Buying a used biocube 29

[The camaro show]

so a guy is selling a biocube 29 he has had set up for 3 years he has a few soft corals and a black clownfish and about 7 snails he has added a protein skimmer and made the last chamber a fuge he is asking 400 or obo i think i could get it for 200-250 because he is moving and really needs it gone.

So my plan is upgrade the lighting i want to keep the hood on it so i was thinking of adding 2 usa current marine pro leds so that will be enough light for lps and over time some sps

The stock i want is 2 file fish, a yellow watchman goby and a lawnmower blenny and a mandarin. inverts 2-3 cleaner shrimp about 10-15 hermit crabs and 10-15 snails and maybe emerald crabs? I plan on doing a 5 gallon water change a week
What do you guys think?

 

[tanker]

Not sure if the lights will be enough--Not much experience with coral.
Mandarins need a special "Pod diet". The Pods must be alive too.

 

[The camaro show]

really even with 2?

 

[tanker]

LEDs do not have much "depth" penetration. At lease IMO.

 

[The camaro show]

hmm

 

[dougall]

LED lights will penetrate more than this depth of water... It will depend on the emitter used, and the angle of any optics applied to them.

I don't know about this specific light that you intend to use.. look for some good, first person reviews..

My personal feeling is that I would retrofit the while light in the hood rather than trying to augment it. Using something specific to the application will take a lot of the work out of it.

 

[The camaro show]

so whats a good retro fit light for it then

 

[dougall]

I don't know off the top of my head... Have a look around.

I don't think I would like the trouble and expense of keeping up with replacement OC bulbs though.

 

[Sploke]

a 29gal is not an appropriate size for a mandarin.. a tank that small will not support a sustainable pod population at levels to keep a mandarin thriving.

If you are planning on coral, I'd skip the filefish too. They're known to pick at corals and inverts - not really reef-friendly fish.

 

[Jesterrace]

so a guy is selling a biocube 29 he has had set up for 3 years he has a few soft corals and a black clownfish and about 7 snails he has added a protein skimmer and made the last chamber a fuge he is asking 400 or obo i think i could get it for 200-250 because he is moving and really needs it gone.

So my plan is upgrade the lighting i want to keep the hood on it so i was thinking of adding 2 usa current marine pro leds so that will be enough light for lps and over time some sps

The stock i want is 2 file fish, a yellow watchman goby and a lawnmower blenny and a mandarin. inverts 2-3 cleaner shrimp about 10-15 hermit crabs and 10-15 snails and maybe emerald crabs? I plan on doing a 5 gallon water change a week
What do you guys think?

Skip the file fish if you want corals (they will destroy them). The MANDARIN IS A DEFINITE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mandarins need way more established live rock with a long established copepod population in order to keep them from dying. Take it from a guy who had one in a 36 gallon bowfront, it learned to eat frozen mysis and reef frenzy and I spent $250-$300 on pods and it still starved to death in about 3 months. The lawnmower blenny is too big for a 29 gallon, go with a tailspot blenny in a tank that size if you want the same function but on a smaller scale.