JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Owners Club

goldndoodle .. im no pro this is just my experience.. when I started my tank it cycled I added clean up crew and 2 percs after 2 months .never got a algae bloom. I thought I was lucky then sometime in month 3 it started and started bad. my tank looked like a green swamp . couldn't even see into the tank . scraped the glass almost every day and it would return... then I started getting red blotches all over my sand bed hair algea all over the rocks.. I tried everything. and nothing worked.. then after reading boards. I left the tank alone fed the fish and just let everything run its course.. work up one morning and tank was clear and clean....took about 2 weeks..if I remember right.. new tank algea bloom really doesn't have much to do with the tank cycling .. its more of using up all the phosphates or silicates in the new sand and the decay on adding live rock to the tank.even if it came out of a tank with water most often the lsf just wraps the live rock in newspaper then we take it home and aquascape outside the tank. there is gonna be alittle die off on the rocks... hope this gives you alittle hope lol
 
Sorry guys - was unbelievably busy the past week, couldn't reply.

I did manage to get out to an LFS - they didn't have PhosBan, they had PhosGuard, bought that and put it in the 2nd chamber, with a new packet of Purigen, then put a sock of ChemiPure (not the ELITE ... just ChemiPur) in the 3rd chamber. Still fighting with some small algae problems, but not as bad as it was. Still some stuff growing on the sand and glass. The CUC seems to be doing their jobs on the rock.

I'm thinking the problem is the RO. I've been doing weekly 5 gallon changes, I'm apparently just adding Phos to the system every time I do it. I was about to mix up another 5 gallons for tomorrow. I did a TDS reading on the RO and got 5ppm. I'm going to hold off on the change until I can swap out the RO filters and get the water down to 0. I should be able to pick up filters tomorrow - can do the water change Sunday instead of tomorrow.

EDIT - Just had a brilliant idea - I should run a line off of the 3 stage filter and into my RO system. I'd be really low TDS going into the RO - that should make the really expensive RO filters last even longer.

The RO system was one I had hooked up to the Fridge for in door water and ice maker. I took it off because it had a pretty small capacity (about 2 gallons), and replaced it with a 3 stage filter system that gets the water down to about 10ppm on TDS - that's good enough for us and the dogs ...

BTW - I don't think my frogspawn likes the PhosGuard - it's retracted really tight, won't open up at all. From what I've seen online it's a known issue. I guess while I'm out tomorrow I'll check some other stores to see if I can grab some GFO.
 
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Looks like you are off to a great start. Unfortunately I did not get the moonlight strips from him. My guess is that you could mount them around the heat sink. You want to keep it all within the shield though - it would be a fire hazard to have them outside of that.

In my 12 gallon I've got the inTank media basket (floss, purigen, chemipur elite), an eheim jaeger heater on a finnex controller, a mp10es vortech, steve's LED hood, and other odds and ends. Weekly water changes of 50-70% keeps parameters in check. Probably the easiest tank to maintain IMO
 
Goldndoodle said:
Sorry guys - was unbelievably busy the past week, couldn't reply.

I did manage to get out to an LFS - they didn't have PhosBan, they had PhosGuard, bought that and put it in the 2nd chamber, with a new packet of Purigen, then put a sock of ChemiPure (not the ELITE ... just ChemiPur) in the 3rd chamber. Still fighting with some small algae problems, but not as bad as it was. Still some stuff growing on the sand and glass. The CUC seems to be doing their jobs on the rock.

I'm thinking the problem is the RO. I've been doing weekly 5 gallon changes, I'm apparently just adding Phos to the system every time I do it. I was about to mix up another 5 gallons for tomorrow. I did a TDS reading on the RO and got 5ppm. I'm going to hold off on the change until I can swap out the RO filters and get the water down to 0. I should be able to pick up filters tomorrow - can do the water change Sunday instead of tomorrow.

The RO system was one I had hooked up to the Fridge for in door water and ice maker. I took it off because it had a pretty small capacity (about 2 gallons), and replaced it with a 3 stage filter system that gets the water down to about 10ppm on TDS - that's good enough for us and the dogs ...
Click to expand...

All the chemical media will take care of the algae. It sounds like the RO/DI needs new filters and/or a membrane. Like you already suggested, I'd say avoid your water change until your TDS reads zero. If anything, your LFS probably sells RO/DI water which you could use. To be sure, ask them if they test their TDS - that way you can make sure they aren't selling you water with TDS in it.
 
On to a different - much more fun topic -

Lighting on my Nano Cube 28 Intermediate (stock 27W White LED lighting + two 6W strips of Stunner Actinic Blue LEDs + one 6W strip of Stunner Magenta LEDs - all stunners are hooked up to Current USA Ramp timer to simulate sunrise / sunset, before / after the White LEDs turn on / off).

Current coral stock -
I have "seeded" a nice zoanthid garden - lots of little frags with great colors - ranging from mid-low to mid tank level
Started a Ricordea / Mushroom rock - 3 ricordea, 1 metallic shroom - low level, near sand bed
Small Palythoa frag - upper level
1 triple color suncoral (has black, pink and orange all on the same rock) - sand bed
Pulsing Xenia rock - mid level
Circus Acan frag - mid level
Orange Mummy Eye Chalice frag - sand bed
Star Polyps Frag - low-mid level
Frogspawn - 1 head - low-mid level

I am looking for suggestions for corals for the higher level ... I'm thinking a Toadstool might work, but I'm also looking for ideas with more color and "wow" factor.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!
 
Need advice quick please.
Finally got my 45g jbj rimless and am planning on switching from my 28g jbj this weekend. I'm going to be using same led lights at same height. Using most of water from old tank and all of the live rock form old tank. I will be adding fully cured live rock from local reef store and new water will be same temp and salinity. Planning on pink Fiji live sand from same fish store. I only have the one led light so I am going to have the new tank in place and have old tank without lights until I get everything moved to new tank.
What if any issues will I face? Mini cycle etc etc.
 
Yep it will cycle on you with addition of new substrate and rock. Plus, new tanks leach trace residual chemicals for a while (so the wive's tale goes but it's probably true). So when I set up a new tank (which I've done many times and I'm starting to do again next week), I always let my new sand and rock and tank cycle for several weeks before making the switch. Even though you will probably find a comment right after mine that says you'll be fine, my personal hard-learned experience is that patience is the secret ingredient to a successful reef the first time.
 
Thanks Pleuaral my problem is I have to put the tank on the exact same spot as my 28g now due to I'm using taotronics LED light and I can't imagine moving 47g of water and tank and stand. Does that make sense?
 
Yeah I understand. But if you can find a way, I would scoot the old one over temporarily and put the new one in place. Run them side by side for a few months even if the new tank, rock and sand cycle without a light. Then transfer the livestock. This is exactly what I'll be doing starting next week. I'm shutting down my 28g and switching to a 60g cube and using most of the hardware including lights from the old tank. Although there's only room for one tank at a time, I'm going to leave the old tank set up in the way for a few months until everything is ready.
 
JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Owners Club

Don't mind the algae... Haven't had time to really scrape and clean my glass lately... =(
uja5ujup.jpg
 
LedZep fan2 said:
All the chemical media will take care of the algae. It sounds like the RO/DI needs new filters and/or a membrane. Like you already suggested, I'd say avoid your water change until your TDS reads zero. If anything, your LFS probably sells RO/DI water which you could use. To be sure, ask them if they test their TDS - that way you can make sure they aren't selling you water with TDS in it.
Click to expand...

So I made a trip up to the LFS yesterday about the continuing Phos / Algae issues. I got some clarification from LFS on their previous comments, and I think this explains my problems ... He said they measure TDS pre and post RO filters. Their DI filter will handle up to about 40PPM post RO filtration. So once they see post RO numbers getting close to 40PPM, they change the RO filters. But everything that comes out after the DI filter is always 0PPM TDS. That's when the lightbulb kicked on ... I do NOT have a DI Filter. I only have a 3 stage RO system - no 4th stage DI filter. So I've got a DI filter on the way from Amazon, that I can add on after my RO filters to take care of the remaining Phos & Silicate. I've been dumping RO water into my tank as top off and using it for water changes, so I've probably been putting Phos right into the tank.

Once I get the DI filter going, an get 0PPM water going into the tank, I imagine this whole thing will clear up. I'll keep running some GFO in the tank until I get back to clear water and no algae issues.
 
Goldndoodle said:
So I made a trip up to the LFS yesterday about the continuing Phos / Algae issues. I got some clarification from LFS on their previous comments, and I think this explains my problems ... He said they measure TDS pre and post RO filters. Their DI filter will handle up to about 40PPM post RO filtration. So once they see post RO numbers getting close to 40PPM, they change the RO filters. But everything that comes out after the DI filter is always 0PPM TDS. That's when the lightbulb kicked on ... I do NOT have a DI Filter. I only have a 3 stage RO system - no 4th stage DI filter. So I've got a DI filter on the way from Amazon, that I can add on after my RO filters to take care of the remaining Phos & Silicate. I've been dumping RO water into my tank as top off and using it for water changes, so I've probably been putting Phos right into the tank.

Once I get the DI filter going, an get 0PPM water going into the tank, I imagine this whole thing will clear up. I'll keep running some GFO in the tank until I get back to clear water and no algae issues.
Click to expand...

Glad they were able to clarify! I had a feeling the algae issues were coming from your topoff/water changes. As soon as you get the DI resin in, run the unit for about 5-10 minutes to flush out any of the old water sitting inside of it (you should normally do this if you don't use the unit for a few days since the membranes can leach TDS back into the sitting water). After you know the RO/DI water is reading 0 TDS, do a big water change and keep the media running. You should see a huge improvement in water quality and little to no algae growth.

good luck!
 
LedZep fan2 said:
Glad they were able to clarify! I had a feeling the algae issues were coming from your topoff/water changes. As soon as you get the DI resin in, run the unit for about 5-10 minutes to flush out any of the old water sitting inside of it (you should normally do this if you don't use the unit for a few days since the membranes can leach TDS back into the sitting water). After you know the RO/DI water is reading 0 TDS, do a big water change and keep the media running. You should see a huge improvement in water quality and little to no algae growth.

good luck!
Click to expand...

Water went crystal clear within 2 days - it looks like the fish are swimming in a cube of lexan! The Di filter was the trick!
 
I can't believe I'm contemplating this already, but what are the options for hood replacement on a Nano Cube 28G? I'm not sure I'm completely happy with the JBJ LEDs ... I'm thinking about going without a hood, adding a glass cover and an LED bar instead of the hood.

Any recommendations?
 
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