Nano Newbie Advice Desired

I

indyjaco

Member
Hello all,

This is my first post on there so here it goes... I have always had fish tanks when I was younger, but they were always freshwater. Now I am looking to venture into the saltwater world. I have been browsing all the various forums today and found that the Bio Cube 29 and 14 seem to be fairly popular. Is this a tank you would recommend (what model) and is it fairly easy to use for a new guy? If I went for the BC29, is it necessary to get the HQI?

What else would you recommend for a starter tank? I plan to have a couple fish and other marine buddies. I would like to use live rock only and probably won't go the coral route.

I am trying to stay between 14 and 30 gallons due to living in an apartment. An idea size would be around 20 gallons so I can put it on my dresser.

Any advice is appreciated!!!!

Thank you.
 
I'm a fan of building your own tank out of a basic glass box, but that's strictly personal preference. But those all in one tanks do look very cool.

I can say you don't need the HQI unless you want clams or SPS corals.
 
If I didn't go the route of the HQI would I just need a good heater and skimmer?

I am starting to think of that as well, a 20 or 24 gallon glass box would be fine for me. I need to grasp all the items I would need

Thanks for the input.
 
Gotta have a heater in most cases, yes. Skimmers are generally viewed as VERY helpful but not absolutely essential.

You can get started with as little as a tank, heater, light, and powerhead(s). After that the list of what you 'need' or 'want' goes all over the freakin' map depending on your goals and who you ask. The possibilities are literally infinite.

Welcome to reefing! LOL
 
Welcome.
I suggest you think about what you would like to have in your tank, both fish and corals. That will help guide your choices of size, lighting and other things. AIO tanks like the nano cube, biocube, rsm and solana are nice and get most of the machinery out of sight but limit your options. You can also build a great tank with a standard 20g. I've done both and don't think either is necessarily better.
 
I don't know if what was just me, but you're going to want corals eventually. If you're not on a budget, why not go ahead and buy everything you'll need later down the road of you decide to build a reef? As far as the tank goes, I'd go with the largest possibly one you can get.The larger the volume of water, the easier it is to keep stable.
 
indyjaco said:
If I didn't go the route of the HQI would I just need a good heater and skimmer?

I am starting to think of that as well, a 20 or 24 gallon glass box would be fine for me. I need to grasp all the items I would need

Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

The only things you would need are a heater and powerhead. A filter like an aquaclear 70 is good for chem and mechanical filtration. A skimmer is optional. I run a 15g without a skimmer but change 1/2 the water every week. An ATO system can be an easy and cheap way to avoid needing to manually top off your tank. In a small tank salinity can increase quickly from evaporation.
 
Thanks again for all the information. I would like to go bigger, but the price (being my first attempt) and useful area are keeping me under the 30 gallon area.

So far I am looking at the BC29 non HQI then the JBJ 24. If I went this direction I would need a good 100 Watt heater, 200 ish gallon flow pump and a skimmer. I think i'd rather do some sort of cube due to keeping everything simple in my first go around. When I do get a house in the next couple years i'll definitely go bigger and more advanced as long as this go around doesn't discourage me.

I'd like to have 2 to 5 fish, a clown and some other colorful fish and stay away from coral at this time.

I found a new BC29 non HQI with a skimmer and BC stand for $300 local. Good deal?

Thank you all!
 
I ended up getting the local BC29 with the stand. Hopefully i'll get everything running this week. I'll figure out the filter setup this week while adding the rock and sand.

Any recommended chemicals to have on hand for treating the water?

Thanks.
 
I have the Biocube 8 which was my gateway tank to the hobby, and I quite enjoy it. but yes there are tons of mod out there that help out.

You shouldnt be treating your water with anything. I hope you werent planning on useing tap water? It not a good idea at all... u should be using RO/DI water for fillling and mixing saltwater, that does not have to be treated
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Aggressive fish competition
Replies
2
Views
134
AidanCfish
A
skipper03
first saltwater aquarium, weird 15g setup, many questions
5 6 7
Replies
122
Views
1K
skipper03
skipper03
G
Back after 20 years - cycling advice
Replies
4
Views
189
Guygettnby
Guygettnby
N
75 gallon set up and stocking advice
Replies
8
Views
2K
Newham94
N
oceangopher
Tankpocalypse Now
Replies
2
Views
199
Reefing102
Reefing102
Back
Top