quieter jbj 12 gal?

[david]

I have a 12gal jbj nano cube newly out of the box. it is set up in a bedroom near the head of a bed. here's my plumbingly challenged question. when I first plugged it in after filling it with seawater, I could hardly hear the pump. after inserting/fiddling with the heater, seeing how the pump and tubing was set up, it runs much noisier, the pump vibrating the sides of the tank or ? sucking in water ? There's not much room in there for equipment. if the pump is set in the middle of the tank surrounded by water it is almost inaudible, but in its slot, it is definitely not. someone at a good lfs said to cushion it with sponge, but will that choke off the water flow and be bad for the pump? in any case, it doesn't seem to help much. does anyone else have this tank- is there a sweet spot for the pump that is quietest?

 

sorry for the pre LS & LR question.

[JLTRUK]

yah, I had to deal with this issue when I first got mine. Its a problem with how the pump sits in the little sump in the back. Take out the bio balls and the pump and then place the pump in first and make sure that the suction cups are on the bottom floor firmly attached. Then hook the hoses back up and put the bio balls back in. THis should quiet it down, its just a matter of how you seat the little pump.

[freshwater]

I started mine 2 days ago and its working fine. It is so quite that

I have to open the hood just to make sure its running. Its also in my bedroom. My pump is in the last slot at the bottom atached with suction cup, then I have bio-balls on top of it.

 

 

What kind of substrate should i use for this setup. I just moved my 8lb of fine sugar size live sand from my old 5G into it but its having problem in settling in because it has 2 intake one ate bottom and the other at the top. Should I put the substrate which is bigger in size on top of sand so my water looks more clear.

[david]

thanks for the replies. I'll keep at it - the idea of having to look at it to see if it is on is ideal, but as I mess with it, I'm definitely not there.

 

about the substrate, I'm too new to say. start another thread perhaps with a different title

[unsped]

where are your bioballs?

 

my tank from left to right goes

 

foam filter -> bioballs -> charcoal -> pump

 

each in its own compartment, dunno why you would have to take the bioballs out.

[monsoon]

You can look on the side of the box it was packed in and there is a small photo of what I assume is the "default" config.

 

I'm currently looking into how to turn that back area into a mini-fuge so I'll be removing most of the stock items.

[freshwater]

when I opened my box the half of the bioballs were in 2nd and the other half in the 4th. So I put all the balls in the 4th the pump compartment.

[david]

the bio balls seem to wander as they aren't really in a trickle filter set up but just float in the water and jump compartments sometimes. my lfs guy said this is fine tho as a trickle filter/bio balls set up would produce too many nitrates probably for 12 gal. my pump is better now after taking some advise, but that total silence of the pump surrounded by water would be great if it could happen in those little plastic compartments, but I think they inevitably vibrate some.

 

hey monsoon, if you figure a nice way to turn that back area into one sump and take out all the stuff which may not necessary, right?, with good lr and ls, maybe post a reply or thread. it might make for a more silent pump as well as other advantages. [no of course I'm not obsessing about a silent pump]

 

thanks.

[unsped]

i thought the bioballs were the pouch of white plastic tubes, not the black spikey balls.

 

ya ive heard about them being nitrate factories, i haven't removed mine yet though as my levels are fine so far

[david]

I think the bioballs are the black spikey plastic, lots of surface area. the other is ceramic tubes, more houses for bacteria.

 

I thik.

 

-very new to this.

[unsped]

oh wierd, looks like your right.

 

would you remove both the bioballs and the ceramic tub pouch?

[david]

Im so new - but I guess I'll leave them all in now. because if nitrates are too high at some point, I can take one or both of them out later, but I thought if I take them all out now, and try add bio balls and ceramic tubes back in later it might mess up a cycled tank. this is not the voice of experience talking!! in two stores, I saw the cubes set up with all the stuff in them as purchased, but two different employees said they took all the stuff out in their home tanks. maybe it is different for mature tanks.

 

maybe an experienced cube owner will chime in here.

[rehren]

here's a pretty long thread about jbj's and bioballs and such:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...hlight=bioballs

[freshwater]

David,

 

Well I know what you mean by noisier. Last night I was moving my carbon bag and suddenly the whole pump started grinding with really loud sound. Guess what, one piece of carbon get into the pump somehow and then I can see the carbon in my aquarium. I took out the whole pump outside clean it really good and put the cheap carbon bag in a fine mesh bag to make sure no carbon scape the bag. Also the pump has no sponge inside so i add a piece of small sponge inside the pump in case some thing else get into the pump. So the morale of the story make sure replace the carbon bag with a better fine bag and also add a sponge in the pump.

 

Now from where we can get this pump if it brokes. Because I dont trust it any more because even after clean the pump it was acting weired for some time. I will see tonight how it works.

 

[monsoon]

Hi David, regarding the back sump/fuge. I'm going to be removing just about everything from the back area and filling it up with LR and maybe some crushed coral. Also currently looking at making a "sand cartridge" that can be easily replaced.

 

Thats still a few days away though as just preparing the installation area has taken way more time than I expected (installing a GFCI, making a cheap stand, etc..

[Thane]

I'm using a "Boyu" tank, but it looks exactly the same as the one's that you have, sump at the back etc etc. do yours also have two fans above the sump? and do you use them or have you disconnected them? I found that my water loss was, well, a lot have any of you had the same problem?

[david]

good replies. don't know where to get a replacement pump, lfs would know? I'm going to go to the "next step" I got my pump quieter with some sponge stuffing. but then it came loose. now I'm going to super glue it onto the pump making sure it is not where the water comes in. another idea - one lfs guy put some macro algae in the back sump of his nanocube to help eat up some nutrients and reduce algae. the nanocubedoesn't have fans on it, I live in SF where its cool and it shouldn't need it except for a couple of time a year. I understand the fan thing does increase evaporation.

-d

[david]

ps freshwater, thanks for the heads up about the charcoal bag.

[freshwater]

I have written an email to JBJ about this so far no reply.

[freshwater]

Hello,

And thank you for your recent purchase on our Nano Cube aquarium.

 

1) I will check into a better bag for the carbon.

2) There is a sponge located at the bottom, right before the pump.

3) replacement pumps may be purchased for $10 + ($5 s/h)

 

thanks,

[david]

have you got JBJ's email address. I didn't get any written material, guarantee, ads , anything in the box.

 

THANKS

[unsped]

im pretty sure a minijet 404 would be a good replacement. even a 606 turned down a little would be good.

[freshwater]

Their email address is following.

 

 

jbjlighting@aol.com

 

JBJ - U.S.A. - AQUARIUM PRODUCTS

Online Customer Care

sales@jbjlighting.com

www.jbjlighting.com

Fax: (310) 672-7261

 

 

 

Actually you can go to their home page and send them the email.

Also they have the brochere in pdf format at their site which you can download.

[david]

thanks. d

[sukeband]

I just bought a piece of lexan to cover the holes on the 2nd baffle. It now trickles but only a little.

 

I'm thinking about getting a stronger pump or a second pump to increase the water flow from the sump to the main tank. Already have it so the tank level never changes and the sump level does with evaporation. it's a good area to dose things and the top off water goes there.

 

I have a piccalo skimmer that fits in the sump but the collection cup top doesn't. Wonder if i can mod the skimmer so it does.

 

So a heater, iceprobe, and skimmer can go into the sump area, or should LR and Sand go into the sump area? If i convert the back area into a fuge, what kinda lighting should i try on the back for some marco?

 

Let me know how you guys make out.