NC28 HQI Build Thread

[BarryRey]

Joined the club like quite a few others and got a NC28 HQI for Christmas. Thought I would get back into the hobby after taking a break for about three years or so. The NC28 club thread has been great, takes awhile to get through it all.

Equipment:
- JBJ NanoCube 28G HQI
- Maxi-Jet 1200's (replaced stock return pumps)
- Hydor Flo's on returns
- Koralia Evolution 750 in display
- Jager 100w heater
- InTank Media Basket (top filter floss, middle Chaeto (after cycle), bottom Chemipure Elite)
- JBJ Nano Glo Fuge Light
- 30 lbs of Marco Key Largo Nano rocks, seeded with 5 lbs of live rock
- 20 lbs of Nature's Ocean live sand
- JBJ ATO, Tom's Aqualifter

Few pictures of the rock scaping.

Front:
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0116-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0117-2.jpg

Right:
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0120-2.jpg

Left:
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0119-2.jpg

[john miller]

I really like your rock work. What are your plans for it?

[BarryRey]

Really not sure. Possibly start off with some ricordeas on the lower rock, I've always liked a nice patch of GSP. Eventually once the tank matures I would like to try a crocea clam.

[BarryRey]

Starting to add a few things.
- few turbos
- Yellow Headed Sleeper Goby
- Purple/Blue Mushrooms
- Yellow Colony Polyps
- Hairy Mushroom
- Green Candy Cane

<a href="http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/?action=view&amp;current=DSCN0212-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0212-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

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<a href="http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/?action=view&amp;current=DSCN0216-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0216-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/?action=view&amp;current=DSCN0217-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0217-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/?action=view&amp;current=DSCN0219-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0219-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/?action=view&amp;current=DSCN0221-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0221-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[prm]

The rockwork is great, Im waiting to receive my 28g hqi from fostersmith.com and look forward to seeing it evolve!

[BarryRey]

Thanks, look forward to following your build.

[Dtip]

What sort of protein skimmer?

[prm]

Thanks, look forward to following your build.

Thanks! How do you like your InTank media basket? Im waiting patiently to receive mine :bounce1:

[BarryRey]

Not running a skimmer at this time, mine didn't come with the stock one. Will see how it goes with just weekly water changes.

[prm]

Not running a skimmer at this time, mine didn't come with the stock one. Will see how it goes with just weekly water changes.

nice, I'm planning on running a remora on mine when I get it. You never answered me about the InTank basket

[BarryRey]

Sorry about that PRM. The stock media basket doesn't even compare to the one from InTank. Their customer service is also awesome. I am running a piece of Pura Filtration pad in the top chamber, cheato in the middle (JBJ Nano Glo LED), and Chemi-pure Elite in the bottom. Don't have any overflow form the middle chamber to the two adjacent ones. I am tempted to try running both pumps at the same time, would have to add more water. Right now just running one at a time with the wavemaker. Saw one thread where someone said you do get a back siphon on the pump that's not running which means you have water not always making the pass down your media chamber. I tried both pumps when doing my leak test but it seem to get some overflows plus it raises the level in the display.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6677-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6673-2.jpg

[GROSSR]

Tank look very nice.

How are you temps? Does the HQI kick it up, if so how are you managing the heat?

[BarryRey]

I added the dual Azoo fans, have them over the back chambers. It now goes no higher than 79.9. Of course our house is only around 72. Before the fans it was getting close to 83.

[Jman13]

do you run both the return pumps at the same time or are you using the ocean pulse

[BarryRey]

Jman13, here was my reply from the post with the pictures of the media basket:

"I am tempted to try running both pumps at the same time, would have to add more water. Right now just running one at a time with the wavemaker. Saw one thread where someone said you do get a back siphon on the pump that's not running which means you have water not always making the pass down your media chamber. I tried both pumps when doing my leak test but it seem to get some overflows plus it raises the level in the display."

I will probably try that this weekend and let you know my results. I did upgrade the pumps to the MJ1200's.

[renogaw]

i was running both mj1200's and it raised the water level in the tank above the rim, just keep an eye on it.

[prm]

[QUOTE=BarryRey;18229925]Sorry about that PRM. The stock media basket doesn't even compare to the one from InTank. Their customer service is also awesome. I am running a piece of Pura Filtration pad in the top chamber, cheato in the middle (JBJ Nano Glo LED), and Chemi-pure Elite in the bottom. Don't have any overflow form the middle chamber to the two adjacent ones. I am tempted to try running both pumps at the same time, would have to add more water. Right now just running one at a time with the wavemaker. Saw one thread where someone said you do get a back siphon on the pump that's not running which means you have water not always making the pass down your media chamber. I tried both pumps when doing my leak test but it seem to get some overflows plus it raises the level in the display.
QUOTE]

hmm, Ive heard nothing but good things about it! If you figure out any tricks to get both pumps running simultaneously let me know :thumbsup:

[john miller]

JBJ Nano Glo LED

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6673-2.jpg

How much heat does this thing give off?
The reason I'm asking is I plan on running and Eshopps HOB skimmer and I think I have enough room to slide this between the skimmer and glass but it's going to be real close.

[BarryRey]

I am not real sure. There are only four LEDs in it. It does look like it bleaches the cheato right at the spot of the light, nothing major. The nice thing is that it doesn't throw very much light into the room being it is right up next to the glass. The magnet is in the chamber where the stock skimmer would normally be (you can kind of see it in the picture). When I get home I can measure the thickness of the light along with feeling the back of it to see how warm it gets. It will be a few hours before the light kicks in.

[john miller]

Thanks I appreciate it. It will be running it either 16 or 24 hours a day so I would hate for it to melt a hole in the skimmer body. :lmao:

[BarryRey]

John, if you don't mind waiting a day I can bring home a laser temperature gun from work and give you an exact reading on it on Friday morning after it has been on for 12 hours. The unit is 15/16 of an inch thick. The unit is 5" by 3". The LEDs are only 1 watt each.

[SlvrSurfRidr]

How much heat does this thing give off?
The reason I'm asking is I plan on running and Eshopps HOB skimmer and I think I have enough room to slide this between the skimmer and glass but it's going to be real close.Love to have an answer on this, as I think I'm going with the same setup. I've run several skimmers over the years (stock, sapphire, tunze 9002), but want to add a fuge+chaeto to help curb the pH swings (amongst other things). I tried the AC70 HOB mod for a fuge, and while it works great the the return is an overflow and is louder than I liked (well, louder than my wife likes anyway :p).

The problem with the AC70 HOB mod (besides the noise) is that it is pretty large and covers the entire center chamber (where you run the media basket with filter floss, chemipure, and purigen) and doesn't leave room for an HOB skimmer besides the AquaC Remora (with a slight modification).

The goal would be to run the Stevie T basket (with the afore mentioned media and JBJ nano glow) + the Eshopps 75 HOB. Keeping everything in house except the skimmer.

Jason, if you have already setup the Eshopps 75, can you tell me about the noise and how the pump fits into chamber #2 (the stock skimmer chamber), any mods needed? Also, it is one of the only skimmers on the market that actually pipes the return into chamber #4 (as opposed to the overflow return, which as I mentioned before is too loud for my application). If anyone else wants to chime in, do you know any other skimmers that run the pump INSIDE the tank and run a piped return directly back into the tank?

[john miller]

John, if you don't mind waiting a day I can bring home a laser temperature gun from work and give you an exact reading on it on Friday morning after it has been on for 12 hours. The unit is 15/16 of an inch thick. The unit is 5" by 3". The LEDs are only 1 watt each.

That would be great. I really appreciate it. I've got plenty of time since I'm just adding the live rock this coming Saturday. I could always run a cheap clip on fan to keep it cool but I would rather avoid it if possible. Just one more thing to fail.

[john miller]

SlvrSurfRidr, it's not set up yet but I have some pictures of it dry fit in another thread a few pages back in the nano forum. I don't want to clutter up Barry's thread.

[BarryRey]

Ok, here's the scoop on the JBJ nano Glo light. It has been on now for eleven hours. To my hand it doesn't feel that hot but when I hit it with the temp gun the middle of it reads 101. Other areas are in the low 90's. It was the same temp last night after being on for an hour so it doesn't seem to continue to get hotter. You may want to ask Steve from InTanks (www.mediabaskets.com) what he thinks. I bought the light from him on the same order as the basket. I have asked him a couple of questions already about the media basket and he responds right away. Hope this info was helpful.

[BarryRey]

Tried running both pumps at the same time. I just don't see how it can be done successfully. I get overflow from my middle chamber to the adjacent ones along with having my display level go over the lip of the plastic. I even trimmed the chaeto, it was pretty full along with rinsing out the pura pad. I have my Chemi bag tied up so it is not touching the bottom holes except in the middle. Maybe I will try to pull it up even higher. I also noticed this morning that even with just one pump my levels in the back chambers are higher than normal. How often do you guys clean your pumps. I have been running for about five weeks.

[john miller]

Yes it is. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

[BarryRey]

Added torch, hammer, sun coral, gsp, and a pair of percs

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0349-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0350-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0353-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/DSCN0351-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6874-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6877-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6876-2.jpg

[JDL]

how long do you run your jbj glo light?
i just bought the same light and intank media box (should be here sometime this week)

[BarryRey]

how long do you run your jbj glo light?
i just bought the same light and intank media box (should be here sometime this week)

Sorry JDL, just now saw your post. I run the Glo light the opposite hours of my metal halide, roughly from 10:30 pm until 1:30 pm the next day.

[BarryRey]

Updated pics, added zoas, xenia, ora neon green birdsnest, and a Coral Beauty (I know, a bit risky but so far so good)

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6884-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6896-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6898-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6904-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6906-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_6913-2.jpg

[ange062]

Wow, your tank is awesome!!! I just got up to 30lbs of LR in my tank tonight and oddly enough, by chance it's aquascaped very similar to yours.

Love the corals you have done. This tank is going to be an inspiration for my build!

[duncantse]

Your coral beauty looks awesome!

[BarryRey]

Updated pics, 5/22/11

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7658-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7654-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7650-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7645-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7639-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7638-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7636-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7632-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7630-2.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n501/barryrey/IMG_7625-2.jpg