My JBJ 28gal Nano Build Thread

[ange062]

Thanks! I use the BRS supplements as well so our concentrations should be very similar. Any specific reasoning that you dose over the whole 24h of a day instead of just during the lights out time. I have seen a lot of arguments for doing in when lights out (for Alk) in order to reduce the PH drop that happens each night. On the other hand I can see the advantage of dosing throughout the whole 24h in order to minimize the swing in parameters.

Well, for a few reasons:
1) diurnal shifts in pH are a natural occurrence on most reefs throughout the world and not unhealthy for corals/fish/etc
2) stable Alk is the most key parameter for SPS growth/health/color IMO
3) higher Alk values naturally buffer pH swings (I run KH at 8.5), which minimizes your diurnal swing
4) good aeration minimizes pH swing (surface turbulance + skimmer)
5) and last but not least, my dosing pump only offers even dosing intervals in factors of 24-hrs (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24). On top of that, the dosing pump accuracy is 1mL, so I have to find a spot where the dose is in even 1mL multiples at the most frequent intervals.

 

[ojonas81]

Thanks!

I actually changed my dosing program for both Alk. and Ca to dose evenly over the whole day, same as you. I assumed, as you mentioned, that it would be much better to keep a steady Alk. level over 24h than trying to keep the PH constant. It is fluctuating some in the ocean as well and no one are adding buffer supplements there to keep it steady.

Thanks again and sorry for hijacking your thready with my questions.

 

[ange062]

Thanks!

I actually changed my dosing program for both Alk. and Ca to dose evenly over the whole day, same as you. I assumed, as you mentioned, that it would be much better to keep a steady Alk. level over 24h than trying to keep the PH constant. It is fluctuating some in the ocean as well and no one are adding buffer supplements there to keep it steady.

Thanks again and sorry for hijacking your thready with my questions.

Anytime bud! And no worries, not a thread jack as long as you don't come in here posting pictures of your tank, LOL!

 

[SaguaroSteve]

I was thinking....it sure must be nice to have the Radion and open top when working on your tank....when I have to do anything I have to take the lid off and work in the dark PITA! Lol

You've received my vote for NTOTM, it's about time you've been nominated!

 

[ojonas81]

Why do you have to take off the whole lid when working in the tank? I just flip mine open to the first notch and then have plenty of work space.

 

[SaguaroSteve]

Why do you have to take off the whole lid when working in the tank? I just flip mine open to the first notch and then have plenty of work space.

Not to divert away from Ange's awesome tank, but to quickly answer that question and end it there, I have a BioCube 29 not a NC28. Plus, I have to take the lid off when I scrap off coralline near the back, when placing frags/colonies I can't securely hold them in place while they set with the lid on, plus when I use Ange's advice on only using super glue to set the colonies, it looks much better/cleaner/natural but I find I have to hold them in place a little longer, not so easy to do thru the tiny flap in the front of the BC....


-Ange I stated this awhile back and you must not of seen it, but finally Ecotech released a software version where you can control your Radion light settings from any web based device Mac or PC. I'd assume you'd have to hook the the fixture to a media bridge of some sort to be wireless but that'd still be awesome to sit there and mess with the colors from your couch!
http://************.com/2012/05/16/ecosmart-live/

 

[ange062]

-Ange I stated this awhile back and you must not of seen it, but finally Ecotech released a software version where you can control your Radion light settings from any web based device Mac or PC. I'd assume you'd have to hook the the fixture to a media bridge of some sort to be wireless but that'd still be awesome to sit there and mess with the colors from your couch!
http://************.com/2012/05/16/ecosmart-live/

Yeah, I've heard about it but it's not released yet (supposed to be sometime late in June). EcoTech sends me an email whenever there is a new software release so I will know about it Should be pretty cool, I'm interested to see how it works (i.e. do you have to leave a USB connected, do they connect to a router/WAP/computer via wireless, etc). But that being said, I haven't changed anything on my light profile in months so I probably won't mess with the new software much.

 

[ange062]

I don't know if it was paranoia or actuality, but Yoshi my ORA spotted mandarin was starting to look skinny to me. I'm way low on food anyway so went to pick up some live Reef Nutrition phyto, oyster eggs, arcti pods, mysis, and some Brightwell AA's. Unfortunately, I guess my LFS had a big run on them over the weekend, because they only had about half of what I wanted! So I decided to stay on the cheap until they replenished stock, and ended up just getting some frozen Hikari gut-loaded brine and krill.

So why did I bring up Yoshi? Because I've never seen him eat so voraciously before!! He absolutely loves the brine shrimp, and I saw him eat at least 15-20 individual shrimp until his belly was visually round (much like my ORA neon dottyback does on frozen mysis). I started by target feeding him, to which he reacted very well. After I thought he had his fill, I "broadcast" fed the other fish and Yoshi came out into the water column to pick off even more!

Let's just say I was both surprised and happy to see him eating this well. So if you are having problems with an ORA mandarin, try a combination of frozen brine shrimp and New Life Spectrum Thera+A 0.5mm pellets.

That's all for today

 

[kalgra]

Amazing Build! Congrats!

 

[chad p]

Glad to hear Yoshi is grubbin' so well.

I was curious, does your neon dottyback ever show interest in your shrimp? I got one and he started displaying aggression toward my cleaner shrimp. He also introduced ich into my tank so he had to go before he could make a meal of the shrimp.

Now you see why I'm hesitant to get a mandarin...my luck isn't as good as yours apparently.

 

[ange062]

Amazing Build! Congrats!

Thanks a bunch for the compliments!!!

Glad to hear Yoshi is grubbin' so well.

I was curious, does your neon dottyback ever show interest in your shrimp? I got one and he started displaying aggression toward my cleaner shrimp. He also introduced ich into my tank so he had to go before he could make a meal of the shrimp.

Now you see why I'm hesitant to get a mandarin...my luck isn't as good as yours apparently.

I was a little bit worried about the dottyback and the hawk, but neither has given me problems. My CBS and skunk cleaner are both fine. I did have a peppermint disappear, though no way to be sure if it died and was eaten or killed.

And I feel ya on the mandarin, I've wanted one for a long time but was always gun shy about buying one, and it took me well over a year to finally pull the trigger.

 

[chad p]

Jealous!

Jealous!

I don't know how you do it ange! You had a beautiful tank with SPS well before you ditched your PCs.

You've got a hawkfish and a dottyback that don't try to eat your shrimp.

You don't quarantine your fish and you've NEVER had a touch of ich.

You've got a dwarf angel that doesn't mow down your corals or clams!!

Whatever can go right does go right!

 

[ange062]

I don't know how you do it ange! You had a beautiful tank with SPS well before you ditched your PCs.

You've got a hawkfish and a dottyback that don't try to eat your shrimp.

You don't quarantine your fish and you've NEVER had a touch of ich.

You've got a dwarf angel that doesn't mow down your corals or clams!!

Whatever can go right does go right!

Haha, thanks!! But it really hasn't been as easy as it might have looked. I've had my fare share of losses, troubles, and battles. I have lost a bunch of fish, some have disappeared never to be seen again, some got sick (non-ich) and died, some jumped, some were bullied to death, etc.

I've had corals die to AEFW, bleaching, and hasty addition of GFO.

I've dealt with pyramid snails and pinched mantles on my clams, though haven't lost any *knocks on wood*

And I've also had my battles with GFO, cyano, diatoms, etc.

It's a slow process, but as each new problem arises you just have to figure out methodically how to solve it, and be diligent about fixing but patient for results. I'm just lucky at this point to have gone through most of the big problems and my tank is at a nice and steady state. Now my biggest problems are finding time to clean the glass and frag the overgrown corals!

 

[coralsnaked]

Looks loke a good start. Are you doing a FOWLR or a reef tank. Only comment I would make at this time is "Your sand bed looks like it is in no man's land." Looks to be about 2". Should be under 1 or over 3 if doing a deep bed. I just mention this because anarobic propagation can crash a small tank fast. I have BIOs all over my Austin house and have seen a crash or two in my day.

 

[ange062]

Looks loke a good start. Are you doing a FOWLR or a reef tank. Only comment I would make at this time is "Your sand bed looks like it is in no man's land." Looks to be about 2". Should be under 1 or over 3 if doing a deep bed. I just mention this because anarobic propagation can crash a small tank fast. I have BIOs all over my Austin house and have seen a crash or two in my day.

Hmmmm, maybe you meant this for another thread? Or perhaps you need to skip forward about 60-pages and 1.5-yrs... :rollface::fun4:

 

[chad p]

I think he hit the "last page" button and skipped the meat of the thread.

That or that's the most beautiful FOWLR tank I've ever seen.

Anyways, it gives me some relief and peace of mind knowing that you've had your fair share of trials and tribulations...in a completely non-vindictive way of course.

 

[chad p]

Hey ange, this may be a dumb question but now that the ricordea have filled all of the space on that small rock on the bottom, are they no longer splitting? Or are they moving off the rock or are you having to trim them back?

I'm hoping to cover a small rock like that with various colored ricordea but I wondered what happens once they've filled up their real estate?

 

[ange062]

Hey ange, this may be a dumb question but now that the ricordea have filled all of the space on that small rock on the bottom, are they no longer splitting? Or are they moving off the rock or are you having to trim them back?

I'm hoping to cover a small rock like that with various colored ricordea but I wondered what happens once they've filled up their real estate?

They just fall off of the rock and end up in the "low-flow" corner of my tank. Then I sell them for $10 a head to local reefers

 

[ange062]

Been a while since a photo-update, and too lazy to bust out the DSLR tonight. So how about a video update at sunset? Sure, corals look a little brown but what do you expect at 5000k light settings... It shows good fish activity and a good overall view of the tank. I'll get unlazy soon and post something better, time has been precious lately and I've had to focus on other things.

<object width="853" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmQ4dC-QYmA?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmQ4dC-QYmA?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="853" height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Yoshi being spot fed some gut-loaded brine shrimp, he used to get scared of the turkey baster but now comes straight to it and even will stick his head in to eat out of it!
<object width="960" height="720"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/smjmvEe_ofs?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/smjmvEe_ofs?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="960" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

[ange062]

Forgot the YouTube embedded links don't show on Tapatalk, here are the direct links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmQ4dC-QYmA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smjmvEe_ofs&feature=youtube_gdata_player