Help with new build

[hedgeclipper2]

Hello all,

I used to have a BioCube 29 years ago and it was pretty successful until my anemone went rogue and got sliced and diced in a malfunctioning power head (unbeknownst to me) and the tank crashed. I was so disheartened I broke it down and haven't had any tank since. Fast forward to today and my spouse got me one of those EcoQube C things which are cute for a little Betta maybe and it got me thinking about setting up another reef tank as I greatly enjoyed it (won't be fiddling with that anemone this time around, ha).

I am considering 4 different builds and was curious to see what everyone thought about the direction I am thinking so far, here we go (sorry if this is a long read):

For livestock we would like to limit to maybe 2 small fish (pair of clowns maybe), the CuC and lots of corals.

Option 1: LED BioCube 32 w/stand, Jager 100w heater, InTank media basket running filter floss, purigen and chemi-pure elite (no skimmer for now), Koralia Nano 425 and all the other goodies (refractometer, digital thermometer, mag cleaner, test kit, dry sand seeding with live sand, base rock, thinking about upgrading return pump to MJ1200

Option 2: LED BioCude 16 w/stand, Jager 75w heater, stock basket with filter floss, purigen, chemi-pure elite (no skimmer for now), Koralia Nano 425 and all the other goodies (refractometer, digital thermometer, mag cleaner, test kit, dry sand seeding with live sand, base rock), thinking about upgrading return pump to MJ1200

Option 3: IM NuvoFusion 20, Jager 75w heater, unsure about light (kit comes with Skkye light but not sure about its effectiveness for corals, could upgrade to AI Prime HD with arm, InTank media baskets running filter floss, purigen and chemi-pure elite (no skimmer for now), Koralia Nano 425 and all the other goodies (refractometer, digital thermometer, mag cleaner, test kit, dry sand seeding with live sand, base rock)

Option 4: JBJ Nano Rimless 30 w/stand, AI Prime HD light with arm, Jager 100w heater, InTank media baskets running filter floss, purigen and chemi-pure elite (no skimmer for now), Koralia Nano 425 and all the other goodies (refractometer, digital thermometer, mag cleaner, test kit, dry sand seeding with live sand, base rock), thinking about adding Tunze Osmolater since this is open top

We like the BioCubes because we had one before, but we love the look of the JBJ Rimless. Not sure if the 16 or 20 gallons are too small and/or require more maintenance due to small size.

I hope we are headed in the right direction, trying not to break the bank with this set up as well. Thanks in advance.

 

[Smoke Inator]

if corals are the goal, focus on the lights first then work backwards.
rimless/no hood and its easy but if you want to keep the hood research every build and plan on buying a good light.

 

[hedgeclipper2]

Are the lights in the LED BioCube any good? The old one I had was not the LED version.

 

[rockhead51]

Hedgeclipper, I am a noob, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have a BioCube 32 LED and I really like it. About 2 months in, clowns, CUC, had a royal grama (till one of the clowns beat her up- all I found was a skull with purple lips, and I had to wrestle her away from a crab...), and some softies and one LPS (frogspawn). All are doing very well. Palys growing and have dropped 2 new polyps. Several shrooms have quadrupled in size. Kenya tree got a black slime thing and lost some tissue, but came roaring back and has doubled.
No clue if you could do SPS....

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[hedgeclipper2]

...
No clue if you could do SPS....

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Not really interested in SPS. Spouse likes frogspawn, torch, zoas, GSP, pulsating denies, etc. I am hoping those would do fine

 

[hedgeclipper2]

Not really interested in SPS. Spouse likes frogspawn, torch, zoas, GSP, pulsating denies, etc. I am hoping those would do fine

Xenias*** Autocorrect ha

 

[rockhead51]

Nightie shot. I'll do a day version when everything is out.

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[rockhead51]

Zoas, Palys, Colt Coral (maybe finger leather?), GSP, Frogspawn, Clove Polyps, Kenya Tree, Mushrooms. All thriving.

I feed Marine Snow and Reef Fuel 2x/week. Was feeding the fish just flake, but then I went to a mix of spirulina and mysis every other day (alternating with flake) and both fish and corals are loving it.

Daylights for 8hrs, and Moonlights for 3. Plus sun/moon rise and set.

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[hedgeclipper2]

Very nice, I love the rock space with the "hole" in the middle for the fish to swim through. What filtration are you running? Also, how often are you having to top of with RO/DI water? I am leaning towards the IM Nuvo Fusion with the AI Prime HD that way if we ever upgrade we already have a good light, but the open top design has me thinking I would have to buy an ATO unit.

 

[skiingfast]

Option 4 sounds the best due to the AI, and most expensive due to the AI.

Considering the stocking list I would go with Option 1. It will give you the needed room compared to options 2 and 3.

 

[rockhead51]

As far as filtration, all I have is the rack that it came with in compartment 2 with floss on top (not the floss cartridge, just floss cut to fit), a bag with matrix "pebbles" in the middle, and some live rock rubble on the bottom. As the water moves to chamber 3, it passes through a coarse sponge as well, but that's more to keep junk out of the pump (although I have seen brittle stars and even a bristle worm in the sponge).
Top off has been very minimal thanks to the hood. When it is cold out and the air gets dry, I'm looking at around 6-8oz of RODI per day. I use LFS water for both salt and RODI.
If the top was open, I would definitely go with an ATI. Convenience and because in so small a tank I'd worry about salinity swings.

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