DMAN_123 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I recently bought a 29 gal. bio cube tank . When I bought it the tank was up and running but they did not have the carbon filter in. I put one in and after a couple of days it gets a little dirty and kind of acts like a dam. Then the water gets to low where the pump is and when I take the filter out the water level is fine again. Is there any other way I can filter the water without using the carbon filter? I have live rock in the back instead of the bio balls. Could I get away with getting a protein skimmer and leaving the carbon filter out? Or do I have to just clean out the carbon filter every day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Yes, ditch the stock filter. Find one of the skimmers that will fit in the back, and put a piece of filter floss near the overflow to catch larger items. Go to mediabaskets.com if you want to find a nice all in one solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I would probably avoid a skimmer on that tank size and just go with floss and weekly water changes. Change the floss 2x per week. Changing 5 gallons per week pretty much eliminates the need to a skimmer on a tank that size. Here's a pretty good article on the natural filtration method - http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=3 If you do want to run chemical media, purigen or chemipure elite would be a good match for the tank. Put them in the filter chamber below the floss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mel in Elgin Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I had the same issue with my 29 Biocube. I switched to floss and it's made a world of difference. You can get a bag for like 3 bucks at Petco and it lasts quite a while because you don't need much. If you really want carbon filtration you can buy one of the little mesh bags and put some loose carbon in it . You would then place it under/behind your floss. That way the floss can remove all the junk before the water flows through your carbon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I have the same setup. I do live rock rubble in chamber one, then I use a sponge on the waterfall in chamber two to catch the big stuff. Easier than floss and you just rinse it and put it back in to clean it. Also the top of the sponge being "dry" makes it a great catch all. Chamber two also has a tunze skimmer. Then in chamber three I took out the foam block and put a bag of carbon and phosphate absorption media there. This way the cleanest water is forced through your expensive media. Note: If you do the skimmer option you also will need a auto top off for the system to really work. Even if you don't get a skimmer...get a auto top off, I avoided it for years but ever since I have had one my life is soooooo easy. With this system I often leave my 29 unattended for 2 weeks at a time. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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