Bio Cube 14 gallon / 12 gallon JBJ nano cube

[gurnie]

I am looking 14 gallon Bio Cube, it seems to be a good starter tank. (I know from reading "The New Marine Aquarium," a book I just picked up today, that they suggest a beginner to start with a 40 gallon. Alas, I have no room for that at my condo.

But I want to be realistic, and I am interested in having a reef tank with False perculas (just one pair). But I am unsure if that was an unrealistic expectation with this size tank (not sure of the answer yet since I haven't finished the book).

It seems the Bio Cube is onsale, can someone point me to who's selling it for the best price and to the rebate?

I was also looking at the JBJ 12 gallon nano cube, what do you think of that system VS. the biocube? I see that its about $60-100 difference in price

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...7&pcatid=10677

Thanks for helping the newb with the newb questions!

[ringfinger]

Most books will suggest a larger tank for the beginners. This is because when things go wrong, it happens a lot slower the more water you have. Things can go south fast in a 2.5 gallon pico! I somewhat disagree with this advice though. Frequent PWC's are one of the keys to success, and are much easier to keep up with in a smaller tank. Anything over 10 gallons that you are easily able to do a weekly 20% PWC on is what I would recommend. There is no sense in going with a bigger tank if you don't have the $, time, or dedication to keep up the PWC schedule. I have a BC14 and love it.

The BC14 would probably be fine for a pare of false Percs depending on who you ask. If you can go with the NC24 or BC29, that would be better. The BC seems to be a little more well made, but I don't have any real complaints with my NC24 either.

I got mine for cheap from an eBay store. Dr Foster & Smith sale prices are probably close to what the price SHOULD be all the time. Shop around, and don't forget eBay would be my advice. Talk to your LFS and see if they will hook you up on any equipt deals if you buy the cube through them.

[Devilishturtles]

I agree, check ebay. You can usually find great deals on there.

If you only have room for either ther 12 or 14 gallon, I would go with the 14 gallon Biocube. A pair of false perculas would be fine in a 14 gallon, in my opinion. Petsolutions.com also happens to have them on sale and at the same price as the 12 gallon JBJ.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Oceanic-...C40003139.aspx

The lighting seems comparable, but if you decide to go with the 12 gallon JBJ, do make sure you get the deluxe version and not the regular. If you go with the regular, you will not have enough lighting for a reef.

HTH

[gurnie]

I called petsolutions and they said the 14 gallon biocube is on sale for $169 till 12/31/07 (woot!)

now the skimmer for this tank is about $150, which means the kit is around $300 if i decide to use proprietary parts.

Can you use a different skimmer for this tank or do you have to use the biocube skimmer? is it a good skimmer? Can you use a different skimmer? What are some good brands / models that would work well in biocube

i know I have lots of questions but if i'm gonna do this, I want to do it right.

[ringfinger]

Skimmers are not always necessary in a tank this size, but they can't hurt either. Frequent water changes keep things nice.

It doesn't have to be that particular one(I think you are looking at the skimmer for the BC29 anyway), it just has to fit in one of the back chambers. There are plenty of cheaper ones, I think one is called the Fission Nano Skimmer, but I have never heard ANYTHING good about the cheap models.

[Devilishturtles]

The one for sale on the petsolutions website says it is for the 29 gallon biocube, not the 14 gallon.

If you are going to go with the 14 gallon and RO/DI water, as long as you keep up with frequent water change, you can probably bypass a skimmer all together in your tank.

Just a thought.