First Reef Setup!! Questions... Please help!

W

wackd99

Reefing newb
Hello...

This is my first post on this forum and I am in the midst of seeking out a good solution for my first reef aquarium. I live in a small apartment so I have settled on getting a biocube, nanocube, or aquapod. They all seem REALLY similar with variants on lighting and filtration...

I actually went into the local pet store and they offered me a 24g Nano Cube OR a 24g Aquapod with out their hoods and with a glass top instead for only $99. He advised me to get a lofted light that rests on the tank but sits above it by a few inches. He said the cubes/pods typically overheat b/c of the lighting in the hood. Is this true? The total package was $99 for the tank, $100 for the lofted light, and $60 for a protein skimmer. That falls in line with normal priced aquapods and nano cubes and I don't think they come with protein skimmers. Any thoughts as to if this is a better solution than just getting the regular hood for the same tanks?

The biocube is a bit bigger... is it worth getting it for the extra 5g?

I plan on having simple corals that don't need extreme lighting and a few fish, perhaps a blue cheek goby, flame angel, a clown or 2... the typical reef fish. Can anyone let me know what I'd need other than a protein skimmer on top of the filters that accompany these tanks?

Thanks - I can't wait to get started!!
 
well if your not getting the hood. i would just go out and buy a regular tank rather then a nano cube or aquapod. the tank will be cheaper im betting. and put a hob skimmer like an octopus. and get light that stands off the tank. and the bigger the tank the longer it takes for things to go bad. so bigger is better.
 
XxKnuckleheadxX said:
well if your not getting the hood. i would just go out and buy a regular tank rather then a nano cube or aquapod. the tank will be cheaper im betting. and put a hob skimmer like an octopus. and get light that stands off the tank. and the bigger the tank the longer it takes for things to go bad. so bigger is better.
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+1. I have a 29 bio cube with the hood that comes with it. I also have a protein skimmer on mine. It works great. I have some polyps in there that do ok under the PC lights it comes with. Then tempeture stays at 81 degrees during the day with the lights on. Never gets to hot or to cold. I have a heater in mine that maintains the 81 degrees at night. The factory overflow pump only does a limited amount of flow, (i think around 200gph). I added a small powehead to mine to increase that flow. The hood comes with 3 led lighting for a great look at night. I have been happy with the bio cube since I bought it so I would reccomend it.:bounce:
Sorry, i dont know to much about the nano or aqua cube.
 
queenangel77 said:
+1. I have a 29 bio cube with the hood that comes with it. I also have a protein skimmer on mine. It works great. I have some polyps in there that do ok under the PC lights it comes with. Then tempeture stays at 81 degrees during the day with the lights on. Never gets to hot or to cold. I have a heater in mine that maintains the 81 degrees at night. The factory overflow pump only does a limited amount of flow, (i think around 200gph). I added a small powehead to mine to increase that flow. The hood comes with 3 led lighting for a great look at night. I have been happy with the bio cube since I bought it so I would reccomend it.:bounce:
Sorry, i dont know to much about the nano or aqua cube.
Click to expand...


The guy at the store said it is possible to buy a protein skimmer that fits in the back filter area of the tank so it is out of the main tank. Do you know of any skimmers that fit back there? He said to put the heater in the back part too.

Thanks for the advice on the BioCube!
 
wackd99 said:
The guy at the store said it is possible to buy a protein skimmer that fits in the back filter area of the tank so it is out of the main tank. Do you know of any skimmers that fit back there? He said to put the heater in the back part too.

Thanks for the advice on the BioCube!
Click to expand...
Oceanic makes the bio cube, wich in turns makes the protein skimmer. Its not the best skimmer out there but it does fit in the back of the tank. I increased the air pump on mine to a larger one that puts out more air for $20. I get good dark thick green crap out of mine now. It takes a while to futs with but once you get it dialed in it works. I also took out the bio balls(i am not a fan of them) and put as much live rock as i could in the bio balls section. My nitrates are at 0 always on this tank.(wish i could say the same for my larger tanks)You probably could cram a heater next to the protein skimmer. I chose to put mine in my tank. I have mine towards the bottom in the back, covered by live rock.
 
queenangel77 said:
Oceanic makes the bio cube, wich in turns makes the protein skimmer. Its not the best skimmer out there but it does fit in the back of the tank. I increased the air pump on mine to a larger one that puts out more air for $20. I get good dark thick green crap out of mine now. It takes a while to futs with but once you get it dialed in it works. I also took out the bio balls(i am not a fan of them) and put as much live rock as i could in the bio balls section. My nitrates are at 0 always on this tank.(wish i could say the same for my larger tanks)You probably could cram a heater next to the protein skimmer. I chose to put mine in my tank. I have mine towards the bottom in the back, covered by live rock.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info and advice! What size airpump did you upgrade to? I think I am going to take your advice on that one (i heard the oceanic skimmer wasn't as good and if the airpump upgrade helps... then fantastic!)

So the stock lights on the biocube are enough to have simple corals in the tank correct? I don't want to worry about anything too needy or fancy - but some simple corals would be nice...
 
wackd99 said:
Thanks for the info and advice! What size airpump did you upgrade to? I think I am going to take your advice on that one (i heard the oceanic skimmer wasn't as good and if the airpump upgrade helps... then fantastic!)

So the stock lights on the biocube are enough to have simple corals in the tank correct? I don't want to worry about anything too needy or fancy - but some simple corals would be nice...
Click to expand...
Here is the one i upgraded too.http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19175
I used the 40. Oceanic has a valve included to adjust air flow wich i use to restrict/fine tune the foam, cause the 40 is a little much. THe 30 would work fine in my opinion.

I think that sof corals would be OK with the PC lights that are on there. I have polyps and mushrooms wich are all very easy corals and they thrive very well in my tank. I have even frag'd some out to my bigger tank.
 
queenangel77 said:
Here is the one i upgraded too.http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19175
I used the 40. Oceanic has a valve included to adjust air flow wich i use to restrict/fine tune the foam, cause the 40 is a little much. THe 30 would work fine in my opinion.

I think that sof corals would be OK with the PC lights that are on there. I have polyps and mushrooms wich are all very easy corals and they thrive very well in my tank. I have even frag'd some out to my bigger tank.
Click to expand...


A 30 sounds good... I dont know much about coral but really like Hammer Coral (i think thats what its called - green tips...) would that be ok in there?
 
wackd99 said:
A 30 sounds good... I dont know much about coral but really like Hammer Coral (i think thats what its called - green tips...) would that be ok in there?
Click to expand...


Like this one? It is a LPS coral called hammeread.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+485&pcatid=485

It requires high lighting from what i understand. I cannot say that you should or shouldnt. I know a friend of mine has had one for 3 months now in a bio cube 29 and has had no problems. He has it on top of all of his live rock as close to the light asa he can get it. Yote or Dustin will be able to tell you for sure. They know there corals a lot better then me. They will probably say no though. But i could be wrong.
 
queenangel77 said:
Like this one? It is a LPS coral called hammeread.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+321+485&pcatid=485

It requires high lighting from what i understand. I cannot say that you should or shouldnt. I know a friend of mine has had one for 3 months now in a bio cube 29 and has had no problems. He has it on top of all of his live rock as close to the light asa he can get it. Yote or Dustin will be able to tell you for sure. They know there corals a lot better then me. They will probably say no though. But i could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I have seen 2 I like - the one you posted and this one:

http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/images/17100/frogspawn-green.jpg

I guess if I can get it for cheap enough I may give it a try once the tank is set up. I'm still in the deciding stage of which kind to get!

Thanks again for all of your help... if anyone else has input on my original question please feel free to chime in!
 
dustin_P74 said:
the coral you linked to is a frogspawn which is similar to a hammer but there are some differences
Click to expand...

Hey dustin...
You think that either would do ok in a bio cube 29 with the PC lights? I have heard and seen it done as long as the coral was close to the lights as possible. Is this true?
 
Someone mentioned on another forum that the Aquapod + Sunpod was a good choice. It is obviously more expensive - they also said that I probably wouldn't need a protein skimmer for the aquapod.

I just called the pet shop that I was at last night and the Aquapod tank was $100 and they were selling me the 20" dual satellite 2x40watt light for the top of it for $100. If I dont need a skimmer thats $200 bucks total and not a bad deal...

What are your guys thoughts on that? I dont know if I plan on having any coral that would require a HQL 150watt Sunpod...
 
dustin_P74 said:
skimmers arent need per say, but i think it is a must have on the list, especially if your going to go the coral route
Click to expand...
+1 dustin. The skimmer for the bio cube is not the best. But i tested my nitrates today on that tank and they are at zero. The skimmer helps and is better then nothing at all.
 
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