New to hobby - comparing

[cocoacf]

I just got interested in this hobby a while ago, and have been doing some research and looking around at a lot of aquarium stores.
Here is my situation; I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to go. I'm looking for a small aqaurium to put in my room, with a few clownfish and some neat coralanemone.
I've narrowed it down to a few options. One being, I could get a 14 gallon oceanic biocube for about $220, then buy the live rock, sand, and cycled salt water. Then I could add a two Clown Fish and some Frogspawn for them to host in. All in all totaling around $300 or so.
The other option I'm considering is to purchase an 12 gallon Aquapod HQI with the Sunpod. The store said they could give it to me for $300, which would include the live rock, live sand, and cycled water for free. Then I would buy the Clown Fish and anemone. I like this option because of the shimmer water effect, and the option to grow some cooler coralanemone down the road. The drawback to that deal - I heard it's about $80 to replace the HQI lighting every 8 months. Is that true?
Which do you guys think is a better deal for a beginner? The biocube seems a bit pricey compared to online deals..
I'm also wondering what to do about the 25% water change every other week; I don't feel comfortable making the salt water quite yet... Would it be OK to purchase their salt water in bulk at the beginning of each month and use it throughout?
Thanks for your opinions! =)

 

[vittoria8110]

I purchased saltwater for the first year until I felt comfortable making my own

 

[mboswell1982]

hey man, if you want some really really tight corals, check out
Vivid Sunrise Palys
Green & White Pipe Organ
Rainbow Palys
Cherry Bomb Zoanthids
Hulk Zoanthids
Sunfire Polyps
Sapphire Zoanthids
Green Button Polyps
Dragonfly Zoos
Neon Clove Polyps
Dreamweaver Palys
Armor of God Zoanthids
Green & White Pipe Organ
Green Button Polyps
these guys, just google em an you should be able to find em, they will do ok under the stock lighting in the 14g biocube according to the experts on the forums here LOL but will do better with the MH's of course, and they are exploding in color, and yeah, i think that deal with the 12g aquapod sounds like a pretty fair deal an the light, while expensive to replace, is very very nice for the corals

 

[patrick8929]

i would go with the second one.... for a couple reasons. first... the light is better and with any light you will have to replace any where from 6-10 months. so yes thats a good deal. second you are going to like the better light. it will be soemthing that you can have just about any coral you want down the road. also if you really want the an anemone in that small of a tank your not gunna be able to put to much else in it. not to many anemones stay small. most get from 6-12 inches. when you get the cycled water and rocks still wait about a week and test the water before adding any thing.

 

[mboswell1982]

in a tank that small, a frogspawn is better, but, heres the kicker man, if you buy the tank bred clowns, which are obviously better for the ecosystems anyway LOL they really dont require a host, and, it can be hard to get them to host as well

 

[patrick8929]

also you wont want to purchase the water at the beginning of the month unless you can keep a heater and water flow in it the whole time. it is not hard to mix your own water

 

[patrick8929]

also with 2 clowns if they do host the frogspawn unless its a huge coral they could kill it from being in it to much and being to rough.

 

[mboswell1982]

but, if you are getting the 12g, make sure u get ur clowns when they're really really small, i found a place i can buy em from at 3/4 of an inch long, so cool btw LOL basically lil baby clown fish

 

[zshain012]

check out the wild dragon eye zoos
anyways I would prob go with the second one. It's a better deal. I have a biocube and I'm already going to replace the lighting, and mixing the water yourself isn't hard. I just buy distilled water at wal-mart, dump it in my little tub thing and put the amount of salt needed(the instructions are on the bag) in it per gallon and plug in my little power head. I don't use this water until it mixes for about a day or so.

 

[mboswell1982]

DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! those are friggin tight, do you have any?? and can i buy some frags off of you once me an jess get our tank up an runnin? LOL

 

[mboswell1982]

shain, dude, please pm with a place where i can find those guys at so i can bookmark it LOL

 

[cocoacf]

The Clown Fish are quite small. They are 4 months old... probably quarter size max.
I might go with mixing my own water... What all is needed? a heater, distilled water, bucket of salt and the hydro pump thing?
So would one anemone and two clowns be OK for the 12 g tank?

 

[mboswell1982]

no on the anemone, they grow fast, and he will outgrow your tank very very fast, and clowns do not need anemone's to thrive, nems need a much larger tank than a 12g tank, sorry man

 

[patrick8929]

Originally Posted by Cocoacf
http:///forum/post/2858690
The Clown Fish are quite small. They are 4 months old... probably quarter size max.
I might go with mixing my own water... What all is needed? a heater, distilled water, bucket of salt and the hydro pump thing?
So would one anemone and two clowns be OK for the 12 g tank?
a small one would be okay for a while but fully grown an anemone will probably not work in the long run

 

[subielover]

Another thing to consider is that anemones require a very mature tank. It is recommended the tank be setup for about a year or at least 9 months before adding an anemone.
As for your second option, the only sunpod that would fit a aquapod 12 is the 16.5 inch which was discontinued quite a while ago. Are you buying a used setup?

 

[cocoacf]

I was told it was new..

 

[subielover]

It very well could be, but like I said those lights were discontinued a while ago. I know this because I am on the hunt for those lights for my Biocube 14. As for paying $300 for it, not a bad deal, IMO, could be better but you definitely are not getting hosed. In a AP12, 2 clowns and some nice softies and lps would look great

 

[mboswell1982]

its still a good price, a metal halide light an a 12g aio cube for 300 bucks with rock an sand an water aint a bad price man

 

[cocoacf]

Ok...so I've been thinking it out but I'm not sure if I have it all down.
If I get the biocube, since anemone is pointless in the 12 g AP.. I could get everything I need for $300 except the frogspawn is an extra $25. What else would I been looking at getting for this? The bucket of salt is $60.. the distilled water..hydro meter thing... do I need a heater for making the salt water? Does anyone have an estimated total it would take for the 14 g biocube?
It quickly went from the guy telling me I could do it ALL for under $250 in a 8 gallon biocube, to being well over $350.. I kinda feel like he's leaving me hanging in some areas. I don't want to buy it and then find a bunch of hidden fee's add up to $600 or so...
Would it be really bad to get a 8 g biocube and put two clowns alone in it with water, live rock, and sand? LOL.

 

[mboswell1982]

you are totally better off with the 12g deal, thats a hard deal to beat man, and not having an anemone is no big deal, clowns DONT need them, so its cool. plus, u could do the clowns and a goby in the 12 no prob really, in an 8g you'd be pushing it on the clowns to be honest
and you can do so much more coral wise with the light they're throwing in with that 12g aquapod man, that light is hard to beat