William Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 After doing some research between the different 8 gallon AIO tanks (IM Nuvo 8, Cadlights 8 mini, and the JBJ Rl 8) I decided I would go ahead and give the RL 8 a try. @ 149.99 on special from Marine Depot and with JBJ offering to send me a free flip light as long a i send them my receipt, I thought it was the best deal. I will do my best to review it as thoroughly as possible when it arrives.Tank 1/31/13:Replaced the lighting with a Boost led par 30 I have sitting around form a previous tankAuto-top-off Ato - feeding top off water with 20ml of etoh per 1.75l of h2oGnome glass skimmer 32mm tetra 40 air pump2x stock return pumps, one with flare nozzle, one with spin stream 1 hydor pico 180gph for extra flow. 50w heater. 10lbs dry marco rock 5lbs real reef rock (i hate it, so dense)Stocking:FishRoyal gramma - suicide Helfrenchi firefish 4xChalice 2x acans sun coral DendrosDuncansMonti's 2x random acro Softy/InvertZoa's7 x Ricordia 4x Mini carpet nems 2x mini maxi3-4 Rock nems Blue leg coral banded shrimp 1 EcogorgMaintenance: feed 3xweek wc 1xweek @ 2 gal turkey baste tank to remove detritus daily (mostly) Link to comment
clabern Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Certainly looking forward to your review/impressions once it arrives! Some nice pictures of the whole thing would be great! Link to comment
flypenfly Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I've been thinking about doing the same build as you and considered the same tanks. Do you know if they're willing to offer the deal for other customers? I'm trying to decide between this and the cad 8g. Starphire glass is awesome and the primary reason I want it. I've thought about putting the Finnex Fugeray on mine, maybe two. Thoughts? Link to comment
William Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 So it came in yesterday from Marine Depot, packaging was great. The tank is not starfire for sure (has a slight green tint, but they didn't advertise it as starfire). The silicone work was not the cleanest and i may complain about it to MD, but not sure if it is worth it, as i could easily clean it up with a razor blade. There were a few cosmetic scratches on the bottom of the tank, which would not be an issue if i was going with a sand bed, but since i'm doing BB it would be slightly noticeable. The back compartment is interesting, having two returns will certainly be nice, but it does tank of space that could be used for other purposes. the media trey is pretty decent (no SteveT creation though), although one of the levels was broken upon arrival (i plan to see if MD will send me a new one). The glass top was chipped (Im going to see if i can get it replaced as well). All in all, I would say that it is a decent tank (for the sale price of $149), though I would not say that I am overly impressed. I like that fact that the tank actually holds 10g even though it is stated to be an 8 gallon, i like the dimensions of the display, and i like the the design of the glass (i didn't like the rubber feet on the CADlights or the plastic stand on the IM Nuvo) I will post pics as soon as i can get home and resize them (they are all too big) 1 Link to comment
William Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 more pics and more Link to comment
flypenfly Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Some intense concentration there taking that photo Thanks for posting. Link to comment
William Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Here is my current scape, any advice, thoughts? Link to comment
clabern Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I actually decided to go with the IM Nuvo 8 after some long deliberation. Since I already have a 30gal JBJ RL, I figured I'd give the IM's a go. It should be here this Friday! 1 Link to comment
William Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Got some more Rick from the Lfs, new scape Link to comment
flypenfly Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Looking good, adding any substrate? I've been thinking about using black sand... Link to comment
William Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 I havent decided yet, I have never done a BB tank and wanted to try it out, but im not sure i like how it looks, if i put sand in it, it will be black sand Link to comment
StevieT Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 What are the dimensions of the area the media basket goes into? Link to comment
William Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Per the website it is 3.5"x4.76"x13.77, but i will measure when i get home to make sure. Also, I got the JBJ flip light yesterday. It would be sufficient for a softy tank, NPS tank, or fish only. I would also work for a freshwater planted tank, but it does not look bright enough for a mixed tank. It will most likely find its way to the Hardware section. I got an email from Marine Depot today stating that they would replace the broken/defective materials, so that is always good news Link to comment
nam2212 Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Per the website it is 3.5"x4.76"x13.77, but i will measure when i get home to make sure. Also, I got the JBJ flip light yesterday. It would be sufficient for a softy tank, NPS tank, or fish only. I would also work for a freshwater planted tank, but it does not look bright enough for a mixed tank. It will most likely find its way to the Hardware section. I got an email from Marine Depot today stating that they would replace the broken/defective materials, so that is always good news I am interested to find out why MD did not honor the promo for you. They did for me when I ordered the exact same tank with the "free" Flipper light for $199. I feel like I have been screwed out of $50. They took down my info and called me the next day after clearing everything with JBJ. Link to comment
William Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 They said they would not be able to at their 149.99 sale price for the tank, which is why I contacted JBJ independently. Link to comment
nam2212 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 They said they would not be able to at their 149.99 sale price for the tank, which is why I contacted JBJ independently. Ahhhhh........good deal. Mine is supposed to be here this week. Link to comment
William Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 Nem pics, from @eswong, More pics Sry, here they are Link to comment
nam2212 Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Do you think the lighting will be enough for SPS? You are using the PAR38, right? Link to comment
William Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 yea, not sure, i will have to see Link to comment
William Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 Well... Instead of sending me the stuff that was broken, marine depot sent me a whole new JBJ RL 8! Props to them Link to comment
William Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Update: I updated the rockscape, as i hated the way it was. Added a gnome glass skimmer. started dosing 20ml of etoh in my top off container (1.75 l vodka bottle). added two mini-maxi's. I am currently having a battle with bryopsis. Link to comment
William Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 Update: the pic was from a iphone 4s so excuse the crappyness also excuse the detritus on the bottom of the tank, this is my first bb and i am astonished how quickly it piles up. Link to comment
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