hey guys, i just found this talkingreef website and i wanted to try it out,
ive had a freshwater tank for a few years and ive decided to look into a saltwater tank. i'm really interested in the 14 gallon bio cube, yet is it truly worth the price for such a small tank? ive been told that smaller tanks for saltwater are harder to maintain. is this true in the case of the bio cube? also, the biocube 14 tank is about 200 dollars. For this price, does anyone reccomend a better saltwater tank that would be easier to maintain? thanks alot,
aaron
while i cannot give any advise on the bio cube (cuz i dont have any nano tanks), i can say this ...
smaller tanks are quite a bit harder to maintain for this reason ... the less water volume you have the faster your water parameters can cause problems, and are a little harder to keep in the proper ranges. HOWEVER, with routine maintenance it really does not seem to be that difficult to me.
as far as price ...
i have a 125g reef that i have well over 10x that cost invested in. so i really dont think that $200 is all that bad of a price, but i will let others with those tanks help you out more.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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yea, 200 dollars really isn't expensive for a tank now that i think about it. so, for a 14 gallon tank, with some coral and rocks etc., wat would be a good fish setup for me?
That is fairly inexpensive for a setup like that. After getting into the hobby, I would recommend to others in getting a nano tank. I started out with a 10 gallon tank, (then moved up from there) A nano is not as big an investment, the size is practical, and there is little maintenace. Something you should get used to first. Another plus to nano tanks is the water changes, you can change the water much more frequently to keep the params the same, this may seem like more work but you'd only be changing approx: 2 gallons at a time. One main point one should focus on, is not overstocking the tank. Ofcourse this goes for all our aquariums, but nano's especially have little room for play. Choose your tank mates wisely. But overall a nano-tank, would be great!!!
If it was me, I'd look for a used 29 or so. There are always great deals on my local reef club boards from people either upgrading or getting out of the hobby. I say 29, because it's a very popular size, an easy size to carry, and good dimensions for piling rock. And evaporation, temp changes, overheating etc. have a much smaller effect than on a Nano.
And you'll have room to buy SO many more frags! Just sharing what I would steer a friend toward who wanted to get into the hobby.
You are making the right first step in doing research before you but. Nanos can go south faster than a larger tank, you will have to be diligent with monitoring and maintaining your tank.
yea, i'm prepared to tend to my tank more than one would with a larger tank. As for Russy P, believe me, I would love to choose the 29 over the 14, yet it almost double the price, and i really want to start fairly small and cheap for my first saltwater tank (even if it requires a bit more effort.) Also, Russy P, where would i be able to find the used tanks if i were to change my mind? I wouldn't really want to use ebay because i have had some bad experience with fish supplies on ebay in the past :-[ . thanks for all the help guys!
Here is a link to the club that I belong to. Raleigh Aquarium Society - Main Page The Raleigh area doesn't have a club just for saltwater but many areas do. They are great places to pick up used aquariums. And they are almost always local.
i am going to go tommorow and purchase the 14 biocube. ireefikeeper, i am joining that group that you found on the internet, thankyou for showing me that.
i think that i want to set up the aquarium myself over a long period of time so that i can make the setup in specific ways.
Becuase i am going to begin setting up tommorw, does anyone have any good advice for setting up the tank that probobly wont be in the saltwater tank setup instructions?
thanks alot,
aaron
Aaron, where in MD are you? I work in hunt valley, but I dont know of any local clubs in northern MD or south central PA, but there is another club that is more southern MD - CMAS Portal - CMAS Home Page
1. Run just water in it for 24 hrs. to check for leaks (and to begin the process of pacing yourself)
2. Realize that its a "BioCube 14" not a "BioCube 14 Gallon" I estimate that the display area volume is probably just under 10 gallons. Keep this in mind when planning out amount of Live Rock/Sand and Livestock etc.
3. I replaced the stock filter cartridge (cheap and inadaquate IMO) with Polyfilter. I wish I had done this right away as this stuff is good at removing all kinds of gunk.
4. Remember that every tank is a work in progress. Take it slow and enjoy the process.
thanks psychojam, , if i didn't read that it could have been bad... i had actually been planning to put enough salt in the tank for 14 gallons fix. :-[
THANKS
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