Siporax In My Biocube 29 Chamber

[Albz]

you guys think i can make a small refug with some Siporax and put in my middle chamber with my media basket beside it?? Got like two litres of it

 

[Janice]

interesting. I just read up on Siporax. I have been using bioballs. I am interested in what more experienced refers have to say.

 

[Nick James]

I have 2 litres as well. I was going to put a small amount in a media bag and maybe put it under the stand I built for the skimmer. Total darkness down there.

I bought that much to put in a reactor for the 220 though.

 

[Albz]

Yea i got some from a reefer for 20$ so i was planning to add them.. does it need to be dark in the chamber for it to really work??

 

[Nick James]

Nope doesn't need to be dark, but light = potential algae growth.

For me it is a dark spot that is wasted space at the moment. Maybe it will encourage anaerobic bacteria to grow.

 

[Albz]

Yea if anythinf ill make it dark somehow lol ima make a basket with egg crates

 

[heath]

dumb question, now down the road are they going to be phosphate makers...like bio balls that don't get cleaned..

 

[Nick James]

dumb question, now down the road are they going to be phosphate makers...like bio balls that don't get cleaned..

The outside of them are very smooth with very small pores. Bioballs have all those notches which catch detritus. If used right I don't see them trapping detritus very easily, but like anything else in the tank they will probably need the occasional vaccuum.

 

[heath]

ok, just checking...I have never used anything like that product so just getting educated...

 

[Albz]

I have changed my mind and getting a sump for my biocube with a overflow. Will update when done

 

[Josh]

I also have a bc29, and heres what ive built. I am waiting on my chaeto still (it has dividers so you can add siporax too!)

I have done a fair bit of research on how to put a sump/refugium on a biocube29 and unless you arent using a stock hood almost all the overflows do not fit.

What i did was piped a line to the return in chamber 1 where i keep my heater behind the screen. I then piped it to the reactor. Piped the pump on the supply side of the reactor to "suck through" the reactor. I originally placed the supply back into chamber 3 with the main pump but found that lowered the flow through chamber 2. I cut a small hole in the back of the divider and piped down a locline with a Y splitter and aimed the flow right down the back of the tank on a Y pattern.
I am going to go entirely chaeto when it finally arrives and im stocking the chaeto with some pods from copepods.ca
If you wanted to have the bioballs it has a perforated false floor where u can seperate chaeto/macro from your bioballs/siporax
I am using the 550 reactor from two little fishies

Hope this helps! If you arent in a rush ill post my build in a bout a week or so.

Most people use "clamp on lights" which are essentially just a bulb casing with a clamp on the other end.

 

[jroovers]

The outside of them are very smooth with very small pores. Bioballs have all those notches which catch detritus. If used right I don't see them trapping detritus very easily, but like anything else in the tank they will probably need the occasional vaccuum.

I think that is right, you want to prevent the siporax from trapping too much detritus and plugging it up. I gave up on mine because it was indeed trapping too much crap.

Essentially the Siporax functions like concentrated live rock, providing very large amounts of surface area for bacteria to colonize in a small bundle. I don't think it matters too much if its in light or dark, but from what I've read is that to maximize bacterial colonization, is that it really needs a decent amount of flow. It may perform better in a reactor with a bit more flow than in a chamber of a sump with passive flow, but then again if you add more siporax in the low flow zone it maybe negates that.