Debating new tank setup, or buying Biocube

Anyone have thoughts on the biocube? Is it more expensive? Easier to use? Or just simply a'one stop buy' aquarium?

For background, I used to keep freshwater tanks and am eager to get back into having an aquarium and am looking heavily at saltwater. I would likely get a 10-20gallon. I live in HawaiI so getting water won't be much of a challenge, though I haven't ever had a saltwater so I'm just now pricing out expenses, ease of use, etc. I'll probably start with fish and live rock, then move to coral later if I find it easy enough and exciting enough to transition.

 

I let others with more experience voice their opinions/expertise, but just my little 2 cents...I just made the jump to the salty side about 6 months ago after 10+ years on the freshwater side. I did allot of research, and I settled on a Lifeguard Aquatics 9.98 ( why not go for teh full 10? lol idk.. ) gallon with a built in sump in the back. It's worked really nicely so far ( just FOWLR at the moment, soon to transition to some soft corals ). I also purchased a kessil a80 for the light and that's done great, and will support some beginner style corals here soon. For me, I was able to construct what I wanted in a beginner salt aquarium for about $70 cheaper than the biocube ( tank was 70$ off amazon, kessil was 120$, and I already had a heater. ). I could be wrong but I think the cheapest biocube is 270$. This is just me, i've always been cheap But I did see through my research general success with the Biocubes.

 

Thanks for the input. I had a feeling buying on my own would likely be cheaper but I wasn't sure if there was some advantage to the biocubes.

Out of curiosity, how have you found the transition? A ton of work? More rewarding?

 

I find most of the all in ones sub par and buying your own stuff is cheaper. If you buy your own stuff you can get what you want.

 

Anyone have thoughts on the biocube? Is it more expensive? Easier to use? Or just simply a'one stop buy' aquarium?

For background, I used to keep freshwater tanks and am eager to get back into having an aquarium and am looking heavily at saltwater. I would likely get a 10-20gallon. I live in HawaiI so getting water won't be much of a challenge, though I haven't ever had a saltwater so I'm just now pricing out expenses, ease of use, etc. I'll probably start with fish and live rock, then move to coral later if I find it easy enough and exciting enough to transition.

Biocubes aren't a bad way to go per se, but most people who keep them long term end up upgrading just about every piece of equipment on them. They are a convenient way for people to get started with a compact footprint, but ideally a 20 gallon long is a much better footprint in that size range and would have better stocking options. You will also be able to build one for less.

 

Thanks everyone. Looks like I'll start researching other options for building piece by piece.

 

I would just set one up because you will want to upgrade the lighting and then realize you paid way too much for just the tank with built in sump. Maybe find a tank that has the same concept as biocube but cheaper and no light, invest the saved money towards a Kessil A80 and you're good to go.

Here is my 10 gallon with the Kessil and a small external canister filter. the only reason I didn't go with an all-in-one style with built-in sump is I didn't want the black background...