Just want to ask everyone that owns a JBJ Nanocube 28, if they have both pumps on all the time? Or are you using the wave maker? What do you have is set on? Have you upgraded your pumps?
I haven't made up my mind on what I want to do. Any Help would be appreciated.

I tossed the wavemaker, keep both pumps on at all times plus 2 other pumps I added in the tank. I also upgraded those two pumps the tank came with for even more flow.

Anyone else?

i have the nano cube 28 hqi and i dont use the wavemaker i would think that turrning the pumps on and off like that would shorten there lifespan. i am using a powerhead thing that swivles around still creating the wave flow but not totaly destroying your pumps.

let me know what you use.

-clownfish14

Don't use the wave maker. Have a Koralla 1 and a Koralla 2, its alot of water movement. Did not change out the stock pumps, but have a chiller, Tunze skimmer and a HOB CPR refugium, that is alot of water flow and helps to keep the Ph up.

Keep them coming

bump

I still run the wavemaker, 90 sec, but after reading that no one else does so far I might be changing that soon! Only been running my system for a little over 2 weeks now. I'm thinking I will go with atleast a koralia 1 and leave both stock pumps on 24/7. Maybe have the koralia turn off at night for a calmer reef..
Also plan on swapping out my stock pumps in the future. Is that relatively straight forward? What pumps do you guys recommend switching to?

One more thing.. is there any kind of flex tubing or anything you can add to the ruturns nozzles? So i could extend the jet of water further into the tank or bend it down to the proper angle I want to achieve?
Still new to these JBJ's

Ok I just tried having both pumps on and heres what happened..
The main tanks water level rose and increased in the rate at which it was being pushed through the overflow obviously. Now maybe I'm not doing something right, but this increase in water flow was more than my filter media basket could handle and it now overflows over the rim of the basket skipping the media entirely. The two pumps are just barely both submerged and occasionally spit micro air bubbles into the tank. I tried taking the middle chambers media basket out completely and that totally freaked out the pumps and they started blasting air into the tank so I immediately replaced it. I have the original sponge in the top chamber and then a bag of chemipure in the middle chamber (which was much too large so I emptied some out of the bag and resealed it, might still be too much) and nothing in the bottom chamber. Eventually I want a mini fuge back there but for now this is what I'm running.
Im confused on how you guys are all able to achieve the to stock pumps running AND MORE pumps with out having these same issues. Maybe I still have too much chemipure in the middle and its constricting waterflow? and it seems like I need more water in the tank period in order for both pumps to stay happily submersed in water..but im not sure how to go about fixing that when my middle filter chamber cant keep up as it is!

Someone please educate me

You need to get some loc- line
Here: http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_searchItem.a...CFSUMDQodAwvxoA





+1 The same thing happens to me, that is why I'm still using the wave maker. I second that request, What are other people doing?
To get rid of the bubbles you add more water to the tank. But will this over flow the tank in case of a power outage? Any answers would help.

Perfect! Exactly what I was needing Do I grab the 1/2" or the 3/4" Loc Line?
Yeah Hopefully someone will shed a little more light on going wavemaker-less.. Would be much appreciated!

You want 1/2 in

When you fill your tank do not fill the aquarium part completely, keep about an inch to two inches below the trim, fill the back chamber 3/4 full turn off the wave maker, turn on pumps the water will pump out of the back compartment and should fill your tank to the desired level if too low add more water to the back chamber not the aquarium. Remember if your using the stock Skimmer thats going to take water out of the back chamber too. Just watch the water levels when doing this, so you don't overflow the tank, and wait about ten minutes before walking away to make sure everything is at the right level. You should have a nice spill in the overflow, keeps scum from collecting and oxygenates the water, how much of a spill is up to you. I have never used my wave maker because of the korallas I have and I do not have micro bubbles, because I keep the back department pretty full. If you change out your stock pumps for something stronger you will have to make adjustments.

Like what kind of adjustment?

bump, I know a lot more of you own 28gal Nano Cubes.

I'm running both all the time. Keeping them slightly pointed towards each other is making decent turbulence so far. At some point I’ll probably add a power head in the tank, then I’ll probably use the wave maker.

I noticed the media basket thing as well. I trimmed down the sponge in the top of the basket put in some floss and stuck a small sack of carbon sitting on the back edge of the basket and up against the rear of the tank. It seems to keep most of the water boxed in and going into the media basket and what goes past at least get filtered.

Also running cheato in the middle of the basket and its seems to be getting enough water flow to be doing well.

anyone else?

Awesome! Im thinking about getting a little LED fuge light of somekind soon. Probably end up getting the JBJ nano GLO light or something similar. Then I intend on adding cheato to the middle or top chamber. I cut my Sponge in half late last night and experimented with things until it wasnt overflowing the media basket. Everything is fine and I'm loving the higher turnover rate of the tank and no more distinct on and off between the two pumps (one is louder than the other). I plan on getting a Koralia 1 soon too.

Premium Aquatics is a little less expensive than Marine Depot.
Marine Depot will charge you sales tax for your state.
AP does not. But their shipping charge was a little more than MD.

Just ordered 2 MJ400s and 2 Sure Flow 1600s.
I expect them to be too strong.
Plan on using wavemaker with them. Not tank pumps.
We shall see. Not even water in tank yet. LR arrives weds.

I'm using the JBJ Nano LED. Gotta say it doesn't get much cleaner setup than this.I love that it keeps the light focused in the basket and there really is no light leaking around the edges, even at night. So you really dont even notice its there.

I'm thinking of getting a Koralia nano or 1 soon and try running it and one of the rear pumps together on the wave maker.

Hello Everybody,

I too have the 28CF model from JBJ and am very happy with it:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...213079&st=0


I was asking a lot of these questions also and have never really gone away from using the wavemaker - and I like it so far. I have it on the fastest turnover setting they offer, 10 seconds, and enjoy the flow in the tank that it creates. I also have a Koralia 1 in the right rear of the tank (when looking directly at it) pointing diagonally across the tank and so far it's worked out great.

I want to set up the nano-glo also with the cheato in the middle rear compartment - can you post pics of your setup please?

I'll try and get a pic or two. My tank is sort of in a corner so I have no good view of the light on the back from the sides.

Ok, started running both pumps all the time. with 2 koralia nanos. Anyone think this is too much flow? Check out my tank thread, I have birds nest at the top, I hope they don't get too much flow.

Hey, what compartment did u put your tunze skimmer in?
I want to purchase one with a modified skim cup and want to make sure it will fit first!
I posted this as a new question, but so far haven't received any replies. Any help is appreciated!

Hello All JBJ 28 Owners - have any of you removed the filter sponges that run vertically on the sides of the rear chamber?

I am thinking of moving to filter floss and wonder if I should just get rid of all of the sponges back there.

thanks.

Get rid of all the sponges, and get an ATO.

tag for later

how did you set up the fuge in the back and did you use some live rock rubble?

Sorry about that, the Tunze is in the HOB refugium. I tried to find a skimmer that would fit in the back and even bought two, but they did not preform like I wanted. I wanted this to be a SPS tank, and if I had it to do over again I would do it the same thing as the refugim is over running with copepods and arthropods, and the Tunze preforms very well. If you are just going to have a basic reef tank you really do not need the skimmer. I have other Nanos that have no skimmer running and they do just fine with regular water changes. It hard to find any skimmer that fits in the back compartment of the JBJ, that one of the problems with the tanks construction. I am running a chiller too, so that also took up room. Hope that helps.

hey starrsmith,
i bought a used tunze 9002 skimmer for the middle chamber. it didn't fit (like a drop in/plug&play) since the skimmer had a round magnetic piece glued onto one side. it was adhere too hard for a razor blade to work so i used a hack saw to saw off, then use razor blade to clean off. it was pretty easy with no damage to the skimmer side wall.
it was a tight squeeze into the middle chamber but fits. (tight on sides & 1/4'' space front/back)
skimmer work great after some adjustment. soo much better than stock...i'm happy with results.
good luck my friend

Could you, by chance, post a picture of your rear chambers for us?

That would be awesome is someone could post a pic of there tunze 9002 in the middle chamber of the jbj 28g.

I just ordered the tunze and plan on removing the stock rack in my cf quad and replacing it with the tunze.

give me a little time...gotta get camera ready and then gotta figure out how??
pm me if can't wait...probably faster if i send a pic text thru phone....sorry i'm a rookie at this

Anyone have problems with micro bubbles when they removed the side-compartment sponges and set the return pumps to always on?

I did and have had to resort to cutting the sponges and placing them down in the chamber near the pumps to catch the waterfall that is creating the bubbles.

What have you done?

I also have a 28CF and took the advice of several people to fill up to a half inch or less and no bubbles. I use the middle chamber for fuge and works fine.

do you mean that filled the main tank to 1/2" or less from the top? what is in your fuge - could you send me a picture of it? I want to do that to mine also.

Thanks.

I left the sponges in.
If I didn't I would fill up the pump chambers with more water.

I also use the wavemaker at 90 second intervals. One of my goals when I set up the tank was to see if it could work well with what the system came with. So far so good. There seems to be plenty of flow for what I am trying to achieve and I'm not paying tons of money on "upgrade" equipment. I did, however, have to buy a chiller; but I figured on that when I bought the tank. I will continue to run this tank with stock equipment for no other reason than to see if it can be done; however, I am also very interested to see how others have tweeked this system to improve it. Keep the thread going.

Did you have any trouble with build-up of nasty algae - I did when I had it set to 10 second intervals - maybe it just wasn't long enough of a cycle to build up the flow necessary to keep the algae down. Now with the wavemaker off I have to worry about the water level in the pump chambers.

I think that I'll try turning the wavemaker to 90 seconds for a few days and see how that goes.

Also - does anyone know if it is appropriate to clean the return nozzles and/or additional pumps? I have a koralia 1 in there and both it and the return nozzles are pretty caked with algae.


Thanks.

I alternate pumps using an ACJr, I would of liked to have used the wavemaker, but I had the old one that would turn on both outlets after a restart.

I also have a 9002 in the fuge.

here is the pic with the inTank upgraded small cup.

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad83/rx...enix2009217.jpg[/IMG]

Do you have to remove the cup to lift the lid open?

yeah gotta remove the cup each time.
the new cup isn't like the stock cup where it is a tight friction fit and harder to remove. the new one just loosely fits into the skimmer, making it a easy removal. i kinda like that....quicker and i can do it one handed.
plus no more replacing stone and much better skimmate.

if someone could please post a pic of there fuge in the middle chamber of the hqi 28 gallon it would be great i am trying to figure out how to set mine up with the nano glow as a light.