Questions about my JBJ 28G HQI NC - Long Post with LOTS of questions.

[theocreef]

So about a week and half ago I started a new tank. I got a new JBJ 28 gallon HQI Nano Cube. I added the Nano Tuners 2.18 PC light upgrade and a JBJ Arctica 1/10 hp chiller. I have 28 lbs of LS and 28 lbs of marshall Island and Tonga Branch LR. (I will add pics of my set up tomorrow.)

With that being said here are my questions:

1. Lighting - I just bought a Coralife Single Digital Power Center. I want to set it up to run a sunrise to sunset schedule, As well as control my Lunar Lights. My question is how long to leave everything on for. For example starting with sunrise how long should I leave the actinics on for before the MH turns on? And at sunset how long should I leave the actinics on after I turn off the MH. Also, how long should the whole cycle last? Lastly, How long should I leave the Lunar lights on?

2. Skimming - How long should my protein skimmer be left on? I have read on this forum some people skim 24/7 and some people skim once or twice a week. Also Should my air pump be at full strength or am I supposed to adjust it? If i am supposed to adjust what am I looking for?

3. Test Kits and Cycling - What water test kit does everyone recommend? I am using the Sea Chem Master Test Kit but I am getting some odd readings as far as amonia and Nitrite Levels. My amonia level is way off the charts the test kit only reads up to 0.8mg/l as shown by turning a green color and the test results are a blue green. My Nitrite levels are 6.0mg/l (not 0.6), Nitrates are 20mg/l, PH is 8.6 and calcium is 380ppm. I want to raise the calcium levels up and by doing so will the PH go down?

4. Clean Up Crews - How long before I can put these guys in and what does everyone recommend? I thought I came accross a list on this forum but I can't find the post. It basically said that I needed x species of snail for x amount of water and x species of star for x amount of water and so on.

And that sums up my questions in a nutshell. Any sugestions would be awesome. Somebody should write a sticky with this info in it. Kind of like a beginners guide. Anyhow thanks for your time. Like I said earlier, I will post pics of my tank some time tomorrow.

[b16drag]

I'm not going to have answers to all of your questions, but here goes... Lights are up to you at this time since its still probably cycling. But once it has finished cycling I think most people run the actinitics for about 2-3 hours before the MH comes on. But like I said its all a matter of what will work for YOU. In general its good to have your lights on for around 8 hrs. Some do 12-14hrs, others do 8hrs.... SHRUG.

Your water chemistry is off the charts probably because your tank is still cycling. Give it a few months before tinkering with things. Dont start adding calcium. Dont start adding Kalk. DONT DO ANYTHING. Just top off the tank and let the tank do its job. It just needs to cycle. Test your water weekly and monitor your levels, once they have all come down... you can probably start adding your clean up crew then. You can always jump start your cycling by throwing in a piece of shrimp for 48-72hrs and let it decay a bit... But each to their own. I dont recommend using a damsel to cycle your tank, simply because they are a pain to get out later and a piece of shrimp is just as effective.

[jrpdriver]

Originally Posted by theocreef

So about a week and half ago I started a new tank. I got a new JBJ 28 gallon HQI Nano Cube. I added the Nano Tuners 2.18 PC light upgrade and a JBJ Arctica 1/10 hp chiller. I have 28 lbs of LS and 28 lbs of marshall Island and Tonga Branch LR. (I will add pics of my set up tomorrow.)

With that being said here are my questions:

1. Lighting - I just bought a Coralife Single Digital Power Center. I want to set it up to run a sunrise to sunset schedule, As well as control my Lunar Lights. My question is how long to leave everything on for. For example starting with sunrise how long should I leave the actinics on for before the MH turns on? And at sunset how long should I leave the actinics on after I turn off the MH. Also, how long should the whole cycle last? Lastly, How long should I leave the Lunar lights on?

2. Skimming - How long should my protein skimmer be left on? I have read on this forum some people skim 24/7 and some people skim once or twice a week. Also Should my air pump be at full strength or am I supposed to adjust it? If i am supposed to adjust what am I looking for?

3. Test Kits and Cycling - What water test kit does everyone recommend? I am using the Sea Chem Master Test Kit but I am getting some odd readings as far as amonia and Nitrite Levels. My amonia level is way off the charts the test kit only reads up to 0.8mg/l as shown by turning a green color and the test results are a blue green. My Nitrite levels are 6.0mg/l (not 0.6), Nitrates are 20mg/l, PH is 8.6 and calcium is 380ppm. I want to raise the calcium levels up and by doing so will the PH go down?

4. Clean Up Crews - How long before I can put these guys in and what does everyone recommend? I thought I came accross a list on this forum but I can't find the post. It basically said that I needed x species of snail for x amount of water and x species of star for x amount of water and so on.

And that sums up my questions in a nutshell. Any sugestions would be awesome. Somebody should write a sticky with this info in it. Kind of like a beginners guide. Anyhow thanks for your time. Like I said earlier, I will post pics of my tank some time tomorrow.

Hello, I have this same tank, turn the air up as high as it will go on the skimmer, I actully put an even bigger air pump than the one it came with. Also, I would take the ceramic bio-rings out of the back of it. I would run the halide fo 7-8 hours and run the actinics 1-2 hours before and 1-2 hours after and then run the led's for 1-2 hours before and after the actinics and then have a completely dark period. Also, I would set the wave maker to have both pumps run all the time, or add a power head if you want to alternate the wave maker pumps.