Help with making a strong start

I posted this over in the JBJ forum, but the last post was several months ago so I am posting here was well. Sorry for the cross post. Let me know if this violates any forum policies please.

I am returning to the hobby after a little over 10 years away. I would like some help with getting things started the right way.

I have picked up a used JBJ 28g quad with some extras, and also have some old equipment I would like to use as well. This is what I have currently:

1x JBJ 28g quad (with modded LED additional lighting added to hood)
1x Eheim 9002 protein skimmer (already modded with magnet removed)
1x Eheim Professional 3 - 350 canister Filter
1x Eheim eco Pro 130 Canister filter
2x maxijet 1200 powerheads
2x OEM powerheads (came with tank)
1x marineland doublebight LED Light strip (EXACT height of tank - refugium light?)
3x digital thermometers (1 with temp set and alarm function)
1x Wavemaker unit
3x Heaters of various wattages and build types.


I am using the maxijets to mix water and perhaps with an auto-refill unit.
My questions are as follows:

1. Will I benefit from a refugium Or should I just use either of the canister filters and some type of phosphate remover? I know the fugium will help with pods, but does it help that much? The larger Eheim will add water capacity and if I simply empty it out and refill it, it amounts to an easy water change, so I was on the fence about that part.

2. If I do go with a refugium in the center column of the tank, will it degrade things without the protein skimmer?

3. If I use a refugium, I will custom build a rack to hold mechanical filter above it, but if I use the protein skimmer, what do I do about mechanical filtering??? Or would a canister pulling water from section 2/3 of the tank suffice for that purpose?

I plan on 2-3 inches of live sand and roughly 35 pounds of live rock. I am planning a simple stocking (2 clownfish, a goby and a cleanup crew along with an anemone and a few other inverts).

I would just like ideas on the best starting point and setup given the parts and components I already have. I will purchase/improve components as I go.

Thanks for any help, ideas and assistance!!!

 

We have several plug-n-play setup, incl. 2 NC 28's...here's what I'd do:

Lose the OEM pumps (they run hot), and replace them with the Maxi-Jets since you already have them. This will give you a 2-3*F drop in the tank's intrinsic temp. Use the stock pumps for mixing/ATO. Do run the wavemaker...they're nice on these tanks.

There really isn't a need for the canisters, altho you could run the 350 with no media and use it to drive a chiller if you want, or use it for chemical filtration or water polishing.

Unless you live where it gets cold, or chill the tank, you won't need a heater, IME due to the intrinsic temp of these setups (they all run at about 80*F or more.

You can use the center bay as a fuge, just add a light...I'd probably do this instead of the skimmer. It's not so much the pods I like, it's the benefits of live macro in general, so if you don't keep any in the DT, go this route.

I'd stick with 1"-2" of either #1 or #3 grade substrate (dry is fine) unless you have a compelling reason to have a 3" sandbed (such as a burrowing fish). 3" is kind of a "no man's land"...too deep to be shallow, too shallow to be called a DSB, but deep enuff to have issues later on.

As you know, there a 1001 ways to skin a cat in this hobby, but this is what I'd do to get you up and running, based on owning 2 of the exact tank you have as well as my experience in the hobby.

 

Thank you very much for the information! That is exactly the type of response I was looking for. I was very torn between the refugium and the skimmer. It all sounds good!

 

Getting the ball rolling!!!

I have started building out my tank. Just thought I would offer an update where things are at the moment and get some feedback.

I have the quad CF top for this tank, but wanted the "shimmer" that LED's offer, and also didn't like the 4 blue LED's in the hood. I removed the 4 single LED's, added 2 complete sets of blue LED's with dimmer controls and added 2 additional cooling fans to the hood. I also added 4 sets of white LED's to help produce the "shimmer" effect.

Next, I put the Marineland LED light on the back of the tank for the refugium. It fits perfectly and lights compartment 1 completely and evenly from top to bottom without light spillover into compartments 2, 3 or 4's. I put all lights on separate timers and put the refugium timer on a schedule opposite the main lights.

I purchased one of the "Old school" computer power centers and put that in the cabinet to have secondary control over lights, pumps, wavemaker, etc and for surge protection and emergency shutoff of everything should the need arise...also helps that now I only have to worry about a single plug going into the wall ;D

I decided to use the Eheim filter on one of the returns for several reasons. It adds volume to the tank, it can hold MASSIVE amounts of media if needed, the flow rate is adjustable, it handles head pressure extremely well and it makes water changes super easy (and the easier something is to accomplish, the more likely I am to do it right, LOL)

Here are some photos of where everything stands at the moment. Comments and suggestions are welcome!!!


1. These are the blue LED's I added. They have a dimmer control and can be dimmed from full on to almost completely off.


2. These are the White LED's I added for a bit of shimmer in the tank


3. Here is a shot of the full lighting system turned on. Does adding Red or Green LED's help or is that just for appearance??


4. Here is the Marineland LED Bar for the refugium (Back/Front). Has 3 Blue LED's down the center and a 3 function power switch (Full, blue only, Off). Nice light bar. Comes with rails to attach it over a tank. I just slid those out and was left with what you see in the photos.



5. Here is the marineland refugium light mounted on the tank. Perfect Fit!!!


6. Here is the basic wiring in the stand. Includes all timers, power center and wavemaker. I mounted the wavemaker on the door for easier access.


7. Here is the Eheim canister filter in place. The filter is almost half the height of the stand. Notice the 3 Large media boxes inside of it. I can put almost anything in there...and lots of it!


8. Here is the full installation in the cabinet. It all fits well. I also have a UV sterilizer that I contemplated placing inline on the Eheim filter since the flow can be adjusted to a very low rate. What is the current opinion on using those now days???


9. Here is a shot of the Blue LED's by themselves at the "full On" setting. They can be turned down to almost off or anywhere in-between. Sorry about the coraline algae on the back wall. When I got the tank it was completely covered. That's the leftover I was too lazy to scrub off


That's it so far. Let me know what you think. thoughts and opinions welcomed, especially in regard to my questions about the Red/Green LED's and the UV Sterilizer. I want to make the most of the parts I already have before additional investments come into play. I have 3 digital thermometers connected at the moment to make sure they all read the same way. I will be using 2 of them and the 3rd as a backup. Two of them also read air temp and have alarms if the temp goes above or below a certain threshold. I will be adding an ATO this weekend and hopefully be ready to start cycling it next week if nothing leaks, breaks or goes awry

 

What did you use for the white Leds, are they dimmable ?

 

None of the LED's were dimmable by default (white or blue). I wired dimmers in-line as well as secondary power switches for control and emergency purposes. I did not wire a dimmer into the white ones. As for what I used, they are just standard white LED's. I found an adhesive cover that acts much the way a lens does, and it provided a waterproof cover for the LED (found that at a motorcycle supply shop oddly enough).

 

Cool, I'll have to check into that

Is that a real AR-15 or a toy?

 

Very cool mods As far as red/green LED's, the PC lighting really is full spectrum, so you should really not need either. My corals did well under just the stock PC bulb, but did take off after I did a Rapid LED retrofit. I think the supplemental lighting you did should work out nicely. I am thinking I need to add a fan or two like you did. I have a thermometer on my heatsink and it can get up to 110° in there on hot days!

For UV, I feel if it is a reef tank, you should not use them. Even more so for a JBJ nano because of the heat they generate. You would surely need a chiller if you ran one. As it is, with LED lighting and no UV I still have a fan on almost all of the time to keep it around 78°.

 

I have kids in the house, so a toy (Although a fully automatic battery pack driven high powered one...like my tanks, I like my toys maxxed out ) lol