wallie03 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Hello all, it has been a while since I had a reef tank and I'm looking to get back into the Hobby. I have been saving up for almost a year! i am very excited but i cant seem to make up my mind I'm stuck between the JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Cube LED and the Oceanic 29g BioCube HQI. I just relocated to southern California and no that it can get pretty hot here in the summer and think that i would possibly need to buy a chiller if i went with the HQI system, but with the new design im not sure if i would. any one out there with experence on the HQI system. http://www.oceanicsystems.com/products/biocube-hqi.php . The Led system seems nice but im unsure of the lighting is going to be enough to keep SPS. not to mention the horrible stand that it comes with. http://www.jbjnanocube.com/contents/en-us/d874.html . Any insight into these two tanks would be very helpful. Thanks Link to comment
Maeda Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 You might want to look into NOT getting either of those tanks. Piece together a tank and you'll be much better off. Link to comment
Deano Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Back I have had a BC29 since 2006. It has evolved into a MH lite with closed top tank, you can check out my build thread it has quite a bit of information. I can't comment on either tank BC29 HQI or the JBJ LED since I have no experiance with them. As far as Oceanic Cubes go they are a quality produce with a very good reputaion. I think the HQI has taken some of the mods older BC29 owners have done and incorperated them into this new tank. Such as the window on the back for a refugium light. I am not sure but I think I would concider finding an older PC model and remove the top and just hang 150w MH pendent over it. This is what I should do but I bought this tank because of the clean close top look so I hate to abandon the tank for the reason I bought it. Another option you might concider would be setting up a 20 l 30x12x12, I am currently stocking mine and just need to build a stand. I really like this tank size. It is easy to light and you could more then likely set one of these up for less then a AIO. Link to comment
Maeda Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Another option you might concider would be setting up a 20 l 30x12x12, I am currently stocking mine and just need to build a stand. I really like this tank size. It is easy to light and you could more then likely set one of these up for less then a AIO. By the time you're done spec-ing up an AIO to support real livestock, you'll easily spend much more than if you just bought a plain glass tank and bought good equipment to begin with. In the past I set a budget out for a AIO, and matched it's specs with a plain glass tank, and found that for half the money you can match the specs, and for the same money you'll end up with vast improvements (lights, pumps, water movement, etc.) over a stock AIO. Found it... http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...122650&st=0 Link to comment
JSVAND5 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 With those two options I would go with the HQI. The NC LED system is already kind of outdated and the color on them isn't the greatest. If it were me, I would go with an NC 28 with the crap PC lighting and do either a DIY LED system or get an LED system from Nanocustoms. Even better may be to find a used NC or BC to save some money since you would be ripping out the lighting anyway. It probably would be cheaper just to get a normal tank that is not an AIO, but I prefer the look of the AIO's. Link to comment
jestep Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 DFS has a crazy sale on the NC 28 HQI. I know you were comparing the LED but the HQI is like $300 right now which is a pretty good deal. I have a 28 HQI. If I were going to start from scratch again, I would probably go with a custom rimless cube of some sort. I like the AIO's but the rimless tanks look much cleaner and give quite a bit more options for setting one up. Link to comment
jam77 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I really like my biocube hqi it has been a great tank the only thing I changed right away was the bulb I thought the 14k looked kinda crappy but thats my preference. If I had to do it over again I would save to either buy a red sea 65 gallon or build my own because my 29 is running out of room Link to comment
rdahlke1105 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I really like my JBJ 28 LED. Its nice not having to worry about heat issues like you do with some of the HQI's. Though the JBJ stand is a pain to assemble. Link to comment
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