MaxTremors
2500 Club Member
So, I figured I’d finally make a build thread (gotta win that contest, you know). This is my 28g JBJ Nanocube. It’s pretty much stock in terms of the lighting and return pumps, but I’ve added an Aquamaxx NF-1 skimmer, a Jebao SLW-20, and a tiny little 50gph off brand power head behind the rockwork to help stop detritus from settling back there.
It’s been a really weird cycle/start to the tank, I’ve had a massive issue with nitrates and basically zero phosphates, which I attribute to starting with mostly dry rock. I’ve started probably 20 tanks in my life, and never had one like this. I’ve added probably 25% live rock, and have been carbon dosing for around 2 months now, and finally I’m starting to see the nitrates come down. For a while everything was covered in GHA and cyano, but since I started carbon dosing it’s slowly but surely been going away, most of the cyano is gone and the GHA is maybe 1/3 what it was. Anyway, on the right track now.
Aside from the nitrates, all my other params have been easy to maintain in this tank. I currently dose 2 part daily, along with vinegar, and then weekly I add some amino acids (reef plus).
My stocking has changed a little bit, I had 2 clowns, a firefish, and an orchid dottyback. And the. I got a six line wrasse (one of my favorite fish, sue me). Well, the wrasse started chasing the dottyback, who then started chasing the firefish, so I took the firefish and dottyback back to the lfs. Then a few weeks later, the clowns started fighting with each other, and since I’m not a big clownfish person (my gf wanted them), I took both of them back too. So, the wrasse was alone for a while and then a couple weeks ago I got a Banggai Cardinal, so currently just the two fish.
As far as inverts, I’ve got a coral banded shrimp who is just the worst, I kind of hate her, but she’s staying as of now. Also have a tiger conch, who does a great job of keeping the sand clean. And then a variety of snails and 5-6 hermits.
As far as corals go, most of them are just frags. I’ve got several kinds of mushrooms (my Rhodactis indosinensis have just exploded, went from 2 to 6 or 7 in a month, several kinds of zoas, a hammer, a Duncan, a chalice, a lobo, some cloves, a few leathers, a turbinaria, a favites, a montipora, an acan, Xenia, gsp, a maxi mini carpet nem, a rainbow BTA (in the back currently can’t see in picture), a sad Caulastaea, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something(s). Everything has been doing well and surviving the nitrates, so knock on wood.
Oh, and I have a few types of macro algae in there as well.
I think that’s it, the tank just turned 6 months old, hoping that by month 8 all the algae will be gone and it won’t look so sad.
It’s been a really weird cycle/start to the tank, I’ve had a massive issue with nitrates and basically zero phosphates, which I attribute to starting with mostly dry rock. I’ve started probably 20 tanks in my life, and never had one like this. I’ve added probably 25% live rock, and have been carbon dosing for around 2 months now, and finally I’m starting to see the nitrates come down. For a while everything was covered in GHA and cyano, but since I started carbon dosing it’s slowly but surely been going away, most of the cyano is gone and the GHA is maybe 1/3 what it was. Anyway, on the right track now.
Aside from the nitrates, all my other params have been easy to maintain in this tank. I currently dose 2 part daily, along with vinegar, and then weekly I add some amino acids (reef plus).
My stocking has changed a little bit, I had 2 clowns, a firefish, and an orchid dottyback. And the. I got a six line wrasse (one of my favorite fish, sue me). Well, the wrasse started chasing the dottyback, who then started chasing the firefish, so I took the firefish and dottyback back to the lfs. Then a few weeks later, the clowns started fighting with each other, and since I’m not a big clownfish person (my gf wanted them), I took both of them back too. So, the wrasse was alone for a while and then a couple weeks ago I got a Banggai Cardinal, so currently just the two fish.
As far as inverts, I’ve got a coral banded shrimp who is just the worst, I kind of hate her, but she’s staying as of now. Also have a tiger conch, who does a great job of keeping the sand clean. And then a variety of snails and 5-6 hermits.
As far as corals go, most of them are just frags. I’ve got several kinds of mushrooms (my Rhodactis indosinensis have just exploded, went from 2 to 6 or 7 in a month, several kinds of zoas, a hammer, a Duncan, a chalice, a lobo, some cloves, a few leathers, a turbinaria, a favites, a montipora, an acan, Xenia, gsp, a maxi mini carpet nem, a rainbow BTA (in the back currently can’t see in picture), a sad Caulastaea, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something(s). Everything has been doing well and surviving the nitrates, so knock on wood.
Oh, and I have a few types of macro algae in there as well.
I think that’s it, the tank just turned 6 months old, hoping that by month 8 all the algae will be gone and it won’t look so sad.
