Accidental marine tank build - JBJ 28G

icejam · Aug 12, 2018

Day 4.

Turned off the MH light and removed the lid completely for now.
Water temp dropped to 77F and I finally installed new heater in back section.
Checked online and LFS prices and will DIY my own light by copying one of the commercial lights - $300+ for decent light is too much.
Ordered some parts from PRC - should be here in 2 months - I am using some led lights from IKEA until then

Also added some new live sand - the one I had went moldy so had to buy new one.
Aquarium went cloudy so added some wool to the filtration system - should clear up in couple of hours.
Also rearranged some of the LR and added few more.

icejam · Aug 20, 2018

Day 14

So I got caught up at work and had no time for anything. On the weekend upgraded my lights to addressable LEDs and now can change colors and intensity with Arduino. (I might create DIY thread). Noticed some new red tube worms, a clam(?) and lots and lots of GHA (i think).
At least after rearranging LR I get better water flow between all the rock and in 'the cave'.

Anyway here are some photos

NY_Caveman · Aug 20, 2018

icejam said:
Day 14

So I got caught up at work and had no time for anything. On the weekend upgraded my lights to addressable LEDs and now can change colors and intensity with Arduino. (I might create DIY thread). Noticed some new red tube worms, a clam(?) and lots and lots of GHA (i think).
At least after rearranging LR I get better water flow between all the rock and in 'the cave'.

Anyway here are some photos

Nice. Looks like a lot of life in that rock.

Forsaken77 · Aug 20, 2018

I would remove the lid and use an AI Prime light with gooseneck mount. You can always have a pedestal fan blowing over the open top tank on hot days as well.

Are you sure your heater wasn't the cause of the water temp? They get stuck on some times.

Doesn't look like you left yourself much room around that tank. You may end up with water or salt creep on your couch and most likely behind the tank.

icejam · Aug 25, 2018

Forsaken77 said:
I would remove the lid and use an AI Prime light with gooseneck mount. You can always have a pedestal fan blowing over the open top tank on hot days as well.

Are you sure your heater wasn't the cause of the water temp? They get stuck on some times.

Doesn't look like you left yourself much room around that tank. You may end up with water or salt creep on your couch and most likely behind the tank.

I know there isn't much room but there is no other space available at this time. Might move the tank to another room all together or save and upgrade to a larger one depending on how things develop.
The tank is about 6in from back wall so plenty space for weekly wipe and cleanup during water change.

The heater wasn't even connected when the temp spiked with MH lights on.

I also need the lid on. With humidity around 20% or less all year around evaporation is a big issue here. I had it without the lid for almost two weeks and had to top up about 30oz a day. It would only be worse in winter. With the lid I only need 6oz a day. Unfortunately I often work away so can not top up water twice a day everyday.
And then there are cats and birds so lid is a must.

As I wasn't even planing on getting an aquarium any light is out of my price range. (Prime runs here for around $270).
[But I am DIYing a Hydra clone as we speak].

icejam · Aug 25, 2018

Today I got my first tank mates

Don't get too excited - just a handful of snails.

I think my cheap and dirty LED light [25W or so] was contributing to my algae bloom so I changed colors from all white to 1:1 white : blue.

Hopefully the algae will not take over the whole tank and the change of light and couple grazers will keep it at bay.

icejam · Sep 13, 2018

Quick update:

- got some nassa snails.

- lost 2 trochus snails (out of 6)

- discovered that conch does nothing :/

- removed skimmer - was making more noise than foam

- added activated carbon bag in filter media basket

- i am now doing daily 2%ish water changes instead of weekly 10% - seems to be working (or at least not making any harm) - parameters OK and nice coraline algae growth.

- bad algae is almost completely gone

- i can't see any copepods or isopods anymore anywhere. No idea if all got eaten or died?? I am not sure if I should buy some?

- and the most important : got my first fish

)

Fish would eat very little or attempt to eat and spit out food for first 3 days. Would also swim only really close to the glass on one side of the tank. My guess is they were not 'feeling at home'. Now it's all good - fish seem happy, exploring all the tank now and really eating a lot. I haven't established a feeding routine or system yet so for now it's 2x daily with all the pumps off. I am considering buying acrylic food ring / guard thingy so I do not have to turn the pumps off during feeding times. But the positive side is that as soon as I turn the pumps off both clowns are coming to the water surface waiting for their food. Really cool [emoji4] I am feeding them with a mixture of mysis, flakes, pelets and worms.

NY_Caveman · Sep 13, 2018

icejam said:
Quick update:

- got some nassa snails.

- lost 2 trochus snails (out of 6)

- discovered that conch does nothing :/

- removed skimmer - was making more noise than foam

- added activated carbon bag in filter media basket

- i am now doing daily 2%ish water changes instead of weekly 10% - seems to be working (or at least not making any harm) - parameters OK and nice coraline algae growth.

- bad algae is almost completely gone

- i can't see any copepods or isopods anymore anywhere. No idea if all got eaten or died?? I am not sure if I should buy some?

- and the most important : got my first fish )

Fish would eat very little or attempt to eat and spit out food for first 3 days. Would also swim only really close to the glass on one side of the tank. My guess is they were not 'feeling at home'. Now it's all good - fish seem happy, exploring all the tank now and really eating a lot. I haven't established a feeding routine or system yet so for now it's 2x daily with all the pumps off. I am considering buying acrylic food ring / guard thingy so I do not have to turn the pumps off during feeding times. But the positive side is that as soon as I turn the pumps off both clowns are coming to the water surface waiting for their food. Really cool [emoji4] I am feeding them with a mixture of mysis, flakes, pelets and worms.

Nice fish. I recently added an A. ocellaris and he did the same thing, dancing at the glass on the right side of the tank. Very funny. My Pink Streaked Wrasse and Midas Blenny we’re so taken with him that they joined him at the glass and all three spent that first day dancing to their reflections.

icejam · Nov 3, 2018

Time for an update as it has been way too long.
Everything is still alive - except one eaten snail - totally my fault I haven't proved any shells form my crabs back then.
I moved a couple of rocks (yes, again), upgraded lights and now waiting for my new wavemaker to arrive.
[nobody is reading this anyway so here are some pretty pictures]