pleuralplexus
New member
It's a piece of crap. All my SPSs are bleached (although alive and slowly growing) and the fixture is unreliable (a row of LEDs went out after just a few months). Also it's not dimmable and there isn't enough blue spectrum.
JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Owners Club
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
It's a piece of crap. All my SPSs are bleached (although alive and slowly growing) and the fixture is unreliable (a row of LEDs went out after just a few months). Also it's not dimmable and there isn't enough blue spectrum.
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
I have a Crocea Clam in my CF Quad and it has colored up really nicely. Placed it on a flat piece of rock at the sand level to start (and for it to attach) and then slowly moved it up to where it's at. About 8" from the light. I think your limited as to what you can keep but mine is a darker clam as you can see from the pics. I am also upgrading my lighting very soon but I am very suprised at how much MORE fluorescent it's gotten over the months. I wouldn't try to keep a Maxima or a bright colored Crocea with this light for any considerable amount of time though. Good Luck.
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Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
I did 3g water changes weekly and did not dose anything except Kent dkh superbuffer to keep DKH at around 9 but I am now going to water changes every 2 weeks and will start dosing Kent CB Part A and B to make up for the difference.
The Jets you are referring to just pull out of their sockets. Use a towel and some pliers to gently rock them loose and out. Then just insert the proper adapter and Hydor heads. BUT keep in mind that small animals will get stuck behind the Hydor heads which gets really annoying. I am personally going with the stock jets again and 2 Koralia Nano 425's on the wavemaker.
Purigen will last about a month or so before it needs a recharge. Depends on your bioload.
Sponge in another compartment is fine except that you may want to rinse it every 3-4 days so it doesn't build up Detritus and cause a Nitrate issue.
The Jets you are referring to just pull out of their sockets. Use a towel and some pliers to gently rock them loose and out. Then just insert the proper adapter and Hydor heads. BUT keep in mind that small animals will get stuck behind the Hydor heads which gets really annoying. I am personally going with the stock jets again and 2 Koralia Nano 425's on the wavemaker.
Purigen will last about a month or so before it needs a recharge. Depends on your bioload.
Sponge in another compartment is fine except that you may want to rinse it every 3-4 days so it doesn't build up Detritus and cause a Nitrate issue.
Get the ballast direct from jbj. They are the cheapest. As for the led in general. I find them to be too white. I recently disconnected two rows of the whites and replaced them with 2 uv and 2 royal blues from rapid. Tank looks 100x better. Corals are finally coloring up better. The whites are too strong 75w of white at full power is too much
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Bad News for me.......
I just added my heater controller and another Koralia Nano 425 to my tank today and everything looked great until I looked at the side of my tank.
Looks like I sprung yet another leak (my 10th now in 9 months) and this looks bad. It looks like a bubble is forming between the glass and the black matte finish trim on the bottom right side toward the back. I yet again added some silicone to stop the leak at the bottom but I can't get rid of the bubble. It's about 2" wide x 1.5" high. I am assuming it will eventually pop. Hopefully not soon. I sent an email to JBJ. Hopefully I can get a replacement tank sent. Don't know what I am going to do if they don't.
Can't say I would recommend this model to anyone at this point. I know some have had luck and others not. Maybe I just got a lemon and the next one won't have any issues.
Wish me luck and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks
I just added my heater controller and another Koralia Nano 425 to my tank today and everything looked great until I looked at the side of my tank.
Looks like I sprung yet another leak (my 10th now in 9 months) and this looks bad. It looks like a bubble is forming between the glass and the black matte finish trim on the bottom right side toward the back. I yet again added some silicone to stop the leak at the bottom but I can't get rid of the bubble. It's about 2" wide x 1.5" high. I am assuming it will eventually pop. Hopefully not soon. I sent an email to JBJ. Hopefully I can get a replacement tank sent. Don't know what I am going to do if they don't.
Can't say I would recommend this model to anyone at this point. I know some have had luck and others not. Maybe I just got a lemon and the next one won't have any issues.
Wish me luck and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks
pleuralplexus
New member
Well after all the problems I've had with JBJ products, I know I'm never setting up anything JBJ related again. Their stock equipment is just junk; all the way from the glass to the filters to the pumps and the LED lights. All junk.
Sharkus333
New member
GaGonzalez, sorry to hear about your woes with leaks with your tank. Hopefully JBJ will do the right thing and get a new tank out to you.
Had a quick question from a post you had a page back regarding your ATO, and the In-Tank filter floss backing your flow up quickly and messing up you levels in the rear chamber.
Have you figured out how to eliminate that from happening? I'm having the exact same issue to the point where I turned off the ATO and been manually compensating for evaporation as I'm getting less flucuation in Salinity levels that way, which is upsetting me greatly lol
Had a quick question from a post you had a page back regarding your ATO, and the In-Tank filter floss backing your flow up quickly and messing up you levels in the rear chamber.
Have you figured out how to eliminate that from happening? I'm having the exact same issue to the point where I turned off the ATO and been manually compensating for evaporation as I'm getting less flucuation in Salinity levels that way, which is upsetting me greatly lol
ange062
New member
Bummer to hear about your problems, but I also dont think your experience is typical. I havent had a problem with a single piece of JBJ equipment (and I have 2 of their tanks) in over 2-yrs of experience with them.
Been running topless for about 1.5-yrs now and love it. An older tank overview can be seen below and Ive got a big ole build thread in this forum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TBOfgx0tlw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I just change the floss every other day and dont worry about the changing water level. The impact on your tank salinity is VERY minimal, just measure before and after changing the floss with your ATO in place.
Sharkus333
New member
Thanks Ange! I noticed a small change, but was paranoid of the long term impact of running it that way. Based on your build thread, I'm no longer concerned. 
I just put it back on Thanks again, for all you have contributed to this forum!!!
I just put it back on Thanks again, for all you have contributed to this forum!!!
ange062
New member
Thanks Ange! I noticed a small change, but was paranoid of the long term impact of running it that way. Based on your build thread, I'm no longer concerned.
Thanks, always here to help!!! That minor change in salinity is natural and normal and nothing in your tank will notice (you have to consider this is really 1/8gal in a 28gal tank at best). Good luck!
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Ange,
It isn't only the salinity but the fact that the In-Tank basket overflows in about 12-14hrs. I am currently changing my pad out twice a day, every morning and night, because of it. How do you get away with changing the media every 2 days? Does your basket not overflow?
Thanks
It isn't only the salinity but the fact that the In-Tank basket overflows in about 12-14hrs. I am currently changing my pad out twice a day, every morning and night, because of it. How do you get away with changing the media every 2 days? Does your basket not overflow?
Thanks
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ange062
New member
I change when my basket gets close to overflowing, which is about every 2-days. This was applicable when I was using both stock JBJ Accela pumps. When I switched to the Eheim Compact 1000's I did have to dial back the flow on one pump to prevent the basket from overflowing and get the overall GPH rate back to where the Accela's were.
I have noticed two factors can have a big impact on how long the floss lasts. 1) Junk in the water. Stirring up the sand, overfeeding, using a turkey baster to clean the rocks, etc all significantly shorten the change interval.
2) Size of floss used. If the rectangle of floss is cut too large the time that it lasts can be drastically reduced. I cut mine ideally to exactly match the footprint of the basket. Too large impedes flow, too little lets junk into your back compartments.
With all that being said, I am also running a chiller on my system which cuts down the flow on one of the return pumps. This may be the main difference between what we are seeing in our systems.
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
That makes sense. I did place both Accella pumps back in, in place of the Maxijet 1200s. That improved the floss time from 6-8hrs to 12-14hrs now. I may have to figure out how to reduce the flow at this point then.
Thanks
Thanks
