Biocube

I went to our local fish store and they had for sale a 29gal Bio Cube saltwater fish tank. Let me tell you, it was GORGEOUS! It came with a stand, which in itself costs about $150-200 and the tank is usually between $250-400. Here the guy has it for sale for $350 (tank and stand) BRAND NEW!
I was wondering, does anyone know if this tank is any good? Would it be worth it? I dont know if he was just throwing around flashy prices to make ir sound like a good deal or not.
Has anyone had experience with these Biocube tanks?

 

When compared to a new tank, yes, that is a good price. Ask him why its so cheap. He may just not have had any buyers for it.

 

I love the biocube, the only thing is the ballasts like to short out, but they will replace them no questions asked....

 

I have no experience with this type of tank. The only thing I can recommend is looking on craig's list and seeing what is there in terms of used tanks. That is where I got mine. If I remember right you wanted to upgrade from a 12 gallon tank? I got my 75g set up for $400 which included nearly everything I needed to do a FOWLR. The only thing I needed was the LR and fish. Sand was included in the deal. So while it sounds good, you don't want to get yourself in a position whereby you wish you would have held out for a bigger tank. I already want to upgrade to dbl my current size.

......but remember Live rock costs money. Lots of it. You need one to two lbs per gallon at six to seven dollars per pound. Then there is live sand. More money. There is a calculator in the menu to the left that will tell you how much live sand will cost you based on the dimensions of your tank. Anyway......I digress.........Have fun!!!

 

Yeah, that is alotta munnies i dont have at the moment...blarg. And yeah, i do want a bigger tank. I dunno. Im just unfamiliar with biocubes. A 75 gal for 400 sounds dreamy. lol. Gawd im such a newb at this!

 

Yeah, so am I. But that is the cool thing. You will learn sooooooo much. I just started doing this in early May. You need to research everything you do. And I mean everything. Lighting. Skimmer. Rock. Sand. Fish. Everything. Just start writing stuff down in a log on your computer and make it a wish list. Build your dream tank in your head before you start and let me tell you, you will be soooooo far ahead of other folks (95%) that just dive in without thinking about it properly. You will save money, but more importantly time. Be patient. It will pay off. And read these posts everyday. Even the ones that do not have anything to do with you. This is a real-time library. I love it. Later......John.

 

Aw, thank you for the advice. That's VERY smart! I feel a little better. I still feel like im asking dumb questions, but it doesnt seem like there are any 'dumb' questions here, just called "being on the safe side." You have all been a big help to me already. If anyone else has any comments about biocubes, im still interested. I masy just want to wait too though.

 

yeah if you can stumble across a great deal on criagslist i would hold out and wait. even you have to drive a bit to get it.

I got my 60 gallon acrylic with lights skimmer base rock, pump for built in wet dry and an ehiem professional wet/dry for 150.;D

smokin deal. thought it was a scam at first but turned out to be the real deal.

right now theres a guy in florida that just sold a 90g complete with fish and water for 400.

deals are out there. just be patient. :-/

 

DUDE!!! Excellent!!!!

 

my first experience with saltwater was with a 29g biocube. I loved the tank itself. I did mod the filter cartridge that came with it....I chucked that all together, saved my money and added carbon, and filter pads and phos removing pad where the cartridge was. The cartridges that were designed for them, needed changing wayyy to often and would "clog" up.

They have come out with a newer version of the biocube, so the LFS maybe moving out some old merchandise that he had??? I honestly did not pay that much more for my first biocube I dont think, maybe $75 including the stand also. It is still a great deal..older or newer version.

I know in the newer version, they corrected one of the problems that I did not like....and that was the hood. In order to work in the tank you had to completely remove the hood in the old style. I have learned from experience with my bigger tank...the more times you have to remove the hood or lights, the higher the risk of breaking them (broke a set of lights!). But the newer one I saw has a hinged top, so that is great.

The other problem I had with the tank was the stand. The stand IMHO is a piece of junk. I had pieces missing from the box, and I just did not feel that the stand was very sturdy. The hinges on mine would NEVER align either and ended up breaking shortly after. I have read other people complain still about the stand...so that might still be a problem.

Plus I think the newer tanks come with an optional MH upgrade that you can upgrade to later if you desire. However I can not imagine adding any extra light to the biocube without the purchase of a chiller. My tank ran in the low 80's all the time, with the standard hood. MH it would be out the roof.

When I traded my 28g biocube for a 75, I gave the biocube to my parents. They bought a 24g nanocube stand for the cube. It actually fit almost perfectly....the lip of the tank hangs over the edge of the stand on all 4 sides just flush wtih the lip. But I found the stand to be more secure and just made nicer.

Regarding whether or not you should wait and buy a bigger tank....that is completely up to you. You will need to sit down and figure what exactly it is that you want, and then figure the cost up. DO NOT go cheap on the equipment if you do buy a used tank. Most of the tanks that are available in my area offer crappy filters, lights etc. You will just wind up paying more in the long run if you do not go ahead and make sure you get the right equipment up front. You might want to go ahead and talk to several LFS in your area and see if they have a package deal on new system. With the economy being down.....I have seen a lot of great sales in my area. Worth looking into. I personally would not buy used...simply because you never know how the person handled the filters, are the pumps going to last you, etc. Just my opinion though.

The other thing you want to consider before getting a larger tank is this.....are you 100% certain that you are going to like this hobby and that you are going to stay in it? You buy a biocube and decide you dont want to mess with the hassle, you are only out a couple hundred bucks. You decide you dont like the hobby and you have a 75g tank, that is a whole different story. You are talking maybe a couple thousand.

Plus a smaller tank will get you in the habit of doing the maintance required. Smaller tanks are LESS forgiving (1 major drawback)then the larger tanks, but again, you need to get in a routine...and it is much easier to do a 20% water change on a 28g then it is on my new 135g.

Then if you decide you like the hobby, you can always do what myself and probably a lot of other people did...go crazy and upgrade. But now you will have a better understanding of the hobby and a better understanding about what exactly you are wanting. Then you can know what equipment is the best equipment to buy, etc.

Good luck in whatever you decide!;D