My JBJ 28gal Nano Build Thread
 

Hey all, I'm new to the forum and the hobby. Figured I would post up a blog-esque thread of the progress on my first saltwater tank, a JBJ 28gal CF-quad that I purchased from my trusty LFS. I figured other noobs in the future may be able to learn from the thread, and that I could get advice from the experts along the way.

The Purchase:
I've wanted a saltwater aquarium for at least 5-yrs now but always came up with one reason or another to NOT buy one. A recent trip to the Philippines which included several snorkeling excursions over reefs finally pushed me over the edge.

My first stop was a high-end LFS down the street from me here in Houston, where upon inquiry I was nearly upsold into a 75gal aquarium with all the good stuff for well over $2k.

Before impulse buying, I ventured down to Fish Ranch who I had bought some freshwater fish from before. The owner Tran is an awesome guy, and talked me into buying the 28gal nano to make sure I liked the hobby without investing too much up front. Not the fanciest shop around, but great and honest service, great prices, and an awesome selection of livestock both fresh and marine.

Initial Setup:
As I stated, I got the JBJ 28gal Nano. The LFS hooked me up with water out of one of their established tanks, 2-cups of sand from the same tank to seed my substrate, and even let me borrow the containers to get it all back to my house. I also picked up 10lbs of cured liverock, 20lbs live sand, and 15lbs of aragonite.

When I got home with all the goodies, I already knew my location so I set up the stand and tank. Next I cleaned out the tank then did a short leak test with freshwater. It was drained, wiped dry, then it was time for some fun!

All of the livesand went in, then I dumped about half the aragonite, then mixed and leveled it out to about a 2" sandbed. The 2-cups of seeded sand went in on top and was leveled over the surface. The liverock was just piled in the middle, and the saltwater went in.

My LFS advised me to use a plate on the bottom when pouring the water, so once full the tank was only a little cloudy. I turned on the pumps, adjusted the water level until it was good, and just let it sit in the dark.

The next morning, it was crystal clear. Nothing else to do but let it sit and cycle...

Here is a picture from just after adding the water, never got a clear shot since it was such a boring tank!
Click the thumbnail for a full size picture:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...h_IMAG0161.jpg

Step 2
 

So my goal from the beginning was to have 25-30lbs of liverock. I started with only 10lbs. A few days after the initial setup, I decided to go in search of some more so that it could all cure/cycle at the same time.

Unfortunately, my trusty LFS was low on liverock stock and didn't have much to offer. I went to the high-end shop that tried to upsell me previously, and they had some beautiful Tonga liverock that was covered in coralline algae and a bunch of little critters. Unfortunately, it also came at a super-premium price, so I picked out some key pieces that totalled out to 9lbs.

Again, it was just kind of jumbled into the center. I had yet to research anything about aquascaping! :)

Click the thumbnail for the full size picture:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...h_IMAG0163.jpg

Well, after a couple days research, I decided to get my hands wet and aquascape the rock I had. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out after tinkering with it for a while! The way it was stacked created a cave in the center, and plenty of hiding spots behind the rock and areas for flow.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...h_IMAG0168.jpg
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...h_IMAG0169.jpg

Step 3
 

Well, a week after my initial setup, I brought some water into my trusty LFS to have it tested since he insisted that I not waste money purchasing my own test equipment just yet. And the results were:

• Ammonia = 0
• Nitrite = 0
• Nitrate = trace levels
• pH = 8.1
• Salinity = 1.023

So, the LFS owner gave me a little yellowtail damsel to add to the tank. I ended up buying a thermometer, 100W heater, and MagFloat to keep temps steady and the glass clean. I also got some fresh RO water in one of my AquaTainers to top off the tank, it had gone down some due to evaporation.

I got home and started acclimating the damsel while installing the thermometer in one constant-level sump column and the heater in the other. After about an hour of the bag floating in the tank and slowly adding tank water, I released "The Dood" into the tank. He hid for about a day, but once I started feeding on the 2nd day he got a lot more adventurous.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IMAG0171.jpg

That's nice of him. The only thing I ever got free from one of my LFS is parasites. LOL

Very nice start, really like the different pieces of rock. Welcome to the NC28 club.

What is the blue tinge on some of the rock? Looks cool.

Yeah, really cool guy. He has given me all the water for free, the sand for seeding, the fish, and of course tons of good advice.

He just got a ton of new LR in today, I picked up 11lbs more and got some cool hitchhikers!! Will post pics tomorrow once the water clears from my aquascaping.

The blue tinge is just an artifact of the crappy cell camera, I'm busting out the DSLR for the pics tomorrow!

Thanks Barry!

Nice rocks. They have a lot of colors.

Nice start. Keep up the good work.

Garetjax

Looks good. I'll be following along also. Welcome.

Excellent start. That's a cool LFS for all the extras they are giving you.

Looking hot bud...lets see some dizzler pics!

Oh and Fish Ranch in Houston is the place to go for sure...The high-end shop is cool to look in and get ideas, but buy else where. They get enough money from the corporations and rich River Oaks snobs.

Thanks Jason! And you are the one that told me about Fish Ranch, you still have the clown loaches and tropheus doboisi's I bought! LOL

I'll put up some DSLR pics tonight, got a couple last night but it was still a little cloudy, looked crystal clear this morning.

So as I mentioned yesterday, I stopped by my trusty LFS to find a brand new delivery of liverock in. There was a bunch of nice looking pieces, lots of shapes, sizes, and colors. I even found a couple pieces with corals and thought "those are keepers!". So, I picked out 11lbs worth which brings my total now to 30lbs. Got the stuff for $3.99/lb!! My LFS rocks (pun intended :)).

I'm now done with additions to the tank for a while. Going to let it sit for a couple of weeks, then plan to add a CUC, and sometime later either a firefish or clown.

I got home, and it took me a while to get everything scaped the way I wanted, but I'm happy with the result. Even brought out the DSLR to snap some better pics. Let me know what you think, and give me suggestions for what to do next.

FTS:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC_0546.jpg

LEFT FTS:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC_0541.jpg

RIGHT FTS:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC_0544.jpg

The Dood:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC_0547.jpg

Green/Red Shrooms:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC_0551.jpg

Polyps:
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/DSC_0549.jpg

Looking sweet dude!! Kate blames you for getting me all excited about wanting to do this now too. She say's she's going to call you and give you a teacher's earfull.

LOL!! Stop complaining and just go buy your tank!! :lmao:

Looks nice for a noob...

I'm waiting till after we get back from our Spring Break Vail trip to purchase anything. That will give me another couple weeks to do more research and truly plan things out.

Also I ordered a Reef Life book recommended by some people on this site for $4 on Amazon. Gonna give that a read as well.

So I did my first water change yesterday and cleaned out the mechanicals, I was starting to get a lot of debris floating so figured it was time. Amazing what it did for water clarity!

While at my trusty LFS, I also had my water tested again and everthing looked in line. Salinity was at 1.024, a little high for a FOWLR but perfect for a reef tank, and since i now have some hitchhiker corals figured that was good.

I couldnt resist the urge to get another fishy, and had the blessing of my LFS owner so picked up a firefish for $8. I was afraid at first the damsel was going to bully her. She hid for about 20hrs but today when the lights came on they were both kinda schooling together so all looks well.

In other news, I can see the beginning of an algea bloom starting, so going to have to add a CUC in about a week. Planning a couple ememerald crabs & hermits, plus about 6 snails.

Here is Bolt hangin with The Dood.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IMAG0184.jpg

Check ebay for the CUC; you can get 100 snails for $3-4 plus shipping.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

Honestly, I don't really trust ebay for livestock. I'm just goin to my trusty LFS. Prices are good, I can see the stuff before I buy, and pick it out myself and know its healthy.

Also check out the forums. There are a lot of people in Houston that are willing to trade stuff.

So today I went and had my water tested to make sure that my biologicals were keeping up with my new bioload (aka Bolt the firefish). Everything is still looking great!

• Salinity: 1.023
• Ammonia: Very Faint Trace
• Nitrite: 0
• Nitrate: 10ppm
• pH: 8.2
• Alkalinity: 180

I've got the lighting timed out with my AC now, and the temps have been staying 77.5 to 81 so it seems stable in that regard. I'm currently running the lights for 6-hrs a day and the moonlight for 9-hrs.

I'll probably add a small CUC this weekend since the algea is really starting to bloom. Planning on getting:

• 1 Emerald Crab
• 6 Hermits (blue/red mix)
• 4 Cerith Snail
• 4 Nassarius Snail

I've also been thinking about what livestock I plan to add, and this is what I have come up with for an eventual goal over the next few months:

• Yellowtail Damsel (The Dood)
• Firefish (Bolt)
• True Percula Clown
• Flame Angel
• Coral Banded Shrimp
• Fire Shrimp

The ammonia level might spike if we get drunk at your place one night...just letting you know now. **** happens you know...

Looks nice!