Downsizing thinking of a biocube Need advise from biocube owners

[Spencer1973]

Hello I have a 5 gallon fluval EVO with corals and clownfish, and a 75 gallon fish only saltwater tank...due to my health I am wanting to take down the 75 gallon and 5 gallon EVO and get one Bio Cube, or something similer I like the look of the cube as it seems it would be easy to acuascape...... What are the pros/cons of the biocube? what brand is best? I am not sure what size yet. I want it large enough to house a pair of clowns and a mandarin goby and corals...... I just cant keep up hauling RODI water for the large tank but want to still keep saltwater.... Any advise from anyone who has these, are they good out of the box, I dont want to have to modify lights etc if possible....any advise would be helpful as I downsize..... Thanks.

[JVan82]

Well I'm brand new to reefing, I have the LED biocube 32, still going through the cycle at this point. I feel it is good enough with out having to modify anything, for you to be happy with it. Of course simply mods like upgraded pumps, media rank, improve it. Or just remove the stock media basket and run a skimmer and reactor. The jury is still out on the stock lighting, not to sure they'd support SPS corals or not. Just my perspective from someone who's entirely new to the hobby. There are a bunch of builds on here, of the biocube 29, and with minimal mods have some amazing reefs.

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[Spencer1973]

Thanks for your input, hopefully more will give advise and opinions on their experience.... simple is better for me.

[fishyj]

I have a bc29 with the media basket and upgraded led lights from nanobox. I liked the tank, it holds quite a bit. I am in the process of dropping down to the fluval 13.5 evo. The biocube out of the box at least when I purchased it a year and a half ago needed some mods. The return pump, media basket and the lights.

[grandmaester]

Not sure I would go with the biocube again. I like that it has the hood with built in lighting because I have cats, but if I could I would have gone with the nuvo 20 or something. The biocube 32 stock rack is junk. The stand is crappy too but works. The fan has developed a pretty good noise to it as well. However, it is definitely the way to go on a budget. I like it a lot, but overall you are pretty constrained to what you can do with the filter and whatnot.

[Spencer1973]

Thanks for the input... Can you or someone recommend another smaller setup, I like the "box" deals where I am not buying each piece seperate if possible..... My Fluval Spec Evo has been really good, its only 5 gallons so there's not alot of room.... I would like to stay in the 20 to 30 gallon range.

[ReefWreak]

I would buy a standard 20L tank, some lights that fit it the first time (good LED setup, buy it once and you won't have to mess with it for 3-5 years; buy a good one if doing coral, buy a cheap one if just doing FOWLR), get an in-tank skimmer (Tunze 9004 may work, highly rated), and 2 korallia or jebao pumps (I'd say get MP10s, but it sounds like you may want to do a more budget-oriented simplistic setup). Buy a Reefkeeper lite used to control all of the features and take care of it on the days you don't have the time or desire to be watching the tank, and keep it as simple as possible.

That's as low maintenance as I can think of. As it is, I really don't do much maintenance on my tank. I've always been a big fan of set it up the first time, get it running consistently and stable, and then do as little as possible and let it grow. That's how I've always run my tanks, and I think it contributes a lot to the success of my tanks. I'm a very lazy reefer, but it actually is a benefit in this hobby as opposed to someone constantly tweaking and moving things around.

[meverha1]

I have a Biocube and I'm happy with it but I've also modified the hell out of it.

If I had known then what I know now I probably would have a) picked a slightly bigger tank, and b) not gotten an all-in-one like the Biocube. Adding up all the mods (lights, HOB fuge, good Skimmer, etc...) it would have been much cheaper to go with a standard tank.

[grandmaester]

Bulk reef supply has a 20l kit for 599 that looks pretty sweet

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[Breadman03]

I don't carry any water for my 150 thanks to some peristaltic pumps.

Since health is an issue, consider running some plumbing to wherever your tank is so that a few valve twists can take care of your water changes and top off.

[ReefWreak]

I wouldn't bother with those Nuvo tanks unless you really like the look or something with the package (light brackets, fitted mesh net over tank, etc). I keep seeing reefers in this forum complaining that they're scared of putting an MP10 on their Nuvo because someone had a problem somewhere with glass breaking and they blamed their MP10 (MarineDepot replied with that they personally have a Nuvo tank in their office that has had an MP10 for a number of years now with the pump running and had no issues). But if everyone is going to assume they're fragile, I imagine people are having issues with them, so I'd avoid them.

Just buy a 20L or a 40B (breeder, lower and wider) tank from petco when they have the dollar per gallon sale, and start a self-contained system with that.

[Spencer1973]

I don't really want a long tank, but more a square cube so I can aquascape it and have few corals and clowns...... I have 75 gallon and 5 fluval Spec EVO that I love just wished it was bigger..... its more long and skinny...... I have had it going almost a year and the 75 a few months less, I live in a townhouse and can not mess with RODI units and buying and carrying water is getting hard on me......Simple doesnt mean I want to be ultra cheap, but I do want to be reasonable.... I just liked the square tanks and thought how cool it would be to mound up and place the corals.... not alot of options locally to buy tanks either.
so any more options on a cube like tank?

[ReefWreak]

Why can't you mess with RODI units? I think it's a worthwhile investment, haven't hauled water once since I set up my tank, and live in a rental with a scary landlord so I wouldn't dare alter the plumbing or mess with pipes. I unscrew the aerator on my bathroom sink, screw in a quick disconnect, run the RODI to fill my buckets for water changes and top off, then put the RODI back away, put back the aerator, and it's as easy as it could possibly be without altering any plumbing.

I think having moderately easy access to RODI water is almost a foundation to success in the hobby.

If you want a square tank of relatively low maintenance, the 34g solana or 32g biocube might be good options. I'd rather have a shallow long tank (the 20L is pretty narrow, but the 40B is actually quite wide for its dimensions), but there are lots of options for a cube. You might want to look at the 60g cubes as well.