JBJ 45g Rimless Build

NeveSSL · Dec 17, 2018

Latest FTS 3/11/19:

Hi everyone,

After a few years hiatus, I'm getting back into the hobby with a JBJ 45g rimless. I work from home and this tank will be in my home office, so I should be able to stare at it all day, which will be nice!

My plans for this tank are to be a mixed reef with a focus on zoas and acans. I am also planning on automating as much of the tank as I can and making it as easy to take care of as I can. ATO filling will be automated, water changes will be automated, I have some ideas for making water changes as easy as possible (specifically, all I would do is pour a bag of salt into a container, let it mix, and then let it auto change again), etc. etc. I will be changing the filter pads in the overflows every 2 to 4 days and changing the skimmer cup as needed. Also planning on doing kalkwasser once needed followed by two part if demands go that high. Water changes should be half-gallon per day.

I drove most of Saturday to get this thing and bring it back. The rock is in a 20g tub from Lowes with a Kessil rigged over it (there is one zoa I'm wanting to keep that I wanted to keep alive). I'll be out of town next week for work, so it will get a vinegar bath when I get back Sunday. Then I'll move it into my office and begin filling it up, put the sand in, etc.

I'm really looking forward to being back in the hobby again. Especially with a simple AIO. I wish I had more fish options, but it is what it is. Planning on doing a big tank again for my next tank, but we will probably be moving in the next year or three, so I'm going to wait until after then.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my rambling! Below is an equipment summary:

JBJ 45g Rimless with stock stand (not the greatest, but it came with the tank, is in good shape, and will work for now).
Kessil 360we with Kessil spectral controller (may add T5s later if I have issues with shadowing)
Apex EL with FMM module and leak detectors (peace of mind on leak detection... I don't want orp or salinity, so I went with the EL)
Tunze 9004 Skimmer
inTank Media baskets (not sure if I'm going to do the refugium yet or not)
MP10 for flow most likely

Livestock plans:

Mixed reef. Easy SPS (monti, green slimer, birdsnest type stuff), zoas, and acans mostly.
If I can get a tiny magnificent fox face to keep for a year or so, I probably will.
If not, I'll grab a tiny tomini tang.
Pair of clowns.
Pink spotted goby.
Tail spot blenny and maybe a fairy wrasse... that might push the bio load too high, though.

I'll have more pics and details later after I make some more progress.

Brandon

Tuffyyyyy · Dec 17, 2018

Can't wait to see how this progresses

NY_Caveman · Dec 17, 2018

Very nice! Looking forward to your build.

NeveSSL · Dec 18, 2018

Thanks, guys. I'm looking forward to it, too!

Brandon

NeveSSL · Dec 24, 2018

Finally got back into town and moved some stuff around for the tank. Got the tank moved into my office and got it doing a vinegar bath overnight tonight. Stopped by Sustainable Aquatics store while I was in Tennessee for Christmas and picked up a pair of clownfish. One is a Frostbite... not sure what the other is. I intentionally got one that was a little bit more traditional. Hopefully they pair up soon. Sorry for the bad pics of them. Best I can do for now. Hopefully in the next day or two I'll have them transferred to the tank.

Tomorrow I'll run the lines for my RO/DI through the wall from the washer in the room next to my office and start making some water to get ready to put everything into the tank. I'll also probably mount the Kessil and put the sand in. Progress!!!

Brandon

NeveSSL · Dec 24, 2018

Great progress today. After 3 trips to Lowes, Home Despot (not Depot... Despot), and PetSmart I accomplished all that I had set out to do today. Ran all of the tubing for my RODI through the wall. It comes out beside our cabinets in the laundry room and will come through a low voltage box on the room side.

After spending a couple of hours running these tubes and taking the first 2 trips to Home Depot and Lowes, one of the cannisters on my RODI was leaking like crazy. Removed it, put it back on... no change. So I take everything apart and take it outside so I could troubleshoot it without worrying about water going everywhere. Take the cannister off while it was on it's side this time and AH HA! That's gonna be why.

Fortunately I had an extra one. Now I get to spend another hour replacing it.

Got that done. Cleaned my RODI off while it had relatively few obstructions in the way. It had about 11 years of gunk on it.

Up next I got all of the vinegar bath water out of it. Turns out 3/8" tubing fits perfectly into a water hose to get the water a bit further away from my house. Having a window at the tank has been really useful.

Finally got the RODI going. Wasted the first 5g or so since these were all new filters as well as a new membrane. The last membrane lasted 10 years. Hard to beat that (Filmtec from Air, Water, Ice).

Up next I rinsed the tank twice and then vacuumed out the remaining water. Another use of the window... kept the shop vac outside, brought the hose in, it was almost like being a dentist... had water and was vacuuming out at the same time. Haha!

Leveled the tank out and placed a tiny foam rubber pad underneath the tank after this and then... the moment I had been waiting for...

Finally was able to add my sand (ReefFlakes) and started filling up with RO!

Hopefully I'll be able to fill this up tonight and tomorrow, mix the water overnight tomorrow night, then heat the water up and move the rock and fish over!

Getting closer...

Brandon

NY_Caveman · Dec 24, 2018

NeveSSL said:
Great progress today. After 3 trips to Lowes, Home Despot (not Depot... Despot), and PetSmart I accomplished all that I had set out to do today. Ran all of the tubing for my RODI through the wall. It comes out beside our cabinets in the laundry room and will come through a low voltage box on the room side.

After spending a couple of hours running these tubes and taking the first 2 trips to Home Depot and Lowes, one of the cannisters on my RODI was leaking like crazy. Removed it, put it back on... no change. So I take everything apart and take it outside so I could troubleshoot it without worrying about water going everywhere. Take the cannister off while it was on it's side this time and AH HA! That's gonna be why.

Fortunately I had an extra one. Now I get to spend another hour replacing it.

Got that done. Cleaned my RODI off while it had relatively few obstructions in the way. It had about 11 years of gunk on it.

Up next I got all of the vinegar bath water out of it. Turns out 3/8" tubing fits perfectly into a water hose to get the water a bit further away from my house. Having a window at the tank has been really useful.

Finally got the RODI going. Wasted the first 5g or so since these were all new filters as well as a new membrane. The last membrane lasted 10 years. Hard to beat that (Filmtec from Air, Water, Ice).

Up next I rinsed the tank twice and then vacuumed out the remaining water. Another use of the window... kept the shop vac outside, brought the hose in, it was almost like being a dentist... had water and was vacuuming out at the same time. Haha!

Leveled the tank out and placed a tiny foam rubber pad underneath the tank after this and then... the moment I had been waiting for...

Finally was able to add my sand (ReefFlakes) and started filling up with RO!

Hopefully I'll be able to fill this up tonight and tomorrow, mix the water overnight tomorrow night, then heat the water up and move the rock and fish over!

Getting closer...

Brandon

Nice work!

NeveSSL · Dec 24, 2018

Thanks! Did a bit more. Decided to move the clowns into the tank and drained the freshwater I had up to that point. I'll make more water and add it tomorrow.

Brandon

NeveSSL · Dec 25, 2018

Water cleared up this morning. Slowly adding more and more.

Brandon

NeveSSL · Dec 26, 2018

IT'S ALIVE!!! Full of fresh saltwater, some old tonga branch I've been saving, and the skimmer. One of my pumps is loud. That's not going to work. May replace both with a Tunze 1073.008 soon.

Brandon

NeveSSL · Dec 27, 2018

Chugging along. The Tunze 9004 wasn't really working in the second chamber from the left, which is where I wanted it so I could use some filter media in a media basket. However, I found I could easily wedge a piece of filter media between the skimmer and the surface skimmer, so it worked out in the end. I started getting some skimmate today and the skimmer has started to quieten down, too.

This thing is even better to look over and see while I'm at work than I thought it would be. Finally tried to aquascape today. I think I'm happy with it. Gonna sleep on it and see how I like it tomorrow throughout the day.

It's a little bit difficult to mix the two rock types. I'm grateful to have some legit Tonga branch, though. Not much of it left.

Brandon

NeveSSL · Jan 1, 2019

Tank is coming along. Diatoms are here, which is expected. The skimmer has started skimming, too. Oh, and I spotted copepods and hydroids on the glass. My dog can't quite figure the fish out. [emoji23] Should have my Apex Friday, along with some extra modules (VDM, WXM, DOS, PM1) soon.

NeveSSL · Jan 6, 2019

The diatoms turned out to be GHA. So a cleanup crew was in order! Went to Reef Systems about an hour away (really great store) and got some trocus snail and an emerald crab from them. Stopped at Aquarium Adventures and picked up 5 blue legs and a tailspot blenny. Probably going to order some ceriths, a few more blue legs, and nassarius snails this week from Reef Cleaners. I believe the GHA is just part of my cycle right now, so time to feed only what the 3 little fish will eat and maybe less often (feeding once a day currently).

Oh, and my Apex came in. Also got a DOS (planning on two part later... going to dose kalk with it for now), VMM for my Kessil, WXM for my MP10 (which also came in), the leak detection kit (helps me sleep better at night), and a PM1 for the new saltwater tank (mainly for the switch inputs, but I may use it for the temp of the auto water change water, too).

Coming along! There's a frag swap on the 19th in Cincinnati. I'm probably going to go and see if I can find some zoas. That's about all that I'm comfortable putting in there right now until the tank matures for a few months. The hitchhiker zoas I have now are doing well.

Brandon

NeveSSL · Jan 10, 2019

GHA is starting to subside after less food and two days of lights out. It's already gone from the high flow areas and is fading in the others. Woohoo! Did a water change yesterday. Probably going to do another one today. Did 5g yesterday. I'll probably do 10g today.

My tailspot blenny finally ate today. I'm also starting to see coraline expanding and found some sponges today. So those are all good things.

There are a TON of hydroids now. I suspect they'll die off in a week or two, too. For now, going to feed every other day and only as much as the clowns will eat. I got the blenny to eat today by feeding LRS Nano Reef Frenzy. Hopefully as he gets more comfortable, he'll start eating hatchery diet, too. I'm just glad to see him finally eat. I was a bit worried.

I got most everything mounted in the tank earlier in the week. Got the ATO moved to the trashcan under the stand and tested the auto filling. Worked like a charm with the Neptune solenoid. Also connected my Kessil to the VDM today with a DIY RJ45 to 3.5mm TRS cable. Gonna set the DOS up soon.

Next week will see chaeto and some reverse cycle refugium lighting to get my pH a bit more consistent. It swings about .15 each day. Just going to use the cheap blue and red LEDs from Amazon for right now. If they don't work well, I'll move on to something else. But it seems like that's what most fixtures are.

Anyway, I think that's enough rambling from me for now.

Brandon

MichaelP121579 · Jan 15, 2019

I have the JBJ 30. I am considering doing a sump. What all upgrades did you do?
I have AI Prime
JBJ skimmer ( junk)
Stock pumps

NeveSSL · Jan 16, 2019

Looks great! Here's a summary of what all I've done:

Kessil 360 for lighting.
Added Tunze 9004 Skimmer.
Added inTank filter media basket and refugium.
MP10 for flow (soon to be controlled by Apex).
ATO by Apex with float switches and PMUP.
Leak detection on the Apex.

I thought I was upgrading my return with a Tunze 1073.008 pump, but I didn't pay enough attention to realize that pump is tiny (got confused on the model numbers like a genius), so I'm planning on putting a bigger return pump on here. It came with two different pumps, but one of them is a little bit noisy, so I need something silent. May try to find a small DC pump. Not sure yet.

I am also considering getting one of the Aquatic Life T5HO hybrid fixtures to add to the Kessil.

Hope that helps!

Brandon

MichaelP121579 · Jan 16, 2019

NeveSSL said:
Looks great! Here's a summary of what all I've done:

Kessil 360 for lighting.

Added Tunze 9004 Skimmer.

Added inTank filter media basket and refugium.

MP10 for flow (soon to be controlled by Apex).

ATO by Apex with float switches and PMUP.

Leak detection on the Apex.

I thought I was upgrading my return with a Tunze 1073.008 pump, but I didn't pay enough attention to realize that pump is tiny (got confused on the model numbers like a genius), so I'm planning on putting a bigger return pump on here. It came with two different pumps, but one of them is a little bit noisy, so I need something silent. May try to find a small DC pump. Not sure yet.

I am also considering getting one of the Aquatic Life T5HO hybrid fixtures to add to the Kessil.

Hope that helps!

Brandon

Do you want to sell the tunze pump

NeveSSL · Jan 16, 2019

Not right now. It'll be a good utility pump in the end.

Brandon

NeveSSL · Jan 19, 2019

Was planning on spending some money for my birthday at the Cincinnati Swap this weekend, but the freezing rain kept me at home. I was looking for some corals to order online instead and just so happens Cherry Corals had a lot of what I was looking for, plus some more... plus they ship to Ohio for $20. Can't wait for these to come in!