What is the best Cube.

[good11s]

I want to set up a Nano tank in my office and I was wondering which is the best cube for the money?

I was considering 24G tank. But which type? there seems to be so many.

The Nano-Cube 24G
Oceanic BioCube
Aquapod
Red Sea Max

Anyone have an opinion? Is one better than the other?

I was going to go with the standard lighting and MH. Thoughts?

Also, what about protein skimming? I notice Oceanic advertizes one that fits in teh biocube.

Help!

Thanks!

 

[fishcrack]

I have a 24 gallon Nano Cube Deluxe in my classroom and I love it. The deluxe has the better lights with fan. I can't compare it to the other tanks you listed. This tank is acrylic (I wanted lightweight because it sits on a counter), is self contained and I was able to find a good price and free shipping. It's been up and running a little less than a year. I did buy an extra pump to address a small area that didn't get much water flow and a Nano sized protein skimmer. Although I don't have a lot of room for fish, my corals are doing fantastic. The tank is attractive and easy to take care of with basic maintenance. Good luck.

 

[tamra&steven]

i have 2 24ga jbj nano cubes. one has a 150w mh the other just the standard lighting. i have 2 extra power heads in them to have more flow and to run the each chiller. i love it for the money compaired to the others that you have listed i like it more. jbj also offers a 28ga nano with mh lighting and a skimmer built in plus it has a wave maker that comes with it. if i was to buy a new cube it would be the jbj 28ga cube it has great lighting and good water flow. but imo i like the jbj nanos

 

[land locked]

Thanks for asking this question. I am going to buy my young adult children one of these each for Christmas, and checked into this forum just in time for your question. Since I will be buying two I want to research them well. The lfs told me the Oceanic bio cube was better but that is what he sells. He said he used to sell the Nano but structural they were not sound and he had one tank break with no reason, in his own house. I am anxious to here the comments to help with my purchase here in a few months.

 

[usmcmarc]

I have a 29Gal BioCube and love it...BUT...I had to do alot of modifications.

I hear they have ones with built-in skimmers, lighted refugiums and stock MH lighting....If I had it to do again, I would go with one of those.

 

[lando]

All great info. When it boils down to it, they are pretty much all the same. The biggest differrences come in the way of lighting. First, I recommend you decide what you want to keep. Once you decide what corals you want to keep, thhe list will be shortened. If you want to keep high-light corals and clams, then look at a cube with a MH hood. If LPS and softies are more of your style, then systems with CF lighting might do just fine.

Mechanically speaking, these units are pretty similar. They all have filtration compartments with a return pump. When buying any of these, the first thing you should do is ditch any of the filtration media (bioballs, ceramic rings, sponges, etc.) they come with and replace them with LR rubble.

Nano skimmers are pretty new to the market. There are a couple out there right now. I managed to get the Oceanic nano skimmer to fit into my 12gal JBJ nanocube deluxe with no issues. If you are looking at a larger nano system (24-29gal) I do reccomend adding a skimmer but you do not have to purchase a system with an integrated skimmer. Adding a nanoskimmer afterwords is just fine.

To make a short story long...if you have a size and livestock wishlist in mind we can sure help you narrow things down a bit.

 

[tamra&steven]

that would make a nice gift too i would like one for christmas too haha