My 28G JBJ AIO Journal

[Darbex]

This will be my continuing journal on the trials and tribulations on my first experience in salt water. I have always wanted a salt water tank but have been to afraid to start it, but with many people telling me it isnt as hard as it seems and about as hard as Discus. So with that being said I picked the 28G JBJ AIO for 3 reasons 1. I wanted a nano tank as I didnt want to do the part of making the water and all of that for water changes so with a small tank I can purchase pre-made for less than $6 a week 2. Its All Included for the most part & 3. There was a sell that I couldnt pass up on it. Now for the tank.

As I mentioned its a JBJ 28 gallon AIO it comes with two small pumps, media, 105W PC hood mounted, and a wave maker. Now for what I purchased I bought a small 5G to put in the stand for the ATO (Auto Top Off) reserve tank I think I am going to change it for a 10G since I have plenty of room still in the stand. I got the Coralife power strip that has 3 power settings (day, night, and constant). And of course a 150W Jager heater. I added 29 lbs of Fiji LR (Live Rock) but I think I need more and a bag of sand. I think I covered everything to start this tank here are the pics.

Here is the pic after getting the tank

This is immediately after finishing last night


This was sometime this afternoon


And this is from 30 minutes ago

[Darbex]

I actually didnt use any of the epoxy as the pieces seemed to fit perfectly the way I set them up and they would move at all. And I picked a piece on the left side that created an overhang with out having to glue rocks together to accomplish it. I think I like the way I set it up as I made a nice U shape the only thing I might want to change is add to large piece near the center on top to make the pile higher. What do you all think?

[jeebus]

The rock layout looks very cool. So for those who have never done saltwater, what exactly is in the water that you put in the tank? What kind of sand is that too?

[Darbex]

Dont know whats in the water besides water and salt I will have to ask the store what they put in it. The sand is Caribsea live sand

[madugo]

looking good man..i like the rock work...but u gonna need more man...like maybe 29lbs more...
and how deep is the sand bed?if that's around 2-3in that would be perfect..

[myjohnson]

The rock layout looks very cool. So for those who have never done saltwater, what exactly is in the water that you put in the tank? What kind of sand is that too?

Chlorine, Cl 19,500
Sodium, Na 10,770
Magnesium, Mg 1,290
Sulphur, S 905
Calcium, Ca 412
Potassium, K 380
Bromine, Br 67
Carbon, C 28
Nitrogen, N 11.5
Strontium, Sr 8
Oxygen, O 6
Boron, B 4.4
Silicon, Si 2
Fluorine, F 1.3
Argon, Ar 0.43
Lithium, Li 0.18
Rubidium, Rb 0.12
Phosphorus, P 0.06
Iodine, I 0.06
Barium, Ba 0.02
Molybdenium, Mo 0.01
Arsenic, As 0.0037
Uranium, U 0.0032
Vanadium, V 0.0025
Titanium, Ti 0.001
Zinc, Zn 0.0005
Nickel, Ni 0.00048
Aluminium, Al 0.0004
Cesium, Cs 0.0004
Chromium, Cr 0.0003
Antimony, Sb 0.00024
Krypton, Kr 0.0002
Selenium, Se 0.0002
Neon, Ne 0.00012
Manganese, Mn 0.0001
Cadmium, Cd 0.0001
Copper, Cu 0.0001
Tungsten, W 0.0001
Iron, Fe 0.000055
Xenon, Xe 0.00005
Zirconium, Zr 0.00003
Bismuth, Bi 0.00002
Niobium, Nb 0.00001
Thallium, Tl 0.00001
Thorium, Th 0.00001
Hafnium, Hf 7 x 10-6
Helium, He 6.8 x 10-6
Beryllium, Be 5.6 x 10-6
Germanium, Ge 5 x 10-6
Gold, Au 4 x 10-6
Rhenium, Re 4 x 10-6
Cobalt, Co 3 x 10-6
Lanthanum, La 3 x 10-6
Neodymium, Nd 3 x 10-6
Lead, Pb 2 x 10-6
Silver, Ag 2 x 10-6
Tantalum, Ta 2 x 10-6
Gallium, Ga 2 x 10-6
Yttrium, Y 1.3 x 10-6
Mercury, Hg 1 x 10-6
Cerium, Ce 1 x 10-6
Dysprosium, Dy 9 x 10-7
Erbium, Er 8 x 10-7
Ytterbium, Yb 8 x 10-7
Gadolinium, Gd 7 x 10-7
Praseodymium, Pr 6 x 10-7
Scandium, Sc 6 x 10-7
Tin, Sn 6 x 10-7
Holmium, Ho 2 x 10-7
Lutetium, Lu 2 x 10-7
Thulium, Tm 2 x 10-7
Indium, In 1 x 10-7
Trebium, Tb 1 x 10-7
Palladium, Pd 5 x 10-8
Samarium, Sm 5 x 10-8
Tellurium, Te 1 x 10-8
Europium, Eu 1 x 10-8
Radium, Ra 7 x 10-11
Protactinium, Pa 5 x 10-11
Radon, Rn 6 x 10-16

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_salts.php

[myjohnson]

So far so good. Don't rush it man. Borrow my test kit so you don't have to buy one.

I got two different types of corals frags for you already.

Wait a month for the tank to cycle and the frags are yours.

[Darbex]

looking good man..i like the rock work...but u gonna need more man...like maybe 29lbs more...
and how deep is the sand bed?if that's around 2-3in that would be perfect..

I read that you need only 1lb of rocks per gallon that was what I got but I think I need two more large rock and a bunch of little rocks to fill in some spaces and it will look better. I will snap a pic when I get home it looks cool now that you can see. The sand bed is about 2 - 2.5"

[wesleydnunder]

Looks like a nice start, Brian... wish I could afford a salt tank.

Mark

[Darbex]

Just ordered a refractometer, JBJ ATO, and a Eheim 600 pump for the ATO. I think I am going to go pick up some more LR today and I will snap some more pics

[myjohnson]

If you can get more LR in there then do so. It's the media so more is better. You should also consider while scaping your tank how it will look when you add frags.

All my frags are on LR. So you might not need a bunch of little rocks to fill in the spaces. Good pick up on the refractometer. I couldn't trust anything less.

[Darbex]

I wanted to go last night but the traffic was hella bad getting home so I didnt go. The refractometer was Marine Depots house brand it was only $30.

[mgarrido]

i like the scape Darbex, good luck with your sw adventure.

[Darbex]

So I picked up about 9 lbs of LR and snapped the picks so here they are enjoy. I really like the way they came out. What do you think? In the second pic you can see the algae starting to grow.

[madugo]

the layout looking really good man...
but looking like it seems the rocks are laying on the back glass?
what i am thinking is what if you could move them a little in the center of the tank...which will give a better water movement through out the back of the rocks too? and reduce the amount of dead corners? that is just thinking..dont know if that make any sense...
but anyway...the rock work looks better than mine..