24g Nano Build

[jmorgan315]

Hey everyone - nee to the community and have been enjoying the build threads so thought I’d add my own progress on my build.

Not new to the hobby, but been out of it for 5ish years and man have things changed. Used to have a 55 gal (when that was a “normal” sized tank) + my 24g JBJ nano as one of the more original AIO nanos. Kids and life got the best of the hobby but I’m finally getting back into it with my old JBJ for now and likely will go with a larger next.

My first step was getting the JBJ started as stock with mods planned. My previous tanks were largely FOWLR, but planning to do more corals this time around.

I’ll be posting a few here in a row as I’m playing catch-up on this post

Initial scape and water in the tank.:

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[snarky shark]

I like the scape.


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[Steve Burton]

Welcome back, and thanks for doing the thread. The JBJ is looking good. The 55s are OK for FOWLR, but really not a good footprint fit a reef tank. Looking forward to seeing your progress

 

[jmorgan315]

I ended up immediately modding the tank by removing the built on hood. This was before the current LED models and running on compact fluorescents, so I started with a cheap $70 LED off Amazon.

I also decided to remove the rim of the tank to give it a rimless look and it’s incredible how different the tank looked immediately. Wish I would’ve done it before getting water in there, but I’ve just occasionally been continuing to remove the silicone.

Based on the advice in here, I also upgraded the filtration to an Intank insert running floss, chemical pure elite, and Puritan. Also upgraded the pump to a Sicce 1.5 which is insanely quiet and a Hydor Koralia nano for extra flow.

While I like the cheap Amazon light, I’m getting frustrated with the ease of changing the blue/white intensity so have an AI Prime 16 HD I’ll be installing instead.

May also go with a refugium in the middle section if I can keep it under control in the small panel. Still working through it.


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[jmorgan315]

After tank was up and running for a few weeks with live sand and bacteria, I added my first inhabitants, some awesome clowns from Nemos. Gladiator and Black snowflake that buddied up immediately.

They’ve been trying to figure out where to host but have been getting along great and are eating anything I give them now. I threw in a starter GSP that I’ll keep on an island at some point and am starting to plan the rest of the tank.

The tanks starting to hit a bit of an ugly phase with some brown diatoms but hopefully it won’t take long to power past it and keep adding more corals and potentially more fish before too long.

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[jmorgan315]

Got an AI Prime 16HD over the weekend and have it installed on the tank. Loving the options but man is it overwhelming.

Going with the BRS recommended schedule for a similar sized tank for now but let me know if anyone has recommendations they’ve had success with. Long term will likely just be doing softies and LPS.

The black snowflake has been starting to chase and nip the Gladiator a good bit but I’m hoping it’s just them figuring out who will be the female as they are pretty similar in size.

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[jmorgan315]

Diatom bloom is hopefully starting to slow down a bit and I added in my CUC today. Just went with 5 astreas, 5 nasarius, and 5 blue legs for now. Likely will add an emerald crab in the future and see if I need to add any more snails/crabs.

Also just finished my stocking/wish list. Still finalizing it so any input is appreciated.

Livestock:

- two clowns - DONE
- Six line Wrasse
- Blenny - either lawnmower, bicolor, or orange spot
- maybe goby/pistol shrimp pair - either yellow watchman, wheelers, or orange spot w/ tiger
- royal gramma
- if not goby/shrimp pair, maybe just a cleaner shrimp with different small goby
- Blue Mandarin 1+ year from now

^^planning to keep an eye on the bio load to see what’s realistic from that list with the 6 line or blenny up next in a couple weeks

Corals:

Im new to corals so still sorting through it but likely will just be softies and LPS

- GSP rock - DONE (and growing)
- euphylias - hammer and frogspawn
- Zoa rock - tbd on colors
- Couple Ricordeas
- Other LPSs - Acans, Favia, Goniastrea

Welcome any feedback!


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[jmorgan315]

Just got back from an 8-day trip to the beach and my first experience with an auto-feeder. Forgot to set up a camera before I left, but was happy to see that the tank was (relatively) in great shape when I returned.

Diatom bloom in full effect and really dirty glass but otherwise in great shape. Just planning on letting it play out with some water changes.

GSP frag seems fully secure to its rock and nearly doubled in size while I was gone.

Clowns are very healthy looking and showing signs of bonding. The gladiator has started showing his seizing and they are beginning to sleep closer and closer. Been really cool to watch. In retrospect I probably got clowns that were too close in size to one another but looks like it’s working itself out.

Heading out of town again this weekend but plan on picking up a blenny (likely lawnmower) and some more softie/lps frags next week.

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[jmorgan315]

Been a while since I posted an update so adding a long one here.

Awhile back I added a unpaired Tiger Pistol Shrimp and hi-fin goby. Was worried whether they’d pair up or not but came back the next morning and they were already sharing a cave together. I’ve been battling the Shrimps idea of how to scape the sand, but otherwise they’ve been awesome to watch.

The shrimp molted after a couple weeks and has since been more and more outgoing in the tank.

At the same time I also added in a few more frags. Just started with a small 1-2 head Hammer, an orange ricordia, and Acan (of some sort). Hammer is about to split to 3 heads, ricordia has had some small growth and opening up more and the Acan is growing another head.

Unfortunately something happened a couple of days after introducing them that caused my Gladiator Clown to go carpet surfing. Took me a few weeks to finally stumble upon him under a cabinet. Only reason I found him was because the Hi-fin also went missing. Fortunately he landed in my overflow and I was able to get him safely back in the display.

Immediately bought some mesh netting to DIY a lid and hopefully prevent future jumpers.

Since losing the Gladiator, my black snowflake has become buds with the Hifin which makes for a nice Trio at times.

I’ve been battling some form of either Diatoms or hair algae for a couple weeks now. Thought it was due to High phosphates so I threw in Phosguard for a few days. Phosphates we’re measuring around .5-1.0, but I think it may have just been a faulty API test kit. Upgraded to a Hanna ULR and am getting around 0.03. Did a blackout which helped some, but may just take awhile to get through.

Upgraded the CUC and also added a Tailspot blenny to the display last week. I’ve absolutely loved the Tailspot so far. After a couple days of hiding, he’s really warming up and hopefully will help manage the algae. He has a few holes he likes to hang out in and is swimming in the open more and more.

Last update (for now) - added a great frag of a Toadstool Leather and small ricordia from [mention]sharis100 [/mention]. Already seeing some growth on the shroom and the Toadstool has nearly doubled in size in a couple weeks. It’s just now opening it’s polyps but doing great otherwise!

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[hiimsean]

I love the goby and shrimp pair!

 

[jmorgan315]

Tank upgrades thanks to Christmas goodies. Have a new ATO on the way as well.

If anyone has any Nero settings they recommend, let me know!

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[jmorgan315]

Finished all my Christmas upgrades + a major update in the storage cabinet.

Now have about as fully automated of a setup as possible without an Apex/similar.

Upgrades made:
- Swapped Hydor Koralia for Nero 3
- Added Inkbird & swapped Eheim glass heater for titanium
- Added diffuser/shield for AI Prime
- added Auto Aqua ATO and homemade water reservoir (drilled a cheap cereal container)
- added Kasa smart strip for all equipment


Here’s a pic of the cabinet cleaned up. Just have to tie up ATO wires once I’m happy with the placement.

Much better than the rats nest from before.

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[jmorgan315]

Been awhile since an update on the tank so dropping a few in here.

Finally picked up a replacement clown for my one that jumped a few months back.

Was nervous introducing him with another clown that was solo for a few months but took the gamble with a smaller Frostbite clown from Nemo Duluth. To my surprise, there was no aggression at all from my existing clown and they’ve been swimming together and even slept in the same area the first night. Even got a bit of a dance/twitch from the existing/larger/likely female clown which was interesting to me.



Another related note is my Tailspot has been out and about MUCH more since the new addition. Must be a happier ecosystem all around.

I noticed a few Vermetids in there over the past couple weeks that hitchhiked in on a snail or something. Manually removed what I could but I think they got by Bubblegum Digi frag. Going to try and frag the healthy tissue to save it soon. Picked up a few bumblebee snails as well to help out.

Last addition was a Rainbow Acan from Nemo as well. Now that I have a few frags, going to mount these to start building out an Acan garden.

 

[Nanolover]

following.... nice looking tank!

 

[XkyleScoreX]

Very cool. I bought the same amazon light to use while I waited on my real light. I liked it. Im wondering how well it will work on corals. I have it on a 3 gallon planted freshwater tank now. Do you have a screen on yours? How is evaporatikn?

 

[tobbob]

I’m setting up the same tank
1 month in & have upgraded to the AI 16 & have the sicce 1.5 ordered.
looking into filteration options.