JBJ 28g Nano build

[22engine]

I like the rock work by the way now that I can see it lol

 

[lennonlh]

Looks great.... Coraline galore

 

[Flreefer]

Yup, there they are. Looks great! Yeah, the rock looks really mature. Lookin good, enjoy your tank!

 

[Phranque]

Looks great.... Coraline galore

Thanks, and I wish.... That's the color of the rock.

 

[Phranque]

Here's the individual pics of the corals.

 

[Phranque]

Well, Brown Diatoms are in full bloom. Tank looks like crap, but the corals are doing real good... here's a few shots. Already seeing some growth from everybody in just two weeks time.

I hate trying to take pictures through curved glass...

 

[Phranque]

Finally got my replacement Red Sea test kits in yesterday. I had ordered the Reef Pro & Algae control sets, but when they showed up, both of them had broken vials... I had to send them back & wait for replacements. But, I told them all the vials were broken, and kept the ones that weren't

Also got rid of the JBJ skimmer last week. That thing was doing nothing but pi$$ing me off, so I got the Tunze 9002 with Media Basket's skinny cup in on Friday, it's already pulling tea colored skimmate, and it's not even broke in yet......

 

[Phranque]

And, finally, some new additions over the weekend....

A few cerith snails, one of which can be seen next to the new Spiderman mushroom, a frag of Mint Chocolate chip palys, and a colony of Evolution palys.

 

[scottayy]

You have that many new heads on those zoas after only two weeks?
Maybe I am doing something wrong with mine..

 

[CorallineAlgae]

You have that many new heads on those zoas after only two weeks?
Maybe I am doing something wrong with mine..

It could be his (former) poor skimmer helping to grow his zoas. They like higher nutrient levels than we usually do. Nothing a little target feeding can't help you with.

 

[Phranque]

It could be his (former) poor skimmer helping to grow his zoas. They like higher nutrient levels than we usually do. Nothing a little target feeding can't help you with.

Oh, great, I just stunted my zoas...

If you go back to my post on 7/24, you can see the front tank shot with the zoas on the left... The eagle eye have a few new polyps, but the atom smashers are coming up like freakin' popcorn!!!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Oh, great, I just stunted my zoas...

If you go back to my post on 7/24, you can see the front tank shot with the zoas on the left... The eagle eye have a few new polyps, but the atom smashers are coming up like freakin' popcorn!!!

I see that! You've got some amazing growth.

LMAO! No, you're better off with a nicer skimmer. I set up soft and LPS coral tanks for high growth. Basically they often have small air driven skimmers or small powered skimmers with large DSB refugiums. This let's me keep higher dissolved nutrient levels for faster growth without much, if any, algae or nitrates. Your tank should be rockin' with that new skimmer. Love the pics.

 

[scottayy]

Yeah, my zoa's haven't grown that much in 6 months. Maybe I need to keep my nitrates and phosphates higher

 

[Phranque]

Tanks been doing good. Brown diatoms are still active, but looks like they are starting to slow down.... skimmer is pulling some really dark brown skimmate. I've been going in and blowing the rocks off with a turkey baster, and all kinds of brown crap is kicking up.

Made a MAJOR score yesterday... Guy on a local forum listed that he is completely tearing down his 125 reef. His wife is in the Air Force here at Wright-Patt, and she just got orders to move.

Went there primarily for the clown & cleaner, and he just starts pulling stuff out of the tank... "Here, have some of this, take some of that, you'll really like this..."

OK.... how much you want?................ $50 !!!!

Ocellaris Clown
Skunk Cleaner shrimp
Couple chunks of palys
Couple chunks zoas
NICE piece of cauliflower with tiny blue polyps all over the base rock.... a bunch of his open rock was covered with this stuff, and it was beautiful. Also some nice coraline on that rock!!
Pulsating Xenia (I think) first pic is still deflated, but the second full tank shot with the cleaner you can see it coming back.
Couple of different kinds of mushrooms
Piece of green torch with two heads
Branch of pink candy with 8 heads

I know this was a bit much at once, but I absolutely couldn't pass this up. Will be testing EVERY day for a while. Since this clown was the first fish in the tank, I went ahead & put him in instead of QT. I'll keep an eye on him and have a tank & a tub of water ready in the basement in case something comes up. Any future fish will go into QT......

 

[22engine]

I wouldn't have passed either. Chances are you won't see a score like that again. That's awesome. Tank is looking nice

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Amazing! I hope you remembered to thank the guy for his service. Gotta love our servicemen! \(^_^)/

 

[Phranque]

I wouldn't have passed either. Chances are you won't see a score like that again. That's awesome. Tank is looking nice

Thank you..

Amazing! I hope you remembered to thank the guy for his service. Gotta love our servicemen! \(^_^)/

Yes, I did...


A bit of trouble when I got up this morning for work. The clown was in really bad shape.... had trouble swimming and was just barrel-rolling around with the currents. I didn't have time to do any testing, so I did a quick 12 gallon water change and shut down some of the circulation. I thought for sure he'd be dead by the time I got home, but he seems to have perked back up and is swimming better. As soon as I walked in the door, I went straight to testing, and my suspicions were confirmed.... too much bio-load too quickly. Everything else was in check, but I was showing ammonia. Did another 8 gallon water change, and he's looking better, but he's definitely not out of the woods yet. After about an hour after the second water change, I thawed out a shaving of mysis and fed him a couple of pieces at a time, which he readily ate..... fingers crossed.

 

[AquaTricia]

I've been following your thread. I have the same tank, started on 6/16/12, with 19lbs of LR and a 2 1/2 inch live sand bed. I cycled in two weeks using just the sand and rock. I didn't start the Jbj skimmer until after I cycled, and it caused a lot of grief, but I finally got it working. Added a bleached Fiji branch on 7/28 and went on vacation for a week. (husband took care of tank) I already have coralline on it. When my tank cycled on 7/5, I added a Mexican Turbo, 2 peppermint shrimp, 3 three banded trochus, 2 narcissus, and 3 blue legged hermits. I started adding corals after the 4th week because of diatoms and my rush to get over them, I tried to vacuum the sand and created a hurricane. Had to wait for the sand to settle. I got a couple of tank bred percula clowns about 3 weeks ago and have seven different types of coral. After my vacation, I changed out 30% of the water, salinity when through was 1.024. No ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. Everything looks good so I'll be heading to the LFS in a day or two for a Bangaii cardinal and a blenny (don't know which one yet) and a couple more coral. Anyway, I wrote a book, and other than you getting lucky with your inexpensive purchase, our stories are similar. I wish you all the best with your tank and your little clown.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

... an hour after the second water change, I thawed out a SHAVING of mysis and fed him a couple of pieces at a time, which he readily ate..... fingers crossed.

I like the way you feed. I cut up my frozen food so I don't polite the tank, too. Good luck keeping all your new acquisitions. It's always rough work keeping levels down in a situation like that. I recommend using some Purigen in your tank. It never hurts to have some chemical media to help pull out a little organic excess with corals in there.

EDIT: I'd say try some liquid bio-booster type stuff but those seem to do a better job filtering peoples wallets than tank water. Maybe somebody else knows a product that works.

 

[Phranque]

I like the way you feed. I cut up my frozen food so I don't polite the tank, too. Good luck keeping all your new acquisitions. It's always rough work keeping levels down in a situation like that. I recommend using some Purigen in your tank. It never hurts to have some chemical media to help pull out a little organic excess with corals in there.

EDIT: I'd say try some liquid bio-booster type stuff but those seem to do a better job filtering peoples wallets than tank water. Maybe somebody else knows a product that works.

I like the way you think! After my previous post, I ran up to the LFS and had Purigen in my hand.... This is one LFS owner I actually trust. Any time he tells me something, I always head back & research before taking any action, and 95% of the time, what he has told me correlates with other info.... back to story, Purigen in hand. He comes up & asks me what I'm looking to do. I explain to him what I've added & what's going on and he recommended Clear FX Pro instead. I'm trusting him on this one, and after some more research, I'm seeing some pretty decent reviews on the stuff.
I have been running both sump return pumps full time, and the two Hydor 425's on the wavemaker alternating at 2 minute intervals. He recommended totally unplugging the Hydors for now and putting the return pumps on the wavemaker at 5 min interval since I don't have any corals that demand a high flow, giving the clown some calmer areas to rest & recover.... and keep up with the pwc's.
A lot of effort and $$ for what essentially equates to a free fish.... But, when the wife is staring at you saying "I really like him, so you better save his a$$!!"