biocube - 8 gallon tank

[seuadr]

so i saw a deal on a biocube (thanks mumford!) that u just couldn't pass up.



what to do, what to do..

i'm thinking it will make a fantastic shrimp tank, with all the room in the back for bio blocks and buffering materials. first things first, it needs to temporary house my 36 gallon tank fauna while i do a heavy substrate vacuum and replant (should only take a day or two.

gonna be crowded for a couple days.. i've got 3 harlequin tetras, 2 cardinal tetras, 3 black neon tetras, 2 fairly large amano shrimp and several nerites.

after that.. well.. i might talk myself into a salt water reef tank if i don't hurry up and make it into a dedicated shrimp tank

[Basil]

Looks like a good clean Biocube. I too have an empty BC 8 just waiting to be set up, though I've a move coming up so it will have to wait till after that. Since the BC 8 has 36 watts of light you could easily run c02 for your plants. Beyond that you could grow anything in it. Shrimp would do fantastic as well in the BC 8. Really, it's up to you where the tank heads and even as a saltwater tank it'll be sweet.

Good luck with the tank!

[seuadr]

Originally Posted by Basil

Looks like a good clean Biocube. I too have an empty BC 8 just waiting to be set up, though I've a move coming up so it will have to wait till after that. Since the BC 8 has 36 watts of light you could easily run c02 for your plants. Beyond that you could grow anything in it. Shrimp would do fantastic as well in the BC 8. Really, it's up to you where the tank heads and even as a saltwater tank it'll be sweet.

Good luck with the tank!

i am sooo trying to talk myself out of salt water.. that would be a long road. comparatively, plants are CHEAP

[Basil]

Lol yes, plants can be much more affordable however they can be just as beautiful as saltwater. Plus you can do schooling fish instead of one to two in a salt water tank.

[CharleeFoxtrot]

One thing you have to keep in mind if you are planning this as a shrimp tank is the built in overflow. I have a similar cube that I converted from saltwater to a planted tank and I had to put a piece of filter floss into the overflow to prevent the shrimp from taking a ride into the back of the tank. It was a pure PITA as it would clog every few days and backup the water into the main area. Even with doing that, I still found10 shrimp in the back overlfow when I broke the tank down

Originally Posted by seuadr

so i saw a deal on a biocube (thanks mumford!) that u just couldn't pass up.

i'm thinking it will make a fantastic shrimp tank, with all the room in the back for bio blocks and buffering materials. first things first, it needs to temporary house my 36 gallon tank fauna while i do a heavy substrate vacuum and replant (should only take a day or two.

[seuadr]

Originally Posted by CharleeFoxtrot

One thing you have to keep in mind if you are planning this as a shrimp tank is the built in overflow. I have a similar cube that I converted from saltwater to a planted tank and I had to put a piece of filter floss into the overflow to prevent the shrimp from taking a ride into the back of the tank. It was a pure PITA as it would clog every few days and backup the water into the main area. Even with doing that, I still found10 shrimp in the back overlfow when I broke the tank down

thanks for the heads up! i'm using a piece of unsoaped scotchbrite over the overflow in my current tank.. i rinsed it in water for several mins and then soaked it in some water conditioner and it seems to be ok. I wonder if i could use the same thing in the biocube..

[CharleeFoxtrot]

Well, the material has to be fine enough to stop any shrimplets from being sucked into the back. The biggest problem is that food and stuff collects there so it is very attractive and the shrimp pick at it and go for the big ride down the sluice! One thing to try is you can setup the tank with nothing in it but water and try various materials in the overflow-remember if the material is too fine the overflow won't drain fast enough and the pump can run dry-if it's too loose...

[Basil]

I'm not sure this would work but you could try using the stock filter insert that go into the first chamber and see if that's enough of a barrier to stop shrimp from moving into the second chamber. Or try using some sort of stainless steel mesh over the inlets.

[CharleeFoxtrot]

I tried stainless, it worked ok but still had to clean it everyday. Oh, and another thing OP if you get any small floaters (frog bit etc) they will pile up and clog the overfow as well.