Vesian's JBJ 28g Nanocube LED

[clownfish14]

any updates its been a while?

[urbaneks]

Vesian, looks like the tank has come along way since the milky water days. I was excited to see a shot of your media basket on your thread.

[Vesian]

any updates its been a while?

 

I'll try to get a FTS in after work

[Vesian]

So the Dawn/Dusk lights started to act a little wonkey 2 days ago, and yesterday they completely gave out. I've tested various plugs and such and have determined that the problem is the hood/LED's themselves, not the electrical wiring or sockets. From referencing another post here, apparently another member had the same exact problem, with the dawn/dusk lights giving out but still emitting a faint blue light from them. He says that it's due to a faulty heatsink affixed to the back of it. Looks like that's my issue as well. I've submitted a RMA to JBJ, hopefully they'll send me some replacements to fix the defect.

 

At least i'm lucky to still have the night lights and day lights still 100% working :-)

 

and yes, hopefully new pics of the tank this evening.

[Vesian]

FTS with 4 of the 5 fish in view:

 

[Vesian]

JBJ sent me replacement Dawn/Dusk LED's, minus the cost of shipping. Pretty good imo ;-) 59124 screws later, just took out the old LED's and hooked up the new ones, and the Dusk/Dawn lights are as good as new! Yay!

[techguy]

This is a great thread! My 28g Nano Cube arrives this Wednesday and I have been spending most of my time with research. I want a refugium and was unsure if the CPR HOB model would fit the Nano Cube...now I know.

 

Thank you and keep the updates coming!

[littlelacho]

FTS with 4 of the 5 fish in view:

 

 

Looks very nice, Vesian!

 

Thanks for your help BTW. The trick has helped but I believe mine to be a bacteria bloom...still smoky lol. I did however get the sand cleaned up regardless

[urbaneks]

You continue to make some great changes. I'm going to keep close tabs here.

[Vesian]

This is a great thread! My 28g Nano Cube arrives this Wednesday and I have been spending most of my time with research. I want a refugium and was unsure if the CPR HOB model would fit the Nano Cube...now I know.

 

Thank you and keep the updates coming!

 

The refugium works just fine, although I think there is still room for improvement when it comes to the stock plumbing it has. Removing the pump is an ordeal that I would like to fix one of these days (small pieces fall into the back chambers, etc). Good luck with your nano cube, be sure to make a thread, i'd love to take a look!

 

 

Looks very nice, Vesian!

 

Thanks for your help BTW. The trick has helped but I believe mine to be a bacteria bloom...still smoky lol. I did however get the sand cleaned up regardless

 

Hey littlelacho! Sorry I couldn't have been of more help. If it stays smoky for 3+ weeks (bacteria blooms should last for 1-1.5 weeks tops), try some extreme water changes and see if that remedys the problem?

 

 

You continue to make some great changes. I'm going to keep close tabs here.

 

My tank thread is honored by your presence, urbaneks :-)

 

 

 

 

As for tank updates, not much over the past few weeks, although I did re-aquascape the tank last week (one of the rocks on the side kept sliding down against the glass). I think the new scape lends more room to place corals and provides more hiding spots for the fish. I also made a new video of the night light shimmer, as I found the original video I made to be of well, let's face it...low quality. Here's a 720p version of the night lights with the two clownfish getting ready for sleep in their usual corner

 

 

I'll probably get around to making a Day and Dawn/Dusk light movie soon when I get some time :-)

[littlelacho]

Nah, you were a great help as I found a good way to clean the sand after already having it in the tank Worked out great! I added the remaining 19lbs of rock (only had about 9 or so lbs in there) and it became crystal clear about 5 days or so after

 

Now, I'll go check out your video

[Vesian]

Much over the past month, both good and bad. The plumbing on the HOB refugium finally ate it and cracked. Having already repaired this once, I completely removed the refugium for about 3 weeks due to frustration. I finally took it into the LFS and worked with an employee there to fix the plumbing problems while adding some improvements. First, the plumping has been completely redone with new fittings, pipes, and bends. Secondly, a check valve has been added to the bottom of the intake side to prevent water from backflowing into the display when the refugium pump is turned off.

 

 

This does mean that I had to start the refugium over, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. I always regretted putting live rock in there, as it blocked both flow and light for the chaeto, and the chaeto itself never prospered. Now that I can start over again, i'll probably just go out and get some chaeto to put in there and call it a day.

 

The GF also bought me an early birthday present, a JBJ 1/15 Chiller. I am now equipped for the warm California summer that is approaching, woohoo!

 

I also completely redid the wiring arrangement in the stand. It is still a fire hazard in there, but each component is now a little easier to reach and remove if needed. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow.

 

All the fish are still doing well, with Bit and Byte (the two clownfish) now having been in my care for 1 year as of late April, which made me pretty happy. At least I can keep something alive!

 

In bad news, my tank has been stricken with an algae bloom for about a week now (i'm guessing Bryopsis). i'll probably take a picture tomorrow for thoughts, but I warn you: it isn't pretty :-(

[DonnieP]

Much over the past month, both good and bad. The plumbing on the HOB refugium finally ate it and cracked. Having already repaired this once, I completely removed the refugium for about 3 weeks due to frustration. I finally took it into the LFS and worked with an employee there to fix the plumbing problems while adding some improvements. First, the plumping has been completely redone with new fittings, pipes, and bends. Secondly, a check valve has been added to the bottom of the intake side to prevent water from backflowing into the display when the refugium pump is turned off.

 

 

This does mean that I had to start the refugium over, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. I always regretted putting live rock in there, as it blocked both flow and light for the chaeto, and the chaeto itself never prospered. Now that I can start over again, i'll probably just go out and get some chaeto to put in there and call it a day.

 

The GF also bought me an early birthday present, a JBJ 1/15 Chiller. I am now equipped for the warm California summer that is approaching, woohoo!

 

I also completely redid the wiring arrangement in the stand. It is still a fire hazard in there, but each component is now a little easier to reach and remove if needed. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow.

 

All the fish are still doing well, with Bit and Byte (the two clownfish) now having been in my care for 1 year as of late April, which made me pretty happy. At least I can keep something alive!

 

In bad news, my tank has been stricken with an algae bloom for about a week now (i'm guessing Bryopsis). i'll probably take a picture tomorrow for thoughts, but I warn you: it isn't pretty :-(

 

 

You know with all the problems you have had with algae blooms, I am wondering, are you using reverse osmosis water as you should or are you using just filtered tap water. With reverse osmosis you should not be getting the blooms as tap water is usually the cause of blooms in an established tank. JMA

[Katy Reefer]

First off, your tank looks pretty awesome!

 

Second, how did you figure out that your dusk/dawn lights went bad because of the heat sink? Mine just went bad as well (after 2 months operation) but I think it is actually the driver. I get good voltage on the input of the driver, but 0 voltage on the output. I am trying to figure out if it could actually be the problem you were describing, but I didnt know exactly what to look for.

 

thanks!

[Vesian]

You know with all the problems you have had with algae blooms, I am wondering, are you using reverse osmosis water as you should or are you using just filtered tap water. With reverse osmosis you should not be getting the blooms as tap water is usually the cause of blooms in an established tank. JMA

 

Hi DoonieP! I wish the problem were that easy to fix. I used RODI water from the LFS up until January 2010, and since then i've been using my own RODI system from Spectrapure. I check the TDS meter from time to time and it's still reading 000 TDS, so *shrug*. So, to answer your question, I have not ever used tap water in this system.

 

 

First off, your tank looks pretty awesome!

 

Second, how did you figure out that your dusk/dawn lights went bad because of the heat sink? Mine just went bad as well (after 2 months operation) but I think it is actually the driver. I get good voltage on the input of the driver, but 0 voltage on the output. I am trying to figure out if it could actually be the problem you were describing, but I didnt know exactly what to look for.

 

thanks!

 

Hi Katy,

 

It's been a while since I had the problem so i'm trying to remember here. I do remember that the LED's were still operational, although only at like 10% light and not a constant hue. I first researched the problem online (and was able to reference a fellow board-member's post that had this exact same problem) and then contacted JBJ by phone. They person told me that they had received reports of this from a few people, and then sent out replacement LED's with heatsinks attached to them.

 

I know I really didn't answer your question, but I am not an electrician and have a passing knowledge of circuits, at best. It is no coincidence though that quite a few people have had the only LED's on this tank that don't have heatsinks attached to them give out around the same timespan (2-3 months after buying the tank). All I know is that since I got the replacements installed (almost 4 months ago), the LED's have been operating just fine.

[Vesian]

Just a quick visit with an updated FTS taken today:

 

[Vesian]

Wow, a long time since I last updated this.

 

Well, the past few months have been filled with problems. About two months ago, my firefish developed a slimy coating over one of its eyes and progressively worsened. I tried to add some medication, but no avail. I didn't remove him immediately due to hoping that he would improve, but he passed away. Concerned about the problems the tank would endure due to the body remaining in the tank, I took out each rock looking for it. I never found the corpse (eaten by a worm perhaps?).

 

Things got worse from then on out. A vast majority of my corals began to bleach. I lost about 90% of my Xenia's and my torch coral. Rapidly swinging pH issues also contributed to most of my cleanup crew dying off (swinging from 7.5 in the night to 7.8 in the day).

 

As of right now i'm still trying to do damage control. A bad case of algae has set in, clinging to quite a few spots and has been especially difficult for me to remove. Cyano is also present, although not in huge amounts. All of my rics are currently bleached. Both of my frogspawns were initially bleached, and one has since recovered. However, the other remains the horrible neon color for now.

 

I have been doing 10g water changes (with my own RO/DI made salt-water) every 5 days or so. I also switched salt based on advice from this forum, which has stabilized my pH somewhat to around 7.7 at night and 8.0 in the day. I have also been adding API's AlgaeFix Marine for the past two weeks, but can't say that i've noticed much of a difference.

 

I will be the first to admit that it was probably me getting lazy about the water changes that caused this condition in the first place. That being said, at least i'm not a complete failure; the two clownfish (celebrating their two year anniversary under my supervision this month, woohoo!), the blenny, and the six-line all are fine. I just hope I can figure out how to re-beautify my tank :-(

[katyenochs]

Any update? Just found myself reading your whole blog.... I'm hooked lol

[Vesian]

Any update? Just found myself reading your whole blog.... I'm hooked lol

 

Things have been moving slowly lately, unfortunately. It seems like I consistently have several issues that plague the tank:

 

As I stated previously, the pH levels of the tank were becoming a concern of mine, primarily because the levels were consistently remaining outside of the hobby's accepted norms (7.5 to 7.7ish). After changing salts, the pH is now a bit higher and within the norms for the most part, although it is still not what I would consider ideal. It typically rises to a maximum of about 8.05 during the day and then falls to 7.75ish during the night.

 

As a second attempt to combat this issue and to hopefully bring the tank up into the 8.2 range, I hooked up an aqualifter to a long airhose and ran it out my window (the tank's current location is no-where near the window, thus making proper air exchange difficult). I then hooked up an airstone to the outlet end of the hose, and placed it in one of the rear chambers of the tank to hopefully raise the pH a bit. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to have changed anything.

 

2. Algae Issues

As you can see in the FTS I posted below, the tank is still dealing with some algae issues. I have done consistent water changes for some time now, and the problem doesn't seem to be gone yet. I am still feeding only once every two days with Rod's Reef complete, *shrug*. Linked to the pH issue above, i'll occasionally find a dead Astraea or Cerith snail on the sandbed, and am unable to determine the cause of death. Could be a crab (although their shell was not taken), could be pH, no idea. This is probably the most frustrating issue of all at the moment.

 

3. Coral

A number of the Ricordea mushrooms are now finally regaining some of their coloration. However, the bleached frogspawn still has not regained the color it once had (see the FTS to see).

 

 

 

Other than that, life goes on. I continue to wish I could find a way to get rid of these problems and get some different colors into the tank (ie, I have way too much green and would kill for some blue, purple, or red). I would also love to add a 5th fish into the mix. However, I am still afraid to make any changes until I am able to nip these problems firmly.

[DonnieP]

Vesian

Its been awhile since you updated, I hope all is well with the tank! I want to give you a suggestion on the low PH, since you already have an aqualifter and you probably have an ATO by now, why not dose kalkwasser at night, this should bring up your PH. I have been dosing for a short while now in my JBJ 28g led tank and the PH is really good, 8.0 at night and 8.2-8.3 daytime. Another thing I have is Chaeto in the back chamber on a reverse daylight schedule, this helps a lot too. Only problem I have really had with mine was I got comfortable with using RC salt because it always checked good, I got a bad 160g bucket of RC and the alk would only test 3 DKH, I didn't realise this until my tank alk dropped to about 4 DKH. I started boosting alk with baking soda but it was to late, most of my corals made it ok but I have a huge green slimer I grew from a tiny frag that bleached and it has yet to recover.

 

I went to Red Sea Coral Pro salt and it checks out good so with the kalkwasser additions I'm hoping my green slimer will come back. Its real easy to dose kalkwasser with the aqualifter and a simple float switch, I am using the Brightwell kalk+2, so far so good. I posted a link to a underwater video I made of my tank yesterday.

 

[Vesian]

Vesian

Its been awhile since you updated, I hope all is well with the tank! I want to give you a suggestion on the low PH, since you already have an aqualifter and you probably have an ATO by now, why not dose kalkwasser at night, this should bring up your PH. I have been dosing for a short while now in my JBJ 28g led tank and the PH is really good, 8.0 at night and 8.2-8.3 daytime. Another thing I have is Chaeto in the back chamber on a reverse daylight schedule, this helps a lot too. Only problem I have really had with mine was I got comfortable with using RC salt because it always checked good, I got a bad 160g bucket of RC and the alk would only test 3 DKH, I didn't realise this until my tank alk dropped to about 4 DKH. I started boosting alk with baking soda but it was to late, most of my corals made it ok but I have a huge green slimer I grew from a tiny frag that bleached and it has yet to recover.

 

I went to Red Sea Coral Pro salt and it checks out good so with the kalkwasser additions I'm hoping my green slimer will come back. Its real easy to dose kalkwasser with the aqualifter and a simple float switch, I am using the Brightwell kalk+2, so far so good. I posted a link to a underwater video I made of my tank yesterday.

 

 

Hi Donnie, thanks for the tips! I've had Chaeto in the back chamber in the media rack for over a year now; I must report that I have never had much luck with growing the stuff. Even with a lighting schedule reverse the main tank, the Chaeto barely grows and then dies off (for reference, i'm using the JBJ LED refugium light).

 

In other news, several changes recently. Cleanup crews seem to die off in the tank regardless of what I do, and the GF was convinced that bristle worms were to blame. I tried for quite some time to convince her otherwise, but eventually gave in and purchased a Coral Banded Shrimp to deal with them.

 

Aiptasia has been present in the tank for over a year now. I have tried several ways to eradicate it, including using various brands of injection killers which never seem to work and just serve as a money sink. I then tried to buy some peppermint shrimp to get rid of the problem naturally; however, both the Six-Line Wrasse and the Coral-Banded shrimp immediately killed any peppermint shrimp I added to the tank. Thus, I was stuck in a stalemate for quite some time. After a lot of thinking and rationalizing, I eventually came to the conclusion that removing the aiptasia and algae from the tank to return it to a healthy state far outweighs keeping those two present. Two days I ago I removed the wrasse and shrimp and donated them to the local fish store. It was hard to see Crayola go (the wrasse) as he had been in my care for over 1.5 years, but I did what had to be done. Just happy he can find a new home.

 

Two small peppermint shrimp were then added and i'm hoping to see some progress now that they aren't under imminent threat of being killed off. Still dealing with the algae problems, but the pH seems consistent at around 7.8-8.0.

[aquatame]

Tanks looking pretty awesome dude!!!!

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!

I assume the standard powerheads alone was not sufficient flow hence the MP10?

[Vesian]

Tanks looking pretty awesome dude!!!!

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!

I assume the standard powerheads alone was not sufficient flow hence the MP10?

 

Correct. Quite a fit of detrius used to collect on the sides of the tank until I added more flow. Corals tend to respond to the MP10 favorably as well!

[dtum]

How is your aiptasia?

[donrau]

I have a 28g Nano cube too and had a question. Does your hood clear the wall when opened or rest against it? The reason I ask, is that on two occasions, the weight of my lights has popped the lid free from the hinges upon which it dropped to the floor

 

I am going to move my tank closer to the wall so that, when open, the weight of lid does not fully rest on the hinges alone.