nano tanks... whats your opinion on this one?

[mr funktastic]

i was browsing around ebay and came across this tank. i was goign to use a old filter and heater then just buy lights and a powerhead and the tank but i think it would be about the same price to go with this. i am a freshwater guy but i really want to get into salt. i know that u should go bigger but this is all i have room for and i dont mine doing the weekly water changes as i am used to it with all my planted freshwater. would i need a protien skimmer for this? is the powerhead powerful enough? i was gonna do around 15 pounds of liverock and maybe a few soft corals. is the lighting enough? i was thinking a clown fish and maybe some tpe of shrimp for livestock. anything else i am missing? thanks in advance
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Nano-Tank-by-Cub...756527336QQcategoryZ20755QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Ricky@3rdshift]

I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THAT TANK. lOOKS LIKE A jbj TO ME, BUT i FOUND IT FOR 89.00 ON EBAY.COM FROM THE SAME GUY.


sorry for the caps.

 

[mr funktastic]

i just found it for 89.99 aswell. what do you think about the equipment that it comes with? is it anygood for setting up a tank with liverock and corals? on the bottom is the same link but for 89.99
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Nano-Tank-by-Cub...itemZ7757734808QQcategoryZ20755QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Melissamustang]

LOOKS GOOD.

 

[Jermz79]

26 watts of lighting is not very much, you could possibly house some low light corals such as shrooms, but definitely not any LPS. I would look into the JBJ Nanocube Deluxe. It is a 12 gallon tank with 48watts of PC lighting for about $20-$30 more!

 

[tecwzrd]

I agree the JBL 12G Deluxe NanoCube is slightly better then this unit but the price is twice as much.

The JBJ has two 24W bulbs which works out to 4 wpg or enough for most medium light corals while the ebay unit for $99 has two 18W (36W total) bulbs which works out to 3.6 wpg or about the same.

The “Cube Master” is pretty new to the market and doesn’t have the proven track record that JBJ tanks have but from the equipment list and the price savings it looks like they are trying to become the leader.

I would have to say that this model seems worth it the $$$. Of course if money isn’t an issue I’d get the JBJ 24G Nano Cube Deluxe for around $290.00

 

[tecwzrd]

mr funktastic

If you use:

[url=http://url]URL text[/url]

you can avoid the long url links

BBCode Guide

 

[Tex]

May I chime in? 2 weeks ago my local reef club made an all day shopping trip to the LFS's in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. We hit about 8 stores. All of the stores had boxes and boxes of the JBJ nano cubes in stock. They must be selling like crazy or all these stores wouldn't have had them in stock.

I think they are very cool and will probably get one myself.

 

[tecwzrd]

Jermz79, I did find this 12G JBJ Nano Cube for $134 so I see what you are referring too now. It does boast 48W or 4 wpg and for the little bit of extra it is probably worth it since they have a great reputation.

 

[mr funktastic]

well in the description it says that the glass is thicker then the nanocube tanks and the powerhead will give me an 11 times turnover of the water per hour which is pretty damn good. money is an issue for me that is why i like this tank but another thing is the shipping costs. it is 87 dollars shipping!!! but i have never seen these tanks locally so i cant just go pick one up. right now i have a penguine 125 biowheel filter and a decent heater. i can make lights no problem as i have done it many times for my feshwater planted tanks. but i would need to buy a tanks and then i would need a powerhead and possible a nano skimmer so i thought this route would actually be cheaper. living in canada really kills u for ordering online casue of shipping costs. i am glad that so many people chimed in for this. since it is such a decent price i am seriously considering ordering it. or would the other route be cheaper for me? just buying a tank and powerhead then building lights? thanks for the tip on how to post links tecwzrd i will have to give it a try next time.

 

[tecwzrd]

$87 for shipping from the states is about right There aren’t any Canadian sellers? Is shipping within Canada expensive as well?

 

[Jermz79]

My 12 gallon has 5mm thick glass, so I don't know what they (the ebayer) are refering too. The newer models of the JBJ are 6mm as the 24 gal. had some cracking issues due to JBJ using the same glass thickness for each tank .... the 6, 12 and 24.

All in all I guess if money is the issue and your looking for a basic tank to house some low light corals it's great, but trust me .... you'll get the reef itch when you see the things you can't keep and you'll end up spending more in the long run!

Check out www.nano-reef.com for some great info ... you may even be able to find someone selling a tank near you. There is people selling Nano's daily on that board!

tecwzrd I happened across a site that was selling the 12 gal. Nano at $119 plus free shipping at the time. I can't remember the name of the site, but if I do I'll post it!

 

[tecwzrd]

tecwzrd I happened across a site that was selling the 12 gal. Nano at $119 plus free shipping at the time. I can't remember the name of the site, but if I do I'll post it!

I already have MTS but for that price I might have to add another

 

[Jermz79]

I keep reciepts for everything so if I can find it I will post the site. It was a while ago, but you never know ... they may still have that price! They weren't posted as a sale item or anything so I know that was the true price, but the free shipping was the deal buster!

 

[mr funktastic]

shipping within canada is great. big als is also amazing for shipping casue anything over 25 dollars is free(except heavy items) but they dont sell the nano tanks on there only the eclips tanks which i dont personally like. i have come across a few sellers that are in canada but i have neevr been able to find a canadian online site besides bigals. they dont go by weight anymore for shipping they go by size so that is why it is expensive. plus the sellers will only ship with a method that has insurance to cover there losses. u could send it through usps economy but they wont because there is no coverage. what is your opinion on my other way of setting up a tank? i have the filter i mentioned before and a heater i would only need the powerhead and lights. i made a 4Xt-8 lightstrip for my 20 gal planted which gave me 80 watts, but there is an new method for calculating light based on thype it is. i would downsize to 4X 18" 15watt lights and get some 50/50 bulbs for it. i can make this fixture for under 30 dollars. is there any benifit to having the tank square instead of rectangle? if u can find that site jermz i would probably order that tank tomorrow lol but shipping would still kill me.
oh and this is the cheapest i could find the jbj cube

 

[tecwzrd]

Since you have some of the equipment and know how to build lights I would just DIY. I like the cubes smooth round looks without the tank braces but for me that’s really the only selling point.

Basically if I did get it I would probably just keep it on my desk at work for my own enjoyment during the day.

 

[mr funktastic]

well this will be replacing my 10 gallon planted tank that i currently have on my dresser. so technically i have a 10 gallon tank already as well. do i need a powerhead or will the penguin 125 be enough water movement. it is rated for a 30 gallon i think. i think 125 or 150 gph. here are the lights i built for my planted tank. if i use the same set up i will have 60 watts over 10 gallon so would 6 wpg be enough to grow most corals? is there anything i am missing for what i need. so far i have : 10 gallon tank, filter, heater, lights. i need(might need): powerhead, skimmer... please fill me in if i am missing anything beside the start up stuff like testkit, salt, rock etc. thanks again for being so patient with the noob i am also really starting to get the hang of the URL thing lol.

 

[tecwzrd]

i am also really starting to get the hang of the URL thing lol.

I see It’s not always easy to see them which is why I bold mine personally. Could be the FI Subice style only though.

[b][url=http://url]URL text[/url][/b]

I’d still add a small power head to better aerate the tank. Looks like you have lighting down, at least once you got the wiring right My stock list post covers the basic equipment needed.

 

[mr funktastic]

wow i never realised how complicated it was to do a water change for a saltwater. i had planned on getting a 5 gallon jug and filling it with ro/di water and premixing so that should do me a month on a 10 gallon if i do 10% weekly. i will be going to big als soon and i will make a list of evrything i atually need to figureout costs. the thing that is going to suk the most is buying live rock. what is cured live rock? i have seen it on ebay for pretty cheap but dont think it would still be live after shipping and have heard of lots of people wiping out a whole tank becasue there was soo much amonia in the new rocks. i think it is around 7-8 dollars per pound or 6 if u go over a certain weight. not to bad. i was thining about 10-15 pounds in my 10 gallon, that sound about right? as for stocking i was thinking a clown and then maybe a shrimp or something for clean up. i cant put very much in a tank this small right? what are your opinions on stocking it?

 

[tecwzrd]

You’re right, any “live rock” shipped will have die-off and can foul up a tank but it’s great to use for fishless cycling. I’d aim for 15-25 lbs in a 10 gal for bio-filtration and get a ph that turns the tank over 20+ times like one 200 gph or two 150 gph ph on each end of the tank.

liveaquaria.com has nice live rock. See this post & this post for examples from people on this site.

Hara’s site lists fish compatible for a 10 gal tank. There are tons more to choose from but it’s a good start.

I’d try to stick to two small fish (1”-3”) personally for the first 6 month and only add one fish per month. Once your tank has matured you could probably add one more small fish.
Once your tank has cycled I’d add about 3-6 red/blue leg hermits and about 3 Nassarius Snails & 3 Nerite Snails to help with algae/waste control.