SnoQ
Active Member
When I started in this hobby a couple of years ago, I jumped in with both feet and as many of us have done, I went a little crazy. I headed to my LFS to buy a 16g cube and came home with a 38g Innovative Marine Nuvo. In no time that tank was "full" so I expanded adding a 46g bowfront, then a 28g JBJ Pro LED and a 25g Mantis Shrimp tank. Then I went quite a bit bigger and combined everything into a 180g tank, except the Mantis of course, and sold the small tanks. Sadly my Mantis died and that tank came down and went to a new home as well.
I love my 180 and plan to upgrade to a 360 that I hope to have up and running before the end of 2014, but I found myself missing the simplicity and smaller inhabitants I had in my smaller tanks. I caught a glimpse of one of my pom pom crabs a couple of days ago, and it was the first time I’d seen one in many weeks. I have a strawberry crab I never see, and wasn’t even sure was alive until we bought a new house this year and had to tear down the 180 to move it. I have some larger wrasse so sexy shrimp are a no go in this tank and even if they weren’t they’d be lost in a tank so big. So I started thinking about setting up another cube to get my fix. I’ve decided to go with a zoa garden, small inverts and possibly a pair of Yashas paired up with a pistol shrimp.
I ended up picking up a JBJ 24g from Drs. Foster & Smith. It’s the basic one with 2 – 50/50 compact fluorescent bulbs and LED moonlights, but for $220 with the stand it was a good deal and plenty for what I want to do. I’ve already ordered up a couple of R2 Solutions moonlights that I’ll be adding so I can run day & night lighting on separate timers. If I do find that I need more day lighting down the road, I’ll either modify the existing hood or remove it and suspend an LED fixture.
I love my 180 and plan to upgrade to a 360 that I hope to have up and running before the end of 2014, but I found myself missing the simplicity and smaller inhabitants I had in my smaller tanks. I caught a glimpse of one of my pom pom crabs a couple of days ago, and it was the first time I’d seen one in many weeks. I have a strawberry crab I never see, and wasn’t even sure was alive until we bought a new house this year and had to tear down the 180 to move it. I have some larger wrasse so sexy shrimp are a no go in this tank and even if they weren’t they’d be lost in a tank so big. So I started thinking about setting up another cube to get my fix. I’ve decided to go with a zoa garden, small inverts and possibly a pair of Yashas paired up with a pistol shrimp.
I ended up picking up a JBJ 24g from Drs. Foster & Smith. It’s the basic one with 2 – 50/50 compact fluorescent bulbs and LED moonlights, but for $220 with the stand it was a good deal and plenty for what I want to do. I’ve already ordered up a couple of R2 Solutions moonlights that I’ll be adding so I can run day & night lighting on separate timers. If I do find that I need more day lighting down the road, I’ll either modify the existing hood or remove it and suspend an LED fixture.
