Got my tank and stand!

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drnsee

New Member
So it's a JBJ 24 dx nano. I was ready to buy and replace the stock "rio" pump in there, after reading horror stories about electrocution, smoke, and oil spills. However, I pulled the stock pump to look at it and it says "ACCELA". ...is this a generic name for the Rio line...or is this actually a decent pump?

Also, I noticed the inside has stray little piece of styrofoam and feels oily. Should I run fresh through the system first and empty out?

Saturday I'm going to purchase the sand, live rock rubble for the middle chamber, and live rock for the display. Just to be clear...I should fill up chamber 2 ALL the way up with rubble and put the foam/sponge on top? I'm leaving one foam pad in chamber one and putting the 50w heater in chamber 3 (the chamber with the mysterious Accela pump).

Thanks everyone! I'm excited! :strip
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
The stock JBJ pumps are not RIO pumps. They are Accela pumps. I don't know about the affiliation or if the two companies are related. I've not have an issue with my pumps, it's just the pumps I use are just a bit stronger than the stock pumps. (I keep the stock pumps in case of a failure - aka backup).

For chamber two it's up to you really, but if you are using LR rubble I would put as much as I could in there to ensure space for biological filtration (plus a place for pods to live).

I always rinse out the cubes as bits a junk always make their way into the tank. I haven't had one be oily, but if it IS oil then a quick run of water with vinegar could help cut the oil. Afterwards drain the tank and leave the lid up and let the thing dry out (gets rid of any remaining vinegar). But only if there IS oil, rub your fingers and see if it leaves anything on a piece of paper (like fried chicken does :lol: )

Pictures? :sad:
 
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drnsee

New Member
Thanks for the advice! I have the stand built and the tank on it. But I'm going to wait to set up for a bit. Car is in the shop and I have to get my priorities straight. Although that can be blurry at times, lol. Oh well, good thing I'm patient. :) I'll take a pic soon though!
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
Well patience will be your best friend!! Tough thing is that it would have been ideal to have water and rocks in the tank so the cycle can go a long way.

Is the car going to be fixed soon? :cool1:
 
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drnsee

New Member
Yeah, $250 later kinda soon, lol. So with that spent and tank equipment costs, I'm kinda in a tight place for the moment! I found the tank's spot and will get some pics. But setup will be a bit.
 
aj2656

aj2656

New Member
drnsee,
Welcome to Nanotank! :)
To start off with your very lucky so far, Tim is a very good source of quality information!
Now for your tank, it looks great the rock was it live or has it been out of the water for sometime, also unless you are going to put rubble in the back chambers you will need more rock in your tank for bio filtration.
Also are you using RO/DI water?
Again welcome and like Tim said have patience and things will go well and you will really enjoy you tank!

Allen

 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
That is indeed a good first step. How much are you looking to put into the tank rock wise? (I still love the color mix in your tank Allen!)
 
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drnsee

New Member
aj2656 said:
drnsee,
Welcome to Nanotank! :)
To start off with your very lucky so far, Tim is a very good source of quality information!
Now for your tank, it looks great the rock was it live or has it been out of the water for sometime, also unless you are going to put rubble in the back chambers you will need more rock in your tank for bio filtration.
Also are you using RO/DI water?
Click to expand...
Yes Tim has been a wealth of information, along with some others! LOL, I don't think it looks great yet thanks, but it will! :) The rock was live, well into being cured, didn't smell one bad thing on it. I have like 6 decent LFS in my area that I at least know of, so I get to pick and choose and mix up my rock. I do plan putting rubble in chamber 2 and adding more rock into the tank...maybe 25 more pounds??! I don't want it crazy full but I want enough to support a nice bio load. I started with just plain old treated water, but I definitely plan on changing that out before I pop in more rock and especially any coral (way down the road). Still waiting for my diatom bloom...come on... :strip
 
aj2656

aj2656

New Member
Thanks Tim I have been trying to diversify the color and I think it's paying off, I just added a pulsing Xenia last week and now I think I am done for a while things need to grow and fill in.

Allen
 
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drnsee

New Member
I might be jumping ahead, but I ordered the upgrade kit for my lighting and a koralia 1 pump for circulation in the display.

I'm going to try to pick up the rest of my rock for inside the display this weekend and at least a little bit of rubble for inside chamber 2. Do you think it's ok to add a little bit of rubble at a time...maybe every other week to chamber 2 till it fills up? I'd rather spend money on display rock, then rubble in a chamber I don't really see...although I know the importance of it, lol.

:strip

PS I plan on getting around 25# more live rock for the display/maybe a little of that will be in chamber 2. On top of the 4.5 I already have. With corals coming in the future, I think that'll leave me with room to play with and corals come on rocks anyway.
 
aj2656

aj2656

New Member
It seems like your on the right track, I would add the rock in the tank first that will help the tank stabilize.

Allen
 
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drnsee

New Member
So I went to one of my LFS and the guy cut me an AWESOME deal. Even after I started picking out rock out of his nano display he just setup, lol. I got 25.5# more fiji live rock (I think I got a tonga piece too), enough to create my arch I wanted and fill up chamber 2 all the way! I'm psyched! The link in my signature takes you to the album of course. Here's a current pic!

:strip
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
Using photobucket is the easiest for posting pictures. After uploading in photobucket just copy and paste the IMG coding that appears under the picture when you move your mouse over the picture.
 
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drnsee

New Member
TimSchmidt said:
Using photobucket is the easiest for posting pictures. After uploading in photobucket just copy and paste the IMG coding that appears under the picture when you move your mouse over the picture.
Click to expand...
I figured it out finally thanks! :)
 
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drnsee

New Member
Day 10. Added my first shrimp (a cleaner), acclimated over a few hours. Looks happy! :)




I removed the carbon a few days ago and wedged a piece of polyfilter underneath the sponge instead. The water looks clear and the inhabitants are lively. (ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates <10ppm. I also reaquascaped the side view.




Check out this reddish coralline. I hope it spreads!
 
aj2656

aj2656

New Member
drnsee,
Not sure if that coralline, it might be the dreaded cyano!
The nice looking purple sems to be the coralline.
Not to sure you may want to check with some others but thats what it looks like to me.

Allen
 
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funkngroovy

New Member
The dark stuff there is a type of calciferous algae common on live rock.

I have not seen it grow at any great rate in an aquarium but you may find that it will be there for a long time.
 
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