JBJ Nano Cube Quesitons

Hi All! I am fairly new to the saltwater world, and have a few questions about my newly acquired tank!

For some background: I have 2 Green Spotted puffers who have mainly stayed alone for the past two years. WHen I bought them they were in freshwater (they were babies) then over the course of the first six months, I acclimated them to brackish. Then, after a year I converted them to marine conditions and have been doing just fine! So I am in the process of cycling my tank (about a week in). I currently have have 30 pounds of LR and 35 pounds of LS. This will be a FOWLR tank.

So i just got a 28 gallon nano cube CF Quad and have a few beginner questions about this tank:

1. I know that GSP's produce a LOT of waste so a protein skimmer is a must. I have been picking up after them for all this time and think it is time to invest in one of these things. I do not know anything about them though haha. I would love to go out and buy one today, but I don't know how to set it up or what i need. Anyone know of some good sites that explain this process?

2. How often should I replace the activated carbon bag? or the black sponge pad?

3. How long should I wait before adding a clean-up crew? And what should I add? GSP's are known for eating all types of snails and crabs. I have had success with keeping some hermits but all the snails end up gone haha.

4. I see all of these people with biocubes, but also have a fugue (?) or a sump. Is this necessary for my type of setup?

Thanks for the help and will post more questions when they come to mind!

 

Hello and Welcome to 3reef,

The Tunze 9002 skimmer will fit in the sump in the back but it is a tight fit. It really is the best skimmer for that tank by far though. Or you can get the JBJ ( it is just ok) but if you are not doing corals it may work for you. Most skimmer come with everything you need, you just have to make sure it will fit.

Me I clean the sponge everytime I do a water change which is every 2 weeks at least. And I change out my carbon to Chempure Elite once every 2 months.

Wait to add the clean up crew until you have values of 0 for ammonia and nitrite and less than 20 for nitrates. I have no idea what type of cuc for the GSP guys though.

No you do not need an additional sump, yes great to have to increase the water volumn, skimmer placement, place to grow some macro algaes. Unfortunately the JBJ 28 gal does not make additional sump placement as easy as a lot of other tanks. I had a HOB CPR fuge for about 6 months and the evaporation was just too much so currently no sump.

 

First welcome to 3reef!
I would throw the sponge away and use filter floss cut to size,i usually change carbon about one every 2 to 3 weeks.
The skimmer made for the jbj is junk,i would use an aqua c nano remora or a tunze 9002,more pricey but much better skimmers.
I kept large turbosnails when i had a gsp and never had an issue.
And you allready have a sump built in,but yeah,alot of people will convert the filter media basket to a refugium or add a remote one(such as using an aquaclear filter body and making it a fuge.) hope this helps!

 

Thanks guys!

As far as the protein skimmer goes, is there anywhere I have to plug the hoses into? I am confused of how it actually works. Also, is it worth the $100+ price tag?

I will definitely go looking for the filter floss if it does a better job (i assume it will probably be cheaper too!)

I actually had some fairly large turbo snails (about 3/4 their size!) in the aquarium and the first one was gone by the first day, the second the next week and the third about two weeks later! haha

 

Unless the skimmer is a hang on the back, the body of it sits in the water a good part submerged and a pump draws in the water, an airline is attached to the intake and mixes fine bubbles of air with the water. DOC or proteins are attracted to the surface area of the micro bubbles. As the bubbles reach the skimmer cup they pop or overflow into the cup taking the waste with them.

I like Marinedepot.com as a site to look at skimmers. Skimmers and lighting are the 2 of the most important components of the tank and that is where you want to invest the money.

 

Thanks for the help! Does the CF Quad have good lighting? I am sure it will be fine considering I am not getting corals anytime soon, but incase I do in the future, will I need to upgrade? I will definitely look into getting a skimmer soon. Is it a bad thing if it is a tight fit?

 

CF lighting is pretty good for keeping most LPS ( large polyp stoney corals ) like acans, duncans to name just a very few.

You can keep all soft corals like mushrooms, zoanthids, xenia.

You can grow some SPS ( small polyp stoney corals ) like montipora, pocillopora. However in my experience you will not get the color or growth with CF only.

Not a bad thing if it is a tight fit, it can be a challange to install. The Tunze skimmer has a wicked magnent on it to secure it into place.

As grinder posted also look into the media baskets. Very easy to set up and maintain. They do an excellent job of holding mechanical and chemical filtration, and some people grow chaeto in them.

 

1 there is actually a skimmer made specifically for the nano cube, works pretty well and costs less than a tunze. also you know it will fit.
2 you should replace the carbon about once a month. i dont think the sponges ever wear out as long as you clean them.
3 id say you can add the clean up crew now, i you want. if your tank has been cycling for a week it will be fine.
4 fuges and sumps are very helpful, but not necessary. I am making a fuge in the back of my nano cube by removing the main sponge and replacing it with chaeto, and keeping it lit with a nano glo (link below). that way you can grow pods etc. back there without having to buy a completely separate tank.

nano glo link-
JBJ Nano-Glo 4-LED Magnetic Refugium Light

 

Actually erik,i have to disagree with you on 1 and 3,i own the jbj skimmer and it is in fact a cheap peice of junk,its skimming is worthless,I also agree with Corailline that the money needs to go towards good lighting and skimmer,save the $50 to put towards a good skimmer,the 2 mentioned will fit the tank.The tunze requires a little notching in the back of the hood,the aqua c will just drop in with the maxi jet 900,or with a small mod to the maxi jet 1200 pump.On #3,i wouldn't add anything live until the cycle is complete.

 

i will look into a tunze skimmer. the nano one is good for up to about 50 gallons so if I ever decide to upgrade a little i will have one.

would this be a good cuc?
ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Quick Crew (29 Gallon)