28g JBJ NanoCube

[Nanofan12]

Hey everyone, Nanofan12 here! ;Snaphappy

Thought i'd make a build thread of my 28g NanoCube. This is actually a rebuild as this tank would have been 4 years old on the 28th of this month. Long story short i was dealing with a very, very bad case of hair algae/bryopsis and no matter what i did nothing worked. I tore the tank down earlier this month and soaked the rocks in a vinegar/water solution for 36hrs before scrubbing them and then soaking in RO/DI water for 24hrs. Tank was emptied and scrubbed with a water/vinegar solution and allowed to air dry. Tank was filled with substrate and rock on Feb 1oth and Bio Spira was added on the 11th followed by ammonium chloride on the 15th to help do a fishless cycle. So with the ammonium chloride added that's when i officially began to count my cycle time.

Tank- JBJ 28g NanoCube
Lighting- USA Orbit Marine LED
Filter Media Box- Intank Acrylic Media Box
Substrate- CaribSea Fiji Pink
Rock- 15lb-20lbs Eco Saver and Fiji
Filter Media- Filter Floss Seachem Purigen Chemipure Blue



Old tank around 1year in.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Hey everyone, Nanofan12 here! ;Snaphappy

Thought i'd make a tank build thread of my 28g NanoCube. This is actually a rebuild as this tank would have been 4 years old on the 28th of this month. Long story short i was dealing with a very, very bad case of hair algae/bryopsis and no matter what i did nothing worked. I tore the tank down earlier this month and soaked the rocks in a vinegar/water solution for 36hrs before scrubbing them and then soaking in RO/DI water for 24hrs. Tank was emptied and scrubbed with a water/vinegar solution and allowed to air dry. Tank was filled with substrate and rock on Feb 11th and Bio Spira was added on the 12th followed by ammonium chloride on the 15th to help do a fishless cycle. So with the ammonium chloride added that's when i officially began to count my cycle time.

Tank- JBJ 28g NanoCube
Lighting- USA Orbit Marine LED
Filter Media Box- Intank Acrylic Media Box
Substrate- CaribSea Fiji Pink
Rock- 15lb-20lbs Eco Saver and Fiji
Filter Media- Filter Floss Seachem Purigen Chemipure Blue



Old tank around 1year in.

Looks awesome! Welcome to R2R!

 

[Nanofan12]

Looks awesome! Welcome to R2R!

Thank you!

 

[Nanofan12]

Tearing down and killing the live rock.

 

[Nanofan12]

Initial setup on the 10th and Biospira added on the 11th

 

[Nanofan12]

First big spike in parameters after the addition of ammonium chloride on the 15th

 

[Nanofan12]

Dosed another 2ppm ammonium chloride on the 23rd as water parameters were stable. Parameters on the 24th were Ammonia 0.25ppm Nitrite 2ppm and Nitrate 40ppm. Hoping they have gone down more today. Will post later when I check again. The tank has been dosed with ammonium chloride on the 15th, 20th and 23rd.

 

[Nanofan12]

Visible life for the first time on the 24th Diatoms.

 

[Nanofan12]

I did decide to dose another 2ppm ammonium chloride today after checking today's parameters. Tank parameters for the 25th are as follows.

Ammonia 0-0.25ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 40ppm

 

[Nanofan12]

Thought I'd share a few vids from the old set up.

 

[Nanofan12]

Tank parameters on the 26th
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm

 

[Nanofan12]

Tank parameters approximately 48hrs after 2ppm ammonia. Went ahead and dosed another 2ppm tonight after testing. Diatoms are beginning to take off.

 

[Nanofan12]

It's day 20 and my tank is converting 2ppm ammonia within 24hrs. So going to call it cycled. I don't think my bioload will be putting off 2ppm a day anyway.

 

[richard.volker]

Just a fyi for bryposis and gha fluconazole works like nothing else. Kills bryposis completely and it never returns. It does remove gha but not the source so you still need to find what's causing it to grow. And an up side it's 100% reef safe

 

[Velcro]

Just a fyi for bryposis and gha fluconazole works like nothing else. Kills bryposis completely and it never returns. It does remove gha but not the source so you still need to find what's causing it to grow. And an up side it's 100% reef safe

It returns for a lot of people...

 

[jk_s124]

Your old set up looked amazing. Good luck on your rebuild!

 

[richard.volker]

It returns for a lot of people...

I have yet to see it return in any tank in my country when dosed at 5mg per litre

 

[DavidMiller]

You only used vinegar and water to cure you're rock?

 

[Nanofan12]

Your old set up looked amazing. Good luck on your rebuild!

Thanks!

 

[Nanofan12]

You only used vinegar and water to cure you're rock?

That is correct. I soaked the rock in vinegar/water solution for 36hrs adding a fresh gallon of vinegar at the 24hr mark. I then scrubbed the rocks and all the left over algae came off easily. I then soaked in RODI for 24hrs. Changing the water once during that time to bring phosphates down. The rock after soaking showed no signs of life or hair algae and is still doing great.