Neptune Aquatics

AIO Tanks Around 30 Gallons With Metal Halides

Euphyllia

Euphyllia

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I'm looking around online for some tanks that are around 30 gallons that also have a metal halide. I'm mainly considering the 28 Gallon NanoCube HQI and the 29 Gallon BioCube HQI. I like the design of the NanoCube better but there is the overheating problem.

EDIT: I talked to some people on another reef forum and they said the cooling fans on theirs work just fine. They said their tank stays at 78 degrees.

And how much would a chiller cost for the size I need if I decided to get the NanoCube? There was one website with cool glass tanks with MH but I forgot the name. All I remember is that some people on BAR got another BAR member one from that website for his/her birthday (I think birthday), maybe if anyone remembers the website they could put a link to it.
 
Instead of getting the NanoCube with HQI, what if I got the one with LED? Would the corals look as intense (intense as in colorful) as they would with HQI? Is it really any better or worse than HQI?
 
I have the NanoCube LED. The tank has only been up and running since July and I'm still waiting to see what the coral colors are going to be like long term. A few corals have colored up (Purple Fungia & an Acro frag which went from brown to mostly florescent green), a few have lost color (Superman Monti, a different Acro frag which lost most of its blue) and yet others seem to be ever so slowly gaining color (Favia, Echinopora). There are some pictures if you follow the links in my signature.

I wish that the stock lighting that came with the LED model had more blue than it does. My situation is made even worse by the fact that my dawn / dusk lights have broken already. I haven't tried yet to get them fixed under the warranty so I can't say how good or bad the manufacturer has handled the problem.

The back filter chambers are narrow and so can be difficult to work in. I had a really hard time getting one of the pumps un-suctioned from the bottom glass because my arm doesn't fit in the narrow space.

I added a Vortech MP10 for additional water movement because I didn't feel like the stock pumps were sufficient.

I have my heater set to 76 degrees but on some of the warmer days we've had since I setup my tank the water temperature got up into the 79-80 degree range despite running the AC in my apartment. I haven't had the HQI version but I have a hard time imaging it not sending the water temp above 80 without using a chiller.

Hope that helps.
 
Thank you. :)
Now I'm kind of leaning towards the NanoCube LED.
Does anyone else have any problems with their NanoCube (aside from lighting)?
 
Well now I'm sorta torn between the LED and the HQI. The person I talked to on another reef forum said they lived in Michigan where it was
80-90 in the summer, and they said their tank was fine, but everyone else is saying that I would need a chiller. However the HQI is a few hundred dollars cheaper than the LED, so at this point I'm not sure which. :(
 
I finally got around to contacting JBJ Lighting about the problem with my dawn / dusk lights. I got a response in only a couple of hours. They said the problem was that the dawn / dusk lights were originally not designed to be run for long periods, only for short times before and after the daylights. When run for long periods they would burn out due to heat build up. They have redesigned them with a better heatsink and are sending me replacements. The replacements are free but I have to pay the $9 shipping charges.
 
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