BruceLeeroy
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- Joined
- May 3, 2020
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So I figured I’d start a thread about my semi-beginner 28g nano tank. First, some history.
I first discovered reefing in about 2009. I spent an enormous amount of money (relatively) and purchased a 28g jbj nano AIO with a 150 watt MH hood. I disregarded everything I read and rushed into stocking it and though I kept everything alive for several years it was still not a great experience, I used ocean fresh uncured live rock and didn’t cure it so I spent years fighting out of control algae and diatoms and general ugliness. A two day power failure in massive heat ended life in that tank and everything got cleaned up and put away.
It’s time to do it right. Or at least die trying.
Here is the list of what is in there and what is going in there.
28g JBJ Nano Cube without lid
Radion X15 G5 Pro
JBJ ATO in a 5 gallon bucket, float valves in the pump columns on either side (will use very light kalkwasser dosing once I have corals in there)
JBJ ****** stock skimmer, this will be replaced soon if anyone has any suggestions.
100w titanium heater and controller
AquaMaxx HOB-R Refugium (this will need to be modified see questions below)
Marine pure balls in a sack in one of the back sump columns
Carbon and GFO mix in another sack in one of the back sump columns
2 260 gallon circulation pumps on a 30 second cycle from the back sump area to the front
1 Hydor 10 year old 260gph power head in tank
1 Hydor new 500 gph power head in tank
20ish pounds of dry rock in the tank
Bare bottom
NO mechanical filtration
Reef Crystals salt
RO/DI water
Main goal is a mixed tank with mostly SPS with some LPS mix and maybe some zoas on little isolated rocks.
Anyway not much to see yet, we’re on day 29 of the shrimp method (started on day 21 as cycle was going super slow with nothing… changed out the dead shrimp every 3 days and adding Microbakter 7 as of two days ago (its what LFS had). It’s very cloudy now but I’m guessing in the next week or so it’ll start to clear. Here are some bad pictures I’m not a good photographer.
Any thoughts, advice etc is welcome and will be read and appreciated, but as I am a stubborn old SOB it likely will be filed away so 12 months from now AFTER I screw it up I can look back and say “OH, THAT’S what so and so meant!”
I first discovered reefing in about 2009. I spent an enormous amount of money (relatively) and purchased a 28g jbj nano AIO with a 150 watt MH hood. I disregarded everything I read and rushed into stocking it and though I kept everything alive for several years it was still not a great experience, I used ocean fresh uncured live rock and didn’t cure it so I spent years fighting out of control algae and diatoms and general ugliness. A two day power failure in massive heat ended life in that tank and everything got cleaned up and put away.
It’s time to do it right. Or at least die trying.
Here is the list of what is in there and what is going in there.
28g JBJ Nano Cube without lid
Radion X15 G5 Pro
JBJ ATO in a 5 gallon bucket, float valves in the pump columns on either side (will use very light kalkwasser dosing once I have corals in there)
JBJ ****** stock skimmer, this will be replaced soon if anyone has any suggestions.
100w titanium heater and controller
AquaMaxx HOB-R Refugium (this will need to be modified see questions below)
Marine pure balls in a sack in one of the back sump columns
Carbon and GFO mix in another sack in one of the back sump columns
2 260 gallon circulation pumps on a 30 second cycle from the back sump area to the front
1 Hydor 10 year old 260gph power head in tank
1 Hydor new 500 gph power head in tank
20ish pounds of dry rock in the tank
Bare bottom
NO mechanical filtration
Reef Crystals salt
RO/DI water
Main goal is a mixed tank with mostly SPS with some LPS mix and maybe some zoas on little isolated rocks.
- Any thoughts on a replacement HOB or in column skimmer to replace the lame air stone jbj one?
- The AquaMaxx HOB-R will not fit on this tank out of the box… possible to cut and rebind the hooks closer together? I ordered it before catching that.
- I have three main goals for the refugium.
- Chaeto both for nutrient export and a sort of big pieces mechanical filter
- Pods. It pleases me to try and recreate as complete of an ecosystem as possible so I need to start at the smallest level. My goal here is not to have any kind of serious food source, but to add to the clean up crew and provide an occasional snack for interested parties. I plan to not use any real mechanical filtration so the pods can access the whole tank. I plan to add pods about when diatoms start blooming does that sound about right?
- How often should I feed oceanmagik if I’m trying to turn the tank into a Podopolis?. I’m going to set up my skimmer to run 12 hours on/12 hours off and feed in the first hour of the off cycle to give food time to circulate.
- A place to put a sand bed that keeps it out of the tank. Thoughts on if this is worth it and how deep to make a refugium sand bed? Big grain size or little? Just use more marine pure rather than sand?
- Thoughts on clean-up crew? I'd like to start small and increase slowly and for now no hermits.
Anyway not much to see yet, we’re on day 29 of the shrimp method (started on day 21 as cycle was going super slow with nothing… changed out the dead shrimp every 3 days and adding Microbakter 7 as of two days ago (its what LFS had). It’s very cloudy now but I’m guessing in the next week or so it’ll start to clear. Here are some bad pictures I’m not a good photographer.
Any thoughts, advice etc is welcome and will be read and appreciated, but as I am a stubborn old SOB it likely will be filed away so 12 months from now AFTER I screw it up I can look back and say “OH, THAT’S what so and so meant!”
