JBJ Nanos / aquapod nanos - Worth It?

[xxxbadfishxxx]

Hey all,

i have an important decision to make and i hope you guys/gals can give me some insight. I am faced with the decision to upgrade the lighting on my 50 gallon tank from 130watt Power compacts to 250watt Metal Halide OR get a 12 or 24 Gallon JBJ Nanocuve. I like the fact that they are all put together, perfect for the desk, and i just like how they look. Is it necessary to add a skimmer? can a skimmer be added? Which is better, JBJ or Aquapods? any comments are welcome.

Jeff

 

[cruzin94066]

I have both a 46 gallon and a JBJ 12 gal nano cube. When I first had the nano cube only. I found it too small for a reef tank. My corals grew and soon there was no room. I was able to keep all sorts of corals from mushrooms to leathers including clams in the nano. All I did different was change one of the bulbs to a 12000k by Odyssey and do a one to two gallon water change once a week. The corals in the nano thrived. But when I got my 46 up and running I transferred the corals to the 46 and they did even better. They grew faster and had more vibrant colors under HQI lighting. Now my twelve is good for a hospital tank for corals and fish. I had a small fusion skimmer but I took it out because it did not seem to make any difference. Hope this helps

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

so your saying upgrade lighting over nano? Why does this hobby have to be so addicting? I figured if i got the nano, i could keep some harder to keep corals that require a little more light then i currently have. I live in an apartment now, and when i eventually buy a house in a year or so i was thinking of upgrading to a 75 or 90, so i was going to try and stick with the power compacts until then. Decisions, decisions. So are JBJ & Aquapod equivalent? Skimmer is pretty much useless?

Thanks again,

Jeff

 

[xxxbadfishxxx]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7504879#post7504879 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cruzin94066
I have both a 46 gallon and a JBJ 12 gal nano cube. When I first had the nano cube only. I found it too small for a reef tank. My corals grew and soon there was no room. I was able to keep all sorts of corals from mushrooms to leathers including clams in the nano. All I did different was change one of the bulbs to a 12000k by Odyssey and do a one to two gallon water change once a week. The corals in the nano thrived. But when I got my 46 up and running I transferred the corals to the 46 and they did even better. They grew faster and had more vibrant colors under HQI lighting. Now my twelve is good for a hospital tank for corals and fish. I had a small fusion skimmer but I took it out because it did not seem to make any difference. Hope this helps

what kind of clams? i thought they needed MH.

 

[smy168]

if you're looking to do a "specific" tank, then get a Pod or Cube, if you plan on doing a second basic reef then upgrade your lighting. I have a 120, 26 bow, 54 Corner and a 24 Pod but each system is very specific. My 120 is a basic everything tank, my 26 Bow is a clam tank, the 54 corner is for softies and my Pod is for zoas.

As far as clams needing MH, most people feel this is the best way because the mantle harnesses light to feed the clam but I've had clams do great under PC, the determining factor is clam to light depth. If the clam is under PC, I would keep them high on the rockwork so that they are roughly 6-10 inches from the light itself. light to depth ratio is one of the keys to keeping a reef system because light will break through water at a specific depth before it loses intensity.

i'm sure you can find some of this infor on a "search".

good luck