7 gallon Minibow kit from acme reef help??

[CDoskocil9]

There is a tank on acme reef called 7 gallon minibow front aquarium kit. What else would i need to add or change to this kit to grow corals and some fish as well as invertebrates? I have posted the specs below.

 

Includes:

$65.00 Beautiful 7 gallon glass bow front tank with black hood

and black trim.

$129.00 Retrofit power compact light kit. Producing 32 watts.

$14.00 Live Sand 7 LB.

$84.00 Live Rock 14 LB.

$15.00 Heater.

$7.00 Kent Pro glass scraper.

$15.00 Penguin Bio wheel filter.

$10.00 Rio 50 powerhead.

$5.00 Aquarium starter bacteria culture.

$14.00 Hydrometer.

$10.00 Ammonia Test Kit.

$10.00 Nitrite test kit.

$10.00 Salt.

Skimmers are not needed

for these small reef tanks.

 

$388.00

SFT002

[Crakeur]

I bought my old 7 from them a year and a half ago. I thought they were going out of business.

 

Happy to see they aren't.

 

Tell them you want sand and not crushed coral. Much nicer looking, in my opinion. The lights are ok, I grew acros under them but, if you want to get a little boost, at least upgrade to 36 watts.

 

Not much else is needed to get started.

[killrblue]

Have you tried pricing it out by themselves around your area and online? Did you get the shipping charge on the kit? Here are some things I found when I was thinking about a 7g minibow.

 

-7g minibow is $59.99 at Petsmart in-store, by the way 16g minibow is out but supply is limited.

-96w Quad 50/50 w/ legs is only $110 shipped from hellolights.com, unless u are installing the retro in the current hood to look clean like OEM.

[Gilman]

Since you are paying an extra $70.00 for 32watt the lighting alone, I would consider this a BAD purchase. Too expensive. You can get a 32watt Smartlight Retrofit for around $50.00.

 

Put your own Minibow Nano together, and you will have all the equipment you want. I personally would spend less on the lighting and bio wheels, and more on the heater and possibly test kits!

 

Good luck man,

 

Gil

 

ps here is a link to the lighting retro here.

[Crakeur]

yes you can find prices varying all over the net. However, take into consideration (as I did when I priced mine out, it was less by the way) the fact that ordering from different places means paying for shipping multiple times and, therefore, increasing your cost. When I priced it out piecemeal vs. the package, it was a few bucks less using the one stop shop.

 

That said, there is a risk that the tank breaks in shipping and you are then stuck with live rock and sand and a broken tank. Meaning you have to run out and get a new tank or lose the rock and sand life.

[Gilman]

Crak,

 

That last scenario is a real bummer.

 

Gil