JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Owners Club

[xunknownx]

i did calibrate the ph probe but im not sure if i did it correctly. im pretty sure i did although 7.8 seems kinda low, shouldnt it be atleast 8?

right now im just running the 2 stock pumps circulating water. i'm planning to pick up a mp10 but i dont think i need that just yet for cycling so i didnt buy it yet.

im going for a deep sand bed and although a few people advised me against from doing a deep sand bed, i decided to doit anyways in hopes of reaping the benefits of having a DSP and taking on the risks on having one. (hey, to each their own right?) the bed is 60lbs measured at about 2.5 to 3in.

 

[chad p]

Personally I'd want some more circulation in the tank during the cycle. If you have the money to do it I'd get the MP10 and start it up.

As for the DSB I'm not saying it's a ticking timebomb. But for me the risks outweigh the benefit and I'm not sure that 2.5-3" is going to really give you the benefits you're after. Like you said, to each their own.

 

[xunknownx]

i was wondering if 2.5" to 3" would be enough but i noticed someone else in another thread did a slopping bed. the back of the tank is about 7in and the front about 3". maybe i can do something similar?

will probably pick up the mp10 next week when my credit card cycle refreshes.

 

[ange062]

Personally I'd want some more circulation in the tank during the cycle. If you have the money to do it I'd get the MP10 and start it up.

As for the DSB I'm not saying it's a ticking timebomb. But for me the risks outweigh the benefit and I'm not sure that 2.5-3" is going to really give you the benefits you're after. Like you said, to each their own.

Agree on the DSB, don't think you are going to get the results you are looking for. But more importantly, space is already very limited in a nano, and having a bunch of display space taken up by sand only makes this worse. Not to mention once the DSB matures it's going to be pretty nasty looking down towards the bottom, and visible through the glass... Just my 2c though

 

[Gagonzalez]

When do you know when you have enough Pods to keep a mandarin? I have chaeto in my In Tank Basket growing pretty good but more importantly, I see pods EVERYWHERE! In fact, there are so many that at any time of day now, you can see hundreds and hundreds of Amphipods, Monopods and Copepods. They look like ants crawling all over the place.

I have also heard that Amphipods can eat Zoas when they get large enough? Kinda scared now because I wanted to get quite a few Zoa assortments added soon. I currently have 6 Neon Green and Brown Zoas I got on Live Rock I bought a month ago.

 

[justgeorge]

Just got my 2 stunner strips, installation is a little vague. Have you guys put them inside the hood where the rest of the LEDs are or do you just use the double-sided tape and mount them on the underside of the hood?

Thanks!

 

[xunknownx]

just tested my water
looks to me like a PH of 8.1? mt RKL says 7.85
ammonia appears to be between 0.5 to 1.0
Nitrite at 5.0
Nitrate appears to be at 80 PPM

i just added live rocks last night but i had live sand in there for 2 weeks now. this is the first time i've tested my water. i'm guessing i shouldnt worry too much about it right now?

so its been exactly a week since i put in my live rocks, i just tested my water again. this is only my 2nd time testing. does it look like my tank is already cycled? seems to me like i just need to do water changes to bring down my nitrate to under 20.

i find it odd that it only took a week to cycle? is it because the owner at my LFS told me to up the temperature so i can cycle faster? i've been cycling my tank at around 84-85F. im bringing it back down now. also i've had instant ocean live sand in my tank for 3 weeks but i dont believe there was actual bacterial in the live sand....

thoughts? should i be doing water changes to bring down my nitrate and then i can introduce a CUC?

i also got ALOT of microbubbles and i dont know whats causing it. i've tried changing out the filter floss and reseating the 2 black foams on the side. what else can i do help? while on the subject of changing out filter floss and reseating the 2 strips of black foam. everytime i change the filter floss or take out the 2 black foams to wash, all the dirty particles and milkish colored water get blown back into my display tank. how can i permanentley fix this? i also noticed that there are sand sitting in the back chamber which i have no way to cleaning it out.

 

[ange062]

so its been exactly a week since i put in my live rocks, i just tested my water again. this is only my 2nd time testing. does it look like my tank is already cycled? seems to me like i just need to do water changes to bring down my nitrate to under 20.

i find it odd that it only took a week to cycle? is it because the owner at my LFS told me to up the temperature so i can cycle faster? i've been cycling my tank at around 84-85F. im bringing it back down now. also i've had instant ocean live sand in my tank for 3 weeks but i dont believe there was actual bacterial in the live sand....

thoughts? should i be doing water changes to bring down my nitrate and then i can introduce a CUC?

i also got ALOT of microbubbles and i dont know whats causing it. i've tried changing out the filter floss and reseating the 2 black foams on the side. what else can i do help? while on the subject of changing out filter floss and reseating the 2 strips of black foam. everytime i change the filter floss or take out the 2 black foams to wash, all the dirty particles and milkish colored water get blown back into my display tank. how can i permanentley fix this? i also noticed that there are sand sitting in the back chamber which i have no way to cleaning it out.

A week to cycle isn't abnormal if you are using well established live rock. I'd say you are still at the tail end of yours due to the high-nitrates. I'd wait a little longer, and keep doing water changes to get them down. Once you have everything to zero then add your CUC.

Microbubbles are probably from running your water level too low in your back chambers, make sure the pump chambers are level or JUST below the constant volume chambers. Sand can be cleaned out of the chambers by siphoning it out during a water change.

 

[xunknownx]

so i just did my very first water change in hopes to bring my nitrate levels down. there seems to be ton of debris and dirty stuff floating around. is this normal? is that gonna happen everytime i do water changes? i suspect if i have live stock in there, it would not be good for them.

also the water is not low in my back chambers, its about 2" below the constant volume chamber but i'm still getting massive amounts of micro bubbles.

 

[WickedBlue28]

2" can be too low make it level or a fraction of an inch below.

 

[xunknownx]

alright so i did 2 water changes, 1st water change was about a 30% water change which brought nitrates down to around 60. then yesterday i did another 50% water change and it looks like my nitrates are down to to around 5 to 10. looks to me like my tank is cycled!

can someone identify what is this green slimelike thing on my rock?

i am still getting a bunch of microbubbles and debris flying around my tank. i filled my water in the back chamber JUST below the constant chamber and raised the 2 black foams up

finally what is my next step? order a clean up crew? i spoke to john from reefcleaners and this is what he recommended
20 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
9 Nassarius
9 Florida Ceriths
6 Assorted Hermits
3 Large Nerite and 3 Small to medium Nerites
1 Chiton and 2 Limpet

do i have to feed them anything?

i'm currently not running a skimmer and have my lights on. should i start running the skimmer and start leaving my lights on?

lastly, when should i change out the stock jbj filter media? im still running the activated carbon and ceramic rings that came with the kit. in the jbj instruction manual, it says i never have to change out the ceramic rings? i have chemipure and purigen just waiting to be put in.

 

[geezers11]

I haven't used the foam inserts at all and have no microbubbles. Do you run both pumps at the same time or use the alternating wavemaker?

 

[xunknownx]

they are both running on constant power

 

[kaskiles]

Hi,

I've been starting up a JBJ 28 CF for a few months now, I've been lazy with getting equipment together, etc...

Anyway, I didn't like how large the return pumps are with relation to the return chambers, so I was looking for a smaller alternative.

I found that Hydor makes a smaller return pump, but is low power and not designed for back-pressure (head). I decided to give it a shot. So I got two of these:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...utm_campaign=aquariumtanksupply&utm_medium=na

They are rated for 300 gph at 8 watts; nice thing is that the power cord comes out in the same direction as the outlet water. They are much lighter than the stock pumps. I am basically able to just hang them in the chamber by the return tubing and power cord.

I used the boiling water dip to get the 1/2" ID tubing on the pump outlet, then I zip tied three times up the tubing to the power cord, with the elbow connected on the end. When I clean, I can just twist off the elbow and remove the entire assembly.

I is very quiet, no vibration. I run both pumps at the same time, they are not on the wave maker. Without the outlet diffuser, I think the flow was a little too much, as I was getting a little salt creep on the back of the hood, behind the overflow. I put back on the diffusers, and now I think it's pretty good.

I've just had them running for about a month now. I'll let you guys know if they hold up for a decent amount of time.

Side Note: I'm also running two regular Hydor nano 425s inside the tank, they are on the JBJ supplied wave maker at about 90 seconds (I think).

 

[Gagonzalez]

Kaskiles,

I use 2 Maxijet 1200's and the flow is fantastic. No noise whatsoever even though they don't fit correctly in the chambers. I just pushed them all the way down. I'm curios to know how much flow your actually getting. Do you have an In Tank basket or just the stock basket? What do you have in it? Carbon, pad, etc....? Does it overflow the basket at all?

 

[kaskiles]

I removed the entire media basket thing before I switched to the Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 8W Circulation Pump - 300 GPH. Maybe if I put it back on that top sponge would have stopped the salt creep without me having to slow it down with the outlet diffusers... I don't know if they would overflow the baskets, but like those Eheim 1000's, they have an intake valve type thing that can be used to adjust flow.

I think the Maxijets would be more flow than these pico evo's; and the Maxijets will keep their flow against back-pressure much better. These pico's are just a lot less watts, and really small and light. My biggest concern with them is going to be durability, longevity.

 

[xunknownx]

alright so i did 2 water changes, 1st water change was about a 30% water change which brought nitrates down to around 60. then yesterday i did another 50% water change and it looks like my nitrates are down to to around 5 to 10. looks to me like my tank is cycled!

can someone identify what is this green slimelike thing on my rock?

i am still getting a bunch of microbubbles and debris flying around my tank. i filled my water in the back chamber JUST below the constant chamber and raised the 2 black foams up

finally what is my next step? order a clean up crew? i spoke to john from reefcleaners and this is what he recommended
20 Dwarf Ceriths - small effective cleaners
9 Nassarius
9 Florida Ceriths
6 Assorted Hermits
3 Large Nerite and 3 Small to medium Nerites
1 Chiton and 2 Limpet

do i have to feed them anything?

i'm currently not running a skimmer and have my lights on. should i start running the skimmer and start leaving my lights on?

lastly, when should i change out the stock jbj filter media? im still running the activated carbon and ceramic rings that came with the kit. in the jbj instruction manual, it says i never have to change out the ceramic rings? i have chemipure and purigen just waiting to be put in.

so since my last update, i have started to run my lights on a timer. but have not ordered any livestock yet mainly because i dont know if i should put in a CUC first or put in fish first.

i received my aquamaxx HOB skimmer today but not sure if the 2 pipes are supposed to go into the outer pump chambers or into the constant volume chambers.

microbubbles have not gone away but i think im just gonna give up on it at this point and maybe revisit it some other time.

lastly, i would still like some opinions on my last question from my previous post and thats when should i replace the stock jbj media and replace it with chemipure and purigen. and if i should take out the ceramic rings.

 

[chad p]

If your cycle is complete go ahead and switch to the purigen and Chemi pure.

I'd add a CUC next and then SLOWLY add fish. Google "when to add a reef tank clean up crew" and you'll find tons of of info.

If you look through ange's build thread or mine you'll see exactly how and where to install the HOB-1. It should sit with the inlet in the left constant chamber and the outlet in the left return pump chamber. Like I said search some build threads and you'll see pics and everything.

Good luck with the stocking. You're getting to the fun part.

 

[xunknownx]

i looked at ange's thread but couldnt see very clearly from the picture. i finally figured out that i had to remove the T connector and just connect the gray elbow piece but now i dont think its working.... i dont see any water coming into the intake tube and no water is coming out of the outlet. i did take my tank water and fill it up to the top, but as soon as water got higher, water would just come out of the outlet and as soon as all the water comes back out, im back to square one with nothing coming out.

 

[xunknownx]

ok, after fiddling around for a few hours, i figured out that i need to unplug the yellow tube and submerged it in tank water. all is well now.

so now my question is how do i know how high to set the cup? and it seems to be creating more microbubbles than before