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24g nano - day by day log


HkySk8r187

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HkySk8r187

Hey guys, I just got my 24g JBJ Nano Cube Deluxe and thought I'd share my day by day experiences with everyone.

 

I'm hoping that people can help me out, and that this thread can also help others. Please feel free to tell me if I'm doing something wrong, or ask questions. I plan on keeping this thread alive as long as people are interested and helping give information.

 

I'm pretty much a newb so hopefully the experienced people will help me out :)

 

So all I have is a stock 24g JBJ NanoCube Dlx. I took out the sponges, ceramic rings, and carbon from the back chambers and now they are all open. In the third compartment I have a 50w heater, and I've replaced the stock powerhead with an Aqua Clear 402 powerhead.

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HkySk8r187

I filled the tank using RO/DI saltwater and waited for it to circulate a bit and get up to temperature.

 

I went to my LFS and picked up a 20lb bag of Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Sand. Wasn't sure how to put it in exactly so I cut the top off the bag, then lowered the bag into the tank, and inverted it and dumped out all the sand to the bottom of the tank. The water got really cloudy so I didn't do anything else, just ran the heater and powerheads.

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I'm hoping ppl reply often and quickly as to what you're doing or should have done. My 24g arrives next week so I can learn from watching you. Gl

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HkySk8r187

I let the tank sit for about 24 hours. When I got home from work the tank water was clear again (other than lots of particles still floating around)

 

The rio powerhead that I put in was really noisy so I took it out, went to the LFS and got an Aqua Clear 30 (formerly AquaClear301). It says it'll do 175gph which I'm not sure if that's too much or not but on the box it says it's made for tanks 10-30 gallons so I assume it will be ok.

 

I also got the Quick Filter Powerhead Attachment for it so it can get rid of all those particles in my water and help clear it up. I dont plan on keeping it attached once I get the tank running but I figured it would help out for right now.

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HkySk8r187

I'm hoping to get some live rock this weekend, I'm thinking Fiji or Tonga. The tanks I see that I usually like the most have very purple rock, which I want. The purple comes from calcium correct? Is fiji and tonga a good choice for a nano reef?

 

Picked up a Red Sea Marine Lab test kit that I will use to test the water durring it's cycle once I get the LR. I took some readings now just for kicks though. Here are all of my water parameters:

 

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 0

PH: 7.9

Alkalinity: low/normal

Temperature: 83F

SG: 1.023

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HkySk8r187

Apparently having my heater set to 78F is making the water too hot, since my reading is 83F. I've turned the heater down a bit, we'll see how that goes.

 

Also the PH was a little low so I've purchased Seachem Marine Buffer. I added 1 teaspoon as directed to the tank to try to raise the PH up to a better level.

 

Hopefully I can get some LR tomorrow or Sunday, suggestions on my LR selection welcome. I'm thinking about getting somewhere around 40lbs. Does that sound right?

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I wonder how long the recommended wait before you add the corals, cycling the tank, and if you add less lr to accomodate more coral. Do you let the lr get established first before adding corals? Somebody whose done this already explain what you did and what you would do differently given the chance. I hear 1.5 to 2 # lr per gallon and unless you have modified the hood the stony lps corals don't do well in the cube. Regardless, the more difficult demanding corals need to go at the top of the tank closest to the lighting. Also, astrea snails 1 per gallon I've heard as well. Thanks.

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HkySk8r187

I'm wondering if I should start adding calcium and trace elements and maintaining a good calcium level in the tank once I get the LR. Is this necessary to do before I have coral in the tank? Can having Calcium and trace elements be bad when there are no corals?

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I got my live rock today. I eneded up getting about 35lbs of premium fiji LR. Put it all in and tried to arrange it in a way that most of the life on the rock would face outward and toward the light.

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This piece has some type of coral on it. Anyone know what it is? Think it will survive? I put it at the top of the tank closest to the lights.

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I also picked up Kent Marine Liquid Calcium, and a calcium test kit. I figured I should try to get the calcium level up to around 470 so my corals might have a chance to live and I can get some practice maintaining that level before I purchase corals.

 

After a couple hours of the LR being in the tank I took a reading of all my water parameters...

 

Ammonia: 0.25

Nitrite: 0.2

Nitrate: 5

PH: 7.8

Alkalinity: low/normal

Calcium: 20

Temp: 79.6F

SG: 1.023

 

 

I added more buffer to get the PH higher, and added calcium and directed on the bottle.

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Dranimal-I went to my lfs and got some stuff called tlc. It has all kinds of nitrifying bacteria and it cycled my tank in a day and a half. After this i then added my firefish, xenia and mushrooms. This helped because as soon as i added it the next morning the brown algae stopped growing and by the next morning the brown algae was going away. thsi stuff worked for a lot of people i know.

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Thanks coker I will do that. My 24g nano is due in next week. First I'll get the ro h2o then the live sand then add the tlc. Did you have the lr in before or after the tlc? What did you put in your back chambers? You ever heard of the modified cassette case protein skimmer ppl have used in their nano? Ty jeff

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Originally posted by HkySk8r187

This piece has some type of coral on it. Anyone know what it is? Think it will survive? I put it at the top of the tank closest to the lights.

 

Not really seeing a coral on there (of course it could be that I just can't identify the type) but it looks more like a sponge.

 

That probably won't survive if it is.

 

As far as if it's a coral surviving, it all depends on how cured the LR was when you got it. It's possible the rock was damn near cured and it may do just fine.

 

Edit: also - it's been my experience that not all corals need calcium. Coraline algae definately does, and of course hard corals do. But soft corals don't actually use that much and may get enough calcium from the sea salt that you add.

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I was referring to the sponge in the picture, sorry for calling it a coral.

 

The aquariums at all the LFS around here have really nice purple rock that I wish to have. Would it be good to add the calcium even if it's just to promote the purple coraline algea? Is it bad to have the higher calcium levels if it's not being used?

 

I was surprised that only an hour after putting the rock in my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate went up. Is this normal? How often should I do a water change as the tank cycles?

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Originally posted by Tommy*AFG

Good start so far, i was wondering how much lighting do you have on that jbj nano cube

 

I just have the stock lighting - two 36 watt compact flourescent for a total of 72 watts.

 

Not sure what I'll be able to keep under that lighting. I'm going to have to do some research and rely on the input of some people on this forum who might be able to help.

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I have the 24 gallon nano cube as well, but I upgraded my lighting to 144 watts right away. if I were you I would put the second PH on the other side of the tank so that you get a bit of a buffeting effect where the two currents meet in the tank. (I did this and it works well) otherwise you might end up with a toilet boil.

 

you will definately see a spike in your ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. this is your tank going through it's initial cycle. you should do a lot more research into the initial cycle. you should not change any water in your tank until you have completed your cycle. this also means that you shouldn't add any fish or corals or inverts either. as far as what you can keep under that lighting, I would say mushrooms, zoos, some very hardy lps corals may do ok as well.

 

as far as dosing is concerned. calcium isn't needed unless you have lps/sps corals or you have a fond desire for coraline algae. the only reason I haven't started dosing with calcium is because it can get rather expensive. calcium is about the only thing I would add. don't bother with trace elements or anything else. ONLY ADD WHAT YOU CAN TEST FOR.

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