Advice - Back to the hobby after a long break

[cuserunner]

I left the hobby several years ago and am trying to get back into it. When I left the hobby, I had a Biocube 14 and a custom 30 gallon tank and stand. My Biocube was mostly stock, except for pump upgrades and a few standard mods. The custom tank was a beast with metal halide lights, a large sump/refugium, wavemaker, ato, etc. I gave a lot of stuff away, but kept a few pumps, the Biocube, and some odds and ends.

I decided to dip my toes back into the hobby, mostly for my daughters sake. I thought it would be a fun hobby to do together as she grows up.

My original thought was to get the Biocube up and running with minimal effort. I dug everything out, did a leak test, and everything looks ok. However, the lights are shot, and so are all of my pumps and heaters. I have a few options:

1. Cheap out and buy some replacement stock bulbs and a cheap pump. I remember having heat issues in the past due to the stock lighting.
2. Upgrade to LED lighting. My only issue is that I want to leave the hood on. I have other pets, and also want to limit access for my daughters sake. The LED retro kits and/or a new hood are the same price as buying a new Biocube with LED's.
3. Buy a new Biocube 16.
4. Something else?

My plan is to do mostly soft corals, standard cleanup crew, and a fish or two. I have no intentions of doing SPS with this setup.

Thoughts?

 

[rockhead51]

Some of the LED kits are a vast improvement over the stock BioCube LED lights. I have a BC32 LED, but went with the Steve's LEDs upgrade, and it is a massive change.
If you are happy with the size of the BC, stick with it. There are plenty of cheaper upgrades you can do.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

 

[cuserunner]

Thanks. I ended up cleaning up my old Biocube and it's pretty beat up. I decided on ordering a new one. Hopefully this satisfies the itch for now.