JBJ 28 Gallon Nano Cube CF

[DAvis]

Hi all,

I like many of you had spent weeks researching what cube to buy! I am brand new to the Marine aquaria, though I have kept tropical freshwater aquaria for years. This summer, I pondered the idea of starting a saltwater tank, but seeing that many fish and corals were available as tank raised, I opted to investigate a reef tank. Fixing up old tanks for this seemed good money after bad so I opted to sell the old and buy the new!

I ended up choosing the JBJ 28 gallon NanoCube CF. It was a great package at $349. I got the tank, 105W CF actinic/6700K lighting, 2 x 266 gph Accela powerheads w/ wavemaker, a 3-4g open top 'sump' behind to house the return pumps, heater (not included), protein skimmer (not included) and 3-stage filter basket, 4-LED moonlights, and a slick looking stand. All for $349! It is now available for $299 with stand!

Pros: Elegant tank, 105W CF, highest output of any tank this size (unless you get metal halide), at almost 4W/Gallon, 4 LED's - tank looks great at night! Also, the hood has 2 cooling fans built in. Dual return pumps w/ wavemaker provide 10x turn over, and they can be run together without draining the sump.

Cons: Accela pumps a little noisy. Very difficult to retrieve pumps suction cupped to the bottom of the chamber! I made an extraction tool (after much swearing!). you can hear the cooling fans, but that is a gray noise, so not too bad.

All in all, I LOVE this tank. I might find a replacement for the Accelus pumps, but the noise isn't too bad. The problem is finding one to fit the small chamber. I will buy a different protein skimmer than the one JBJ sells, see equipment Forum on that.

Their customer service (JBJlighting.com) was excellent and replaced free of charge, the powerheads for me. The new ones are a little quieter. The vendor was MarineDepot. THis item shipped free, tank stand and all!

All In all, I would recommend JBJ and MarineDepot for their products,sales and service.

Hope this helps!
DAvis

 

[daugherty]

look at some small rio pumps

your tank looks good

 

[DAvis]

Thanks daugherty. The problem is the small foot print needed. The Rio 800 would be perfect size wise, but it only puts out 211 gph while the Acella puts out 266 gph. Think that would make a difference health wise later on?

I'll keep looking, but may try those.

 

[daugherty]

thats is the problem with those all in one tanks there is not enough room for a bigger pump. you can always add a maxi jet power head in side the tank for more flow. which you should probably do any way

 

[Hiker4twenty]

thats is the problem with those all in one tanks there is not enough room for a bigger pump. you can always add a maxi jet power head in side the tank for more flow. which you should probably do any way

Definitely add more powerheads for flow. I have a 14g BC and have 2 additional powerheads on top of the one that came with the tank. The more flow you have the better for the tank and algae control. :twocents:

 

[DAvis]

Thanks hiker4twenty
I guess I could put a little Korolia nano on the back wall, cut a little hole for the cord. I have to say, the flow is pretty good with the two alternating. I have them set at max on the wavemaker (6 minutes left, 6 minutes right), the pumps put out about 265 gph. But the more flow the better?

 

[Hiker4twenty]

The Korolia Nano works great! It puts out nice flow in my 14g. My brother has a 29g BC and uses the Korolia 1 which puts out a bit more flow in a larger tank, but it's not too much. Don't worry about having a problem with too much flow. It will keep all the junk from collecting on your rocks and will help to stop algae from growing on the sand/LR and such. Good luck!

 

[dcantucson]

IMO 265g flow should be plenty for your 28 gallon nano. It also depends on the corals you plan on keeping. You're probably not going to keep SPS because of the lighting requirements and other corals do not require as much flow.

As for those all in one tanks, I have seen hundreds of successful mini reef set-ups. They have been designed just for that.

 

[DAvis]

That's what I thought, from what I read (10x the turnover of the capacity), but I'm a Newbie! I liked the fact that all the hardware, except the returns were hidden in these all-in-ones, but....

So I have almost 4W/gallon, no SPS then? Or not enough flow? We're gonna start with mushrooms and zoo's

Our LFS is having a big Frag sale soon. Like a flea market in the fish store! Can't wait to see what's out there!
david

 

[dcantucson]

With SPS everything has to be perfect. Water quality, flow and lighting. I wasn't ever able to have any (at least that lived any length of time) in my all-in-one Red Sea Max tank. I know it can be done but I'm just not disciplined enough. (I try to test as little as possible; don't like doing it, please don't tell anyone on here :lol:)

All I can suggest is that you give it a shot. You'll never know until you try. Good luck.

 

[DAvis]

That's good enough for me! As I say, I'm brand new to this. I'm happy just looking at the fricken live rock! It's starting to turn color. Some good, some just nuisance algae, but it's so COOL. I'm happy with the selection of soft corals and zoo's. I don't want to start with a challenge! I'll post more pics soon.

 

[Toolman]

I am trying the same set up I bought the rio nano skimmer and is working well