nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Ok, well here is my first stab at a JBJ. I have a 25g AGA at the house so it shouldnt be much different other than the size constraints and built in features of the JBJ. This one IS in my office however so I'm trying to figure out how to make this tank as automated as possible for the weekends. Any ideas are MORE than welcome. I brought the tank up last night added the first 20lbs of LR and the water. I took out the Ceramic and BioBalls as I have never had good luck with them and the nitrate problems that come with them. I will be in close communication with Chris over at Nanocustoms.com trying to figure out some lighting, cooling, and filtration hacks for this thing (im not a big fan of leaving things the way they are so expect some interesting attempts out of this tank ). I will be posting pics of the current setup this afternoon as soon as the digital is done charging. I will even take some pics of my tank at home if you are lucky. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Heres some pics for now. I will take some more pictures this evening of my tank old setup at home. Atlantic Feather Duster Coco Worm Link to comment
kevin25 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Cant wait to see whole setup. Nice coco worm Link to comment
dzergoski Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Did you make any changes to the stock pump or anything? Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Just got back to the office with the camera, unfortunately the battery is dead and the camera is charging now so pics will be up in about an hour. I havnt changed anything (YET). The pump will be changed first thing tomorrow. I plan on purchasing a new return pump as well as throwing the stock pump in the first chamber to stir the water up a bit more. I also just brought a couple small piece of rock and a dixie cup worth of sand from my established tank at home to help aid the cycling process. I have been at work all day drawing and scribbling out some plans to fit a DIY skimmer in the second chamber some how. Unfortunately I already put water in the tank so i dont know the exact dimensions of the second chamber so if anyone has this I would greatly appreciate it. remember though its the 24g not the 12. Im also searching online for some beefier fans to help the cooling process since this might be an issue with the soon-to-be-added light upgrade. Link to comment
dzergoski Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 What pump are you looking at getting? I'm glad to know I'm not the only one scribbling plans everywhere. My husband is laughting at my very organized notebook dedicated to the 24g Nano. Well, to be honest, he started laughing when I started talking about modding a fish tank. Obviously, a peasant! Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Ok so heres a couple shots of the tank so far. I apologize for the cloudiness of the water but its only been 14 hours since I added the rock and sand. Im not going to stop until the lights are doubled, I find a way to add a skimmer to this thing, and perhaps a wavemaker. Fortunately I dont have a spouse to convince ;-) but I might be asking for a raise soon so that i can properly fund this project. Maybe if I can convince them that the fish can be our new company mascot and that the tank contributes to the overall hapiness of our employees they will consider this all a business expense... anyone agree? Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Originally posted by dzergoski What pump are you looking at getting? I'm glad to know I'm not the only one scribbling plans everywhere. My husband is laughting at my very organized notebook dedicated to the 24g Nano. Well, to be honest, he started laughing when I started talking about modding a fish tank. Obviously, a peasant! Im looking into the Maxi-Jet 606 but first i want to try to find the dimensions of the third chamber to see what i can pack in there without blowing water out the top of the tank. I will let you know as soon as i decide but the new pump will be in by tomorrow either way. Link to comment
primalinstinct Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Nice looking setup! Can I ask where you got your rock from ? Also what kind of sand are you using and where is it from? Thanks Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Originally posted by primalinstinct Nice looking setup! Can I ask where you got your rock from ? Also what kind of sand are you using and where is it from? Thanks Thanks! Its far from over. I got the rock from the LFS but its not GREAT rock. I have about 20 extra lbs of really nice rock in my tank at home that i will be adding to this as soon as the tank gets going. I have some nice ricordeas and such stuck to some of the rocks and I want to make sure they will survive being in the new tank before i add them. The sand is just your run of the mill CaribSea Aragonite substrate. Link to comment
kevin25 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Looks cool in your office. Are you thinking about adding more pc's in the future.. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 Originally posted by kevin25 Looks cool in your office. Are you thinking about adding more pc's in the future.. I will DEFINATELY be upgrading the PCs in the hood as soon as I talk to Chris and see what he can make for me. As of tonight though. the only thing on the shopping list is a new return pump and a heater. Those should be installed by tomorrow afternoon. i would also like to trim down the slotted "overflow" because my water line is about 1/8th of an inch above the top of the grate and its leaving the very top of the water alone and i would rather it pull that in as well. I am trying to edit a picture of what im talking about and photoshop is giving me problems i will post later. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Ok, so i got some new equipment that will be going in tonight. I bought a Rio 1400 pump to upgrade the return and It has a throughput control valve because i wasnt sure if this would make my 24g seem like a toilet bowl with all that return capacity. I also got the light timer and the heater. I havnt checked on the tank since i called in "sick" today but now that everyone has evacuated i can go put everything in. I'm also almost done with my skimmer plans. now i just need to find someone that can mold some acrylic for me since i have no idea how. the skimmer that i have designed should fit perfectly in the 2nd chamber with the collection cup underneath the closed stock hood. i will be drilling a hole in the back of the hood for a tube to a remote collection something or other (it will end up being a 2 liter coke botlle cause thats what i have always used for skimmer collection since im lazy and ghetto ) -mike Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 Well the tank is in the cycling process and all i do so far to the tank has been minor. I added the heater moved the stock pump into the overflow so it points out the corner of the grate for a little added circulation and I moved in old Rio 1700 pump that I had into the last chamber as a stronger return pump. Im still working on upgrading the lights so i will keep you posted. Heres some new pictures of my corals waiting for their new home to be ready. Link to comment
dzergoski Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Mike, earlier you said you bought the Rio 1400, but then a few posts later you said you put in an old Rio 1700. What made you do that? Corals looks awesome! Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 Well I bought the 1400 and brought it home (instead of the office) I realized that the front cover comes off of the bigger rio pumps so i took out an old Rio 1700 that i replaced with a big Mag pump in my tank at home and realized they were the same size. I came to the office and wedged in the new 1700 and plan on taking the 1400 back. I'm not all that impressed with the output of the 1700 with the JBJ stock tubing though so I might op to drill the stock return hole a bit bigger and step it up to some bigger tubing. i will let you guys know how that goes... Here is a picture of the workshop, lol. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 Ok ok, im not sure how this is going to work as of yet but im thinking that I have figured out everything I need to put a 70W MH bulb between the two stock bulbs and change the stock bulbs to Actinics and the MH to 10K. Any opinions or suggestions to this setup are more than welcome. I will post progress of this once i nail it down exactly. Link to comment
Doriftu Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 yoooooo...tank is looking good, small world dont you think? Ver yinterested to see how the MH lighting will workout. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted February 17, 2005 Author Share Posted February 17, 2005 Its definately a small world. Let me know if you make any progress with your tank and i will do the same. As of right now im trying to tune down all my pumps cause i noticed today that since its only rock and sand its hard to tell but if i add anything to the tank it will have quite a "toiletbowl" effect. Rio 1700 pumps a (little) more than i thought it would. i need a ball valve to adjust the outflow. Link to comment
Doriftu Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 Ya i hear you on that, i'm sure i will experience the same effect when my new pump arrives tomorow, should have come today but ups claims for the first time ever, my address doesnt exist. I picked up the live rock today, got it all layed out and looking right, now just gotta wait for the tank to cycle out so i can start dropping in coral, etc. I think the plans for the MH sounds pretty good, hopefully you can pull it off. Well good luck with yours. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 Checked the water the other day and this is what I got. Salinity: .023 Temp: 78 PH: 8.3 NO2: undectable NO3: undectable So far additions are: 5 scarlet hermits 2 turbos 6 cerith snails 1 sixline wrasse the wrasse is about an inch long and is doing great so far. I will take and post pictures tomorrow. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 Just added the fuge light cause im a thug. i had an old Coral Life 2x9W Fuge light laying around so I destroyed it and wired one of the ballasts and 9W lights to the bottom of the fan. It's actually kind of funny how it is now and I think I will leave it the way it is for now so i can take pictures tomorrow. Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 Ok first, some pictures of the fuge light that i promise. Ok, to explain a little better than last time. I took apart an old fuge light that I had. It was a corallife 2x9W grow light. I took the ballast and one of the lights from that, hacked up the reflector pretty good and rewired it all to my tank. the reflector is screwed into the hood using the 2 fan screws right through the reflector. i know its ghetto but it works and the lights dont get hot enough to worry about the heat transfering to the plastic screw holder things. Heres some pics of my new favorite creatures in the world... the emerald crab. I have never kept these but I am begining to have a bit more bubble algea then im comfortable with so i picked up 2 of these guys. Within 10 minutes of being in my tank he started picking away at the HAIR ALGEA i had growing in there. I was goign to take a toothbrush to that stuff but i guess i dont have to. And this is what the tank is looking like now. Link to comment
ProFlatlander15 Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 little algae, but its definitely a good-lookin tank. in your fuge light close-up, what is the single black plug going to? i ve never seen anything hooked up like that Link to comment
nano_mike00 Posted March 30, 2005 Author Share Posted March 30, 2005 Its supposed to be 2 plugs but I undid one to turn the light off for the pictures. The algea problem i couldnt pin down until last night. This tank is in my office so im not here at night. The grow light in the back had been leaking TONS of light into the display area at night. I came here last night with some water and noticed that. I bent the reflector a bit more and played with the position of the light and now it leaks about 2% of the light it puts out and if you ask me i think it gives it a nice moon(like) glow. Its definately a major improvement in how much light is contained in the little fuge. Link to comment
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