Is the lighting in the Nano Cube Dx 24g enough to sustain coral?
Jan 21st 2008adminNano Cube Aquariums
Tuck asked:
I’m thinking of buying it but i dont know if the lighting ise enough for soft corals and anemones. is it? theres an aquapod with metal halllide with 150w but its 100$ more, is it worth it?
Nano Reef Tanks
I’m thinking of buying it but i dont know if the lighting ise enough for soft corals and anemones. is it? theres an aquapod with metal halllide with 150w but its 100$ more, is it worth it?
Nano Reef Tanks
craig on 22 Jan 2008 at 3:23 pm #
When keeping LPS or SPS corals and anemones id always say go with the halides. I have the bio cube 29 gallon with the compact PC’s and i only keep soft coral in the tank. I particularly like the aquapods with the HQI lighting and would make a much better buy for the extra $100 As far as all inclusive marine setups i feel the aquapod HQI’s are the way to go if you want a nano reef with stony coral. I know they make a 150watt and 75watt hqi aquapod. Obviosly more wattage is better. In my expierence keeping stony coral is that normally the tanks that you get them from in the store are under metal halides so moving them to your home with compact PC’s shocks the corals and have a lot harder time acclimating to your lighting. With metal halides it wont be much more of an issue. If you think about it the extra $100 for the metal halide aquapod is a good deal because finding just a fixture with ballast and bulb will always cost more than $100. Replacement bulbs alone will be around $80 for metal halides where they are like $40 for the VHO replacements. You will also have to replace trhe bulbs once a year. So yes its more expensive now and in the future for the halide setup but you really save money if you ever plan to upgrade to metal halides later cause you will ned to get the bulb fixture and ballast which will cost way more than $100.
To answer your question simply….. yes it is worth it if you want to keep stony corals and anemones.
Addition: for soft corals the VHO lights will be fine however anemones may do much better under the halides so i wouldnt reccomend an anemone with the VHO lights. Only soft coral like mushrooms leathers, zoanthids, xenia, ect. will be ok under the VHO bulbs. However those corals will still looks much better and be healthier under metal halides but you can have sucess with them under the VHO’s
john e on 25 Jan 2008 at 9:59 am #
looked into it myself,love the look of those tanks!
the supplier for the tank says it would sustain leather corals. so basically only the toughest ,hardiest corals (and quite frankly not the ones i really want) would make it. but not to worry .
i’m told a newer version with stronger lights is in the works.
that what i’m waiting for.
saw a picture of a “red sea” tank that looks simular but had no details so i’m sure the competition in this type of tank is just starting.