Nc 12 Dx Start date 17/ 08/06 - First SW :D

reefermike

reefermike

New Member
I bought a jbj nano cube dx today along with my 72 gallon bow front and my 270 gallon tall. Now the nano and the bowfront are going to be my saltwater tanks. I was looking for simple effective mods for the nano but dont no what to really look for. Just looking for some guidance.. And i should mention these are my first saltwater tanks. AND IM ALREADY TOOO EXCITED hahahah :lol3:
 
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drty811

New Member
welcome to nanotank. :mrgreen:
alot of ppl have the cubes so you wont have any problem finding good advise. good luck and keep us updated.
 
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reefman23

New Member
First off, WELCOME to nanotank.com!

the simple mods that are most effective are to remove most of the sponge, add a chemical media like Chemi-pure, replace the ceramic bio-rings with live rock rubble, upgrade the return pump for a higher GPH, definitely add a surface skimmer to the intake. I think that just about covers it.

If I had a nano-cube I would do all of the above. I'd say the most important mods are adding the surface skimmer and removing the ceramic rings. Upgrading the return pump is very beneficial as well.

hope that helps,

Jesse
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
I have bio balls in the second chamber. What type of flow rate should i be looking for... i have a small power head that i can maybe add on.. woudl that do the trick?
 
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reefman23

New Member
Live rock rubble are the best form of biological filtration... I would remove the bioballs and put the rubble in. Flow rate should be at least 20x turnover per hour... so aim for about 250 GPH total.

Jesse
 
EDGRAY

EDGRAY

New Member
HI... and :welcome to NANOTANK and well for the chambers i'll recommend

1stchamber (Live Rock rubble & 1 sponge) or (chemi-pure, phosphate remover or any other filtratios you wanna add i gave those 2 for example & 1 sponge)

2ndchamber(chemi-pure, phosphate remover or any other filtratios you wanna add i gave those 2 for example & 1 sponge) or (just LiveRock rubble)

3rdchamber (pump & heater :mrgreen:) talking about upgrading pumps a maxijet 900 will be a great idea or maxijet 1200) http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_pow ... sp?CartId=

Ohh i always recommend this mod cause i love it!!! here you go look at it... HYDRO & PUMP

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.p ... opic=58149

and well all depends on what you corals gonna keep but to add another PC will be good for your corals (but just my opinion)
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
OPPS sorry .. i didnt even notice the ceramic rings and stuff in the chamber hahahah.. well im looking for a way to make a overflow ... i have some 1/8" acrylic but nothing to bond it so i was thinking maybe to heat it up and bend it around... any ideas? I was thinking maybe regular plastic bonder would do . or som crazy glue seeing that its not really taking any pressure. ok well cosidering the stock pump right now is 100 gph and the maxijet 400 i have is 100 gph ill just run both until i have some money to buy a 900 or a 1200
 
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reefman23

New Member
The cheapest and easiest surface skimmer is to simply take the back half of a casette tape CASE and use that as a skimmer... here is a little link to one...

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.p ... hl=casette

Here is one you can buy...
The only thing with this one is it is held in place by the suction of the intake. Once the pump turns off, it will fall off.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem. ... uct=JB7333

This is probably the best option, but of course it is the most expensive! It allows you to fine tune the flow and remains in place even when the pump is off...

http://nanotuners.nanocustoms.com/nanot ... cts_id=247

You could just do like you said though and just fabricate your own... I always prefer DIY stuff! Just copy one of the ones from above.

Jesse
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
wow thanks a lot i was actully looking for that casset tape one... maybe there is a way to keep it from falling off... maybe zip tie it or something? thats all i was planning to do with the acrylic one i would of made
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
Also i would like to knwo what everyone chooses to use as a substrate... for nano and full size reefs.. i have a bad of crushed coral, but should i mix it with live sand or just one or the other?
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
ok so this live sand.. do you wash it or just put it in the tank? What size heater do i need? what should my maintance schedule be? are there any other things that i proballe have not thought of?
 
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reefman23

New Member
If you get the LIVE sand... the kind like eddie showed you... you dont want to wash it. You could rinse it in some tank water, but that's about it. you dont want to damage that bacterial population in the live sand. A 50-75 watt heater should do the trick.... these are my personal favorite... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 004+113767 .

As far as maintenance goes, you will probably need to clean the inside glass every couple of days, ideally you will want to do weekly water changes of around 25%-30% of the total water volume. you will need to clean the mechanical filtration media ever couple of days and you will want to replace the chemical filtration ever month or so.

HTH,

Jesse
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
The water that i initially set the tank up with .. can it be tap water with PRIME? i dont have an ro/di unit yet
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
ok so my 72 gallon bow front was set up as a reef tank and the guy used crushed coral.. should i reuse it for my reef? or should i get the live sand? if so how much? I mean whats are the ups and downs to this stuff compared to the sand?
 
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reefman23

New Member
No, sand is the best choice for a reef tank. Crushed coral traps too much crap that will eventually deteriorate into nitrates. go with aragonite-based sand... it doesnt necessarily have to be live, especially if you go with live rock.

Jesse

BTW... dont start out with tap water. In fact, dont ever use tap water. there are just too many heavy metals, phosphates etc that are just no good for a reef tank. If you were to start out with tap water, you would/could have massive algae problems in an unestablished tank.
 
reefermike

reefermike

New Member
ok well that stinks.... im going to have to see if i can pick one up tommorow... By the way for my 72 gallon i have a berlin skimmer that i got with the tank... i was told i need a mag 700 or higher to runn it .. thats fine and dandy but i have no idea how to even plumb it. lol i was playing around with it and a mag 5 and got a little tornado in the middle but thats all lol no tinny bubbles... help please ... diagrams or links would be awesome.... thanks
 
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reefman23

New Member
Check out the image on this link...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 004+113771

You have to have that air tube that attaches to the pump. you must have a pump that has a venturi attachment. This draws air into the pump and then the blades in the pump chop the air into the fine bubble mist and injects it into the water. without that tube, all you are doing is creating a water tornado.

I hope that solves the problem.

Jesse
 
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