12 Gallon Nano Cube Flow

[Ashlee]

Hi Guys,

I joined this site years ago but I am just now starting my first reef tank. A coworker offered me JBJ Nano Cube-DX and stand for $50, which I thought was a pretty good deal and I couldn't pass it up. I set the tank up last friday (Nov. 16th) using live sand, about 15lbs of live rock and RODI water. The pump that is included says its flow is about 106 GPH. Is this enough or should I be adding additional flow as well. I was thinking of purchasing these two things:

Wavemakers: Hydor FLO Rotating Deflector Wavemaker (to go on the pump already in there) and Water Pumps & Wavemakers: Hydor Koralia Nano 240 & 425

Will this be overkill for the tank or should I go ahead with the purchase?

 

[Bifferwine]

What it comes with should be fine for flow. I wouldn't purchase another powerhead, especially in a small tank where the space it would take up is valuable. :)

 

[Waddi]

Hmmm, 12 gallons? I think you will need a wee bit more than the 106gph than you already have.
I would probably stick another powerhead in there. Maybe a 450 one, they are not big, and they give off just the right amount of flow.
My :twocents:

 

[Ashlee]

What do you guys think about the deflector? I don't think it increases my flow any, just acts as a wavemaker. Do you guys think this is necessary? I want to place my order with Drs. Foster and Smith but I'm torn if I should get the powerhead or not. They say it's the size of an egg, so I don't think it will take up too much space. What is the suggested turnover rate, 10x or 30x? If it's 10x I'm only a little under with the pump I have, but if it's 30x I think I will need the powerhead.

 

[Waddi]

Yea, you want more like 30x or 40x. But I would skip the "Wavemaker" not really necessary, plus its not that great either! :p

 

[texreefer]

I would toss a maxi-jet 900 in for the return , and add a media basket with filter floss on the top rack purigen on the second and gfo/ chemi pure elite on the bottom. that would set you up pretty good. None of the stock filtration would be needed.

All can be found here

Nano Cube 12


Good Luck

 

[SigEpLucas]

+1 to texreefer. I used to have a biocube 12g and I replaced the stock pump with a maxi jet to increase flow and it worked great. I also used the hydor flow reflector and thought it worked nice to. I would recommend them both.

 

[Ashlee]

Thanks for all the replies.

I looked into the media basket and I will probably go ahead with that. I currently have sponges and I know everyone says they are bad, so I will replace them. Before I set the tank up, I purchased the Bio Cube skimmer as well. I know that it is not "necessary" for a small tank, but I figured since I'm new it might be good for any newbie mistakes I make. Would it be necessary to get a media basket if I already have the skimmer? I'm not exactly sure what purposes each serve and if they would both be necessary.

 

[texreefer]

To me , the media will help more than the bio-cube skimmer. If you pair the media
With regular weekly water changes , you could easily run without the skimmer .

The media basket will provide a place to put the media (purigen, chemi pure, etc.) and it will help channel the water through the media instead of around it thus making the media more effective .

 

[SigEpLucas]

I would also add that the skimmers for the biocube are junk. They don't seem to work well at all and are very over priced. Water changes will do the trick.