ojonas JBJ 28g build thread

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ojonas81

New member
I finally get my thumbs out to start my very own build thread. The tank has been up and running for almost two months now so the first couple of post will be concentrated on recapping what has been done already.

This is my first saltwater tank but I have had freshwater earlier but it turned out the little knowledge I remembered from that time was not directly applicable in the world of saltwater.

Anyway, lat September I ordered a JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube LED Advanced. Selected the 28g because of space constrains and I do like the look of the tank and the stock stand.

I put the stand together, made a leak test using tap water, drained the tank and put it on the stand at the final destination. I had ordered a 5 stage RO/DI from BRS but got delayed so decided to pick up distilled water from my supermarket. A lot of 1 gallon jugs to haul home.



Time to add the water and salt. In retrospect I should probably have mixed the water with the salt outside the aquarium instead of in it. I should probably also have added the live rock and live sand before the water. Salt storm!



Let the tank sit overnight and the next morning the water were clear.The project had finally started!
 
The next day I went to my LFS and picked up live rock and live sand. They had a sale on rock this weekend, premium live Fiji rock for $5.95/lbs. Perfect timing. Got about 26lbs of rock and 30 lbs of live sand.



Added the rock and sand and hello snow storm!



Next day it was a little clearer. Kind of able to see some of the aquascape.



Added a piece of shrimp and let the tank cycle. Checked the water parameters and saw a small spike in ammonia after a couple of days. A week later all values were good, no ammonia, or nitrate. Nitrite were hoovering between 5-10.
 
Decided to add a small clean up crew. 5 dwarf blue legged hermits, 3 Nassarius, 6 Nerite, 3, Trochus, 3 Mexican Turbo and 3 Astrea snails to battle my algae outbreak.



Water is much cleaner now as well. Really like the aquascape.

Have detected a whole bunch of life in the tank. Small brittle stars, featherdusters all over the rocks, a tiny white sea star and something I think is a Spaghetti worm. The work has its tentacles spread out all over the tank bottom collecting detrius etc. Not too happy with him but since he seem to be more good than bad I will keep him for now.
 
I let the CUC do its job while the tank finished its cycle. Added a Serpent sea star to the crew and insatalled the inTank Media basket. Running it with filter pad in the top compartment, Purigen in the middle and Chemipure Elite in the bottom. Noticed a reduction in flow through the media basket. Sometimes the water overflows into the side chambers. Have to look into this and see that is holding it up.

After a few weeks all the water parameters had settle down where they should be (alkalinity a little low, 7.6, and magnesium a little high, 1500). Decided to add my first livestock. Went to my LFS and picked up 2 Fancy False Percula clowns, 1 fire shrimp and 2 corals, torch and a zoointhias. Not sure which kind though.



 
So now back to present time and a recap of last week.

The water parameters seem to stay stable.

Temp: 81F (little higher than I would like to see)
S.G: 1.023
Ph: 8.2
Alk: 7.7
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.25
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1500 (a little too high)

I have added a bluespotted watchman goby (was sold to me as a yellow watchman) with his pistol shrimp buddy. Have not seen the shrimp since added to the tank and starting to realize that he might have been killed. Also added a yellowtail damsel and 2 new corals, one red mushroom and one pink/white softie. Don't know the name of either of them so if you know, please let me know.

Found a new snail looking thing on one of the rocks the other day. Looks like a small black snail without any shell. Is this a good creature or should I remove it from the tank?



Here is the new softie. ID? I will try to take a better picture of it tonight or tomorrow.



Finally, here is a FTS of how the tank looks like right now. Have a small algae problem on the glass but other than that it seems to be running smooth.

 
New softie looks like a silver xenia. Looks like you need to invest in an algae pad! :) Tank looks good otherwise though, you are off to a good start.
 
Looking good! Nice clean setup. I have the same setup for the intank media basket. (Filter Floss, Purigen, ChemPro Elite) and I noticed the same reduction in water flow (and occasion overflow to the side). I tried repositioning it a bit and that seemed to solve the issue.

I would maybe add one koralia or pump lower in the tank to get a little more flow in the bottom of your tank.
 
ange062: I have a pad that I use to scrub the windows with every other night. The picture was taken just before. :-)

Than23: I am planning to add a MP10 in the near future. there is some flow back there because of the open rock structure I have but probably not as much as it should be.
 
I know I'll probably start to sound like a GFO fanboy, but a Phosban reactor with GFO was probably the best cheap add I have done to my NC28. Reactor is only $40 + media, and you can use one of your existing pumps to plumb it. Your phosphates / silicates will go WAY down and that algae will also. I only clean my glass once a week since adding it, instead of every day like I used to.
 
Do you have any recommendations for a reactor? How much space does it take up and will I loos any flow in the tank by plumbing one of the existing pumps to it?

I have also started to think what extra filtration/water treatment equipment to get. I don't know if I should go with a HO fuge or a HOB skimmer. The advantage for the fuge is that I would add some more volume to the tank and that I could grow pods that would make it alive to the DT. A skimmer would however be very efficient in removing unwanted items from the water. COuld I run a skimmer and a phosban reactor at the same time?

Any recommendations?
 
ojonas81 said:
Do you have any recommendations for a reactor? How much space does it take up and will I loos any flow in the tank by plumbing one of the existing pumps to it?

I have also started to think what extra filtration/water treatment equipment to get. I don't know if I should go with a HO fuge or a HOB skimmer. The advantage for the fuge is that I would add some more volume to the tank and that I could grow pods that would make it alive to the DT. A skimmer would however be very efficient in removing unwanted items from the water. COuld I run a skimmer and a phosban reactor at the same time?

Any recommendations?
Click to expand...


Will you loose any flow, if plumbed by an existing pump? Theoretically, yes, but with a ball valve you can control the flow. To efficiently get a reactor working properly, very little flow is required to properly tumble the media - well, that depends what media you use, and the quality of the media.

You can use full-size reactors, like these:

http://www.avastmarine.com/ssc/do/product/mediareactors/MR-5

http://www.marinedepot.com/AquaMaxx...luidized_Bed-AquaMaxx-UJ5311-FIFRISFB-vi.html


And a short video on how to assemble the AquaMaxx "hob" reactor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id93k6trNqY



Or a smaller reactor like the 2LF reactor:

http://www.marinedepot.com/Two_Litt...rs-Two_Little_Fishies-TL4311-FIFRISPR-vi.html

And Avast is supposed to be producing a much smaller reactor for AIO tanks sometime soon as well.

--------------------------------

Yes, you can run a skimmer and reactor. You can even go as far as a 'fuge/skimmer/reactor combo. It's all up to you and your budget.


Hope this helps.. :beer:
 
I have 2x Two Little Fishies Phosban 150 reactors on my tank, plus a skimmer. Look up my build thread or westernreefers and you can see how they are setup a little different. You will have to go back a few pages on either.

You WILL lose flow plumbing the reacter into the existing pump. But you also shouldn't be relying on those pumps for your DT flow as you are probably overloading your media basket as it is. Long term I think a powerhead and skimmer are a must.
 
Thanks!

I have plans to add a MP10 but it probably won't happen until early next year.

How much extra noise does the HOB reactor and skimmer add? The tank is in my living room and the cooling fans for the light fixture are pressing my tolerance level as it is already. :-)
 
The AquaMaxx HOB-1 is about the same level of noise as the stock returns, so it's very quiet and most definitely quieter then those loud fans in the hood!! Those things drove me nuts and getting rid of them was one of the best perks of getting the Radion!

The reactor(s) doesn't add any noise at all.
 
Thanks! Think I will start with the skimmer and reactor and see what can be done with a fuge later on. May not be room for it and think skimmer is more important in the long run.

Has anyone successfully replaces the hood fans with something that doesn't sound like a jet engine?

Added 2 corals, one that I think is a Frogspawn and one unknown, and a Banggai cardinal to the tank this weekend. Will upload pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Also did a 20% water change. Started to dose to increase my alkalinity levels which were a little too low earlier. Measured again after the change and the values are more where I like them now.

Water parameters:
Temp: 79
S.G.: 1.024
Ph: 8.4
Alk: 10.9
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.25
Ca: 475
Mg: 1500

Ca and Mg is still a little high but not too worried about them yet. Phosphate doesn't seem to lower so I might have to add the reactor sooner than I had planned.
 
I really like my red fire shrimp. He is the coolest to watch during feeding time. Unfortunately he also like to hide in one of my many small caves so I seldom get to see him. Was thinking of adding more shrimps to the tank. Could I add a pistol, a skunk cleaner and maybe one or two peppermint shrimps or would they all try to kill each other? Or should I look at any other shrimps? I like something that is active and not hiding in a cave all day.
 
Cleaner shrimp has the most outgoing personality IME. It will hang out in the open and it's not scared to jump on you and start cleaning your fingernails if your hand is in the tank.

Peppermints and fireshrimp will both hide often. Stay away from coral banded, they are too aggressive. Anemone shrimp are cool too, but no personal experience with them. I have had 2 peppermints, a CBS, and a cleaner in the same tank for a long time with no issue.
 
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