I just bought a JBJ Nano Cube, and I am very excited to get this thing up and running. I purchased the cube after seeing it in operation at my LFS. The place where I bought it claimed the setup was completely stock. While reading up on the forums and newsgroups to see what other people are saying about this tank, I have learned that a lot of people seem disenchanted with the built-in filtration system. I'd like to try to get the tank to run in the stock configuration if I can.. I am a minimalist kinda guy that believes as long as I have decent light and at least one reasonably effective filter, the tank will do fine. I believe that the Nano Cube's stock 50/50 pc lamp is perfect for what I want to put in the tank- a couple of false perculas, lots of live rock, some mushroom corals, blue-legged hermits, etc. But for the filter, I'm not sure..
Before I go any further, let me just say that I am NOT new to Nano reef tanks. I have twice succesfully run an Eclipse 3 gallon tank nano, both times as a FOWLR tank (also hermit crabs and snails), as this seems the smartest way to be able to run this tank using what came in the box. I kept the bio-wheel in the whole time, and used the stock filter cartridges too. Also helping filter the tank was a 1" layer of live aragonite sand, and 5.5 pounds of live rock. A one gallon water change every week is all that it took to keep this tank thriving with pink and red algae on the rock. I used a timer for a 10 hour light cycle (again using stock lighting), a 25 watt heater, and a small 'Zoo-Med' powerhead for extra circulation. For what I kept in the tank, it was always bullet-proof stable.
So, probably the most important thing I learned is that, as long as you have A filter and SOME light, you can have a successful, stable tank for FOWLR application. I first ran the tank for 6 months before I had to break it down to move- not one fish loss. Next I set the tank up for 1 full year. The only loss this time was a blue-legged hermit, which was eaten by a bristle worm, so I don't count that against the tank. If I can, I'd like to try the same approach to this JBJ Nano tank.. I'm not knocking the folks that like to supe up their tanks with powerful lamps and hi-tech filter guts.. I just don't feel like re-inventing the wheel for this tank to run.
OK, that being said, are any folks out there using the stock filter setup? It has the 4 chambers with an intake at the top of one (it appears the lower intake is blocked off), and the power head output is at the opposite side at the top. The tanks sump partitions have through vents in the sides for water to flow between chambers.. Also, the tank came with a bunch of sponges, a bag of charcoal, a bag of ceramic doodads, and 6 bioballs. I test ran the tank (empty, just water) with no media at all in the tank just to see how much circulation I was getting in the back of the tank.. It didn't look like much movement in the middle chambers, but water MUST be flowing across the whole back, since the intake and output are on opposite sides.
If I put the media in, will the flow be enhanced at all as it passes through/around the media, so that with the sponges in place, the water would follow a more defined path? What can be done with this filter to ensure that it is operating at optimum? Setup as the manufacturer recommends, would it be an adequate, effective filter? Would a small, simple modification make it MUCH more effective? As I said before, I'm a big fan of using what I got with the tank, so I am really not wanting to do any major (or minor) surgury to the filter guts if I can avoid it.
What do you guys think?
Jason
Before I go any further, let me just say that I am NOT new to Nano reef tanks. I have twice succesfully run an Eclipse 3 gallon tank nano, both times as a FOWLR tank (also hermit crabs and snails), as this seems the smartest way to be able to run this tank using what came in the box. I kept the bio-wheel in the whole time, and used the stock filter cartridges too. Also helping filter the tank was a 1" layer of live aragonite sand, and 5.5 pounds of live rock. A one gallon water change every week is all that it took to keep this tank thriving with pink and red algae on the rock. I used a timer for a 10 hour light cycle (again using stock lighting), a 25 watt heater, and a small 'Zoo-Med' powerhead for extra circulation. For what I kept in the tank, it was always bullet-proof stable.
So, probably the most important thing I learned is that, as long as you have A filter and SOME light, you can have a successful, stable tank for FOWLR application. I first ran the tank for 6 months before I had to break it down to move- not one fish loss. Next I set the tank up for 1 full year. The only loss this time was a blue-legged hermit, which was eaten by a bristle worm, so I don't count that against the tank. If I can, I'd like to try the same approach to this JBJ Nano tank.. I'm not knocking the folks that like to supe up their tanks with powerful lamps and hi-tech filter guts.. I just don't feel like re-inventing the wheel for this tank to run.
OK, that being said, are any folks out there using the stock filter setup? It has the 4 chambers with an intake at the top of one (it appears the lower intake is blocked off), and the power head output is at the opposite side at the top. The tanks sump partitions have through vents in the sides for water to flow between chambers.. Also, the tank came with a bunch of sponges, a bag of charcoal, a bag of ceramic doodads, and 6 bioballs. I test ran the tank (empty, just water) with no media at all in the tank just to see how much circulation I was getting in the back of the tank.. It didn't look like much movement in the middle chambers, but water MUST be flowing across the whole back, since the intake and output are on opposite sides.
If I put the media in, will the flow be enhanced at all as it passes through/around the media, so that with the sponges in place, the water would follow a more defined path? What can be done with this filter to ensure that it is operating at optimum? Setup as the manufacturer recommends, would it be an adequate, effective filter? Would a small, simple modification make it MUCH more effective? As I said before, I'm a big fan of using what I got with the tank, so I am really not wanting to do any major (or minor) surgury to the filter guts if I can avoid it.
What do you guys think?
Jason
I was always very proud (read stubborn) that I made a thriving tank that was 3 gallons, now I am excited about what I can put into a tank that is much larger!
