New-ish and Confused.

AnimalDoc · Feb 27, 2015

I had a 10 gallon nano reef a few years ago but I mostly flew by the seat of my pants. I would like to start over and do everything the right way but I am so confused about what to buy and how to do it! I am not a DIY kind of person, I know that if I have to re-wire, drill, build, etc. something that it won't get done. I want to buy a system that is pretty much ready to go without needing lots of modifications.

I am thinking about purchasing a 29g biocube, seems like it gets good ratings and is a good tank. I notice that you can choose to order an extra LED bar that just plugs into the existing hood so I may do that. But what else will I need? I just want to have mostly soft corals and inverts with some fish. Nothing that requires tons of light. All the choices of skimmers, filter media, extra lights, wave makers, etc. makes my head spin.

Noah707 · Feb 27, 2015

Pretty sure biocubes come with a protein skimmer, which is just mediocre. For filter media a lot of people run chemi pure blue or purigen/chemi pure elite. As for wave makers you can just go with a few inexpensive koralias which will do the job. From what I hear biocube stock lighting can support some low light corals like mushrooms. If you want a controllable wave maker and are on a budget, jebao makes some good ones. I'm using the rw-4 on a 34 gallon. Or if you have lots of $$ to spend a vortech mp10 hands down.

glb · Feb 27, 2015

I have a 12g nanocube that grew soft corals under the stock actinic lighting just fine. I upgraded to Steve's LED's and have been very happy. I don't have a skimmer. I ran it with sponges and Purigen for a long time without much of a problem. I lost my corals last summer after an extended AC outage and am getting ready to add corals again soon. I added Phosguard in the sump too, as a I had an algae outbreak recently. It's worked for me. Good luck! Nanos are a blast!

saltyphish · Feb 27, 2015

No they do not come with skimmers. Nanocubes do I believe. Also don't waste your time buying the coralife skimmer either. I can offer a few recommendations if you would like just depends on money and back set-up. Also those minibar leds are only good for aesthetics in my opinion. But for softies you will be ok. Depends on the invert. Also If you decide to get the biocube and want the extra leds let me know I filled all my slots up 5 of them if I remember correctly and no longer use them since I went the rapidled retro kit for my cube. Lots of mods for that tank

Noah707 said:
Pretty sure biocubes come with a protein skimmer, which is just mediocre. For filter media a lot of people run chemi pure blue or purigen/chemi pure elite. As for wave makers you can just go with a few inexpensive koralias which will do the job. From what I hear biocube stock lighting can support some low light corals like mushrooms. If you want a controllable wave maker and are on a budget, jebao makes some good ones. I'm using the rw-4 on a 34 gallon. Or if you have lots of $$ to spend a vortech mp10 hands down.

saltyphish · Feb 27, 2015

haleyf1024 · Feb 27, 2015

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1425092138.984807.jpg

That was my biocube. I just had stock lights, a small protein skimmer (can't remember the brand), a cheap wave maker from a clearance at petco, and the fuge box in the back with chaeto and a small underwater LED. Softies grew well, fish were happy, zoanthids were super colorful, and parameters were great. Good luck!

DaveMorris · Feb 27, 2015

I agree that a Biocube type of system is what you want. You should also look at the new Fluvial tanks that were launched at MACNA this last year. They looked very cool and are a complete system that has much better lighting than the Biocube does. You can get something like the 18g Edge aquarium. Check that out and see if it is something you would like.