Need Advice please

C

clockwurk

New Member
Im brand new to saltwater. i've own freshwater for about a decade now, and have sucessfully kept discus so I know about water quality; but i dont know the first thing about saltwater. I have picked up some books and done quite a bit of reading online but I am unclear about hardware.

I am thinking of buying a nano tank because it seems like a great way to get started but I am not sure which tanks out there are quality. I have found this...

http://www.oceanproaquatics.com/shop/pr ... ts_id/3182

and it looks very good and seem to be very affortable but is it too good to be true? Does anyone where have experience with this company?

If anyone has advice on which this tank or advice on to which tanks are a good, I would really appreciate it. Thank you all in advance :)
 
K

KidNano

New Member
Wow, That actually does look too good to be true. When I saw the price I was thinking the lighting was probably no good. 3 T5 bulbs is pretty nice though as long as the reflectors are quality. I'd say go for it, but I've never had experience with that manufacturer.

Good luck and let us know how you like it if you end up getting it. :welcome to Nanotank.
 
R

reefman23

New Member
There is no way that those are T5 lamps... maybe they meant T8. Those things are pretty beefy! Plus, 24 watt T5s are 22" long. Add to that thee lamps are no-name and probably dont have as high of output compared to higher-quality lamps. Personally, Id save another $20 or so and go with a JBJ Nano-cube.

HTH,

Jesse

BTW, :welcome to nanotank.com!
 
R

reefman23

New Member
KidNano said:
Jesse,

The article says 3 lamps that equal 24 watts. They have 12" 8 watt T5's.

http://www.naturallighting.com/web/shop ... how_detail

I couldn't find any in the spectrum that they stated, but these are what's used in UV sterilizers I guess.
Click to expand...
:eek:pps ... I should have read the whole thing.

Still, those lamps are not going to put out much usable light. I say this for a couple of reasons... one, they are only 8 watts each. two, they do not have effective reflection to get the other half of the ligh down into the tank. Three, they are normal output (NO) T5s. who know what brand they are or how reliable they are.

Im sure the rest of the tank is fine and I wouldnt mind having one of these myself... if it were free. I look at it this way... in order to get the lighting up to a decent minimum for corals, let's say 2x24 watts power compact, its going to cost you more to retro the lighting and buy the knock-off tank than it would to get a nano-cube that already has 2x24 power compact lighting. Plus it is always nice having a brand name to fall back on when the time comes when you will need to replace parts that fail, etc.

Jesse
 
C

clockwurk

New Member
wow. this place is great. i didnt expect such a quick response.

thank you all so much for the advice.
i guess im just gonna have to do this the old fashion way and just build it piece by piece. id love to run a 30G long.
hmm.. back to teh drawing boards.

thank you again everyone :)
 
R

reefman23

New Member
What kind of corals and stuff do you want/plan to keep?

If you go piece by piece, expect the lighting to be the most expensive part. Power compacts are usually enough for tanks under 15" or so tall. ahsupply.com is great for their PC retrofit kits, and I like the Current USA power compact fixtures. T

You should be able to find all the info you need here to start up a successful tank. If you cant find it, feel free to ask.

Jesse
 
C

clockwurk

New Member
What kind of corals and stuff do you want/plan to keep?
Click to expand...
Well, for now, i want to go simple.
Like I said, I've never kept a salwater tank so I am a little afraid.
Thats the main reason why I decided on an all in one setup.

For my first tank, I want to keep very hardy fish like a clown ( i think the ones are called false pericula), some shrimp and hopefully establish a tank enoough to keep a mandarin goby.

I dont know much about corals as of yet but whatever i get, i want it to be easy to keep until I get the hang of things.

I found the 24G JBJ deluxe for $185 just now... So I think I might just go with that.

Umm.. just a quick glance though... isnt 72 watts a little too hot to be sitting right on top of the water?
 
R

reefman23

New Member
clockwurk said:
I found the 24G JBJ deluxe for $185 just now... So I think I might just go with that.

Umm.. just a quick glance though... isnt 72 watts a little too hot to be sitting right on top of the water?
Click to expand...
That would be a good choice. 24g of water is going to be inherently more stable than 12g. As far as the 72 watts, they are designed with fans to keep the temperature down. There is also a plastic shield between the bulbs and the water.

For a good starting point on corals, look at things such as zoanthids, palythoas, mushrooms, leathers, and candy canes. There are others too, just cant think right now.

Jesse
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top