Hello everyone, welcome to my build thread that I plan to update periodically as my system progresses into what I fully envision.
This is not a new tank, the livestock started in a maxspect nano 15g AIO system, and as they outrgrew that we moved onto a hand-me-down JBJ 25.
This is the Maxspect nano. The tank was great and VERY successful. I had collected some unique pieces as well as some corals and inverts i've always wanted to keep. I may talk more about this tank in the future. Ultimately, these corals outgrew the tank and I was seeking more space for more fish. I received a free JBJ 25 and decided to upgrade to it as my limited space didnt allow what I truly would like to upgrade into.
I decided to take a bit of time on setting up the JBJ system as the nano was smooth sailing, no rush. The system started with dry rock, a mix of marco rocks purple rock and some aquaforest rock. I used a box of Two Little Fishies ReBorn (Ca reactor media) as substrate. BIG mistake! I have no clue how old the box was, but i didn't rinse it very well and it created a dusty mess that the tank took ages to recover from. Ultimately I had to remove that gravel-like substrate and I replaced it with some Tampa Bay Saltwater Ultra Live Sand. Cool stuff, full of life and microbiome!
For nano cubes I find Kessil to offer the best lighting solution. Because of that, on the nano I ran a 160 and on the JBJ I am currently running an A360X Tuna Blue with the 55° narrow reflector. I use the reflector mainly to reduce light spill into the room, but it also allows me to run the light at a much lower power. I use a Kessil dongle connected to my Apex fusion to control the light. Because of this I can use profiles to create custom light modes using my adaptive reef control toggle box, more on this later. For heat I am using Helio PTC with dual heating elements due to the safety features of the PTC system. I am using a Red Sea ATO+ and a 5g trigger systems ATO in the stand.
For filtration, I started with the Tunze DOC 9001 but as this is in my living room it was a bit too loud and I removed it pretty quickly. Once removing it I decided to add a Klir filter roller to the filter sock chamber. I had to modify the rollermat very slightly as due to the JBJ 25 being an AIO, the water level in the filter sock never rose to the point of triggering the Klir sensor. Because of this, I simply bypassed the Klir controller and I have my Apex turn the roller on for 25 seconds every day which rolls it one full turn. I'm debating the merits of having it turn several times per day, but with less time turning. Fairly recently I've added a mini refugium to the center chamber of the AIO by cutting off the vinyl backing on the glass and attaching a Innovative Marine ChaetoMax with some 3M Dual Lock. As you can see its growing well, and the rollermat works great!
Also on the system is an Axis 40 return pump and a Nero 3 both controller through the Apex using MXM. The return nozzle has a Innovative Marine Spinstream which I absolutely love. The spinning action creates great surface agitation while also providing a randomized flow through the display. In the return chamber I have my probes which are a pH and temp probe, my intake for my Reef Factory KH Keeper, and my 4 inputs from my doser. Currently I am running a Reef Factory 4 headed doser but am considering a switch to the Versa 4 pack as I am not a fan of the Reef Factory app at all. Originally I had the KH keeper depositing its waste water into the tank again, but with such a small volume of water that caused all kinds of issues. The KH Keeper grew algae in its testing chamber as well and overall it was a bit of a headache.
This is what the system looked like shortly after transferring from the Maxspect nano. The rockspace is quite cavernous, with the inside of the rock "hill" being completely hollow. As you can see, the abysmal calcium reactor substrate. It really caused me issues and I'm glad to finally be rid of it. As you can see, on the left side of the stand is an attached Adaptive Reef control board with my apex and other controllers mounted. I also have a Reef Factory temp display to get a reading at a glance. Above the control board is my control toggle box I use for several things such as feed mode, maintenance mode, photography mode, and "party mode". Currently in the Simplicity 2L dosing containers I have Triton Core7 primary method attached to that Reef Factory doser. Due to ongoing issues with the tank, I haven't had any consumption and have had this off. This should be turned on very shortly.
The tank has gone through many ups and downs, it has had a lot of livestock move through its waters. Some honorable mentions that either ended up passing away or I rehomed/traded. A beautiful pair of dragonface pipefish that I got to eat frozen mysis. One died and I rehomed the other. Impulse purchased a curious wormfish which ended up quickly becoming a favorite. Kept it for about a year in the nano before it got too big and rehomed. A tiny black/red anglerfish about the size of my thumb which tried to eat a 2.5" clownfish and killed itself on it, also killed the clown (the one without a spot in the photos, RIP).
Up until a few hours ago, this tank was a mixed reef mainly focused on LPS. Well I just sold all my corals that have a skeleton (ok not all of them, I kept 2 favorites). I was feeling a bit of burnout from the tank, and the lack of microbiome was becoming an issue and affecting coral health. About a month ago I had made the fatal mistake of adding a tiny Nox Angelfish to the system and over a weekend it ate half of every coral in my system. Due to the unstable nature of the system, the corals haven't really fully recovered since then. Because of that and my obsession with soft corals, I've decided its time to pursue my goal of a softy tank where I collect the rare pieces I've always wanted. Thankfully I have a few resources available to make that a reality! In a future post I'll share some of the corals I've acquired over time and why I like them. A little peak, here is one of my favorites and one LPS I had to keep, my little button scolymia Micromussa pacifica. In the image you can also see the anglerfish and its sexy shrimp friend.
The clean up crew consists of mostly black foot trochus snails (probably 6) and several halloween hermit crabs. Alongside them is a small florida red footed sea cucumber Pentacta pygmaea, a large abalone, a porcelain anemone crab Neopetrolisthes maculatus, several normal porcelain crabs Petrolisthes Caribensis, a Chiton, countless tunicates and micro brittle starfish, and anything and everything small that comes with TBS ocean sand. Theres also a gold coral banded shrimp, but it does nothing other than be a menace so its not included in the list of clean up crew.
As for fish the oldest in the tank would be the ocellaris clown which was a "premium assorted clownfish" from Petco. I think the single spot on the side of the otherwise naked clown is super cute! Sadly his partner was murdered by the mini anglerfish so he is alone. There is a second clown, a large orange skunk clown that hosts my large piece of cespitularia. Surprisingly they get along, the original plan was to rehome the ocellaris clown but unless I see aggression they may both stay for a while. I keep a lubbock's fairy wrasse as I believe all tanks should have a wrasse to manage pests. They are quite beautiful but can sometimes become annoyingly aggressive and are VERY keen on jumping out. A Dot Dash blenny accompanies the others and does great at keeping the rocks clean. Sometimes I forget, but I also have a clingfish that loves to eat straight from the feeding tube! He sits exclusively on the rear black glass and only moves for food. The star of the show is a Papuan Toby Canthigaster papua that I picked up 2 days ago and have fallen in love with. The color, body shape, and movement of the puffer is so gorgeous. This fish is the reason I've motivated myself to post about my experience with this tank, and to give the tank a new life as a softy collection.
So to recap:
Papuan Toby Canthigaster papua
Dot Dash Blenny Ecsenius lineatus
Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
Orange Skunk Clown Amphiprion sandaracinos
Premium asst. Ocellaris clown Amphiprion ocellaris
Some of my goals for this system include acquiring some rarer leathers or leathers I've always wanted, stuffing the system with cryptic fish, and adding a few nems, sand dwelling macro algae, and a hippopus clam. In specific I'm really in search of a Japanese purple leather, a nice ultra long tentacle Sarcophyton, several different sinularia, a few mini maxi nems, maybe a LTA, some Udotea and Halimedia, and a nice hippopus specimen. The long term goal is to not be able to see any rockwork due to varius leathers, mushrooms, zoas, and anemone.
I plan to create several more posts in this thread, some showing the current state of the system and its inhabitants and coral. I'll also be creating some regarding my equipment and some unique ways I like to use it! Follow along as I turn this tank around and create something I'm proud of!
Thank you!
This is not a new tank, the livestock started in a maxspect nano 15g AIO system, and as they outrgrew that we moved onto a hand-me-down JBJ 25.
This is the Maxspect nano. The tank was great and VERY successful. I had collected some unique pieces as well as some corals and inverts i've always wanted to keep. I may talk more about this tank in the future. Ultimately, these corals outgrew the tank and I was seeking more space for more fish. I received a free JBJ 25 and decided to upgrade to it as my limited space didnt allow what I truly would like to upgrade into.
I decided to take a bit of time on setting up the JBJ system as the nano was smooth sailing, no rush. The system started with dry rock, a mix of marco rocks purple rock and some aquaforest rock. I used a box of Two Little Fishies ReBorn (Ca reactor media) as substrate. BIG mistake! I have no clue how old the box was, but i didn't rinse it very well and it created a dusty mess that the tank took ages to recover from. Ultimately I had to remove that gravel-like substrate and I replaced it with some Tampa Bay Saltwater Ultra Live Sand. Cool stuff, full of life and microbiome!
For nano cubes I find Kessil to offer the best lighting solution. Because of that, on the nano I ran a 160 and on the JBJ I am currently running an A360X Tuna Blue with the 55° narrow reflector. I use the reflector mainly to reduce light spill into the room, but it also allows me to run the light at a much lower power. I use a Kessil dongle connected to my Apex fusion to control the light. Because of this I can use profiles to create custom light modes using my adaptive reef control toggle box, more on this later. For heat I am using Helio PTC with dual heating elements due to the safety features of the PTC system. I am using a Red Sea ATO+ and a 5g trigger systems ATO in the stand.
For filtration, I started with the Tunze DOC 9001 but as this is in my living room it was a bit too loud and I removed it pretty quickly. Once removing it I decided to add a Klir filter roller to the filter sock chamber. I had to modify the rollermat very slightly as due to the JBJ 25 being an AIO, the water level in the filter sock never rose to the point of triggering the Klir sensor. Because of this, I simply bypassed the Klir controller and I have my Apex turn the roller on for 25 seconds every day which rolls it one full turn. I'm debating the merits of having it turn several times per day, but with less time turning. Fairly recently I've added a mini refugium to the center chamber of the AIO by cutting off the vinyl backing on the glass and attaching a Innovative Marine ChaetoMax with some 3M Dual Lock. As you can see its growing well, and the rollermat works great!
Also on the system is an Axis 40 return pump and a Nero 3 both controller through the Apex using MXM. The return nozzle has a Innovative Marine Spinstream which I absolutely love. The spinning action creates great surface agitation while also providing a randomized flow through the display. In the return chamber I have my probes which are a pH and temp probe, my intake for my Reef Factory KH Keeper, and my 4 inputs from my doser. Currently I am running a Reef Factory 4 headed doser but am considering a switch to the Versa 4 pack as I am not a fan of the Reef Factory app at all. Originally I had the KH keeper depositing its waste water into the tank again, but with such a small volume of water that caused all kinds of issues. The KH Keeper grew algae in its testing chamber as well and overall it was a bit of a headache.
This is what the system looked like shortly after transferring from the Maxspect nano. The rockspace is quite cavernous, with the inside of the rock "hill" being completely hollow. As you can see, the abysmal calcium reactor substrate. It really caused me issues and I'm glad to finally be rid of it. As you can see, on the left side of the stand is an attached Adaptive Reef control board with my apex and other controllers mounted. I also have a Reef Factory temp display to get a reading at a glance. Above the control board is my control toggle box I use for several things such as feed mode, maintenance mode, photography mode, and "party mode". Currently in the Simplicity 2L dosing containers I have Triton Core7 primary method attached to that Reef Factory doser. Due to ongoing issues with the tank, I haven't had any consumption and have had this off. This should be turned on very shortly.
The tank has gone through many ups and downs, it has had a lot of livestock move through its waters. Some honorable mentions that either ended up passing away or I rehomed/traded. A beautiful pair of dragonface pipefish that I got to eat frozen mysis. One died and I rehomed the other. Impulse purchased a curious wormfish which ended up quickly becoming a favorite. Kept it for about a year in the nano before it got too big and rehomed. A tiny black/red anglerfish about the size of my thumb which tried to eat a 2.5" clownfish and killed itself on it, also killed the clown (the one without a spot in the photos, RIP).
Up until a few hours ago, this tank was a mixed reef mainly focused on LPS. Well I just sold all my corals that have a skeleton (ok not all of them, I kept 2 favorites). I was feeling a bit of burnout from the tank, and the lack of microbiome was becoming an issue and affecting coral health. About a month ago I had made the fatal mistake of adding a tiny Nox Angelfish to the system and over a weekend it ate half of every coral in my system. Due to the unstable nature of the system, the corals haven't really fully recovered since then. Because of that and my obsession with soft corals, I've decided its time to pursue my goal of a softy tank where I collect the rare pieces I've always wanted. Thankfully I have a few resources available to make that a reality! In a future post I'll share some of the corals I've acquired over time and why I like them. A little peak, here is one of my favorites and one LPS I had to keep, my little button scolymia Micromussa pacifica. In the image you can also see the anglerfish and its sexy shrimp friend.
The clean up crew consists of mostly black foot trochus snails (probably 6) and several halloween hermit crabs. Alongside them is a small florida red footed sea cucumber Pentacta pygmaea, a large abalone, a porcelain anemone crab Neopetrolisthes maculatus, several normal porcelain crabs Petrolisthes Caribensis, a Chiton, countless tunicates and micro brittle starfish, and anything and everything small that comes with TBS ocean sand. Theres also a gold coral banded shrimp, but it does nothing other than be a menace so its not included in the list of clean up crew.
As for fish the oldest in the tank would be the ocellaris clown which was a "premium assorted clownfish" from Petco. I think the single spot on the side of the otherwise naked clown is super cute! Sadly his partner was murdered by the mini anglerfish so he is alone. There is a second clown, a large orange skunk clown that hosts my large piece of cespitularia. Surprisingly they get along, the original plan was to rehome the ocellaris clown but unless I see aggression they may both stay for a while. I keep a lubbock's fairy wrasse as I believe all tanks should have a wrasse to manage pests. They are quite beautiful but can sometimes become annoyingly aggressive and are VERY keen on jumping out. A Dot Dash blenny accompanies the others and does great at keeping the rocks clean. Sometimes I forget, but I also have a clingfish that loves to eat straight from the feeding tube! He sits exclusively on the rear black glass and only moves for food. The star of the show is a Papuan Toby Canthigaster papua that I picked up 2 days ago and have fallen in love with. The color, body shape, and movement of the puffer is so gorgeous. This fish is the reason I've motivated myself to post about my experience with this tank, and to give the tank a new life as a softy collection.
So to recap:
Papuan Toby Canthigaster papua
Dot Dash Blenny Ecsenius lineatus
Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
Orange Skunk Clown Amphiprion sandaracinos
Premium asst. Ocellaris clown Amphiprion ocellaris
Some of my goals for this system include acquiring some rarer leathers or leathers I've always wanted, stuffing the system with cryptic fish, and adding a few nems, sand dwelling macro algae, and a hippopus clam. In specific I'm really in search of a Japanese purple leather, a nice ultra long tentacle Sarcophyton, several different sinularia, a few mini maxi nems, maybe a LTA, some Udotea and Halimedia, and a nice hippopus specimen. The long term goal is to not be able to see any rockwork due to varius leathers, mushrooms, zoas, and anemone.
I plan to create several more posts in this thread, some showing the current state of the system and its inhabitants and coral. I'll also be creating some regarding my equipment and some unique ways I like to use it! Follow along as I turn this tank around and create something I'm proud of!
Thank you!
