Rudy's 28g JBJ Nano Build Thread

Wayne P.

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Hello all. Getting back into things and thought I should start a build thread on my Fluval EVO nano tank. 13.5 gallon with three compartments in the back of the tank. Tank is viewable from three sides and I currently have it set up on my kitchen cut out. This particular tank is the one I started reefing with in March about 18 months ago. It was going pretty good and I found out one of my local friends (Upstate NY at the time) was a reefer as well and she had a 75 gallon tank with a sump that she gave to me to get it out of her way. So I set that tank up, moved my livestock out of the EVO and was happy. I cleaned up the EVO and put it in storage. Went to RAP in NY last year and came back with a bunch of softies, a couple of Duncans and some hammers. Well life got in the way with my father having some health issues and I did not maintain the tank very well. My corals started dying off because I did not do good water changes. Then in March I was hired for a new job out of state. So my friend got my livestock, the 75G got the heave ho, it had a lot of other issues, and I moved to Portsmouth, VA. After a couple of months here I decided to start up my EVO again. I had my old live rock but it was dry at this time. So I got some new LR at the LFS, some live sand and started over. This was the initial aquascape.
IMG_7281.JPG
 
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Wayne P.

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Now I need to wait for the tank to cycle. I made it a week and a half and decided to drop in a couple of softies.
EVO Tank.JPG
First corals.JPG

By the way, if anyone can ID the mushroom I would appreciate it.
 
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Wayne P.

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It didn't look like the coraline was very heavy. I had heard about coraline in a bottle and everything I had read about it, including here, sounded pretty good. So off to Amazon, ordered a bottle and when it arrived, on a Wednesday, I introduced it to my tank. One week later this is what I had.
Bryopsis 1.jpg
Bryopsis 2.jpg
Full Tank Bryopsis.jpg
Blue Shroom Bryopsis.jpg
 
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Wayne P.

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Took my pics to the LFS and she diagnosed Bryopsis and suggested ReefLux. Got back home, researched it here and other places, and since I have experience with flucanozole as a former Navy Hospital Corpsman I went for it. In the meantime what should happen but......
 
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Wayne P.

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Fragtoberfest!!!!! My first experience with a live online sale. I've done auctions before but nothing like this. WWC and WYSIWYG. I didn't figure out what was going on in time to get a T-shirt, but I did score shipping on the day I wanted delivery. Score!! I got a littel carried away and spent $300 on corals for a 13.5 gallon tank that was new. Maybe not the greatest idea. Thursday comes along and I'm waiting by the door for my box..

WWC Frag list.jpg
WWC Package.jpg
WWC Bag 2.jpg
WWC individuals.jpg
 

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Congrats on the new corals! Enjoy! :)
 
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Wayne P.

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Flucanazole worked great on the Bryopsis. Took about two weeks and they were gone. Very nice. Unfortunately the other nasty's showed up, nasty brown stuff.. But I've pretty much gotten rid of that now. About a week ago I picked up a pair of clowns.
Clowns.jpg
Tank Oct.jpg
 
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Wayne P.

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So my next step was to add an ATO. JBJ has a nano ATO for about $100 so I picked it up and installed it. I started out using my RO 5 gallon jug as my reservoir. I also made the mistake of submerging the supply hose. And I set it up in the evening. So I wake up the next day, my tank level is down. ???? I did water testing and found my tank water was 1.020. Ooops. cross connection with my RO, which was also at 1.020. So I did an emergency WC of 50% and got the SG back up to 1.022. I've been running it at 1.024 so not too far off. Over the next few days topped off with SW and eventually got back to 1.024. I also have a new 1 gallon reservoir for my RO. It seems like it might last 4 or 5 days which is good. Plus side is that my nasty brown stuff went bye bye, for the most part. Still have some on the glass which I clean on a daily basis.
JBJ Nano ATO.jpg
 
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Wayne P.

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Well I've got the ATO working right, time to upgrade the filtration. The stock filtration with the Fluval evo is a sponge block with some BioMaxx stones and an activated charcoal pouch. I decided to put an Intank media basket in chamber 1 with filter floss in the top, chaeto and BioMax in the middle and charcoal and a chemi pur blue in the bottom. This should take care of my filtration needs. I have the filter floss out right now until I get a lamp to clip onto my ATO reservoir and give the cheato some illumination. That light will be here tomorrow, thank you Amazon.
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Wayne P.

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OK to complete the beginning and set up, I have a Fluval EVO 13.5 AIO nano tank. I have discarded the light that it came with and added a A1 Prime. I have a JBJ nano ATO, an Intank media basket and a heater. Livestock today includes two clowns, 3 damsels (Springeri), 3 turbo's, 4 Naiserius, and 1 tiny blue leg hermit (came with the chaeto). My corals include a couple of no name zoa's, a tiny red mushroom, a unknown mushroom, 2 blue mushrooms, branching GSP, a clove colony, mandarin zoa's and my WWC haul. That was Devil's Armor zoa, JF stargazer zoa, Kedd's Red zoa, pulsing xenia, green birdsnest, bicolor favite, hollywood stunner (doing the worst of everything) and fairy godmother zoa's. I've only had the WWC zoa's for a month and they are already putting out new polyps, Yeah!!! I must be doing something right. Here are some pics. I really like the patterns on my Damsels.
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Damsel Springeri.jpg
Kedds Redds.jpg
 
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Wayne P.

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Woke up this AM and was looking at the tank. Noticed that there were only two damsels present. And the big damsel looked pale. This was with no light but the florescent from the kitchen. Found my 3rd damsel dead on the sand, Naiserius was strolling over the top to eat it. I got these guys on Friday so I'm going to check my chemistry and see what's going on. I don't believe he should've croaked already. Does anyone know why colors would fade in fish after 4 days?
 
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Wayne P.

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Just did my water, Ammonia may be at .025 but is that from the dead fish, pH is 8.0, a little low, nitrites = 0 and nitrate 2.5ish. I'll take a water sample to my LFS to confirm. Haven't got a QT yet because I only have this 13.5 nano.
 

NeonRabbit221B

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That has always been my issue with Ammonia testing, is it up from the dead fish/snail/ect or was it high before and killed it. I wouldn't worry about raising pH as ammonia toxicity raises pretty quickly with high pH.

Aggression issues? Damsels can be pretty aggressive and I have had issues with them terrorizing my other fish. I wouldn't add anything else anytime soon as 5 fish is pretty heavily stocked from what I know. The damsels are beautiful though.
 

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So my next step was to add an ATO. JBJ has a nano ATO for about $100 so I picked it up and installed it. I started out using my RO 5 gallon jug as my reservoir. I also made the mistake of submerging the supply hose. And I set it up in the evening. So I wake up the next day, my tank level is down. ???? I did water testing and found my tank water was 1.020. Ooops. cross connection with my RO, which was also at 1.020. So I did an emergency WC of 50% and got the SG back up to 1.022. I've been running it at 1.024 so not too far off. Over the next few days topped off with SW and eventually got back to 1.024. I also have a new 1 gallon reservoir for my RO. It seems like it might last 4 or 5 days which is good. Plus side is that my nasty brown stuff went bye bye, for the most part. Still have some on the glass which I clean on a daily basis.
JBJ Nano ATO.jpg
Nice build
Only suggestion would be to use fresh RO in your ATO. Reason being, from evaporation raises your salinity slightly. Using fresh RO water will bring your salinity back to your origins. Other than that happy reefing!
 

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I read your amazon review just last week. Glad your bryopsis is gone. As far as the damsels go, it is possible that there was harassment going on due to the small size and lack of territory. Keep an eye on everyone and if anyone stops eating, you may want to consider a QT. Something like a 5 gallon home depot bucket with a heater, PVC elbow or two and sponge filter will work for short term
 
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Wayne P.

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I read your amazon review just last week. Glad your bryopsis is gone. As far as the damsels go, it is possible that there was harassment going on due to the small size and lack of territory. Keep an eye on everyone and if anyone stops eating, you may want to consider a QT. Something like a 5 gallon home depot bucket with a heater, PVC elbow or two and sponge filter will work for short term
Thanks. Good idea for the QT, I should have thought of that. I have about 40 lbs of live rock living in a home depot bucket right now. Waiting for my move and new bigger tank.
 

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