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Buying First Nano Cube


aaaammmm13

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I'm going to be buying an all in one tank soon, and I was wondering which tank is better. The Nano cube or Bio cube. What size is best for a beginner? Is the stock lighting good enough for coral?

 

Thanks.

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You'll find that people enjoy both the NanoCube and BioCube, but I for one (along with others I'm sure) lean towards the BioCube because of all the modifications that people can make to it (Like StevieT does). The stock lighting will be good enough to keep soft corals and some LPS, but no clams, anemones or SPS.

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Well first off, if this is your first saltwater reef tank then the stock lighting will be fine for you. As your tank matures and you gain more confidence you can upgrade to metal halide lighting and then venture into getting some clams, SPS or an anemone (BTW an anemone in a small tank is NEVER a good idea).

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i would say buy the larger 29 g biocube, the more water you have the easier it will be to care for...

 

and you will be happy with the extra room for more stuff...

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:welcome:

 

I agree with most of what you have been told so far. I am also certain these guys have been at this longer that i have. I used NR for alot of info before I started a few months ago.

 

With that said I chose the JBJ 24G DX Nano Cube. I have done little to no upgrades except to add a extra dual directional powerhead. I have a Clam that is doing great and various corals. My lights are stock. I have also researched alot. I am going to get some Montipora coral soon, which I am sure you know is a hard coral.

 

So though you were told stock is only good for softies and no clams or Anenomes it really oly depends on what your stock lighting is. The JBJ DX setups have good lighting for a all in one system. I chose it because of its lighting. The Bio-Cube theough a good tank would need some lighting upgrades to keep hard corals. I think a clam would be fine however.

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:welcome:

 

I agree with most of what you have been told so far. I am also certain these guys have been at this longer that i have. I used NR for alot of info before I started a few months ago.

 

With that said I chose the JBJ 24G DX Nano Cube. I have done little to no upgrades except to add a extra dual directional powerhead. I have a Clam that is doing great and various corals. My lights are stock. I have also researched alot. I am going to get some Montipora coral soon, which I am sure you know is a hard coral.

 

So though you were told stock is only good for softies and no clams or Anenomes it really oly depends on what your stock lighting is. The JBJ DX setups have good lighting for a all in one system. I chose it because of its lighting. The Bio-Cube theough a good tank would need some lighting upgrades to keep hard corals. I think a clam would be fine however.

 

I would have to strongly disagree with Khayman's choice of putting a clam in with PC lighting. Sure it can be done for short time periods, but for the long term health of the clam, you should not place it under PC lighting.

 

Sure, you could put a monti on the highest part of rock and it would do fine. It wouldn't have as much growth as under MH or T5 lighting, but it will still live.

 

You're going to get a large number of opinions in this hobby, but make sure to get as many opinions as you can to decide what is best.

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I would have to strongly disagree with Khayman's choice of putting a clam in with PC lighting. Sure it can be done for short time periods, but for the long term health of the clam, you should not place it under PC lighting.

 

Sure, you could put a monti on the highest part of rock and it would do fine. It wouldn't have as much growth as under MH or T5 lighting, but it will still live.

 

You're going to get a large number of opinions in this hobby, but make sure to get as many opinions as you can to decide what is best.

 

Agreed.

 

Sure you can put a clam under PC lighting and it will survive (temporarily), but the same goes for other instances. Can you put a tang in a 20 gallon? Yes. Will it be happy and survive? NO. This hobby takes knowledge, research, and personal experience. Please refrain from anemones, clams and most sps unless you have metal halide lighting or t5. Yes you can keep SOME sps under power compact lighting, namely Montipora Capricornis (depending on which color you get), but it would need to be high up.

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I would have to strongly disagree with Khayman's choice of putting a clam in with PC lighting. Sure it can be done for short time periods, but for the long term health of the clam, you should not place it under PC lighting.

 

Sure, you could put a monti on the highest part of rock and it would do fine. It wouldn't have as much growth as under MH or T5 lighting, but it will still live.

 

You're going to get a large number of opinions in this hobby, but make sure to get as many opinions as you can to decide what is best.

 

Just for your information. omgomgomg

 

I am happy to get criticism in this hobby. The clam is doing great in the tank. When I got the clam from the LFS it was quite pale and the centre area was white. Since it has been in my tank (2 months) it has deepened in colour alot and the centre has started filling out again. It is open and happy. I find alot of hobbyists would have a much better understanding of marine and reef life if they were scuba divers (I am). Alot of the so-called high light animals and corals live in low light or even perpetual darkness in the ocean. Sun coral is a perfect example. Many hobbyists will tell you that it cannot live except under MH or T5 lighting. I often fine this a very hilarious opinion. Sun Coral in the wild is found in very dark caves with little to no exposure to sunlight. Also before stating that the Lighting is inadequate on the 24G JBJ perhaps some research should be done. The lighting is as follows in the stock canopy. 2x 36 Watt CF lamps for a combination of 72 Watts of high intensity compact florescent illumination, 50/50 lamps with a total of 10k purified white and 7100k of blue actinic light this creates a combination of the suns spectrum for optimal health in animals and corals.

 

Also Montipora coral will do just fine in the stock lighting. Also if it grows a little slower I am happy for that. I also have done alot of research before and since starting a reef tank. I will agree that there are many animals and corals that my stock lighting will not support i.e.: Acropora Coral and some Montipora (But not all it depends on what you select). I have a 24G system I want it to grow slowly so that I do not forever need to frag. I do not have anyone around to swap my frags with. Also as I am sure you have all experienced LFS will not give you much for a frag. Lets say you pay $50 on a small coral if you give them the same coral back only twice the size or larger you are lucky if you get a 10th of its original price back (Also before you say it I know that is the nature of capitalism).

 

Also as for the Clam situation they will do just fine check out this thread. These clams are in a tank placed close to a window. All they get is sunlight from the window. I mean who would have thought that the sun would give these animals adequate light, completely unheard of right.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=164200

 

I am sorry if this seems like a rant because it is not. I am just a little tired of people regurgitating advice. I give advise on my experience or on the experience of others (books)

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Just for your information. omgomgomg

 

I am happy to get criticism in this hobby. The clam is doing great in the tank. When I got the clam from the LFS it was quite pale and the centre area was white. Since it has been in my tank (2 months) it has deepened in colour alot and the centre has started filling out again. It is open and happy. I find alot of hobbyists would have a much better understanding of marine and reef life if they were scuba divers (I am). Alot of the so-called high light animals and corals live in low light or even perpetual darkness in the ocean. Sun coral is a perfect example. Many hobbyists will tell you that it cannot live except under MH or T5 lighting. I often fine this a very hilarious opinion. Sun Coral in the wild is found in very dark caves with little to no exposure to sunlight. Also before stating that the Lighting is inadequate on the 24G JBJ perhaps some research should be done. The lighting is as follows in the stock canopy. 2x 36 Watt CF lamps for a combination of 72 Watts of high intensity compact florescent illumination, 50/50 lamps with a total of 10k purified white and 7100k of blue actinic light this creates a combination of the suns spectrum for optimal health in animals and corals.

 

Also Montipora coral will do just fine in the stock lighting. Also if it grows a little slower I am happy for that. I also have done alot of research before and since starting a reef tank. I will agree that there are many animals and corals that my stock lighting will not support i.e.: Acropora Coral and some Montipora (But not all it depends on what you select). I have a 24G system I want it to grow slowly so that I do not forever need to frag. I do not have anyone around to swap my frags with. Also as I am sure you have all experienced LFS will not give you much for a frag. Lets say you pay $50 on a small coral if you give them the same coral back only twice the size or larger you are lucky if you get a 10th of its original price back (Also before you say it I know that is the nature of capitalism).

 

Also as for the Clam situation they will do just fine check out this thread. These clams are in a tank placed close to a window. All they get is sunlight from the window. I mean who would have thought that the sun would give these animals adequate light, completely unheard of right.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=164200

 

I am sorry if this seems like a rant because it is not. I am just a little tired of people regurgitating advice. I give advise on my experience or on the experience of others (books)

 

 

LoL, sun coral is high light? Where have you heard that before? :lol: They are nearly non-photosynthesizing and in-fact will die without food supplementation.

 

Arguing about putting clams under Power Compacts is like arguing with someone that has a tang in a 20 gallon. And yes I know that TinyReef has clams in a pico tank, natural sunlight is the equivalent to Metal Halide or T5s. I will be extremely curious to see the status of your clam in a year. Remember it can take months for many corals and inverts to die from starvation (clams get nutrition from the Zooanthellae that grow on their mantle, these tiny organisms will not grow properly without the right lighting).

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Good luck on your new hobby! It's very addicting and takes lots of time. I am also very new to this hobby. But try and take it slow.

 

I have a 29g Biocube and love it!

 

Do lots of research!

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LoL, sun coral is high light? Where have you heard that before? :lol: They are nearly non-photosynthesizing and in-fact will die without food supplementation.

 

Arguing about putting clams under Power Compacts is like arguing with someone that has a tang in a 20 gallon. And yes I know that TinyReef has clams in a pico tank, natural sunlight is the equivalent to Metal Halide or T5s. I will be extremely curious to see the status of your clam in a year. Remember it can take months for many corals and inverts to die from starvation (clams get nutrition from the Zooanthellae that grow on their mantle, these tiny organisms will not grow properly without the right lighting).

 

+1

 

One of the things I've learned in this hobby is that no matter what you tell people, they will always do what they want. With most people in this hobby, once they have decided to do something that they want to do, you cannot stop them no matter what you say.

 

Khayman, I'm curious, what kind of clam is it? Crocea, Maxima, etc.?

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+1

 

One of the things I've learned in this hobby is that no matter what you tell people, they will always do what they want. With most people in this hobby, once they have decided to do something that they want to do, you cannot stop them no matter what you say.

 

Khayman, I'm curious, what kind of clam is it? Crocea, Maxima, etc.?

 

 

golden words of wisdom. But on the flip side, it seems like there are very few "absolute truths" in the hobby.

I had metal halides on my tank and went back to t5s and the tank is much healthier in terms of color and overall appearence.

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AcroporaLokani
LoL, sun coral is high light? Where have you heard that before? :lol: They are nearly non-photosynthesizing and in-fact will die without food supplementation.

 

Arguing about putting clams under Power Compacts is like arguing with someone that has a tang in a 20 gallon. And yes I know that TinyReef has clams in a pico tank, natural sunlight is the equivalent to Metal Halide or T5s. I will be extremely curious to see the status of your clam in a year. Remember it can take months for many corals and inverts to die from starvation (clams get nutrition from the Zooanthellae that grow on their mantle, these tiny organisms will not grow properly without the right lighting).

 

Sun coral gets nothing from sunlight not "nearly" nothing. Perhaps he got the name of the coral wrong and is actually referring to a different coral (Most of the common diving books/coral books for divers call corals odd names that do not transfer to well in to this hobby).

 

Not all natural sunlight is the equivalent of metal halides (I tried a sun lit tank and most of the coral died and within a day of adding MH all the coral perked right up). For instance if you are on the equator then yes your sunlight will be better than MH but in different parts of the world the sun light that gets in to the tank can be less than an MH would give off. (Not arguing with "TinyReef" at all I think his tank is awesome and it probably has something to do with the fact that his tank is smaller and the sunlight does not get filtered out by so much water in the tank).

 

Clams also filter the water and can feed on plankton so for all we know he is regularly feeding his clam and that plus the 72 watts of PC allow the clam to live maybe not thrive to its fullest but I have seen clams in much worse tanks (Not insulting Khayman at all his tank looks nice to me just saying it from your point of view). And actually clams die quite quickly so he must be doing something correctly if his clam has lived for two months. (Not being argumentative, I think and know clams do better under MH but I have also seen clams kept under PC and they lived for the life of the thread that was about a year).

 

And bubble tip anemones can live and thrive under regular PC (Not sure on other types of anemones never tried them under PC), I have actually kept bubble tip anemones under regular fluorescent lights and they multiplied from one to five in about a year. Now all five are in my 55 gallon under two T5 bulbs.

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