JBJ 12 gallon nano cube review and pictures
- Thread starter bdelaney
- Start date
Saw a bunch of these at a LFS for $100 so I'm glad to see that there's folks here w/experience with them.
I'm probably going to get one in the next week or so as a home for my Cinammon Clown (my Yellowback Damsel is getting to be too much of a bully in my 15gal)
I plan to have LR and poss. some LS in there along with a nice anemone for the clown...maybe a few fire shrimp etc etc.
Would a tank this size work for a Trinacdid Maxima? Our LFS has some stunning blue ones for $59 (2 for 100 so I may have 2)
Main question is how deep should I have my sand bed? I've seen differing opinions....
And as always, all input is helpful!!!
Thanks!
Desmond
I'm probably going to get one in the next week or so as a home for my Cinammon Clown (my Yellowback Damsel is getting to be too much of a bully in my 15gal)
I plan to have LR and poss. some LS in there along with a nice anemone for the clown...maybe a few fire shrimp etc etc.
Would a tank this size work for a Trinacdid Maxima? Our LFS has some stunning blue ones for $59 (2 for 100 so I may have 2)
Main question is how deep should I have my sand bed? I've seen differing opinions....
And as always, all input is helpful!!!
Thanks!
Desmond
Sabelotodos: The tank looks good. It looks like that desk fan is helping to pull the hot air away from the tank.
Alberto: I'm attaching a picture of the fan. It's a 60mm cooling fan for computers. There are mounting holes for it under the canopy directly over the filtration/sump. Get some brass or stainless steel screws for it as well as a power supply rated for the voltage/current of the fan.
Desmond: My own personal preference is to stay away from anemones. They have low survival rates in capitivity, and the collection impact is very high. The choice is, of course, yours to make. Not nearly enough light in these things for a clam. As for a sand bed, the general wisdom is that a deep sand bed will not work on a nano. Not enough surface area, and you can't make it deep enough without using up a large portion of the display area. A light covering on the bottom of the tank, about 1/2 inch to an inch should be plenty. Use fine grained aragonite sand. It will look nice and wont be a detrius trap.
Alberto: I'm attaching a picture of the fan. It's a 60mm cooling fan for computers. There are mounting holes for it under the canopy directly over the filtration/sump. Get some brass or stainless steel screws for it as well as a power supply rated for the voltage/current of the fan.
Desmond: My own personal preference is to stay away from anemones. They have low survival rates in capitivity, and the collection impact is very high. The choice is, of course, yours to make. Not nearly enough light in these things for a clam. As for a sand bed, the general wisdom is that a deep sand bed will not work on a nano. Not enough surface area, and you can't make it deep enough without using up a large portion of the display area. A light covering on the bottom of the tank, about 1/2 inch to an inch should be plenty. Use fine grained aragonite sand. It will look nice and wont be a detrius trap.
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Thanks for the reply! My g/f and I are definitely gonna be getting one of these for our clown. Poor little guy is getting picked on a bit much by our damsel. With that in mind, what are the thoughts of adding another cinammon clown? I know they're territorial, but would they get along or more likely fight? We'd like to have a small friend or two in there for Curious George...
HClH20Fish,
what an interesting name...hydrochloricwater?
I strongly suggest you read this article by Rob Toonen:
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen8.html
BEFORE you purchase a host anemone. Clownfish will do just fine without an anemone, and will usually host in a large variety of easier to keep corals. Sinularia is a great example.
As far as your clowns go, keep in mind that cinnamon clowns, A. melanopus, get to be nearly 4" in length. A full grown pair would pretty much max out your bioload in a 12 gallon tank. Pairing Amphiprion clowns is pretty easy, fortunately. If you don't have a copy of Joyce Wilkerson's book "Clownfishes", you should get one. It details the process of pairing in great detail. My only suggestion is to have a clear "critter-keeper" if you need to separate one of your clowns.
what an interesting name...hydrochloricwater?
I strongly suggest you read this article by Rob Toonen:
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen8.html
BEFORE you purchase a host anemone. Clownfish will do just fine without an anemone, and will usually host in a large variety of easier to keep corals. Sinularia is a great example.
As far as your clowns go, keep in mind that cinnamon clowns, A. melanopus, get to be nearly 4" in length. A full grown pair would pretty much max out your bioload in a 12 gallon tank. Pairing Amphiprion clowns is pretty easy, fortunately. If you don't have a copy of Joyce Wilkerson's book "Clownfishes", you should get one. It details the process of pairing in great detail. My only suggestion is to have a clear "critter-keeper" if you need to separate one of your clowns.
I've heard pretty good review so far. Other than buying all separate components is there anything on the market comparable to this? I remember seeing a CPR prototype a while ago and never see it for sale. It looks like it will need some tweaking, but what system doesn't. You can't beat the price. I've had JBJ lights drop in a tank full of water and still work.
Hmmm, good question. I noticed they offer two type of bulbs. It only comes with one. If it's at a local store just look at it, or have them offer to turn it on. It should be a 50/50 bulb (half blue half white). I didn't even realize this until I got mine home, but luckily it was the right bulb.
Hey, I'm back again. But first, Chris (BRISK495) I keep my nanocube next to a window also. Normally, it's keeps itself warm enough that I keep a fan next to it to mantain temperature. See my previous picture. Other than that, here are some more pics of some of the new stuff in my tank. As of now I'm still using the B-IONIC system and adding 3ml of phytoplankton every other day. If there's any other supplemental care I should be taking (besides brine shrimp), please let me know.
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Sabelotodos
Thanks for the advice- I will look into getting one of those Brooks fans for cooling. From the pics you posted....your tank is shaping up nice. How many pounds of rock are you using? I was thinking of removing all filter media included and even put some small peices of live rock in the sump area....
Thanks for the advice- I will look into getting one of those Brooks fans for cooling. From the pics you posted....your tank is shaping up nice. How many pounds of rock are you using? I was thinking of removing all filter media included and even put some small peices of live rock in the sump area....
I've had my NanoCube for about 3 months and I'm definitely pleased with it overall,, I just love the way it looks. I did make a few minor mods:
1. Removed the ceramic rings and bio-balls,,, a handful of sand has a much greater surface area for bacteria,, so why bother?
2. Added a small fan,,, tank now runs 80f pretty much constantly.
3. Upgraded the powerhead to a Maxi-Jet 1200 ,,, big mistake! ,,,way too much current. Tried a few other powerheads I had lying around and finally settled on a Maxi-Jet 400,,, seems absolutely perfect for my setup. With all the rock & sand that's in there,, there's probably only 8-9 gallons of water so I'm still getting 10x per hour turnover and it's completely silent,, unlike the rattly PHead that came with the cube. I had to cut-out a section of the black plastic divider in the filter compartment to fit the bigger powerhead.
At first I was going to tinker with the lighting, but I had a brown monti frag in there for a month and it grew just fine at the top of the tank. I think the lighting is pretty good overall, though I wouldn't attempt to keep a clam in there or anything.
My cube has a 2 inch sandbed (aragonite layer over playsand from established tank), 10lbs live rock, green open brain and some zoanthids, 7 Astrea snails, 7 zebra hermits & two beautiful juvenile Darwin Clowns.
I replace 2 gallons of water with water from my main tank every week,,, I don't dose anything directly into the cube.
I need to get more corals in here,,, my BTA has just split again so I may put one in and see how it does, though I don't expect the clowns will take to it,, you never know. If you can find them, the Darwin clowns are a great choice for these tanks as they only grow to about 3" max. and are really good looking fish.
1. Removed the ceramic rings and bio-balls,,, a handful of sand has a much greater surface area for bacteria,, so why bother?
2. Added a small fan,,, tank now runs 80f pretty much constantly.
3. Upgraded the powerhead to a Maxi-Jet 1200 ,,, big mistake! ,,,way too much current. Tried a few other powerheads I had lying around and finally settled on a Maxi-Jet 400,,, seems absolutely perfect for my setup. With all the rock & sand that's in there,, there's probably only 8-9 gallons of water so I'm still getting 10x per hour turnover and it's completely silent,, unlike the rattly PHead that came with the cube. I had to cut-out a section of the black plastic divider in the filter compartment to fit the bigger powerhead.
At first I was going to tinker with the lighting, but I had a brown monti frag in there for a month and it grew just fine at the top of the tank. I think the lighting is pretty good overall, though I wouldn't attempt to keep a clam in there or anything.
My cube has a 2 inch sandbed (aragonite layer over playsand from established tank), 10lbs live rock, green open brain and some zoanthids, 7 Astrea snails, 7 zebra hermits & two beautiful juvenile Darwin Clowns.
I replace 2 gallons of water with water from my main tank every week,,, I don't dose anything directly into the cube.
I need to get more corals in here,,, my BTA has just split again so I may put one in and see how it does, though I don't expect the clowns will take to it,, you never know. If you can find them, the Darwin clowns are a great choice for these tanks as they only grow to about 3" max. and are really good looking fish.
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the more I see the quality of the life in the tanks makes me confident in my purchase, i ordered one the other day and am patiently waiting for its arrival. I also want to get a pair of mated clowns to put in there eventually. Did you order those Darwin Clowns? They're gorgeous.
I got them from my LFS. They're some kind of variation of Amphiprion Ocellaris,, I don't know if it's a seperate sub-species or what. I have 2 common ocellaris in another tank and they're physically identical to the Dawins except for the coloration.
My fish guy said they've never had them before ever, and they came from an aquaculture farm on Hawaii. He had a 55g tank full of juveniles and they were all gone within 2 weeks. They were pretty expensive too at $28 each.
I've had mine about 6 weeks,,,,they were a bit finicky about eating at first, and they seemed to be struggling with the current in the tank. I put the powerhead on a timer,, one hour on,, one hour off during daylight and off all night and they seemed a lot happier.
I've found one company in the UK that aquacultures Darwins but beyond that, I haven't had any luck researching them on the web.
My fish guy said they've never had them before ever, and they came from an aquaculture farm on Hawaii. He had a 55g tank full of juveniles and they were all gone within 2 weeks. They were pretty expensive too at $28 each.
I've had mine about 6 weeks,,,,they were a bit finicky about eating at first, and they seemed to be struggling with the current in the tank. I put the powerhead on a timer,, one hour on,, one hour off during daylight and off all night and they seemed a lot happier.
I've found one company in the UK that aquacultures Darwins but beyond that, I haven't had any luck researching them on the web.
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