28g JBJ HQI Club....

[Gerber77]

The tank is looking really good.

[sprintermike]

Whew! I just finished reading all 22 pages of this thread. Lots of good information.

I am strongly considering this tank (with the nanotuners actinic upgrade) and still had a few questions if anyone has a chance to answer...

 

1. I am mostly concerned with appearance. I am disappointed in how corals look in my Red Sea Max 130D. It seems like all the "hot" corals I see are under MH...does the HQI do well at making your corals "pop"?

2. Another thread on NR here has a lot of people complaining that the tank is LOUD (fan noise?). Do you find this to be a problem? How loud?

3. AM I correct in saying most people feel you can use a fan to cool and get away with no chiller?

4. Does nanotuners really ship free on orders over $175, even tanks?

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Cytosol]

Answer to your questions:

 

1. The 'pop' effect has only to do with lighting. The stock bulb in the JBJ28 will not generally create this effect, but no stock lighting will. I recommend a high quality 10-14k bulb with actinic supplimentation for the pop effect you desire. I also hear the Phoenix 14k bulb can create this effect, but I am not able to get my hands on one unfortunately.

 

2. I have no issues with noise. The loudest component is the pump for the skimmer, but it isn't even that bad. The system makes noise similar to a computer with the skimmer running. Without the skimmer, it is quite quiet.

 

3. I have not needed a chiller or fans to cool the tank. The warmest my tank gets is about 82 degrees, and this is in the late afternoon when its warm in the house and the lights have been running all day. I am pretty sure a fan will fix any issues you are having with heat unless you live in a very hot climate where your ambient room temperature is over 78 degrees.

 

4. Not sure, I live in Canada so shipping is never free from the US!

 

 

I have had this tank for 6 months and I am extremely happy with it. All of the components have functioned perfectly with no issues whatsoever. The glass looks great, the lighting is awesome, and the filtration works very well.

 

The only gripe I have with the tank is the filter tray itself is not utilizing the space it should be. Also, there is alot of space back there for a custom filter tray that can house chaeto and other goodies as required.

 

Also, the water flow stock is not nearly strong enough. You will need a couple koralia nano's or a single koralia 1 if you are planning on housing corals.

 

I have no doubt this tank will last another 3 years without having to replace any parts. IMO it blows the biocubes out of the water so to say. I have no experience with the RSM tanks, but I think this tank is the best value for the money you are spending.

[nerbaneth]

In response to sprintermike,

 

I was going to reply but I don't think that cytosol could have covered it any better!

 

Whew! I just finished reading all 22 pages of this thread. Lots of good information.

I agree, maybe we aren't as cool as the RSM 60 gal club but if they get a sticky, shouldn't we??

 

Now for what I was going to post here to begin with!

 

I have been working on a design for a custom skimmer that fits in the center back chamber. Its in the theoretical phase, but once I gain some confidence in my design it will be made!

 

More information is available on my post Here.

[Nanobuds]

i think it may work... but im a noob with skimmers...

 

 

here is my nanocube

 

FTS 4-29-09

[Trevenator]

Is the 2009 Nanocustoms JBJ 28g Nano Cube HQI Platinum Series for $599.95 at Nanotuners for $599 for the full tank ect or just the hood?

I plan to get a 28g HQI and if i do i will get there actinic PC retro kit ™ for 28g JBJ HQI for it but if its $599 for a full set up i would rather have them do it.

I emailed them but have not had a reaply yet.

[allie22]

I am a new owner of this tank and very glad to find this thread. I am currently on a quest to improve my protein skimming as the oem one is milktoast at best. Anyone out there have any suggestions? hate to give up that nice center compartment holking all my media, but this seems the most likely spot for enhancement.

Guidance would be appreciated. Allan

[allie22]

Beautiful Tank! I have the JBL Nano 28 gallon ordered. Should be here anytime. Can I ask what you have in your filter chambers? And what is filter floss? I see this a lot. I just started a 14 gallon Nano last week and put live rock in the middle chamber in place of the Bio Balls. I had also put lost of live rock rubble but read on here somwhere that wasn't good so today I removed all rubble and replaced with larger pieces. I also have live sand and about 15-20 lbs live rock most cured but a few uncured to get the cycle going. I was planning on doing the same thing with the 28 gallon but yours looks fantastic so wanted to see what you would do differently. I would post a photo but haven't figured that out yet. Totally new at this

Nancy

Seems to me that there is no point in putting live rock in a fast moving area like an overflow since it would act the same way as bioballs and be a big nitrate producer. You need low flow to have the anerobic bacteria that denitrafication requires. allan

[allie22]

Pics first then questions :-) Mods so far actinics by nano tuners and jbj ato, maxijet 900 replaced stock ph and two nano korillas. Azoo fan keeps it at 78 :-)

 

 

 

 

intank.com has a 5w supmersible for 15 bucks. not to shabby

 

 

 

 

 

Now the question that I have yet to get many answers on.??????

 

Setting up fuge in middle chamber??

 

I have everything ready to go in the mid chamber in my 28g nano hqi and then while looking for a light the LFS that I respect says just put the chaeto in the main tank in the back behind rocks???? I am so confused@@@@

 

What about all that I have read about if you put it in the rear chamber on a reverse lighting that it helps with the PH drop at night???

 

I also can't find a light to go behind the tank!!! I know nano tuners has one for $89.00 but I know someone has to have something that works and looks ok without it costing almost a $100.00 to light up a fuge :-)

For people that have the fuge in the mid chaber what light are you using nad where did u get it please???????

[allie22]

Ben, have you tried going to Home Depot or Lowes? I'll look around next time I'm around and I'll let you guys know if there are some that are similar or same screws... if they do have them, I plan on replacing all of mine every time I change my bulbs just to be sure...

 

 

 

Cooper, I think the Aqua C will be enough to help maintain your parameters... I plan on taking my chaeto out.. my Tunze was working a lot better when I didn't have the chaeto in there... plus I think it'll be easier to maintain in the long run..

 

re: the aqua c remora skimmer, are there any issues or mods that are necessary. I believe it is a hang on the back unit. Which compartment do you feed out of and which do you feed back into. Is there a danger of spills or draining?

[allie22]

intank.com has a 5w supmersible for 15 bucks. Will fit nicely into any rear chamber that you want to grow macro algae. not to shabby

[allie22]

I just went to clean and do somemaintenance on the stock acella pumps and they have 100 l/hr written on them? I thought these were suppose to be 300 g/h?

 

Im in the uk but wouldnt have thought that would change the spec? Anyone else got that written on their pumps?

they make a 266 gal and a 166. they are manufactured by JBJ. It was recommended to me to replace them with Maxi-Jet Powerhead/Pump 1200 (295 gph)

[jj's28]

It's been a while since I posted anything here...just been busy. My JBJ 28g HQI is about 6mo's old and couldn't be happier.

 

Mod's:

Fuge in back chamber

2x 18w Actinic retro from Nano-Tuners

Fan upgrade from Nano-Tuners

Azoo double fan to keep things cool

JBJ Ato

and that's about it

Latest FTS in 3...2...1...

[allie22]

Re: skimmer in center compartment behind overflow.

 

Have observed that many place a skimmer here because it is the largest spot and the only place that the stock tank will accomodate a non oem one. I have several concerns about using this super valuable space.

1) It is the best spot for a media basket (which is provided.)

2) If you are not machanically trapping junk (ie: with floss, etc.) that is flowing into this surface skim, crud will be falling to the bottom of this chamber where it will rot forever..

3) it appears that the flow or the height of the water collumn will not be consistant and therefore constant

adjustant will be necessary.

4) How do you do an effective machanical filtration in any of the other chambers?

 

For these reasons, seems to me that a Back Of Tank such as the Remora would be a better choice.

 

Comments appreciated. Allan with an "a"

[Nanobuds]

can i drill into the back of the hood so i can thread the wire of my koralia through??

 

thanks

[Sahin]

I took a few days but just finished reading this thread from start to finish! Lot of good info and pics. I saved some of the pics for modding help later. Very god info here.

[lukem]

Hey Guys, new to the forums!!

 

We (my wife and I) have just set up our first aquarium a 28g JBJ HQI nanocube (actually on Jan. 4) it is pretty much stock with about 35lbs Fiji live rock and about 2" live sand. We have gotten through the nitrogen cycle and added 6 snails, 2 hermit crabs, one emerald crab, and a cleaner shrimp.

 

We have really enjoyed reading this thread. You guys have a lot of great information and ideas. Which leads me to our problem and hopefully you guys can help or give some insight.

 

During the nitrogen cycle we didn't leave our lights on during the day, we just turned them on for a while in the evening. Now that we are starting to stock it and leave the lights on during the day we decided we needed a chiller. We purchased the Current 1/15hp chiller which recommends a pump between 100-300gph. So we also ordered a Maxijet 1800 pump (475gph). I thought with the head loss it should be perfect. Well the pump will not fit in the rear chamber and my wife really didn't want to put it in the front. I thought I would try one of the stock pumps (266gph) to see if it would work. I have the chiller setting on a stand about level with the aquarium and the total head height appears to be about 3'-3 1/2' (could be more depending on the piping configuration inside the chiller).

 

It has been running for a couple of days and I have the chiller set on 76 degrees and it is only keeping the tank at about 77.4 with the lights on and the chiller is kicking on quite often and running about 20-30 secs and kicking off however, the tank thermometer may only fall 2 or 3 tenths. So I called tech support at Current and he told me it was short cycling and I probably didn't have a big enough pump. The water was moving too slowly through the chiller which does make sense. Which leads me to our question. What kind of set-ups do you guys have with your chillers? What is the largest pump you can get that will fit in the rear chamber? We still have the maxijet 1800 which can be used as an inline pump but the intake is supposed to be below the water line so I don't know how we could use it without putting it in the main aquarium which we really don't want to do due to its size.

 

Any suggetions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

I was able to successfully squeeze an eheim compact 1000lph pump into the rear chamber 3. It was a pain in the ass to squeeze in - but it's in and the return line is coming back in chamber 1

[andrewmedic08]

Thank for all the info

[Trendy2]

Hey guys, loved reading this thread so far...I'm going to take a look at a JBJ 28g HQI NanoCube this afternoon, found it on Craigslist - what should I look for as far as condition of everything? Obviously I want to make sure the lights work, etc. but is there anything else I should look for/questions to ask the seller?

[ballerina]

Hey guys, loved reading this thread so far...I'm going to take a look at a JBJ 28g HQI NanoCube this afternoon, found it on Craigslist - what should I look for as far as condition of everything? Obviously I want to make sure the lights work, etc. but is there anything else I should look for/questions to ask the seller?

 

news to know how old the lights are. Might need. New bulbs

[D3monic]

Is the 2009 Nanocustoms JBJ 28g Nano Cube HQI Platinum Series for $599.95 at Nanotuners for $599 for the full tank ect or just the hood?

I plan to get a 28g HQI and if i do i will get there actinic PC retro kit ™ for 28g JBJ HQI for it but if its $599 for a full set up i would rather have them do it.

I emailed them but have not had a reaply yet.

 

It is for the full set up minus a stand. I have the 2008 version. for $500.

[Nanobuds]

same here

[whattup32533]

Can I get in the club with a 24g jbj ? lol

 

 

 

Little cloudy just set it up with rock from my 75s sump

[NotTheFace]

The tank is five months old now thought I would give a before and after update

 

 

 

This is how it looks today. last pic is how it started.

 

[dkdk4]

The tank is five months old now thought I would give a before and after update

 

 

 

This is how it looks today. last pic is how it started.

 

 

It's getting there looks good. Recently went frome a 3yr old Aqua pod 12gl reef to the 28 JBJ HQI. What is the best way to config the back. I have mini Artica chiller return in the heater column but I think more water flows over the filter basket then goes thru it. I bought the Nano Glo and turned the filter basket into a fuge but I don't think it was worth the $. Anybody got any sugggestions? Or tell me your set-up's for the back filter area. Not really very happy with the filtering of this tank.