JBJ Nanocube

barry cuda

Member
I'm thinking about getting my wife one of these for her birthday (she really really wants a clown-only tank). What do you guys think of them? Marine Snow, this is what you have, right? Your tank is absolutely gorgeous...feel free to post pics anytime :D I've heard the included ballasts sometimes blow out in the first 6 months. Is there anything else to watch out for? Also, how good is the integrated filtration? I assume those who use skimmers with these are just throwing out the bio-balls and using that space for a skimmer...what skimmer(s) work well here?
I know it's a lot of questions, but I just want to pick carefully for our first foray into nanos. Thanks!
 

unknown

Member
Barry I went to my LFS today and they had the NEW LBL 12 gallon nano. Has a wet dry in the back comes with 36 watt VHO I do believe. And PH built in. Gets some nice flow. I would have to say it is the NICEST NANO I have EVER seen. The way the tank is like this. http://www.jbjlighting.com/sys_nanocube.html This is the site.
I dont think SWF.com is in comp. with these guys so I think I can post that link.
Also he is a pic of some set up.
Hope you get here one I really like them. When you look at it the tank actually shows depth going back looks alot bigger then a 12 IMO
Hope this helped.
Vince.
:happyfish
 

diddley

Member
tank $10
coralife agualight 20 inch 28 watt $35
penguin 125 $14
mini-jet 404 x 2 $28
total is $87 dollars, a little more flexibility, but probably not as "sleek"
just another option to consider
 

viper_930

Active Member

Originally posted by diddley
tank $10
coralife agualight 20 inch 28 watt $35
penguin 125 $14
mini-jet 404 x 2 $28
total is $87 dollars, a little more flexibility, but probably not as "sleek"
just another option to consider

Or instead of the coralife 28w light, they have a 96w quadlamp so the corals and stuff have more lighting.
 

diddley

Member
he's right. i just suggested the 28 watter because it is comparable to the lighting in the nanocube.
 

pumpie

Member
I have the 96w quad hood on my 10G, I love it and everything in my tank does too! Was a great deal for $89.95.
 

stevebk

Member
I'm running one of these exactly as it came out of the box, with no upgrades at all. The lack of a skimmer is kind of frustrating, but only because that means I have to make sure to stay on top of my water changes. I do 2 gal/week, but I don't have too many fish.
The standard lighting is 24 watts of power compact, not VHO. It comes in either 50/50 or 10k- I went with 50/50. Marine snow's tank (which is a bit sexier than mine) has a 36 watt bulb retrofitted. I haven't been able to find this yet, but apparently the ballast can handle it. Speaking of the ballast, mine did go out (when my girlfriend dropped the hood), but I'd registered the tank online at jbj's website when i bougt it, so they honored the warranty and replaced it free with 6 bucks for shipping. I was pleased, except there was no light for a few days while they sent it. I ended up rigging a Coralife EZ ballast that my friend gave me. The only other problem is I HATE taking off the hood- it's put on there pretty tight, so whenever you have to mess with the light, you're stressing plastic hinges, and i"m always afraid I'll break them.
The filtration is pretty good, but in an established reef, the live rock is going to render those bioballs and sponges almost unnecessary. I added an extra PH for flow, and once I get some free time to really mess with it, I'm considering putting a small PC light over the first 2 compartments and making a refugium. And the compartment doesn't have a perfect fit flush with the hood, so my sixline wrasse is sometimes able to jump into the back. It's not fun trying to get him out of there, but I'm sure I could close that gap somehow if I really wanted to.
I've had it up for 9 months now, never lost any fish or coral, and kept the following species without problem:
Oscellaris clown, sixline wrasse, yellow clown goby; pagoda cup coral, star polyps, mushrooms (green, red, purple), branching hammer coral, blunt hand leather (?), brown button polyps, silvertip xenia; feather caulerpa (prune OFTEN!); 12 hermits (assorted), 2 bumble bee snails, 2 astrea snails, 2 margarita snails... I guess that's it. All the corals have reproduced, and the fish seem very happy and active.
So, even though I was skeptical at first, I give the thing a pretty good review. I'll post a picture here if I can get it to work. Best of luck.
 

barry cuda

Member
Thanks to everyone for the comments. One thing that's still on my mind is retrofitting a skimmer...I'm not about to try that small a tank without skimming, as I just don't have the experience to pull it off. Have any of you successfully put a skimmer in one of these? What did you install and how did you install it?
 

diddley

Member
you're pretty much confined to an in-tank airstone skimmer like lee's. and real estate is pretty valuable in small tanks. most people don't use them on the small tanks and do small waterchanges once a week. it's worked for me. the 28 watt on my ten works fine for shrooms, ricordea, and button polyps. stick with the easier corals as there will be fluctuation in a small tank. keep the bioload low as well. also i read somewhere that those nanocubes really only hold about 8 gallons of water completely empty.
 

barry cuda

Member
What about using a HOB skimmer hanging behind the "sump" section? Not the prettiest arrangement, but is there any reason it'd be impractical?
Oh, could somebody post the approximate dimensions of the back section?
Thanks!
 

stevebk

Member
You can't really do it because the hinges are on the back. You would have to punch a hole in the hood in order to access anything from outside of it. It's pretty thick; I would be scared to do it. Approximate depth of the filter box is 4 inches, and it's the same width and height of the tank.
 
J

jackie dh

Guest
What about a skilter? I have one on a 45 that I am switching over to a wet dry as soon as I get it and I am going to make a Nano out of a 15 tall and put the Skilter filter on the 15.
 

marinesnow

Member
Hey Barry Cuda,
I've been out of pocket for several days and just now got to read some of the recent posts. The answer to you question is, yes....I do run the JBJ NanoCube and it's doing great. Even my clam is "happy as a clam." I did change the bulb to a 36 watt (not a retrofit...just a different bulb. However, I did retrofit and additional 24 watt pc so now I've got a total of 60 watts. Remember, watts is a power measurement and therefore only a relative measure of light output ---so 60 watt of PC lighting with a max depth of only 12 inches is massive. I have left the original filtration system intact--I guess I could turn it into a 'fuge but I started in marine systems 12 years ago with DAS and did amazing things with it that folks back then said you couldn't do. The JBJ filtration system reminds me of my old DAS--I guess nostalgia prevents me from abandoning its use. I do use a Red Sea Prism skimmer, too however.
Bottom line: I could do all of it with another system, but the JBJ works great for me and I love it's built ins...Mostly though, I just think the sucker looks great--no other tank out there has that sexy cube look with clear rounded corners.
I bought one for my son who's at college for his dorm room. He does mostly fish only...few easy corals...and he uses it just as it came right outta the box. No problems for him either.
Best of Luck!
 

barry cuda

Member
Where/how have you fitted the skimmer? It doesn't look to me like there's much room on these for that kind of equipment.
 

bona42na

Member
Marinesnow two questions for you please . 1) Where did you get the 36w bulb and 2) what is happening to water temp. Just my stock bulb is beginning to create some warm water conditions for me lately. Granted the house is hotter as Im in between AC and heat but my tank got to 83 the other day and Im concerned with what might happen if I upgrade the lighting. Thanks Peter
 

stevebk

Member
Bona-
I asked MarineSnow the same question on another thread, and he said that he found the 36W bulb at the LFS. I couldn't find it on the internet, but the other day I saw a Custom Sealife bulb that was 36W in the right size. It had a square pin arrangement, but since the bulb only connects with wires, it would still work. According to MarineSnow, the ballast will fire this bulb with no problem, so I think that's the one I'm going to buy. Good luck with the temp. thing- mine's getting hot too, since I'm in Arizona. Hope this helps.
 

stevebk

Member
Sorry Peter-
My post was unclear. The bulb I saw was at a local fish store- I checked the custom sealife website, and it says they're going out of business. That was news to me, but you may be able to find one on google. In the meantime, I guess I'd better cruise over and buy that bulb... :nervous:
Best of luck finding one locally. I can't imagine you don't have an LFS with Custom Sealife stuff- you may just call around.
If anyone else knows where to get one of these bulbs online, I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.
 

marinesnow

Member
Thanks Stevebk....you wre able to answer before I had time to even read the thread. And btw...that's the bulb. good Luck.
 

bona42na

Member
MarineSnow and Stevebk Thanks for your answers Marinesnow can you talk a little about your water temperature please ? TIA Peter
 
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