MH for biocube?

[duke1231]

Has anyone changed out the PC for the MH for the biocube? I was thinking about doing it but wasnt sure if there has been any problems.

[lReef lKeeper]

wait for Pearson to reply. he had a halide on his nano.

[duke1231]

oh ok cool thanks

[Phurst]

I had a 150 on my 12. I didn't retrofit it though, I removed the hood and used a Coralife clip-on. It worked like a champ! What are you trying to acomplish?

[duke1231]

I am trying to figure out what I want to do. I really want to get up to acropora, but know I must crawl before I walk. My gut tells me that I should just gain experience from a softies tank, and then work up to a bigger tank. Patience is not my strong suit. lol

[duke1231]

Thats what I was thinking of doing. Would a 450w Metal Halide be to much for that tank?

[Phurst]

Well, experience is definitely a plus, as is a well established tank. What size is it, and how long has the tank been up?

I'm going to assume you mean 150, not 450 ;)

[duke1231]

actuall the box said 400w not 450 sorry. it was a pendant. My tank is a 14gal. biocube that I have had for 7 months.

[Phurst]

A 400 is way, way, WAY too much. A 150 was nearly overkill on the 12. A 150w HQI should be more than enough. Even a 70w HQI would be plenty. A 400w would heat that little but of water up in no time flat. For reference, I have 2 400w on my 120 and it's MORE than enough for that tank.

[lReef lKeeper]

thats WAY to much, i say 150 TOPS.

[Phurst]

If you want to do acros in a nano, you'll need to address flow as well. You'll need a surprisingly large ammount for such a small volume of water.

[duke1231]

Yea I was wondering about that? what kind of flow and can I do it?

[lReef lKeeper]

check out the Fraggle Reef, Premium Corals and More (http://www.fragglereef.com) nano pumps. i do not know if Carmie has added hers yet, but she might be able to help you there and Miguel is a great guy to do business with.

[duke1231]

All I see on there are corals. Where are the pumps?

[Phurst]

I thought someone said theirs had crapped out after a couple of weeks.

In addition to the stock pump, I'd go with a pair of Koralia nanos, or even an nano and a #1. It's easy to add a lot of flow, it's harder to add a lot of random flow.

[duke1231]

As far as gph what are we talking about? What's a #1?

[Phurst]

This i Amphibious's site. He's aTR sponsor and a great guy to deal with. You can see the Koralia pumps there and view the particulars regarding flow for each model. No to mention his prices are better than lots of LFSs.

koralia (http://www.theculturedreef.com/koralia.htm)

The key here is not to get all your flow from the return and one other pump. You want good, random, coliding flow. If it's going to ba an SPS only tank, you'll be hard pressed to have too much flow, as long as none of it is pointed directly at a coral.

[duke1231]

OK I have two questions here. 1, I have a problem with too much flow, it causes sand erosion in one spot. 2 what about wave makers?

[lReef lKeeper]

sorry, but Miguel is sold out of pumps and has no idea when he will get more. i would go with the hydors too.

[duke1231]

Yea I was those. How do they work?

[duke1231]

I want acropora's so bad, it's my ultimate goal. I am worried about water quality. It stinks that I cant add a sump to the biocube.

[duke1231]

I love water flow, I love watching the coral swaying in the current. More importantly I love the look of MH on the water.

[Phurst]

I added a sump to my NanoCube, wanna buy it ;)

You'll just need to tiker with the fow until it leaves the sand more or less in place, or just live with a bit of erosion. The Koralias are awesome. They have a lot of flow, and it's very wide, not at all like a regular powerhead. They're very efficient as well.

[lReef lKeeper]

the 2 pumps that Phurst suggested are what i would go with. you will just have to tinker with them until you get them set so that they do not blow sand everywhere. they are very easy to manipulate so you can point the flow wherever you want it.

[Phurst]

A wavemaker would be great if you can swing it. The current generation Koralias are a bit noisey on wavemaker,but they're supposed to be comming out with a new set of pumps that are controller compatible. No ETA that I've heard though.

[duke1231]

Yea I like the looks of them, they remind of Tunze powerheadds. I almost bought the nano korila today

[duke1231]

I would have to bring back the leathers in my tank, if I go with sps.

[duke1231]

So the coralife clip on 150watt is what I will go with. MH is so expensive.

[Phurst]

Yes, especialy in a small volume of water, leathers and acros will not do well together. Actualy, the leathers will be fine, it's the acros that will suffer :)

[Phurst]

Save some cash and get the 150w Viper. Almost exactly the same light for almost half the price :)

[duke1231]

where online can I find it?

[Phurst]

Might find a better price somewhere, but here it is:

nanotuners (http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=235&osCsid=42869d8a8d4e06a2ac44d41d00759ac8)

[duke1231]

Yea I actually found a better price at aquabuys

[duke1231]

aquabuys sells it for 174

[Phurst]

Nice find, and a TR sponsor too!

[duke1231]

lol yea I know. I hope nothing jumps out of my tank.

[CarmieJo]

lol yea I know. I hope nothing jumps out of my tank.Try using eggcrate.

[keith p]

Be prepared to do a lot more top offs running open top :up: