Clanure's JBJ Nano 24g with 28g quad hood/light

[Clanure]

Hi All,

I've been out of the game for a few years, but decided to set up a tank for my dad with left over bits. As it stands right now, this is what I'm working with:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31776985@N07/18845203952" title="DSC01877 by clanure, on Flickr"><img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5470/18845203952_d128d15720_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="DSC01877"></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31776985@N07/18845365012" title="DSC01880 by clanure, on Flickr"><img src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3755/18845365012_2df1d24ef0_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="DSC01880"></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31776985@N07/18227951814" title="DSC01881 by clanure, on Flickr"><img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5548/18227951814_3d3b6eef42_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="DSC01881"></a>

It's a 24g JBJ nano with a 28g quad hood/light. I've got a maxi-jet 1200 for the return, and really that's about it. My goals for this (because it's for my dad), is to pretty much be a mixed reef, although I doubt we will get too far into SPS. Maintenance will be an issue though, as I will be taking care of it for him, but only see him once a week.

Haven't even started looking at livestock yet, just getting the tank ready to go. I've still got to figure out skimmer, fuge or filter basket (or both), power heads, and a few other things.

So, my questions to all of you are:

1. Will that quad light on the 24g be adequate for my lighting needs? I do plan on a new bulb.

2. What are some good products for the above mentioned needs (skimmer, power heads), anything else I might need?

3. Any other suggestions to make this bullet/dad proof? He loves to watch them and spends hours doing it, but if there's a lot of work (for him) it will stress him too much.

I'm not afraid of any DIY or hacks that can really add to the project, but overall appearance (outside as well as in) is important. I don't want things sticking out the top of the hood, etc.

I plan on keeping this thread updated as I make changes/improvements so that I can track overall progress and setbacks. My plan is to give my dad the "Reader's Digest" version of setting up the tank and show him how much really goes into setting these things up.

Anyhow, first steps first. This is right after the vinegar bath. Tanks looking much better already

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31776985@N07/18845550002" title="DSC01878 by clanure, on Flickr"><img src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5545/18845550002_b1edbe166f_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="DSC01878"></a>

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Webmanny]

I would honestly go with a DIY LED kit from RapidLED or one of those vendors. They have many retrofit kits that will fit the hood and you don't really have to replace lights, plus you can also adjust things to your liking.

 

[ReefWreak]

I'm not sure if the 28g hood will fit over that. If it does, then the PC are fine for what you're looking to do. If not, then you could just kind of leave it on top since it was free. Or you could do a pendent system if you wanted to go topless (though that's more topoff maintenance).

I would set up a fuge in the back middle chamber. Peel the vinyl off if it has it, pick up a $10 LED flood light off of ebay, have it hang on the back up against the glass, and just either leave chaeto or just let GHA grow back there and absorb the nutrients. I think it'll keep maintenance down and you can check on it and trim it back weekly. It'll grow to absorb more nutrients if he overfeeds, etc.

I would definitely teach him to underfeed as one of the earliest steps. That's a habit you want him to get used to, since you won't be there to monitor feedings and cut back algae if it starts taking over.

 

[soulpatch]

for skimmer you probably want to look at the aquatic life skimmer since it shoudl fit in the rear chamber.

Heater - cobalt neotherm

powerheads - cheap but awesome - RW4 (will need 2)
Bit more but super awesome - MP10 or gyre 130

media rack - intank media racks

lights - If the hood fits it will work and you can do an led retrofit later for better color in the corals. If it doesnt then I would go open top and get something like the Onyx fixture from Rapidled or any of the other LED options out there

ato - tunze nano ato

rock/sand - I know it is a bit more but if you have the money get the package from TBS. Tank is instantly alive and will give you dad stuff to look at while the tank finishes cycling.

RODI - Get a BRS unit to save money but to still have awesome quality unit

salt - IO reef crystals for cost savings but still awesome salt

other items you will want:
-media (floss, chemipure elite, purigen)
-refractometer
-mixing bucket
-siphon hose
-glass cleaner (flipper nano)

Have fun

 

[Clanure]

I would honestly go with a DIY LED kit from RapidLED or one of those vendors. They have many retrofit kits that will fit the hood and you don't really have to replace lights, plus you can also adjust things to your liking.

Definitely checked out RapidLED and would love to do their retrofit, but the cost is going to push that back a bit.

It's on my radar though.

 

[Clanure]

I'm not sure if the 28g hood will fit over that. If it does, then the PC are fine for what you're looking to do. If not, then you could just kind of leave it on top since it was free. Or you could do a pendent system if you wanted to go topless (though that's more topoff maintenance).

It fits perfectly. Same hinge setup and everything.

I would set up a fuge in the back middle chamber. Peel the vinyl off if it has it, pick up a $10 LED flood light off of ebay, have it hang on the back up against the glass, and just either leave chaeto or just let GHA grow back there and absorb the nutrients. I think it'll keep maintenance down and you can check on it and trim it back weekly. It'll grow to absorb more nutrients if he overfeeds, etc.

So are you saying no skimmer, just fuge? or both?

I would definitely teach him to underfeed as one of the earliest steps. That's a habit you want him to get used to, since you won't be there to monitor feedings and cut back algae if it starts taking over.

Definitely want to teach him this, but I'm actually not the best at it myself. We will have to learn together.

 

[ReefWreak]

Ideally both a skimmer and a fuge, but skimmer = maintenance/parts.

Yea, learn to underfeed. Maybe a pellet or two of the NLS Thera+ pellets fall to the sand bed for the hermits in my tank. Most of the food gets eaten at or near the surface. It's a good habit to get into, and I can even feed them two or three times a day (if I'm around) because of how little I actually end up feeding. My fishes are still fat and happy though, so don't think I'm starving them to death.

 

[soulpatch]

skimmer doesnt have to be more maintenance necessarily. Could let the cup overflow in the back chamber till he got there on the weekend to empty it. It would at least have some of the organics out of the water column...

 

[ReefWreak]

skimmer doesnt have to be more maintenance necessarily. Could let the cup overflow in the back chamber till he got there on the weekend to empty it. It would at least have some of the organics out of the water column...

That's true. Honestly, half the time I do that now. Basically my skimmer fills in about a day or 2. If I leave it there, after day 2 or 3, I get a drier foam on top and over the top of the skimmer, the neck is clogged with thick gunk, and there are a lot more thick/solid pieces of gunk in the actual skimmate, instead of just wet tea-colored liquid. Just let the wet flow back in and keep the thick gross stuff.

I really want to pick up this 9001/9002 locally that's available for a decent price, but whether to even bother with a new skimmer or not...

 

[Clanure]

powerheads - cheap but awesome - RW4 (will need 2)
Bit more but super awesome - MP10 or gyre 130

Yep, still doing research on these. Will one MP10 be sufficient, or should we go for more?

rock/sand - I know it is a bit more but if you have the money get the package from TBS. Tank is instantly alive and will give you dad stuff to look at while the tank finishes cycling.

Sorry, not familiar with the acronym? Very interested in this though. My dad is just as much (or more) interested in the whole life cycle (crazy unknown bugs, etc.) than having prized (expensive) coral.

RODI - Get a BRS unit to save money but to still have awesome quality unit

I've got the BRS unit at home and will be taking him a 2.5g jug every week. I'll also be taking a 2.5g jug of salt water for changes.

 

[soulpatch]

Yep, still doing research on these. Will one MP10 be sufficient, or should we go for more?

most people need 2 powerheads so as to get the deadspots. I run a gyre 130 and a rw4 in my tank so I can hit a few of the dead areas.

Sorry, not familiar with the acronym? Very interested in this though. My dad is just as much (or more) interested in the whole life cycle (crazy unknown bugs, etc.) than having prized (expensive) coral.

TBS is Tampa Bay Saltwater. He has a vendor forum on here that you can see his rock and such. Basically he drops rock into the Gulf and lets it sit there for 6 months or so then harvests it along with sand from the sea floor. This means you get all kinds of diversity in your tank instantly. The only real downside is that he ships via air and you have to pick up at local airport. That said you basically get sand, rock, shrimp, snails, hermits, sponges, potential corals, and more for around $6 a pound... Well worth it if you ask me and I wish I had known about it for my tank.

I've got the BRS unit at home and will be taking him a 2.5g jug every week. I'll also be taking a 2.5g jug of salt water for changes.

You will probably need more then 2.5 gallons weekly. Most of us are doing 5-6 gallon changes. Since these are small tanks the slightly larger water changes helps keep things in order.

 

[Clanure]

most people need 2 powerheads so as to get the deadspots. I run a gyre 130 and a rw4 in my tank so I can hit a few of the dead areas.




TBS is Tampa Bay Saltwater. He has a vendor forum on here that you can see his rock and such. Basically he drops rock into the Gulf and lets it sit there for 6 months or so then harvests it along with sand from the sea floor. This means you get all kinds of diversity in your tank instantly. The only real downside is that he ships via air and you have to pick up at local airport. That said you basically get sand, rock, shrimp, snails, hermits, sponges, potential corals, and more for around $6 a pound... Well worth it if you ask me and I wish I had known about it for my tank.





You will probably need more then 2.5 gallons weekly. Most of us are doing 5-6 gallon changes. Since these are small tanks the slightly larger water changes helps keep things in order.

I just found TBS and it looks awesome. I might be signing up for this.

No worries on the water changes. I'll just swap for a 5g container. I've got plenty.

Question: The back of the nano has 3 compartments. If I put the media basket in the first chamber, heater and skimmer in the second, and have the return in the third, where do I put the fuge? Is there a different order I should be thinking about?

Thanks again!

 

[soulpatch]

Media and fuge in second chamber
Return third
Heater and skimmer first depending on what skimmer you get

 

[ReefWreak]

I don't use media racks, I just went with fuge only in second chamber, but do what works for you.

Maybe at some point I'll add carbon/media, but if I do I'll put it in the CPR biopellets reactor that I bought and haven't set up yet, since you can technically use any media in it.

 

[soulpatch]

My media rack is really only still used for the floss. My charcoal and gfo have been moved to my reactor as well.

 

[Clanure]

Do they make reactors small enough to fit in the cabinet for these? One of my goals is to make this as 'clean' looking as possible.

Small update for today: I've pretty much gotten my equipment list figured out and have started ordering things.

As it stands now, I'm ordering:

2 Jebao RW-4
Aquatic Life 115 Protein Skimmer
InTank Media Basket (Floss, Chemi-pure, Purigen)
New bulb for CF Quad light (upgrade to LED later)

I was going to go with a bit better quality on some of this stuff, but now I think I'm going to go with 'the package' from TBS. I'll upgrade some of these later as necessary.

What do you think? Anything else major that I'm not thinking about?

Thanks!

 

[soulpatch]

Looks good.

For the reactor - I would say 90% of people with an AIO have no need. Unless you are trying to get into SPS and have nutrient issues there is no need for one. Most are able to keep VERY successful tanks with SPS without a reactor. Besides to get into harder corals you start needing to worry about dosing and such.

For you I would say to leave it as a LPS/Zoa/Mushroom tank. You can have a ton of light and with LPS you can add quite a bit of movement from things like hammers, frogspawn, torch, and duncan corals. Zoas and ricordea will add tons of color and coverage and best part is all of those I listed are SUPER easy to care for and really require no special feeding.

You can do a coral feeding once a week if you want but it is not neccessary. No dosing should be needed either so long as you keep with water changes.

 

[ReefWreak]

This is what I have for the reactor. Haven't used it yet, researching using it for carbon now, as it sounds like I might want to explore adding carbon to clarify my water without having to have anything hang over the back or side (like the standard GFO reactor, the PhosBan reactors from TLF).

 

[Clanure]

Looks good.

For the reactor - I would say 90% of people with an AIO have no need. Unless you are trying to get into SPS and have nutrient issues there is no need for one. Most are able to keep VERY successful tanks with SPS without a reactor. Besides to get into harder corals you start needing to worry about dosing and such.

For you I would say to leave it as a LPS/Zoa/Mushroom tank. You can have a ton of light and with LPS you can add quite a bit of movement from things like hammers, frogspawn, torch, and duncan corals. Zoas and ricordea will add tons of color and coverage and best part is all of those I listed are SUPER easy to care for and really require no special feeding.

You can do a coral feeding once a week if you want but it is not neccessary. No dosing should be needed either so long as you keep with water changes.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I'm thinking. The only SPS that I really like and I can see my dad enjoying is a birdsnest, and I might be able to make one of those work.

Zoas, Mushrooms, and LPS, along with clove polyps, xenia, and some of the other softies will give the movement/motion my dad likes.

 

[Clanure]

One other question:

Would 'the package' from TBS for a 15 gallon be adequate? In looking at their thread in the vendors section, you get a lot of sand/rock (too much?) when you buy the correct size.

Do you think I will need to supplement it with something?