First Reef Tank - JBJ RF-25 AIO

[incoherentmunkey]

Hello All,

I've been part of the nano-reef community for a couple years doing research and planning until I was able to free up time and resources to dedicate to reefing. I had multiple freshwater tanks during my teenager and college years but life and work has kept me out of the hobby until now! I've decided to go with an AIO instead of a full setup (Red Sea 170 or 200) for my first reef tank, and may upgrade to a full system later on. But for now here is what I have planned so far:

 

Tank & Stand

- JBJ RF-25 AIO with Stand

Light

- Radion XR30 G5 Blue

Pump

- Stock pump (for now)

Heater

- Eheim JAGER 100W

Power Heads

- (2) ReefBreeders RPM V2 Powerheads

Filtration / Filter Media

- Chamber 1 - InTank Media Basket with Floss,

- Chamber 2 - Bioballs and/or extra live rock

Rock

- 15-20lbs CaribSea LifeRock Dry Live Rock

Sand

- 15-20lbs CaribSea Special Grade Arag-Alive
 

Live Stock List

5 Fish - combination of list below

-  (2) Clownfish - Ocellaris

-  (1) Yellow Watchman Goby

-  (2) Pajama Cardinals or Kaudern's Cardinals

-  (1) Purple Firefish

-  (1) Damselfish or Anthias

-  (1) Tiger Shrimp

 

Corals

-  Mostly Palys/Zoas & LPS (Acans)

-  Kenya Trees

-  Gorgonians

 

Clean-up Crew (standard?)

-  Nassarius Snails

-  Tonga Snails

-  Cerith Snails

-  Various Hermit Crabs

-  Money Cowries

-  Peppermint Shrimp

-  Emerald Crab

 

I do have a couple questions and would really appreciate any advice on the list above and these questions:

- Should I run a skimmer (Tunze 9004) in Chamber 2 or run another InTank media basket. If another media basket, what to run in it?

- Pump - leave stock for now but upgrade to??

 

Looking forward to getting this all set up and going. I'll start a journal once all the parts start arriving soon!

 

[mrjoe]

I thought the jbj came with a filter sock.. how are you doing the floss?

[incoherentmunkey]

5 hours ago, mrjoe said:

I thought the jbj came with a filter sock.. how are you doing the floss?

I plan on removing the sock filter and using at least one InTank media baskets in chamber 1 instead, and possibly a 2nd basket in chamber 2. 

[JamesO]

Bump. I’d love to hear some thoughts on the skimmer and pump, too. I may be doing the JBJ 20 instead of the Evo 13.5 I originally planned after going to a local shop with my wife. She originally wanted me to keep it as small as possible, but preferred the look of the 20 gal cubes. 🙂

 

I'm also planning on an InTank basket in Chamber 1 with floss, ChemiPure Elite, and more floss. I saw that some people use bio balls in chamber 2, and some use a skimmer.

 

[incoherentmunkey]

3 hours ago, JamesO said:

Bump. I’d love to hear some thoughts on the skimmer and pump, too. I may be doing the JBJ 20 instead of the Evo 13.5 I originally planned after going to a local shop with my wife. She originally wanted me to keep it as small as possible, but preferred the look of the 20 gal cubes. 🙂

 

I'm also planning on an InTank basket in Chamber 1 with floss, ChemiPure Elite, and more floss. I saw that some people use bio balls in chamber 2, and some use a skimmer.

 

I got sidetracked with work and life issues but getting back to all this. I was hoping for some input on this but didn't see any replies however I'm still hoping for some advice before I get going.