JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Owners Club

[markgsa]

Good stuff.

 

[corrado007]

corrado007 where did you get your float valves? And you got schematics on your module? It looks cool. Thanks

Hey markgsa, I went ahead and drew up a quick schematic of my ATO module in case it's of any help to you and others. Here you go.

 

[markgsa]

Hey Thanks for the schematic. I found a diy guide at aquahub very similar to your build but you can add a buzzer.

 

[corrado007]

Hey Thanks for the schematic. I found a diy guide at aquahub very similar to your build but you can add a buzzer.

You're welcome.
What's the function of the buzzer in the AquaHub design?

 

[markgsa]

As far as the buzzer goes, I'm not too sure. Just to annoy you when it is activated maybe.

Checked the site. It will activate if the system is about to overflow. So just a water alarm

 

[roneil]

has anyone tried to replace some of the white LEDs with blue LEDs in a JBJ 28 LED version?

the light is good but some blue would make it better.

 

[corrado007]

The LED version comes with four 3Watt Blue LEDs that are dawn/dusk (actinic) LEDs. They are very intense and if you turn off the 14k white ones, they light up the entire tank and make corals really pop just like typical VHO, HO, and PC actinics do. The LED hood also comes with two 1Watt blue LEDs for moon light which are quite bright also.

Here are a few shots with just the 4 actinics and the 2 moon light LEDs on.

 

[Michelle S]

Wow that is beautiful!

 

[Michelle S]

Temp in my tank is now 78.1 since I lowered the heater temp to 73 (it was at 76). I have a pretty cheap heater. Should I get a different one?

28 gal jbj nano reef LED; still cycling: 3 weeks. Mostly dry rock (22 lbs), some live rock (2 lbs) and mixture of fine white fiji sand and live sand. Live rock added just a week ago. Prior to that added have a medium sized raw shrimp in little pieces.

Sand is pretty brown and there is just a spot of green algae on one rock tip.

Salinity is 1.025; stays static even though I top off with unsalted RO water.

I had water tested at LFS and Ph was good. can't remember what other stats were. Will have water retested later this week.

I can't wait to add something live - even a few snails...LFS said not yet

 

[corrado007]

Hey there Michelle
The thermostats in heaters are often not very accurate. Many people get controllers that have much more reliable and accurate thermostats built in to them. The way it works is you get a controller that plugs into your house outlet and it has a temp probe that goes in your water and gives an accurate measurement of your temperature. The controller has an outlet that you plug your heater into. You set the heater's thermostat to something like 82 and then set your controller to whatever temp you want the water to stay at, maybe 78 or so. The controller will provide power to the heater when the tank water drops below your preset temp and cuts off power when it's where it should be.

Controllers are available just for heaters or you can get whole system controllers.
A heater controller like this one will just control your heater and costs less than a whole system controller.
A whole system controller can be used to turn your lights on and off automatically, control your heater, chiller, pumps, moon lights, can have a pH probe, etc..
Here is an example of a quality, inexpensive whole system controller.

By the way, what brand of heater do you have?

 

[Michelle S]

My heater is a TruTemp Eheim Jager 100w fully submersible..

 

[Michelle S]

Corrado 007, I appreciate the link but that product is more than I need right now. thanks though

 

[d9sccr]

Corrado 007, I appreciate the link but that product is more than I need right now. thanks though

I know you say that, but it's amazing how much easier they make your life. I just got an apex earlier this month and it just astounds me at how much it can do. The DA Reefkeeper Lite is only $20 more but can do so much more. Just throwing it out there.

 

[corrado007]

Okay Michelle, that's perfect. You have a good, quality heater. I have the same thing but two 50Watt heaters instead of one 100W.
You can "calibrate" that model by twisting the red band with the little red arrow on it.
What you do is let the heater run until it just clicks off. Now you know that it has heated the water to it's preset temp. You just use a simple glass thermometer or other accurate/quality thermometer to check the actual water temp. Now twist the red ring so that the arrow on it points to the number on the blue ring that coincides with the actual current temperature in the tank. Now your heater is calibrated and you can twist the thermostat knob to whatever temperature you want the tank to stay at.
Hope that made sense and helped.
Let us know if you continue to have issues and we can keep troubleshooting.

 

[corrado007]

I know you say that, but it's amazing how much easier they make your life. I just got an apex earlier this month and it just astounds me at how much it can do. The DA Reefkeeper Lite is only $20 more but can do so much more. Just throwing it out there.

Hi Andrew,
So you just got a Neptune Apex? I'm thinking about getting one. I currently have an Aquacontroller Jr. that I was going to take from my 90 and put on my cube but I may just go with the Apex. You said the DA Reefkeeper Lite can do more and is only $20 more, how come you didn't go with it over the Apex then? Did I misunderstand your post? Did you get the Apex or the Apex Lite?
Thanks,
Justin

 

[d9sccr]

Hi Andrew,
So you just got a Neptune Apex? I'm thinking about getting one. I currently have an Aquacontroller Jr. that I was going to take from my 90 and put on my cube but I may just go with the Apex. You said the DA Reefkeeper Lite can do more and is only $20 more, how come you didn't go with it over the Apex then? Did I misunderstand your post? Did you get the Apex or the Apex Lite?
Thanks,
Justin

I love the Apex but it is my first controller too. I mean the DA RKL is only $20 more than that JBJ controller you linked to. I got the Apex in case I ever want to upgrade

 

[corrado007]

Oh, I get what you're saying. The DA RKL can do so much more than the JBJ heater controller and is only $20 more. I thought you were saying it can do more than the Apex and is only $20 more than the Apex.
Did you get the lab grade pH probe or the standard? Any real difference between them?

 

[d9sccr]

I got the standard. From what I was able to gather, it's not worth the upgrade for our causes. The standard is plenty accurate. Plus, I never found anything to confirm this, but I would imagine that all of them are more accurate than going by color, which is what I was doing before. There are some differences beyond accuracy, but I don't remember what they are

 

[Michelle S]

Okay Michelle, that's perfect. You have a good, quality heater. I have the same thing but two 50Watt heaters instead of one 100W.
You can "calibrate" that model by twisting the red band with the little red arrow on it.
What you do is let the heater run until it just clicks off. Now you know that it has heated the water to it's preset temp. You just use a simple glass thermometer or other accurate/quality thermometer to check the actual water temp. Now twist the red ring so that the arrow on it points to the number on the blue ring that coincides with the actual current temperature in the tank. Now your heater is calibrated and you can twist the thermostat knob to whatever temperature you want the tank to stay at.
Hope that made sense and helped.
Let us know if you continue to have issues and we can keep troubleshooting.

Thanks, I just did a water change and will calibrate tomorrow since my temp indicator will be changing until the new water comes up to temp. Thanks much!

 

[Michelle S]

I think I 've got it calibrated... temp steady at 78.6 (maybe a little high?).
It is freezing here in Austin TX (very unusual) and the heating system where I live is not up to the challenge. It's 64 inside and I've had the heat running all day. The aquarium is nice and warm though!