place that deals only with selling plastic sheet, rod, tubes, etc. you will be better off than your local hardware. Cheaper and they can cut the sheet you buy to your dimensions right there for a price/cut. They also have the right glue there for plexiglas, most local hardwares don't have it. I've been working with plexiglas for years now, although not for hire. It's not hard, just need the know how and 2 main power tools. A table saw with a 40+ tooth carbide blade. And a router with a trim bit. And a scraper or joiner to clean up the sawed edges prior to glueing.