Biocube 14G or 29G

[TprMoore]

Morning All,
I'm just getting into the hobby of Saltwater, I've always had an interest in it but I've held off since I've been at school because I was living in the dorms and knew I'd be moving to an apartment soon. Well, it's been six months and I'm all moved into the apartment and I've finally really started to consider getting into this saltwater experience. However, I can't decide between the 14 or 29 for a few reasons.

I like the compact size of the 14, but I like how the bigger space of the 29 allows you to do more.
I've heard the larger the tank, the more stable it is, this being true (and me being a rookie) I would rather have the more stable tank, correct?
Bigger tanks are more expense, and thus more expensive to stock...(college budget).
Lastly, in about two years I'll be moving (growing up :cool:), and I'll have to transport the tank approx. 90 minutes away. And in theory the 14 would be much easier to move than the 29......


Please feel free to leave your opinions, comments, and thoughts below they're much appreciated!

Cheers!

[thegrun]

A 14 gallon tank is less stable due to the limited amount of water, so your margin of error is very small. Because of this, it is not the ideal starter tank for a novice. That said, if you spend the time to read up on tank chemistry (it sounds like you have), there is no reason you couldn't keep a 14 gallon tank successfully. You will quickly run out of space in a 14 (or even a 29), but if you start with the realization you will only be able to keep one or at most two fish and a limited amount of coral in the tank, it seems like a 14 gallon tank would better serve you need right now. When you "grow up" you are going to want a 120 gallon tank anyways!
Good Luck, keep us posted.

[sponger0]

I would suggest a 29 over a 14. The 29 gives you more room, for livestock and filtration. Youll run out of room in a 14 really fast

[Hextall]

What are you planning on keeping? fish only, fish and a few corals, or primarily corals with a few fish.

The costs of a 14 g are certainly going to be less, but tally up the startup costs of each to see if it'll make much of a difference. is it a significant difference TO YOU if it's $500 vs. $700? Note: i just made up those numbers, not sure the actual difference in cost to start... I could give you my startup cost for my 29g BC, but I went all out, so it's skewed, and probably not what I'd assume a "colllege budget" could handle.

with a 14g tank you're certainly going to have to be more diligent with maintaining stability. however the jump up to a 29g probably isn't enough to be any less diligent. Regular and daily (maybe even more frequent) topping off of freshwater will be necessary regardless of tank size.

I have a 29g biocube, and am very happy with the size. I am limited in the space (I live under a spousal dictatorship). But you can get pretty creative with either a 14g or 29g tanks.

One issue though with the biocubes, is that many people remove or don't use the bioballs upgrade to a media basket. you can build your own basket(s), however intank makes a great one (that's probably 3 or so times the cost of making your own). plus the cost of the media...

Not sure a 14 is any easier to move than a 29g. You'll need a few more buckets, and a little more space in a moving van. One option would be to sell the tank/critters locally then rebuild a newer bigger tank.

Check out the nano forum here, there are many 14g and 29g build threads so you can get an idea of what people keep in each and how they upgraded. One thing to pay attention to... keep noticing how long it took people to build and stock their tanks. don't just start on the last page where they are fully stocked... start at the beginning of the threads to get an idea how long it takes to make a really eye catching stocked tank.

in my opinion, stability will result more from being patient, doing things slowly and deliberately and not overstocking fish than tank size.

[TprMoore]

I really appreciate the quick responses! You guys are awesome! I just came across an offer for a 29g biocube and stand (lightly used) for $150, and the 14g biocube new would be about $250ish, so besides the aforementioned price difference, it'd just be about $100-$150 more in liverock/sand (and eventually down the road stocking fish/coral would obviously be more in the 29 but we'll save that for later, I'm in no hurry at all).

To Hextall,
Minimally I'd like to stock 1 or 2 clowns, a Yellow Watchman Goby, and possibly a Firefish. All of which (I'm sure you already know ;)) can be in a 14g. As for coral, I'd like to stock a few of the more hardy, common beginner corals. However, that's really up to my wallet.

I've done A LOT of research and reading on the processes involved in saltwater, as well as my roommate is a Chemical Engineering major (bio focused), so that'll definitely help. Also you mentioned not hurrying, well I'm in no hurry at all, I want to do it right, and do it healthy for everyone involved, including me.

You mentioned moving the two wouldn't be any different, since I've never moved an aquarium before, what is a brief overview of that process. You can't just essentially rip everything apart can you?

FINALLY (sorry), my final problem, is living in an apartment I am supplied with city water and I don't have a RO/DI unit. Any suggestions? I know my LFS supplies RO/DI water (fresh/salt). But I don't even know how I would get ~25 gallons of water into my place (do they even make jugs that big haha).

I apologize for the plethora of questions, I just really want to do this right, and I want to have fully thought things through before fully committing.

[sponger0]

I really appreciate the quick responses! You guys are awesome! I just came across an offer for a 29g biocube and stand (lightly used) for $150, and the 14g biocube new would be about $250ish, so besides the aforementioned price difference, it'd just be about $100-$150 more in liverock/sand (and eventually down the road stocking fish/coral would obviously be more in the 29 but we'll save that for later, I'm in no hurry at all).

To Hextall,
Minimally I'd like to stock 1 or 2 clowns, a Yellow Watchman Goby, and possibly a Firefish. All of which (I'm sure you already know ;)) can be in a 14g. As for coral, I'd like to stock a few of the more hardy, common beginner corals. However, that's really up to my wallet.

I've done A LOT of research and reading on the processes involved in saltwater, as well as my roommate is a Chemical Engineering major (bio focused), so that'll definitely help. Also you mentioned not hurrying, well I'm in no hurry at all, I want to do it right, and do it healthy for everyone involved, including me.

You mentioned moving the two wouldn't be any different, since I've never moved an aquarium before, what is a brief overview of that process. You can't just essentially rip everything apart can you?

FINALLY (sorry), my final problem, is living in an apartment I am supplied with city water and I don't have a RO/DI unit. Any suggestions? I know my LFS supplies RO/DI water (fresh/salt). But I don't even know how I would get ~25 gallons of water into my place (do they even make jugs that big haha).

I apologize for the plethora of questions, I just really want to do this right, and I want to have fully thought things through before fully committing.

Thats how much I paid for my BC29. You can save money by looking online or going to craigslist for rock and sand from people breaking down tanks. Also look to see if you have a local reef club.

For RO/DI, you can purchase one and put it in your apartment or.....get some 5 gallon buckets and get ready to lift weights lol. You can also use the buckets to move the tank when time comes or storing RO/DI top off water. And water changes.

[Hextall]

Minimally I'd like to stock 1 or 2 clowns, a Yellow Watchman Goby, and possibly a Firefish. All of which (I'm sure you already know ;)) can be in a 14g. As for coral, I'd like to stock a few of the more hardy, common beginner corals. However, that's really up to my wallet.


Well... I should qualify something... I'm new at this too. But seems to me 4 fish in a 14 gallon would be pushing things. That's just my opinion though... I'm a bit of a pessimist, and am even now having an internal battle whether to get a 4th fish for my 29g biocube.


You mentioned moving the two wouldn't be any different, since I've never moved an aquarium before, what is a brief overview of that process. You can't just essentially rip everything apart can you?


Never moved a tank myself, so someone else should probably chime in on the process. But I can't see how having double the volume would result in much difference in moving the two sized tanks.


FINALLY (sorry), my final problem, is living in an apartment I am supplied with city water and I don't have a RO/DI unit. Any suggestions? I know my LFS supplies RO/DI water (fresh/salt). But I don't even know how I would get ~25 gallons of water into my place (do they even make jugs that big haha).


When filling my tank, I bought RODI water from my LFS and hauled it in 5 gallon buckets (they sold it at $1/5-gallon bucket). I had to make two trips (I had 4 5-gallon buckets). I then mixed in the salt at home. I initially used a paint mixing paddle on my cordless drill to mix in the salt. but have since bought a new pump for the tank, so the old pump goes into the bucket to mix salt for 12 hours. You don't need to mix the salt for so long when filling the tank before cycling. A drill and mixing paddle worked for me.

RODI units can be hooked up to sink faucets, so you don't need to permanently install them in an apartment. I got by for about 2-3 months without a unit before I got sick of weekly runs to the LFS for water (or more accurately... I couldn't just spend the $1/5-gallon buckets when there).

[Fish Biscuit]

My 12 g was free & I still spent almost $300 for all of the equipment needed & LR/LS. You will want a bigger tank so go with the 29.

This is my first saltwater tank & not that smaller can't be done but you can't slack off on anything or the whole tank crashes, larger tanks are more forgiving when life gets in the way of water changes. After a few months I wanted to upgrade, you run out of room fast in the smaller tanks so your purchases definitely need to be researched because there is no room for error.

Those 4 fish in a 14 g will not work, maybe the 29 but you should post your question in the check your intended fish purchase here section to make sure. Even occ. clowns will get territorial when they start breeding, look at the clownfish forums and you will see that they can be some mean little beasts.

[jasin401]

i here ya, i go to lfs to by water and walk out with a few bags in hand..lol..i think they sell ro at supermarkets, even saw on a thread you can purchase it at target

[TprMoore]

Well on that note, I'll be picking up the Biocube 29 from the previous owner barring any extreme wear on the tank. Super excited! But I'll be looking at an empty aquarium till mid January for two reasons.
I'm not prepared, and I want to accumlate all my supplies first.
And secondly, I don't want to start this project with Christmas break and our bowl game coming up, it'll need my full attention! Plus who knows maybe, Santa will be nice and get me some reef supplies haha

Well I appreciate the valuable information everyone! It all helped me make my decision one way or the other! I'll be sure the start a thread on my build soon as the time is right!

As for the stocking, I was just naming a few species I liked that were community fish with easy temperaments. I have read several sources though stating you can have 2 or 3 in a 14g and 4 to 6 in a 29g.

[jasin401]

@ moore1811, hey bro def look into a local reef site. i got mostly all of my stuff there. and half of my livestock plus corals were free..(free to good home due to power outages or tank breakdowns).

[thegrun]

Check out your college's labs for the RO/DI water. Nearly every lab building has an RO/DI system that you can use. You would only need a few gallons a week.

[TprMoore]

Check out your college's labs for the RO/DI water. Nearly every lab building has an RO/DI system that you can use. You would only need a few gallons a week.

I never thought of that! Brilliant!