Starting over, but smaller... Advice?

[jeffesaurusrex]

I recently lost my 75g that had been running almost a year to a house fire. I had been wanting to downsize before it happened so now I actually will. I was looking at the biocube 29 and also the jbj 28. I have a gameplan; I want to get a stock cube and upgrade the hood with LED lighting. But I can only find the retrofit for the biocube and I assume this is because jbj makes led hoods for theirs. However the high powered one is 800 bucks.

My original plan was biocube 29, rapidled dimmable retrofit kit, and tunze 9002. But after more and more research I get more confused.

My ultimate goal is to be able to stock anything as far as coral. I was just getting into corals with the 75 and I was having a lot of fun with that but I really want to focus on that more this time.

I just was looking for opinions on the best way to do what I'm trying to do. I have no experience with cubes but I was able to keep my 75 running great with no real problems. I don't think the smaller size will be a huge deal because it will become easier to maintain and ill be able to stay more consistant.

 

[ange062]

I started with a bone stock JBJ NC28 CF-Quad that was cheap, then upgraded over time. You will be happy with either the JBJ or the Oceanic version, and there is a good following around here to help you out.

Actually now that I think about it, that new JBJ rimless 30g is a sweet looking little tank! And you would be one of the first to set one up. Would couple very well with an LED fixture like the AI SOL, Radion, etc...

 

[jeffesaurusrex]

That JBJ 30 is a very pretty tank, but rimless isn't really for me. Theres a Solana here in town on Craigslist, he says it's 30g but measures 24x24x24. From the info I could find, the 30G solana is 20x20x20 and the 60 is 24x24x24. I decided against it because it was rimless, for a couple reasons. First a canopy looks a little tacky on a rimless IMO, unless it's a glass panel and I didn't like the glass on my 75 and was planning on a mesh top upgrade before it burnt. Second, I don't like hanging lights.

One of my main concerns is how easy it is to cheaply and safely get LEDs into the tank. Did you upgrade to LEDS on the CF-Quad JBJ or do you still have the CF? How did you do the upgrade if so (was it a custom job or did you buy a plug and play kit and where did you find it)? The one at the LFS is also a CF-Quad with the stand. He only wants 280$ for it, and I was thinking about going ahead and picking it up and storing it in the garage. In any case, JBJ has the pro LED hood (89W) prebuilt from them for 379 which isn't bad at all I don't think. Unless there is a cheaper DIY kit.

Another thing I was wondering about - as far as I can tell, the JBJ is glass. Is the Biocube also glass or is it acrylic?

 

[jeffesaurusrex]

Is there any possible way to use a full size skimmer (like the Reef Octopus NWB150 that I already have) in a sump?

The Biocube looks like it would fit it, but I'm not sure about the JBJ

 

[ange062]

That JBJ 30 is a very pretty tank, but rimless isn't really for me. Theres a Solana here in town on Craigslist, he says it's 30g but measures 24x24x24. From the info I could find, the 30G solana is 20x20x20 and the 60 is 24x24x24. I decided against it because it was rimless, for a couple reasons. First a canopy looks a little tacky on a rimless IMO, unless it's a glass panel and I didn't like the glass on my 75 and was planning on a mesh top upgrade before it burnt. Second, I don't like hanging lights.

One of my main concerns is how easy it is to cheaply and safely get LEDs into the tank. Did you upgrade to LEDS on the CF-Quad JBJ or do you still have the CF? How did you do the upgrade if so (was it a custom job or did you buy a plug and play kit and where did you find it)? The one at the LFS is also a CF-Quad with the stand. He only wants 280$ for it, and I was thinking about going ahead and picking it up and storing it in the garage. In any case, JBJ has the pro LED hood (89W) prebuilt from them for 379 which isn't bad at all I don't think. Unless there is a cheaper DIY kit.

Another thing I was wondering about - as far as I can tell, the JBJ is glass. Is the Biocube also glass or is it acrylic?

I took the stock hood off, then hung the Radion (a ready built LED fixture) above the tank, exactly what you DONT want to do haha. An AI SOL or any other pre-made LED fixture would mount in a similar manner.

You don't necessarily have to hang from the ceiling though, there are some cool hanging arm kits available and it's also easy to set something like that up DIY. The Maxspect Mazarra LED's have a cool mounting system, and the Kessil pendant can be used with their flexible mounting arm that attaches to the back of the tank.

This is what mine looks like:

Both the NanoCube and Biocube are glass.

 

[jeffesaurusrex]

I also have sort of a problem I think. The fish that survived I think are not really for for this small of a tank, and there might be a couple too many. Here's who made it: a lawnmower blenny, o. Clown, coral beauty, Sunburst anthias and a pink watchman goby. The anthias and Angelfish I am a little worried about and on top of that I think there's one, maybe two too many fish there for a 29g. Clown and anthias are juvies but the rest are adult sized, but that's besides the point because I don't like the idea of pawning off fish when they get too big.

What do you think about this?

 

[jeffesaurusrex]

By the way you have an awesome cube there!

 

[ange062]

Thanks bud! I have 6 fish in my 28g, but it's also very well established. You will probably need to start out slowly in a new tank. All of those fish sound acceptable besides the anthias (which honestly I tried in my tank because they look so awesome!). The coral beauty will be fine, I've had one in my tank for a year.