SkiCatTX
Sustainable Reefkeeping
Technically this is not a new tank build, but I recently fragged and sold off many of the corals and moved a few pieces of rock to my Waterbox 10 for Pinky (See my build thread here), so I thought it would be great to document my larger experimental "practice" nano as I restart it with new techniques I have learned about by reading all these great tank builds over the last few months. Who knew so much great information was out here on the net? …well, I guess everyone else, I'm a bit late to the party, but plan to catch up quickly.
I have kept various saltwater tanks from 10 to 40 gallons over many years. I got this JBJ 28 Cube when we moved to the Houston area 12 years ago and I got rid of my old 40 and stand in Austin. Historically, I always followed old-school ultra low nutrient (ULN) techniques, barely feeding both fish and corals. It generally worked, I have had fish live 15 years or more, and I still have corals that I got over 20 years ago. They just aren't as brightly colored (AKA "mostly brown"), and don't grow nearly as fast, but I didn't generally have to worry about algae everywhere…
With this rebuild, and with my WB10, I am now feeding every day and even dosing Phosphates and Nitrates as needed, I got all new test kits, and I have been logging all the tank parameters and maintenance on the Aquarimate app. Some of the parameters are still scary all over the place as I gradually get better at dosing and monitoring. It is difficult not to try to fix everything right away, and to let things work themselves out, or gradually change dosing amounts over time. I'm also surprised at how much increased Nitrate can cause Phosphate to drop, and Alk to get used up much faster, etc. it's eye opening and fascinating.
Hardware on this tank might be a bit over the top, but I have accumulated a lot of equipment over the years and figure I might as well use it. I am also using this as experimental prep and planning for the big tank.
It is not exactly a work of art in my office. However, I consider this a temporary and preparatory setup, as I am planning a 180 build to start soon, hopefully up and running by the end of this year…stay tuned!
For equipment:
- JBJ 28 Tank with old CF hood removed
- Neptune Apex Classic
2x Jabao WP-25 (connected to Apex with Linkage Adapter)
- Radion X30 G3Pro (connected to Apex with WXM)
- Neptune PMUP ATO
- Aquamaxx HOB-1
- Fluval Canister Filter (Mainly used as a closed loop pump for the chiller and UV, but I do have some Matrix and sponge inside)
- AquaUV 15 watt HOB UV Sterilizer
- JBJ Nano Chiller
- Cobalt NeoTherm 100w Heater
- GHL Doser 2.1 dosing Triton 4-part (non-Triton method version)
- Clip-on fan for evaporative cooling (chiller doesn't even run much in the winter time)
As for the occupants, I haven't gotten any new fish in over 4 years because "Pinky" the death pseudochromis was in there and killed any other fish I tried to keep. I moved him into a new WB10 tank a few months ago when I restarted this tank, so I'm all set to restock (See my QT thread here). I do have a bunch of corals that I have collected over many years, and a rock flower anemone which I got about 2 or 3 years ago and is getting enormous. I might need some help identifying many of them. I'll posted images shortly.
I have kept various saltwater tanks from 10 to 40 gallons over many years. I got this JBJ 28 Cube when we moved to the Houston area 12 years ago and I got rid of my old 40 and stand in Austin. Historically, I always followed old-school ultra low nutrient (ULN) techniques, barely feeding both fish and corals. It generally worked, I have had fish live 15 years or more, and I still have corals that I got over 20 years ago. They just aren't as brightly colored (AKA "mostly brown"), and don't grow nearly as fast, but I didn't generally have to worry about algae everywhere…
With this rebuild, and with my WB10, I am now feeding every day and even dosing Phosphates and Nitrates as needed, I got all new test kits, and I have been logging all the tank parameters and maintenance on the Aquarimate app. Some of the parameters are still scary all over the place as I gradually get better at dosing and monitoring. It is difficult not to try to fix everything right away, and to let things work themselves out, or gradually change dosing amounts over time. I'm also surprised at how much increased Nitrate can cause Phosphate to drop, and Alk to get used up much faster, etc. it's eye opening and fascinating.
Hardware on this tank might be a bit over the top, but I have accumulated a lot of equipment over the years and figure I might as well use it. I am also using this as experimental prep and planning for the big tank.
It is not exactly a work of art in my office. However, I consider this a temporary and preparatory setup, as I am planning a 180 build to start soon, hopefully up and running by the end of this year…stay tuned!
For equipment:
- JBJ 28 Tank with old CF hood removed
- Neptune Apex Classic
2x Jabao WP-25 (connected to Apex with Linkage Adapter)
- Radion X30 G3Pro (connected to Apex with WXM)
- Neptune PMUP ATO
- Aquamaxx HOB-1
- Fluval Canister Filter (Mainly used as a closed loop pump for the chiller and UV, but I do have some Matrix and sponge inside)
- AquaUV 15 watt HOB UV Sterilizer
- JBJ Nano Chiller
- Cobalt NeoTherm 100w Heater
- GHL Doser 2.1 dosing Triton 4-part (non-Triton method version)
- Clip-on fan for evaporative cooling (chiller doesn't even run much in the winter time)
As for the occupants, I haven't gotten any new fish in over 4 years because "Pinky" the death pseudochromis was in there and killed any other fish I tried to keep. I moved him into a new WB10 tank a few months ago when I restarted this tank, so I'm all set to restock (See my QT thread here). I do have a bunch of corals that I have collected over many years, and a rock flower anemone which I got about 2 or 3 years ago and is getting enormous. I might need some help identifying many of them. I'll posted images shortly.
