New 14 Gallon Biocube Problems...HELP!

I just bought a 14 gallon oceanic biocube saltwater tank today and set it up, but for some reason I can't get the water level in the tank's back left filter area to fall in the range between the "minimum" and "maximum" readings on the biocube's wall. I followed the directions and the tank itself is filled to the waterline indicated in the direction pamphlet, yet the water level in the back left compartment of the tank will not rise. Is this a common occurrence? What's the problem? And how can I fix it?

 

Are the pumps in the tank running and you still have this problem.

You may want to check out this link from another member of 3reef with a biocube 14 as well.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/my-biocube-14-a-56177.html

Seemed to be a lot of good into with many posts , hope it helps.

 

i know what you mean
you just need to add more water while the pumps are running
so that the back chambers water level will rise

(i converted the back of my cube into a fuge so the water level is near the top in the back)

 

BioCube 14...

If your pump is plugged in to a power supply that is on constantly (you never know), then it may be that the fine mesh on the filter is restricting your water flow enough to keep the water low in the leftmost chamber (where the pump is) given the total amount of water your tank contains. I've found it necessary in mine (I have 3 BioCube 14s) to put more water into the system than is recommended in the manual (the manual recommends filling the main display until the water reaches the bottom of the moulding / top of the glass). Everyone I've spoken to has told me to ignore the "Max" line and fill it past that point. A bonus is that more water means more stability in your ecosystem, if only a little.

I run one BioCube with stock filter and bioballs plus a heater and a nano jet. My heater is kept in front of the filter in the rightmost chamber when facing the tank. I did this because the water level is consistent in the rightmost chamber, whereas the leftmost chamber drops as your water level drops... which means if the water level is low the heater becomes exposed and my heater breaks. I won't make that mistake twice! I don't have so much water that all of the bioballs in the middle are underwater, so the water is still being nicely oxygenated. But the water is high enough in the leftmost chamber to where you can't see its end using the clear indicator on the side.

If later on you notice the water from the display area spilling over the back into the second and/or third chamber(s), it may be due to algae buildup on the mesh of the filter. In that case, rinse off your filter as often as is necessary to keep this from happening, as long as you have a reasonable water level and didn't simply overfill it or top off with too much water. With the amount of algae I produce, I rinse out my filters every couple of days. Most recommend using reverse osmosis deionized water (freshwater) to rinse your filter, as there is biological bacteria in and on the filter. With the amount of live rock and bioballs that I have, though, I don't concern myself with the bacteria in the filter and prefer to rinse with regular tap water, figuring that the chlorine in the tap water will slightly reactivate carbon in the filter and that the amount left on the filter when it's been shaken / dried is minor enough not to harm the 7-10 gallons in the system.

Don't forget to pull the sponge out of the leftmost chamber and clean it on a weekly basis -- especially important with beginners' feeding. The maintenance instructions are in the manual. And your flow will eventually slow as the pump gets buildup in it -- again, as the manual instructs, take that thing out and clean it / its plumbing.

 

Thanks for all of the tips...unfortunately, I did fill the tank past the max line, the pump is running, and yet the water level in the back left output compartment will not rise. I even poured water directly into that specific compartment, and it all just flows right back out again...

 

I may not be perceiving what you mean. The level of the water in the leftmost chamber was not specified, so I took your first post to mean that you cannot get the water as high as the minimum line in order to put it between the minimum and maximum lines.

The second post, however, leads me to believe that you either filled the main display in the tank until the leftmost chamber reached the max indicator line, or that you filled the main display to the bottom of the molding and are referring to that as a max line, in which case you can add more so long as the main display is not overflowing toward the back of the tank into the middle or left chambers.

If the first is true, I can't imagine anything other than an obstruction / restriction between the left chamber and main display (junk / object), middle and left chamber (the bottom tray in the middle chamber has shoved down diagonally in one of my tanks), between the right and middle chamber, or between the main display and the right chamber, keeping the left chamber's water level insufficient.

I've found that adding water directly to the middle or left chambers will not raise them much after a small time has passed because the input / output of water is still essentially the same.

If your filter pads are prone to quick algae build-up and your water level is sufficient or greater, you'll have to clean the filter pads as frequently as will prevent the main display from overflowing into the rear chambers.

Whatever the case, I'd definitely start with a freshly cleaned or new filter pad before trying to get the water quantity right, as it affects the water throughput.