I just won a 28g JBL Nano Cube CF Quad!

:bounce:

I won it at our LFS (T&T Fish) anniversary sale. I also won a Fluval Chi tank and gave that to the wife. And when i bought some stuff this morning, i got a 10g Aqueon tank and filter setup for free. Should make a good quarantine tank.

So who has one and what can you tell me about it?
And idiosyncrasies or anything I should know about?
I have no idea where I'm going to put this or what I'm going to do with it.
Thinking maybe a fowlr? What could i put in that size that I can't have in my main tank? Is a puffer ok? Triggers?
Gimme some ideas!!!

 

Congrats! You really scored.

Well I think making a tank that small into a FOWLR tank would be pointless -- you can't keep any of the normal predators or non-reef safe fish a tank that small. Definitely no triggers, puffers, large angels -- the vast majority of non-reef safe fish are big.

 

Poop. Not even a wee little puffer?

 

Maybe a dwarf lion fish, the 2 docs lists them as a 30 gallon for the smallest sized tank I believe.

 

The thing is, with all in one tanks, the volume listed is the total volume of the tank -- including the back chambers. I'm not sure how much of the JBJ 28 is taken up in the back, but I'd bet that the useable room in the tank is more like 20 gallons.

 

oh, didnt know that. So I guess that is out of the question then.

 

ok, so you're saying just do a regular reef tank?

 

Seahorses????

 

I think seahorses would be cool in that tank.

 

Dennis, what are the dimensions, specifically, what is the height of the tank? Most horses need 18". If you've got the height, you'll need to do a couple things. Most importantly, you'll need to give them some shelter from the light. That light is too strong. The easy way to do this is to float some macro. I've got some kick butt floating macro that I've had in qt for a while that will do great in there, so I can send you a piece. Horses need to be in groups so I would put a MINIMUM of 2 horses in there and since I know you and your tank practices, I would say you can get 4 in quite happily. I had 4 in my 26 gallon bow front and it was perfect for them. You'll have to keep softies, gorgs and sponges, nothing that stings!

You will LOVE horses! As a photographer, I can tell you that they are perfect subjects, they like to hold still! They also clown themselves into all kinds of silly positions while feeding/ fishing and you'll have a great time watching them. I know where you can get some beautiful colors for your ponies! I STRONGLY suggest you go for it!

WooT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C

 

Well, i guess that's settled then. Catherine is making me get horses or else. :lol:

The tank is 18" across the front but only 16-17" front to back (bowed front) and just a tad over 16" tall.

Doable?

 

Congrats on the win! I can't wait to see seahorses in that tank!

 

Dennis, you'll want to set up the tank with the horses needs in mind in order to save yourself a TON of work later. Here are the main ideas you'll need to keep in mind.

1. I strongly suggest you start your tank with DRY rock from tampa bay saltwater. The seeded stuff he brings up has too much bad guy stuff on it. I went on a rampage against bristle worms a while back and usually you don't need to worry about them. The reason I had trouble was two-fold. First, I was sent a baggy of them with an order I put in so I added them to my tank. A few months later, I had an enormous amount of worms in my tank. The other thing that made it a problem for me was that I had a little runt horse that was sickly all the time. She wouldn't eat frozen food and she spent a lot of time crawling around on the rocks where she would get bristle worm sores. My horses that did eat frozen didn't get those sores. I only had one horse have a sore and it was healed in a couple days. Still, why add the problem if you don't need it, you know? I would start with the dry rock, throw it in a muck bucket TODAY with some live sand, a power jet, and an airstone. Put it somewhere that it will get tons of natural light and let it cycle. By the time you've got your tank planned out, your rock will be ready.

2. Your cube has some intense lights which is great but horses need shelter from the sun. You can float a mat of chaeto or some other macro or create very unique rock structures that will give them lots of shade.

3. Buy your horses here: Seahorse Source, the ultimate place for captive bred seahorses. and start with H erectus. Ask Dan or Abbey about your tank height. Another place that offers wonky colors: Seahorse Corral - Home to hundreds and hundreds of fat and happy tank raised seahorses

4. Get ready to fill your tank with finger leathers, non-stinging gorgs, and sponges. Horses need to 'hitch' on stuff and they love that the best.

5. take the class offered by Pete Giwonja: Seahorse.com - Seahorse, Sea Life, Marine Life, Aquafarm Sales, Feeds and Accessories - Home

6. Keep your tank cooler. 71-74.

7. If someone tries to talk you into a breed that isn't the erectus, let me know!

Dennis, you're gonna really have fun with this!!!!!!!

C

 

Thanks, Catherine!!!

I'm going to check out those links.

 

+1 seahorses!

 

I'm jealous! I really have been jonesing for some seahorses lately. I know I can't keep them until I get central AC in my house though. It would be impossible for me to get the temp of the tank low enough.

 

Another idea that I'm still tossing around is setting up an Angler tank.
I like the horses but I'm worried about the extra care and attention that they need.
So until i decide for sure, I'm keeping my options open.
But if I do go with horses, thank god for Catherine.