BioCube HQI or NanoCube LED?

[Euphyllia]

Which do you think is better, the 29 Gallon BioCube HQI or the 28 Gallon NanoCube LED?

Those are the two I'm deciding between. I want an AIO tank.

[urbaneks]

Which do you think is better, the 29 Gallon BioCube HQI or the 28 Gallon NanoCube LED?

Those are the two I'm deciding between. I want an AIO tank.

 

One year and counting and I still love my Nano Cube.

[Euphyllia]

One year and counting and I still love my Nano Cube.

 

Thanks for your input.

I'm leaning more towards the NanoCube. Are there any people that like their BioCube HQI? (The HQI is different from the regular BioCube)

[almost]

led why even consider mh on a little tank with all the heat and power uptake and $20-80 a year to replace the bulb, leds are cooler fit in hood less $$ to up keep and grows sps as well (thats debatable but there close)

[Euphyllia]

led why even consider mh on a little tank with all the heat and power uptake and $20-80 a year to replace the bulb, leds are cooler fit in hood less $$ to up keep and grows sps as well (thats debatable but there close)

 

Well I guess that wins me over to the NanoCube side... I suppose I can scrounge up some extra money for picassos.

[sirbiggstixx]

Which do you think is better, the 29 Gallon BioCube HQI or the 28 Gallon NanoCube LED?

Those are the two I'm deciding between. I want an AIO tank.

 

ok imho..i would pick the hqi(it requires you to not need actinics but can always add anything). Supposedly LEDS are still a little behind the reef technology..Again just what i have overheard with very serious reefers talking..Halides are just better at growing corals..Regardless what some people try and say..I know LEDS work and work well..But halides just plain as day grow better coral..It grows super bright colors and you get awesome growth..i dont have a biocube hqi..but i do have a sunpod hqi with moonlight leds and absolutely love it..

 

some people swear by LEDS and i know they grow good coral..But it doesnt grow it as fast as halides do...A bunch of my friends switched to LEDS and they cant stand them now, they wish they never switched from halides..i hope this helps

 

just my $.02!!

[Euphyllia]

ok imho..i would pick the hqi(it requires you to not need actinics but can always add anything). Supposedly LEDS are still a little behind the reef technology..Again just what i have overheard with very serious reefers talking..Halides are just better at growing corals..Regardless what some people try and say..I know LEDS work and work well..But halides just plain as day grow better coral..It grows super bright colors and you get awesome growth..i dont have a biocube hqi..but i do have a sunpod hqi with moonlight leds and absolutely love it..

 

some people swear by LEDS and i know they grow good coral..But it doesnt grow it as fast as halides do...A bunch of my friends switched to LEDS and they cant stand them now, they wish they never switched from halides..i hope this helps

 

just my $.02!!

 

Thanks for your input!

You've pulled me back to the BioCube side. Anyone want to counter-argue what sirbiggstixx said?

[JoeyG40c]

Yeah man I will jump on this horse. Regular Biocube kicks the a## out of both MH and LED. Thats right...Haters

[Euphyllia]

Yeah man I will jump on this horse. Regular Biocube kicks the a## out of both MH and LED. Thats right...Haters

 

No it doesn't.

[Captain Billy]

Any type of tank with MH will grow better.

[clownfish14]

ok imho..i would pick the hqi(it requires you to not need actinics but can always add anything). Supposedly LEDS are still a little behind the reef technology..Again just what i have overheard with very serious reefers talking..Halides are just better at growing corals..Regardless what some people try and say..I know LEDS work and work well..But halides just plain as day grow better coral..It grows super bright colors and you get awesome growth..i dont have a biocube hqi..but i do have a sunpod hqi with moonlight leds and absolutely love it..

 

some people swear by LEDS and i know they grow good coral..But it doesnt grow it as fast as halides do...A bunch of my friends switched to LEDS and they cant stand them now, they wish they never switched from halides..i hope this helps

 

just my $.02!!

the leds on my tank are the exact opposite of what you are saying the added more color and the corals grew more. pluss they are less expensive in the long run.

 

to the OP i say go with the nano cube for a couple of reasons first you save money no new bulbs and you save a ton of money on your electricity bill. and the second reason is heat i have a nano cube hqi ( my dad has the tank with the LEDs although i take care of it) and i have alwayse had a problem with heat. so your best bet if you want the least expensive and least problemsome tank spen the little extra money and go with the nano cube. trust me in a year you will be thanking me.

 

Any type of tank with MH will grow better.

 

but wont look as good

[Euphyllia]

the leds on my tank are the exact opposite of what you are saying the added more color and the corals grew more. pluss they are less expensive in the long run.

 

to the OP i say go with the nano cube for a couple of reasons first you save money no new bulbs and you save a ton of money on your electricity bill. and the second reason is heat i have a nano cube hqi ( my dad has the tank with the LEDs although i take care of it) and i have alwayse had a problem with heat. so your best bet if you want the least expensive and least problemsome tank spen the little extra money and go with the nano cube. trust me in a year you will be thanking me.

 

 

 

but wont look as good

 

The LEDs in the NanoCube are more white than blue, and I've seen the tanks together (side by side) with corals and they were about the same. Nothing special about the color of the NanoCube's corals.

[Llamaguy]

Get a regular Biocube and then upgrade the hood to better LEDS

[Quokka]

...this username angers me...

 

hahaha jk sorry i had to say it when i saw it

[gulfsurfer101]

Noobs, noobs, noobs, you would like a couple of young wood peckers pecking at a tree, (beach no birch, no beach) let old grampa woodpecker take his his dang old pecker to this tree and peck away at it. He'll tell you that the tree is one of the best peices of ash out there fellows. So here's my opinion, go with the leds as I have tried all lightin options and am most impressed with leds. You won't be looking for super growth rates here in a tank of this size as opposed to color, pop, and effenciency. The benifits of leds have been laid out before you already vs growth. So what. What are you going to do when your tank outgrows itself in a matter of months, drop a grand on a bigger system, not too smart. If your into aio's you chould check out the finnex M tanks like the one I am using. It is the best of the aio's I have run. The lighting is perfect also with a MH/T5 combo that is hard to argue with. I'm still dreaming of upgrading to a custom led fixture, just putting change away every paycheck till it becomes a reality.

[Euphyllia]

Noobs, noobs, noobs, you would like a couple of young wood peckers pecking at a tree, (beach no birch, no beach) let old grampa woodpecker take his his dang old pecker to this tree and peck away at it. He'll tell you that the tree is one of the best peices of ash out there fellows. So here's my opinion, go with the leds as I have tried all lightin options and am most impressed with leds. You won't be looking for super growth rates here in a tank of this size as opposed to color, pop, and effenciency. The benifits of leds have been laid out before you already vs growth. So what. What are you going to do when your tank outgrows itself in a matter of months, drop a grand on a bigger system, not too smart. If your into aio's you chould check out the finnex M tanks like the one I am using. It is the best of the aio's I have run. The lighting is perfect also with a MH/T5 combo that is hard to argue with. I'm still dreaming of upgrading to a custom led fixture, just putting change away every paycheck till it becomes a reality.

 

I think I'm going with the BioCube. The main things I'll have in the tank are zoas, softies, and euphyllias. My hornets will look great under 150w HQI and so will my euphyllias. The LEDs on the NanoCube are more white than blue, and I've seen the tank in person before and it's nothing special. In this case, HQI beats LEDs to me. And I want my zoas to "outgrow" the tank. Wouldn't it be awesome having huge colonies of red and purple hornets?

[bioload]

I think I'm going with the BioCube. The main things I'll have in the tank are zoas, softies, and euphyllias. My hornets will look great under 150w HQI and so will my euphyllias. The LEDs on the NanoCube are more white than blue, and I've seen the tank in person before and it's nothing special. In this case, HQI beats LEDs to me. And I want my zoas to "outgrow" the tank. Wouldn't it be awesome having huge colonies of red and purple hornets?

 

I also have the BC 29 HQI and love it. I did change out the stock bulb for a phoenix14k ,which is maybe 45 bucks, and the look of the tank with the crisp blue white shimmering light is quite stunning.No actinics needed. I have no experience with the NanoCube so cant compare the two. With that light I mentioned you can also keep sps in the upper half of the tank if you want.

[Euphyllia]

I also have the BC 29 HQI and love it. I did change out the stock bulb for a phoenix14k ,which is maybe 45 bucks, and the look of the tank with the crisp blue white shimmering light is quite stunning.No actinics needed. I have no experience with the NanoCube so cant compare the two. With that light I mentioned you can also keep sps in the upper half of the tank if you want.

 

I assume by that you mean the 150w one? I bookmarked the page that was selling it and I'll keep it in mind for when it's time to update the bulb.

[almost]

i havent seen the nanocubes led light that ur talking about if it has more coolwhite than royalblue its gonna look crappy but if u have a led light that is 2:1 RB:CW zoas colors will pop more than mh

 

i find it funny how ppl will claim that mh is better than led or led is better than mh till there blue in the face. light photons are light photons there is no such thing as mh photons or led photons its all the same its wave length par and pur that make a difference. so just get the right led combo to = mh but with out heat and bulb replacement

 

my vote is for a stock biocube and add 12-24 crees with more rb than cw but its your tank,

[Chest Rockwell]

LEDs, no brainer.

[Euphyllia]

I'm pretty sure I've said this before. The LEDs in the NanoCube are more like 3 whites to 1 blue and they look exactly the same as MH. I've decided on MH and nobody is going to change my mind.

[bioload]

I assume by that you mean the 150w one? I bookmarked the page that was selling it and I'll keep it in mind for when it's time to update the bulb.

 

Yes its a 150w Coralife fixture that comes with the BC29 HQI.

[Euphyllia]

Yes its a 150w Coralife fixture that comes with the BC29 HQI.

 

No I meant the bulb you replaced it with. There's a phoenix 14k 150w MH and a phoenix 14k 250w MH, so I assumed you were talking about the 150w since putting a 250w bulb in the fixture would blow the ballast.

[bioload]

No I meant the bulb you replaced it with. There's a phoenix 14k 150w MH and a phoenix 14k 250w MH, so I assumed you were talking about the 150w since putting a 250w bulb in the fixture would blow the ballast.

 

Yes you can only reliably use the wattage the ballast was designed for....in this case 150w only

[Euphyllia]

The decision was made for me. "Santa" left the BioCube HQI in my garage for Christmas.