JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Owners Club

[supersaltlick]

Just ordered JBJ 28g HQI

Just ordered JBJ 28g HQI

My 70g display sprung a leak over the weekend. Everything now in rubbermaid. Seemed like a good time to downsize to a nano. This will be my first nano and second reef tank.

I had a couple of questions:
1.I have seen a lot of mods for this AIO cube. Can I run this tank out of the box and successfully keep various montis, zoanthids, LPS, soft corals, and clam that I already have?

2. I have seen you people running what seems like crazy amounts of flow in this tank. what type of sand bed are you guys using and how does it not blow all over the tank? I had DSB (5-6inches) in 70g and was thinking the same for nano cube but it seems like it would take up a lot more space relative to the size of the display.

 

[sahin]

1. You can keep all of those mentioned corals and clam very easily with the stock equipment.

2. Yes, people run crazy flow in this tank, but with the corals you listed, you can keep the stock pumps. Only need to upgrade the pumps if yo are going to heavily into SPS.

I am still setting up my tank, however, I only have a shallow sand bed. As long as you have enough rocks and a shallow bed, I think yo should have no problem with getting denitrification.

The only two real problems with this tank is this:

1. Heat: Dending on where you live, you MAY get heat issues. I live in a flat which has a very hot living room ALL year round: my living room is 80'F always. I keep the tank at 79'F with the use of a fan on a cheap controller costs = £35 = $56 US. Much better than a chiller. When halides run the temp is no more than 83'F.

2. Stock skimmer works. Not the best performance, but for what you are going to keep, it will be fine. However, its a pain to have to remove it etc whenever you want to open the hood. Only bad in terms of practicality. If you keep your hands out the hand except for weekly maintenance then its not a big deal.

Hope that helps. Good luck. If you need any other help, just post here or PM me.

 

[sahin]

PS, the above info I have given is based on many years of experiance and currently my third reef tank (2nd nano).

 

[Trendy2]

As far as sand, I threw in a 20lb. bag of CaribSea Ocean Direct Live Sand. It was enough for a 2-3 inch bed. For the flow I have a Koralia Nano (blowing behind my LR) and a Koralia 1 (in the front). I also needed a spare pump to do my water changes so I picked up a MaxiJet 1200 and replaced one of the stock Accela's with it - the 1200 does a noticeably better job IMO. The flow with the stock Accela return pumps just doesn't cut it, doesn't even make it to the front corner of the glass in my tank. I have them angled diagonally just enough to ripple the surface. Someday, if I have any extra dough, I'd like to get a Vortech MP10.

I'm adding my first fish today so I'm pretty excited. I got the NanoTuners PC Actinic retro lighting kit in the mail yesterday, got it all installed and working, I feel better about adding a fish now that I don't have such drastic lighting changes. Thinking about a Green Chromis or Purple Firefish then adding a pair of tank-raised Ocellaris later down the road.

 

[kirkaz]

Well, I had a 25 gallon nano, and upgraded to the 28 gallon HQI JBJ. I transferred everything over...2 clowns, Yellow Watchman, 2 Cleaner Shrimp, a few zoas and mushrooms.

Just curious for anyone that runs without a chiller how much you see your temp fluctuate, and how long you leave the halide bulb on? I will get a chiller if needed, but would prefer not. So far I'm running it for 6 hours, and it toped out at 80.1 last night which I certainly don't mind, as my 240 tops out at about 82.5 without chiller.

Got a nice coral order coming from Blue Zoo next week....Some Aussie Acans, a few Brains and a couple LPS, I will post pictures at that point.

 

[SlvrSurfRidr]

Welcome aboard kirkaz! My temps fluctated 5+ degrees (78-83+), got tired of the fans not cutting it and got the chiller. It's a 50/50 crowd here - so if you're happy with fans, then keep on keepin on!

 

[balloonpilot]

Tunze 9002 Setup question.

Just got the Tunze. I've cut off the magnet and getting ready to install and do water change.

Question - there apears to be little slits on one of the short sides as well as the bottom of the box. Do you slide the skimmer all the way down, or should there be some room at the bottom ?

FWIW - Saphire is going on 3 weeks to get newer/improved impellers. I was on my second motor in 5 months. Worked great when 1st got it, but as I said 2 pumps later and it barely produces 1/8" in a week. So I've been doing 10+ gal changes to keep things alive...

 

[balloonpilot]

Tunze now installed.

I see where its got a mark on the box for the water line and its a snug fit in the center chamber. Luckily I did NOT have to cut the cover of the JBJ... Because I had already cut some of the rear trim (so I could get the Saphire in place), this allows Tunze to sit back farther and the collection cup sits flat/level and I can even open the tank lid/cover apx 5" w/o having to remove the collection cup.

I've got the Tunze set up with the air screw almost all the way out and it took almost 4hrs before the foam was at the bottom edge of the cup. Now almost 7 hrs after install the foam is finally up into the tube and about 1" from the top of the cup.

Is this normal to take so long to build the foam?

Is it normal to be noisy? Or is this because I've got the air turned up all the way? I've got the unit slid down such that the water line mark is about where the water line is in the adjacent chamber (a guess because you cant really see the water mark as the plasitc deviders for the chambers hides it)

In general - Should I be turning my skimmer off during feeding, or should I just let it run?

Thanks

 

[balloonpilot]

After 16hrs with the air screw almost all the way out, my bubles in the collectoin tube have reduced. WHile they were 1/2" from the top of the cup, they are now only 1/2" into the tube.

The skimmer is also noisy. Near as I can tell I've got the box at the right level (water), but there is like a loud puttering - is this normal or still part of the breakin phase?

Is anyone out there? I've not seen it this quite ever

 

[drillsar]

I was wondering where I can get replacement screws that hold the lens cover, there is about 24 screws. Some of them are rusted bad and 2 of them are broken.

 

[D3monic_Urges]

Not sure if I ever posted anything.

 

[sahin]

D3monic; Your tank is looking awesome. The clam is lovely, how long have you had it in this tank? Are you running any actinic? If so, what are yiu running?

 

[D3monic_Urges]

I have the nanotuners 2008 hqi model with the 18watt pc actinics. radium 20k halides. MP10 and a ACJ. The clam I have had for about 7 months. Probably about 4".

 

[drillsar]

if anyone else needs screws for the lens cover.

the size is #4 x 1/2" make sure you get stainless steel

 

[sl-atl]

if anyone else needs screws for the lens cover.

the size is #4 x 1/2" make sure you get stainless steel

Thanks a lot! A lot of mine have rusted out and I really need to replace them...

 

[Trendy2]

Silly, but I was wondering..some of the JBJ NanoCubes seem to have a little JBJ badge on the front of the tank, at the bottom just under the glass. Since I bought mine used I don't have that badge - was that just a sticker or is it only on some models/years?
Here's my first FTS, about 5 weeks in...excuse the quality, I'm still trying to figure out how to get good shots with my Nikon D40..

 

[sahin]

Trendy2: My tank didnt have a sticker. To use the Nikon effectvely, you need to take a custom white balance reading WITH the camera of about 3/4 white wall and 1/4 of the tank in the photo. When I tried this the tank stopped apearing so blue. I have the D70, but not sure if your D40 can do this.

D you have the 2x18w actinic upgrade on yours?

 

[Trendy2]

Trendy2: My tank didnt have a sticker. To use the Nikon effectvely, you need to take a custom white balance reading WITH the camera of about 3/4 white wall and 1/4 of the tank in the photo. When I tried this the tank stopped apearing so blue. I have the D70, but not sure if your D40 can do this.

D you have the 2x18w actinic upgrade on yours?

Ok, maybe the sticker/badge is only on the 24g then. I'll keep messing with the white balance thing...I do have a setting for 'custom' so I think I can do that - this shot was with a preset white balance - flourescent -3
Yes, I have the 2x18w actinics along with the LED moonlights on in the photo. I'm going to my first frag swap this weekend - hopefully I'll be able to add a bunch of colorful corals in there soon - I like gluing animals to rocks

 

[D3monic_Urges]

D you have the 2x18w actinic upgrade on yours?

Yes I do.

 

[edoday]

Is anyone running a sump/fuge on a JBJ28 that is NOT a hang on back? I want to do this without drilling the display tank.

Thanks.