Im back

[dtapke]

So, about 10 years ago I started a nano cube. I went with a JBJ 24g. I loved it. I moved, and moved, and moved, and moved. for the last 5 years my tank has been 110% neglected. the corals died, the fish died, the shrimp died. likely everything died. it stayed wet! so that's something.

needless to say, the hobby has progressed while I've been out doing other **** with my life. now I'm trying to get it back up and running.

current issues:
tank hood is missing feeder lid.
bulbs are ancient, ballast is dead.
my hood was updated for 3X36W CF bulbs, I was running 2X5050 and 1X10K
fan in hood is dead
my heater is junk

I'm wanting some helpful advice with what to do.

I'm capable of replacing the ballast ($25) and 3 new bulbs ($90) the fan ($?)

but... should I?

I was checking out the cool new stuff that's happened in the last 5-7 years, seems these coralife LED's are pretty awesome?

I hate throwing things out. I don't want to ditch the whole tank, but pulling the hood off and putting a single light over the top would be an upgrade?

are there decent protein skimmers these days that fit in the back compartments of these tanks? (there were few, and I had one home made when I started)



PLEASE, SOME ONE, HELP ME


I used to keep mostly softies, lps. (xenia, plates, hammerheads, buttons) and a few fish/shrimp.

I have yet to visit my LFS, but I did get some fresh saltwater in there and have the tank warming up with my "backup" heater and a single 5050 36W CF.

 

[Sk8r]

coralife will grow freshwater plants. Maybe softie corals. It has its own timer and if it gets off, you have to wait til 3pm to unplug and plug it in again before it has a brain. But it's a nice compact light. We have one over a 50 freshwater. Sounds like what you mostly need is a decent skimmer. I take it no sump? Aqua C's (Remora, Urchin, etc) tend to spit water in a power glitch. But if you can keep them spill proof they do a decent job if you don't overload them.

 

[kevin21]

Yes, ditch the hood. And go with a LED reef compatible light such as a kessil 1-160. I use that on my jbj 28 and it is great. The best thing I ever did was ditch the jbj hood. Terrible gas exchange and algae growth was all the hood did for me. Yes, there are skimmers you can use for the 24g. I believe the tunze 9001 will fit in the back chamber, if not, you can use a HOB skimmer which will work nice as well.

 

[dtapke]

seems the coralife page says they're just fine with coral? (lps/soft) I do like some of the fancy features they offer (built in wave timer, dim to daylight, etc)

thanks for the replies guys!

 

[dtapke]

Kevin, do you find that a single light source like the kessil provides pinpoint light leaving shading in the corners of the tank? how are you keeping the lamp suspended above your tank?

 

[kevin21]

I use the kessil gooseneck to keep it suspended and have no issues with shadows in the corner of the tank because I have the light suspended 8" above the water surface. The kessil a 160 is also totally controllable in terms of light intensity and color.

 

[dtapke]

Going with that kessil with tuner. I'd like to upgrade tanks once i get my feet wet again with this, and the kessil would transfer best.

I'm still debating adding a sump below, unsure how to do it with this tank, but i may work that out. so the next bet will be the tunze skimmer.

definitely quick to remember how expensive this hobby is!

 

[dtapke]

Can anyone fill me in, or have a great bit of knowledge on adding a sump to a nanocube without drilling it?

I'm just struggling with the concept and cant seem to find a good "this is how it works"

i just don't understand how you can keep a siphon going, without overflowing the sump. (especially in a power outage situation!) are folks adding a valve to the inlet at the sump/outlet from the tank to regulate the flow going to the sump tank?

seems like a tricky balancing act to me? moderating your flow out of the sump into the tank to match the flow of gravity going into the sump?

are there any great writeups on this that i can't seem to find in the forums? i've searched and haven't really found anything, nor any good Sticky posts?

 

[homer1475]

Without drilling the tank and using a HOB overflow, what you described above is exactly what happens.

They do have little "tricks" to them to help prevent an overflow, but it will eventually happen.

 

[kevin21]

Probably won't work well on the nano cube. You already have chambers in the back that can house your heater and skimmer. You will also have an additional skimmer to house your auto top off and reactor if you wanted one. There is simply no room for a sump on a 28g nano cube. Use the chambers well, do weekly water changes, and you will be good to go.

 

[dtapke]

Kevin I actually had this tank running for about 5 years with misc. lps-softies-fish-inverts etc. I always wanted to add a sump to get a refugium under it but never did. I also debated running a refugium in the back center panel. also would make adding in an auto top off far easier.

I only did a 15% change every 2-3 weeks, and had nearly perfect water. fragged plates, xenia, split shrooms and xenia.

I think the desire for a sump is seeded by the fact i always wanted a bigger tank with a sump i could make it a frag tank too!