[thelastmucci]

Jason just to let you know I just rated your thread a five star....I think it's really beneficial to new reefers and could even help some of the crafty veterans on this site....job well done. BTW..did you get my PVT msg?

[Jasonanatal]

Originally Posted by thelastmucci

Jason just to let you know I just rated your thread a five star....I think it's really beneficial to new reefers and could even help some of the crafty veterans on this site....job well done. BTW..did you get my PVT msg?

Thelastmucci, thank you very much for the rating! I have your private message but didn't have much time on my hands last night to give you a detailed reply. Give me some time tonight and I will reply.

[Jasonanatal]

Santa Made An Early Delivery featuring My New Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer.

Well everyone knows that it's not fair to everyone else within your family to purchase anything right before Christmas but I was really never one to concern myself with something like that especially when it comes to my 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium. With help of my credit card, Marine Depot and FedEx my new Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer was delivered early by Santa.

No everyone knows that with a limited water volume as in the case of my Nano Reef Aquarium it very difficult to maintain prestine water quality without the use of some fancy gadgetry... that is the case unless your a fan of daily to bi-daily water changes which I'm not! So I searched the Internet and Polled the Forums in search of a great Protein Skimmer for my setup. Now me selection was extremely limited since I had factors effecting what I could and could not purchase. These factors included:

-Size of the Protein Skimmer, which affected where I could place the Protein Skimmer on the rear of my Nano Reef Aquarium.
-Performance/Efficiency of the Protein Skimmer, which affected what type of bioload my Nano Reef Aquarium could sustain and what type of Corals and Livestock I could house.
-Price of the Protein Skimmer, well lets face it I don't want to be left withouth any Christmas shopping money. My wife would murder me!

Finally the decision was made to place an order with Marine Depot for the Tunze Nano DOC Protein Skimmer. Now many people that I questioned did not have any personal experience with this Protein Skimmer and where relying on the reputation of Tunze as the basis of their recommendation. Well I went along and said hell their Tunze if their bigger equipment works wonders then what do I have to loose, other then $12.00 in return shipping should it not work out they way I hoped. The equipment arrived a short time after and it was amazing to see the construction of this equipment. It was so simple that I started to question whether I would get the results that I wanted. After placing the base into the Rear Center Chamber of my 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium, which just fit with a little elbow grease and firm love.

Well after a few days of monitoring and documentation I can say hands down this is the most efficient and absolutely silent running Protein Skimmer I have ever used. Their are no micro-bubbles produced as a byproduct of the Foam Fractionization process and the sludge that this thing pulls out is comparitive to mud. Also the collection cup requires no twisting or unlatching to remove it. Simply grab and lift and it slides out with no problem. Best of all you don't have to turn off the Tunze Nano DOC Protein Skimmer 9002 when emptying and cleaning the collection cup. The Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer received the seal of approval from me hands down!

Personal Observation: Unfortunately the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer fits very snuggly within the Rear Center Chamber of my JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI Reef Aquarium. However, the collection cup cannot be mounted properly withithout removing the Integrated Hood of the Nano Reef Aquarium entirely, unlatching the Integrated Hood and resting it in a position where it crosses the top edge of the top of the Nano Reef Aquarium Glass or Using a Dremil tool to modify the Read of the Integrated Hood to allow for the collection cup to sit properly on the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer body. Also note that the skimmer requires that the collection cup sit properly on the body without any break in the seal or the Protein Skimmer will not function as all!



Video - This video was shot just a couple of hours after the installation of the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer. Please excuse the fact that the video is sideways.


Photograph - Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer. A small package with big results.



Photograph - Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer in operation Day #2.



Photograph - Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer in operation Day #3.

[Jasonanatal]

Santa Made An Early Delivery featuring My New Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer Continued.....


Photograph - Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer in operation Day #4.

[plecosword]

wow i really like your skimer. is that like a sump behind the tank. i kinda like it. nice skimmer.

[Jasonanatal]

My Most Prized and Only Crocea Clam.



Here is my 6 month old Crocea Clam. It has grown substatially while in my posession and has relocated 3 times in the 6 month period. It's first home was a 90 gallon SPS Reef Aquarium that was tore down do to associated maintenance expenses being too high. The second home was a 10 gallon Aqurium with 300 watt of Metal Halide lighting which was a halfway home for my most recent setup and it's final destination. During the time in its second home a 1 inch Bleech spot formed on the Mantel which is most likely due to too much light and a very immature Aquarium setup. It's new home and final destination... at least for the time being is my JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium which has been up and running for 7 weeks now. It is very happy and since being housed in its new home has recovered from it's Bleeched Spot. The Crocea clam is roughly 3 inches in Diameter, has an amazing Mantel extension and has some significant weight when out of water I'm estimating 6 lbs to 7 lbs roughly. It is fed Marine Snow once a week on Mondays and a mixture of Cyclopeeze and Mysis Shrimp once a week Wednesdays as well. Funny thing is my Gold Stripped Maroon Clownfish has decided to host within it and honestly it doesn't seem to mind. Go figure!




Photograph - My 6 month old Crocea Clam. My most beautiful Clam specimen.

[Jasonanatal]

Time for a Little Do-It-Yourself Modifications: Making Some Space

Due to my recent addition of the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer which has been one of the most beneficial upgrades to my JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium. However, in the process of solving one problem another problem managed to show itself. How about that for Murphy's Law? Even though the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer main body was able to just barely squeeze into the Center Baffle of the Rear Chamber of the JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium the collection cup was too large and occupied a substantial amount of real estate that caused me to have to disconnect the stock Integrated Hood to accomodate for the Collections Cup's space requirements.



Photograph - The Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer Collection Cup occupying just a little more space then I had hoped for.


Photograph - The stock Integrated Hood of the JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium disconnected from the latches and hanging about 0.5 inch over the front of the Aquarium edge allowing light to spill out. Not the prettiest site especially with someone who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder such as myself.

Now a couple of choices were available as possible resolutions for this issue. First solution would be to remove the stock Integrated Hood and purchase a pendant, hanging or bracket mounted Metal Halide Lighting System to replace the Integrated Hood. This option was indeed to most expensive and would wast a perfectly functioning Reflector, Electronic Ballast, and Moonlights. So I opted out of choosing this option. Second solution would be to get alittle creative and break out some tools without loosing an eye or finger in the process and reminding my wife that she cannot drive without a license and that the hospital is just a cab ride away! Plus this would save me money so that I could spend it on another form of equipment for my hobby. So I choose option two.

Here was the gameplan, I was going to use my Cordless Titanium Dremel tool in order to accurrately create an opening in the rear of the Integrated Hood so that it can be connected back to the latches while allowing suffiicient space for the Tunze Nano DOC 9002 Protein Skimmer Collection Cup to sit properly. I measure approximately 4 inches in Width x 0.75 inch in Depth in order to accomplish the end product. I made sure our son was out of the room and yes I wore safety goggles even though I didn't photograph them and went to work.




Photograph - The Cordless Titanium Dremel tool that will help me save some money and maybe lose a finger.


Photograph - The Integrated Hood disconnected entirely from the JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI Reef Aquarium.

Photograph - My work in progress no I just have to smooth the edges and clean up the mess before my wife yells at me that were having company over.

[Jasonanatal]

Time for a Little Do-It-Yourself Modifications: Making Some Space Continue.....


Photograph - The surgery is complete and it doesn't look half as bad as I thought and here the kicker I still have all 9 I mean 10 fingers.


Photograph - Now that looks just right! My Integrated Hood back on the JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium with smooth edges. Now what can I buy with $250.00?

[thelastmucci]

awesome mod dude....great looking job.

[Jasonanatal]

Originally Posted by thelastmucci

awesome mod dude....great looking job.

Thelastmucci, thank you for the compliments. It took me about a week to consider spending $250.00 or losing a finger or two! LOL

[Jasonanatal]

Electricity, Saltwater & Living Creatures Not a Good Combination.

My wife is such a wonderful woman who wants to make our very first Christmas together as special as it can be so she decided to give me a stocking stuffer from Santa Clause a bit early. I'm glad she pays attention when I bore her to death about the Marine Aquarium Hobby. It shows how much she loves me! Okay back on track, she remember that I had mentioned something about a Titanium Grounding Probe and decided to pick one up for me.



Photograph - My stocking stuffer, the Rid Volt Titanium Grounding Probe.

This is definitely an area that I can see makes enough of a point through common sense. Unfortunately I don't own any devices that can measure the electricl current in water if any at all before I setup the probe in comparison to after using the probe. In theory it makes perfect sense and what does it cost me? Not a penny so I just connected it to a grounded outlet as instructed and submersed the probe into the Aquarium Saltwater within the Far Left Baffle of the Rear Chamber on my JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium.

[Fishhead Junkie]

hey jason..i have a few questions...nice tank by the way..

1. regarding your hood, does your hood not cover up the back chambers of the tank or did you modify that previously?

2. to you have some type of refugium behind the tank...looked like a small tank was sitting directly behind it, if so, how do you have that hooked up?

i have a 29 gallon bio cube<--there is a pic of it in the nano tank posting section. my hood covers the entire top of the tank. i did a lil modifying and cut out some of the plastic grating that seperated the dual intake chambers and inserted my heater down thru the hole so it would fit out of site.

i also decided to purchase one of those oceanic bio-cube protein skimmers and fit it into the same chamber as the heater. dont really know if it is doing anything..i am playing with the airflow right now..i think i had it too high cuz the collection chamber was just filled with water.

take some more pics of your whole set up if you have time..i am very interested in your tank setup.

steve

[plecosword]

wow it looks soo great, Once again, o love your maroon clown!!

[Jasonanatal]

Originally Posted by Fishhead Junkie

hey jason..i have a few questions...nice tank by the way..

1. regarding your hood, does your hood not cover up the back chambers of the tank or did you modify that previously?

2. to you have some type of refugium behind the tank...looked like a small tank was sitting directly behind it, if so, how do you have that hooked up?

i have a 29 gallon bio cube<--there is a pic of it in the nano tank posting section. my hood covers the entire top of the tank. i did a lil modifying and cut out some of the plastic grating that seperated the dual intake chambers and inserted my heater down thru the hole so it would fit out of site.

i also decided to purchase one of those oceanic bio-cube protein skimmers and fit it into the same chamber as the heater. dont really know if it is doing anything..i am playing with the airflow right now..i think i had it too high cuz the collection chamber was just filled with water.

take some more pics of your whole set up if you have time..i am very interested in your tank setup.

steve

Fishhead Junkie, thank you for the interested in my JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium. To answer your questions, no I did not modify that stock Integrated Hood to allow for complete exposure of the Rear Chambers. This was a redesign that JBJ placed into this model of their latest Nano Aquariums in order to address issues with adding such equipment as Heaters, Chillers, and any other equipment that a hobbyist feels is necessary to add. As you know one major issue inherent to these types of Aquariums is heat not being able to escape fast enough and essentially raising overall water temperatures within the aquarium. Basically allowing you not to have to resort to cutting out a piece of the Integrated Hood to fit your equipment in. Mine was a rare case. I currently do not have a Refugium connected to my aquarium. Could you repost what photograph you are referring to? As always more photographs documentation will be taken and posted shortly. I'm glad I can assist both beginners and experienced hobbyist alike.

[Jasonanatal]

Originally Posted by plecosword

wow it looks soo great, Once again, o love your maroon clown!!

Plecossword, thank you once again for the compliments.

[Jasonanatal]

Something's Fishy with My Deresa Clam

Well I have all my thing packed for work and I'm just about to walk out the door and through the corner of my eye I see something unspeakable. My most priced possession and only Deresa Clam has an area of Pinched Mantel. Of all the things in the world why my Deresa Clam! Well out to work I go and hopefully in the morning I will see my Deresa Clam good as new. I'm come home the next morning and normally my Deresa Clam still has bout 0.25 Inch of the mantel extended during the Moonlight Photo-Period and brief time during the morning where both the Metal Halide Photo-Period and Moonlight Photo-Period are not in progress. But yet the same area that was experiencing the Pinched Mantel issue. With the Metal Halide Photo-Period about to kick in a few hours I decide to get some rest and come back to investigate.




Photograph - My Deresa Clam displaying signs of Pinch Mantel.

Now the Metal Halide Lighting is on and the Deresa Clam should have the entire Mantel Extended but unfortunately it is still displaying sign of Pinch Mantel. So I do a little looking around and what do I see causing the problem... an Aptasia Anemone! Now in the past this particular coral had an Aptasia Anemone growing on the side of it shell which was removed by using a Tweezers. This particular Aptasia Anemone was growing within the crevis of the already formed shell and the new layer that was growing. Precisely located underneath the normal Mantel extension area. The same method of using a tweezer to remove the Aptasia was performed and within an hour the Deresa Clam was fully extending its Mantel as normal. Thank goodness!


Photograph - My Deresa Clam feeling all better after the removal of the Aptasia Anemone.

[rlcline76]

Plucking that aiptasia may have just helped it multiply. Read up on aiptasia, and the methods of getting rid of them without helping them out in the long run.

[plecosword]

are we talking about the pest anemone?

[Jasonanatal]

Originally Posted by rlcline76

Plucking that aiptasia may have just helped it multiply. Read up on aiptasia, and the methods of getting rid of them without helping them out in the long run.

Rlcline, I understand methods of remove Aiptasia Anemones but this one was clearly able to be removed by a simple plucking method. Thank you for the advice though.

[Jasonanatal]

Originally Posted by plecosword

are we talking about the pest anemone?

Plecosword, yes I am indeed referring to a Pest Anemone.

[Jasonanatal]

A More Detailed Look at Weekly Water Changes.

Hello everyone, I just thought I would go into a bit more detail on the processes that are included in the weekly water changes for my JBJ 28 gallon Nano Cube HQI SPS Reef Aquarium. As I have stated in previous post, the world of Nano Reef Aquariums is not forgiving in making honest mistakes or miscalculations which in the most minuscule amount can have devestating effects on the specimens your care for. This in turn means that I must pay careful attention to parameters of the newly mixed Saltwater as oppossed to the Saltwater already within the Nano Reef Aquarium.

Reverse Osmosis/Deionization or RO/DI Filtration

Well everything has to start somewhere and our first task is to ensure that nothing but the purist water possible can be used to in addition to a quality salt mixture. In order to do this I incorporate a Reverse Osmosis?Deionization or RO/DI Filtration System to purify the tap water coming from my bathroom faucet. Now some people might not now exactly what an RO/DI Filtration System is and how it works so here is a detailed explination. Water coming from you faucet has been chemically treated in order to bring it to any acceptable level for human consumption. Chemicals contained within the water can be anything from Flouride or Phosphates and here a kicker Arsenic. Well to be short about it their are many chemicals that vary from location to location that we do not want in our Aquariums. An RO/DI unit such as mine passes tap water at high pressures through Prefilters developed to chemically remove impurities (Carbon Prefilter) larger Solids (Sediment Prefilters and eventually extremely small solids (Reverse Osmosis Membrane) and finally removing the last amount of impurities both described as a chemical and mechanical filtration method (Deionization Canister) and into your bucket. Resulting in Freshwater that is reffered to as pure or scientifically have the least amount of Total Dissolved Solvents or TDS. Waste water is a byproduct of the filtration at a ratio of 1 gallon of purified water to an average of 4 gallons to 5 gallons of waste water which is expelled from the system at the Reverse Osmosis Membrane.

Notation: All Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Filtration Systems have a Reverse Osmosis Membrane labeled with a Gallons Per Day rating on them. This does not mean that you can leave your unit on for 24 hours and produce for example 75 gallons of Purified Freshwater on a system rate for 75 gallons per day. This means that your unit can process 75 gallons of water in that day which include both purified water in combination with waste water.



Photograph - A standard Reverse Osmosis /Deonization Filtration System with Carbon and Sediment Prefilters rated at 75 gallons per day.

In order to confirm that level of Total Dissolved Solvents of the purified water a hand held TDS Meter or Inline TDS Meter is required. This device works by measuring the electrical conductivity of the purified water by passing electrical current from one prong and receiving/measuring it at the other prong. The closer the reading is to 000 the more pure that water. This device can also ensure that your Reverse Osmosis/Deionization Filtration System is functioning properly.



Photograph - Hannah TDS Meter measuring the purity of the water.
Notation: Please ensure that your TDS Meter prongs are submerged in the water you are measuring the purity of. The photograph above was take for viewing purposes only. Also it is impossible to get the TDS Reading of saltwater so don't be alarmed if you place the TDS Meter in saltwater and the reading goes off the chart.

Mixing Synthetic Sea Salt for the Nano Reef Aquarium

Now this section is not meant to start a debate on what manufacturer of Synthetic Sea Salt will provide the optimal results for a Nano Reef Aquarium. Since I started in the Reef Keeping Hobby I was an avid Instant Ocean preffered hobbyist. But recently I have switched to Kent Marine Synthetic Sea Salt and I am quite pleased with the results so far. I measure my Kent Marine Synthetic Sea Salt at approximately 2.5 cups for 5 gallons of Freshwater which results in a Salinity Grade of 1.026 Salinity Grade or 35 Parts Per Thousand. I personally found standing at the bucket with a stick manually mixing the salt to be quite time cosuming. So I moved to a more aumated method incoporating a Mag-7 Water Pump to do the mixing for me. I also use a 200 watt Marineland Visi-therm Stealth Heater to match my Nano Reef Aquarium Water of 76 Degrees Fahrenheit and a Coralife Digital Thermometer to see when the temperature is an exact match.




Photograph - Kent Marine Synthetic Sea Salt Mix. The bag include a sealing mechanism like a Ziplock which is worth the high price itself. the seal it creates is airtight which ensure that your Synthetic Sea Salt Mix will not get clumpy from absorbing excessive moisture.

[Jasonanatal]

A More Detailed Look at Weekly Water Changes Continued.....



Photograph - My Pyrex measuring cup with Metric measurement for easy European measurements. Definitely comes in handy with European chemical dosing instructions.

Photograph - Beginning of mixing process.

Photograph - 10 minuts into the mixing process.

Photograph - 25 minutes into the mixing process and the Saltwater is ready for the water change.

Notation: The time allowed for the Synthetic Sea Salt to completely mix with the RO/DI Freshwater is a personal preference and will vary based on what manufactuer's Synthetic Sea Salt you use as well as the Gallons Per Hour ratiing of the Water Pump used to mix it together. It normally take me about 30 minutes for water temperature and salinity grade to reflect the water parameters of the Saltwater contained withint he Nano Reef Aquarium.

Removing and Replacing Nano Reef Aquarium Water

No this method is personal preference but to keep it short and sweet I incporaate a Python Syphon to remove Saltwater from the Nano Reef Aquarium and use to also add the newly mixed water so that I don't injure my back.


Photograph - The Python Syphon one of the most useful items ever developed for the Aquarium.