reefme
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I setup a new JBJ 28 HQI yesterday. I like and dislike it. It's a new tank which I really like, clean, scratch free something I get to create right from the beginning. I moved my existing 24 Aquascape reef into it. I hope the pictures reveal the details well enough. The back is a separate compartment from the main tank that has two return pump areas that are separate and pretty much isolated from the rest of the area - you can't use those two pump areas for anything else that I can think of. The outlets inside the tank for these pumps are really hard to adjust to the direction you want and don't have a large turn radius, disappointed in that. The center overflow area has a removable three compartment filtration system ; a sponge, a charcoal bag and a bio-cube bag. I removed that whole pull-out unit and only have the included protein skimmer that comes with the tank. It is an air-pump generated model that you have to remove the top residue basin from whenever you want to open the tank top (!) This is a real pain when first setting up the tank after the first day or so as you probably will want to re-arrange rocks or add coral etc and every time you want to open the top, you have to remove the skimmer. There is a feeding cover top flap that is fair enough size for feeding purposes but for target feeding you'll again have to remove the protein skimmer top. The lighting is the HQI 150 Watt 14k and four "night" lights. I like the 150k but the night lights are pretty intense I think. I have done night diving in the Florida Keys, Cancun and Costa rica under full moons and don't recall any moon light this intense, I am going to see if I can hook a timed dimmer into the night lights. There was a lot of wiping, cleaning before I could put any water in the tank and I had to vacuum out the filter ares, it was doubly dusty and had bits of small plastic in the bottom. there was a small section of sealant in the inside bottom edge where the tank glass wall meets the bottom glass that I had to apply glass sealant to - I bought the tank because my other tank was leaking from the bottom so this was not going to happen again! Another surprise and something I should have checked more closely was the size. the JBJ 29 is 3 inches shorter in the front and 4 inches longer on the sides than my 24 Aquascape tank, My rocks barely fit kiddy-corner into JBJ. I moved my refugium plants to the back filter area alongside the skimmer, I'll add the light to the back tomorrow. Almost forgot the stand - easy to assemble and has one shelf, on carpet as I have it will allow the tank to be slightly wobbled - hard to find a good adverb for what I mean but if you bounce by the tank, it will move the water a bit. My flooring is solid first floor of my house. It is the size of the base of the tank that I think could be broader. All-in-all I am happy with the tank though, my reef has more room to grow and I think I will do some projects regarding the skimmer that I am excited about. I can only upload 4 photos it seems, can I do more uploads if I am a premier member? How do I become one? These photos obviously are setting it up, it is starting to clear pretty well after the move so I will post some new pics tomorrow, cheers!
