Loven the Nano Life / 29 Gallon JBJ

I have had my 29 gallon JBJ up for about 4 months now and it has really done well. I had become very overwhelmed by the 180 gallon tank and the whole concept of having a fish room. Having a fish room is nice as far as space goes but when you do not spend much time in the room your whole purpose is kind of defeating. I am very proud of this little tank that is dominated by two species of Zenia. I think that the rule of thumb does not need to be type of corals that you keep but do you do it well. My wife and I have gotten more enjoyment out of this tank than we have any other tank that I have had. It is not the prettiest as the 125 gallon softie tank that I had was pretty spectacular until it sprung the leak but the fact that it is in our sun room where we enjoy it every day. Which is my next new rule of thumb - put your tank where you can enjoy it, this makes all the difference in the world as to the enjoyment that you get out of the hobby.

Now, about the tank! It is a 29 gallon JBJ Nano cube with the 105 watt power compact hood. I have gutted the back of the filter area which now only houses some sponge for mechanical filtration and serves as the compartment where water comes and goes from the tank and probes are housed. I use a Magnum canister filter filled with carbon that is changed once a month with the return running through a mini chiller on its way back into the tank. I do water changes about once a month as the corals that I am keeping prefer a bit crappier water. I use Bulk Reef Supplies 3 part solution for calcium which is added about once a month to keep levels up which really does fall that much. My fish get fed every day which is better for them and me - as I would often neglect them when I had the fish room and just would not even go in there for several days some times. Not good.

I will be ordering another Nano that is exactly like this one but this time the hood will have a 150 watt HQI modded hood that is sold by a third party vendor to grow sps corals. This tank will require better water quality so it will be a bit more of a chalange keeping the water quality up to snuff.

 

Beautiful Tank !!! Thanks for sharing !

100% agree - put your tank where you can enjoy it, this makes all the difference in the world as to the enjoyment that you get out of the hobby

 

I just ordered the New Oceanic 29 Gallon Biocube HQI. I cant wait to get it, Its got an upgraded filtration chamber, that can be used as a refugium. and a 150W MH light. I plan on keeping SPS with it.

 

Here is a link
http://www.marinedepot.com/Oceanic_...Oceanic_Systems_Inc.-OA36015-FIAQNCNT-vi.html

 

Great nano tank I always have liked Xenia.

 

Thanks Robby - I had not seen that nano. The nano that I am going to get is from nanotuners, I think. I attached a picture of the hood and essentially what they do is add 2 18 wall power compacts and a ushio bulb. What I am not sure about is whether the addition of the pc lights allows for a sunrise and sunset they are positioned inside the reflector which brings up two issues. One - I assume that they are successful in knowing as to whether the heat from the HQI is a problem for the pc sockets and second - most importantly - does their presence block to much light from being directed into the aquarium. I suspect that on the later that because you are only dealing with a 29 gallon tank the lighting is close enough to the water that maximizing reflected light is not as much of a concern as it would be in a big tank with a full size reflector.

I have always read and listened to the best speakers in the hobby talk about how important good reflectors are in maximizing lighting but I never really bought into it until I saw Sam put a 20K light and a 10k light side by side in his aquarium. You could draw a straight line down the tank with the division in lighting caused by the directional lighting that his reflectors put off. It was amazing, one inch to the left the lighting was blue and colors vibrant and one inch to the left and the color was yellower. I had thought that they would over lap but the reflectors that he had were so good and directing light there was a clear division even at the bottom of the tank about 3 feet from the bulbs. It is something to see, we are going to try and take some pictures to see if you can see this in them. We will post them if they turn out.

 

Chris - every consider a Red Sea Max 250 (64 gallon nano) ?

Pretty good T5 stock lights... enough to grow these sps & corals.
Lighting 6 x 39W T5 Linear
Lighting- 10,000k 117W
Lighting- Actinic 117W
Lighting- Blue LED 8




http://www.redseafish.com/redseamax/250 ... cs250.html

 

I tend to believe that 64 gallons is getting out of the "Nano" range, but maybe not so much if you compare it to some of the 400+ gallon tanks around. I want to have another nano that is exactly like the one that I have, their is beauty in symmetry and I also like the modern look of the stands that are made my JBJ. While it is still made of press board like most of the pre-manufactured stands it is covered with a very durable textured paint and the hinges are heavy duty compared to what you tend to see on press board stands. I like the design of the JBJ with the back filtration chamber open from the hood which allows for endless possibilities for modding and adding stuff. I plan on purchasing a Tunze skimmer that fits in the back with only a small cut mod to the hood for the cup to fit. I have been very happy with the one that I have and do not want to take on another brand as it will be better for parts sake as well. I can purchase an extra main pump and use if for any of the four that I would be running with two tanks that are the same. Everyone has their preference of tanks and mine is the JBJ in the Nano arena.

No one has weighed in on my question about the reflector from my earlier post. Anyone?

 

Bump+++++++++++1. The cut off for nano for all technical purposes is under 30 gallons. Maybe that is why the JBJ nano cube is 29 gallons. Reflector quality. Good question. Although i have a 175 watt mogul base bulb over the clam tank without a reflector and tons of light cover the entire surface of the substrate. The hood is painted white on the inside though.

 

Nice!

 

After looking at the pic you have posted of the hood.I think that if the PC's were in the hood that they would cut down on the amount of light produced by the 150 MH. I think I would use a 14K and take the PC's out and see what it looks like. But I don't like PC's at all.


Bigman28 If you were to put a reflector on the clam tank it put alot more light into the tank and not the entire room.

 

yeah yeah i know just been lazy.

 

Chris - if interested... check this out - just posted

LED Hood for JBJ NC 24 or 28

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BARELY used JBJ LED hood for JBJ 24 or 28g cubes.
Everything works perfectly, and has a great effect/color. We are just consolidating our 3 nano cubes into a 50g so we have no use for this anymore.
We paid $399 + shipping($55) and the hood has been used for less than one month...
Asking $350 shipped--but will consider reasonable offers.


http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/dry ... -28-a.html

 

I am loven the nano life so much that I have ordered an exact duplicate of the tank that I have with one major exception - the hood will hold a modded 12k ushio with upgraded ballast, fanns and heat shield, along with tow pc for morning and evening light. This mod is built by nanotuners.com for $599 which of course includes the aquarium. I have decided that I will be purchasing 25lbs of Marco rock and some sand which I fell in love with after the demonstration by Scott Fellman using it for aquascaping at our Reef Splash event. I will post some pics when I get it up and running for cycling. I will be cutting it close with the Memphis Frag Swap only a month away, it will be hard to be conservative with my purchases their given the newness of the tank.

 

Hey Chris, the rock from http://www.reefcleaners.org/ is pretty much the exact same stuff. $2 a lb and it looks every bit as good as the key largo rock from marco.

Just thought I'd let you know!

 

Sounds great Chris - look forward to following along & seeing the pics !

Nano's are fun !

 

well have you got your tank yet, up with sand and rock and of cource water would like to see a ongoing of it as you go along

 

What was the sand that you got?

 

I have everything ordered and was expecting to have it all in the first week of my vacation but got a message from Nanotuners that the ballast that they replace the stock one for is on back order and will be a week before it is in. I will have the stand next week and will be ordering 25lbs of MARCO Key Largo Rock this weekend. I thought about getting sand from them but theirs is beige and I would rather have the whiter sand from the Bahamas. I have typically used Special Grade in the past but that is pretty large and I really want fine sand this go round. I will post pictures when I get the tank set up.

 

I don't have a whole lot to offer to this thread since I don't know much about this hobby yet but I just wanted to say that I'm happy you're enjoying your Nano. Obviously, my first tank is a Nano and I absolutely love it. It was almost a 55 gal and I'm so happy that I ended up doing the Nano first. I absolutely love it and the feeling of control I have. When it came to the 55 I was terrified and felt so helpless. lol

I plan on sticking with Nanos for a long time. My next one will be a bigger one with some DIY mods. =) For me, it was a great starter tank. My whole family enjoys it and I can involve everyone. Thanks for sharing, your pictures are lovely!