nano/biocube or set up from scratch?

[swk]

Hey everyone. I'm going to be setting up my first sw tank and have a few questions. Am I better off buying a plug and play product or piecing one together? I have spare tanks up the you know what, but that's about it. I have a 29 gal and a standard 20 available. But other than that, I have no idea what direction to go in. I'd like to keep a couple small fish and easy, hardy corals to start. I can make a stand and I have a 10 gal that I can make a sump out of if need be. I'd like the setup to be fairly quiet as I'm planning on setting it up in my nursery for my baby that's coming this summer. Opinions please!

[Ca Nguyen]

man, i would love to buy a biocube, maybe after summer i will. i recently got a hand me down eclipse tank and i was thinking about modding the light for a mini reef. but either way, it have to wait till after summer, i won't be home to take care of it. can't trust friends to look after a mini marine

[swk]

Anybody???

[Darbex]

Hey everyone. I'm going to be setting up my first sw tank and have a few questions. Am I better off buying a plug and play product or piecing one together? I have spare tanks up the you know what, but that's about it. I have a 29 gal and a standard 20 available. But other than that, I have no idea what direction to go in. I'd like to keep a couple small fish and easy, hardy corals to start. I can make a stand and I have a 10 gal that I can make a sump out of if need be. I'd like the setup to be fairly quiet as I'm planning on setting it up in my nursery for my baby that's coming this summer. Opinions please!

Sorry been MIA for a little while. An AIO (All In One) isnt necessary and piecing it together is fine. The more gallons in the total system the better. If you can I would do the 29G with the 10G sump so you will have almost 35G of total water volume (note: I took off a few gallons out of the sump because it wont run full). Make sure you have good flow in the tank. I love vortechs but koralias will do the job too.

[Jverg]

My suggestion would be to go with the Bio cube as it is a complete system and is clean and self contained, especially since you are setting this up in a nursery. If you can go with the 29G one that would be better. I had a 14G one and had no issues. Check the forums for used ones. It would have the sand and rock already cycled. Hope this helps.

[cichlidtx]

I've had a nanocube 12dx setup for 2+ years and it has been a great tank. Simple to maintain with regular water changes and quiet. No need for all the extra equipment. Great for soft corals and a couple small fish.

[myjohnson]

Go no sump if you want it quit.

Nano cube gets my vote.

[swk]

nano cube is the jbj setup right??? Thanks for the advice. Off to start another money pit...

[myjohnson]

Lol, yeah...sw is a big time money pit.

Nano is made by jbj. I had a 12g dx like 4 years ago.

They make LED mods for them now so you can upgrade later if needed.

Building a tank is going to cost more money for sure.

[cichlidtx]

Just get the standard lighting to save money and upgrade to LED's when you can, like myjohnson said. I just got my 12 LED retro yesterday, can't wait to get it started.