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 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

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?