JBJ 20 Gal Frag Tank

[ZippysFunLand]

Hello,

My BJ 20 Gallon Frag Tank showed up in the mail today and I figured I might as well start a thread about it to see if anyone owns one or has any advise for it.

I purchase the tank with the stand, and put it together. The stand seems really sturdy so I'm definitely happy with the stand. The tank is nice, I have it filled with fresh water right now and im just letting that run to clean up any of the dust or residue from manufacturing. I'm really not sure if i need to do that, but I figure it cant hurt.

The tank came with the standard block foam in the inlet for the back sump, and it also had some carbon pellets (I think they are carbon), and 1lb of bio rings. The bio rings say they are "pre-colonized" with spore bacteria for fast nitrification. I'm a bit apprehensive about this unknown bacteria because I have a very healthy 36 gallon tank (with a 7 gallon sump), so I'm considering just boiling the bio rings for a few minutes, and throwing them in my main tanks sump for a few days.

I have the tank running right now and a few things that I notice are 1) the pump is loud. There is a loud vibration noise. I'm considering replacing it. and 2) the water temperature is at 66 degrees, which is roughly the ambient temperature of my apartment. I'm probably going to need to get a small heater for the sump because the little pump it comes with just isnt enough to keep the water warm.

Does anyone own one of these tanks? Any tips or advise?

Thanks!

BTW, I'm fairly new to this hobby, and new to the forum!

 

[Lenny718]

I have the 45g, if the pump is making noise then it has to be vibrating against something cause I have two pumps in mine and don't hear anything, try moving it around till it stops and Yes you will also need a small heater, it will never reach the high 70's without one. The black pellets are carbon and as far as the bio rings I didn't hear anything about them being pre colonized and if they are I wouldn't trust it, you can seed them in your current tank but I don't see any reason to have to boil them first. Other then that just take your time to properly cycle it before adding any livestock. There great tanks, I love mine.

 

[mikejrice]

I've been running one of their 20's for a little over a year now. The only thing I would, and did, change about it right out of the box is the filter layout. A baffle just before the final baffle that leads into the pump section turns the center area into a refugium.

 

[ZippysFunLand]

The refuge seems like a good idea. I'm not going to do that right now though. I built the sump in my main tank a few months ago though.

I did a little bit of investigation into the vibrating noise. It turns out the noise is coming from the thin black cover that goes over the filter\sump. It's not vibrating against the glass. I think whats happening is that the noise from the pump is resonating inside the chamber where the pump is when the top is put on. If I leave it cracked open a little bit, the noise is much less. Weird.

I ordered a Marine Oribt LED 24' . It's the same light that I have on my main tank and it has little legs that fit PERFECTLY onto the rim of the 20 gal frag tank.

After about 24 hours of running the fresh water through it and the temperature is up to 74 degrees. It seems like such a shame to spend the money on a heater for just those couple of degrees. But I will. Hahaha.

I want to fill it up with salt water tonight. I'll pull 5 gallons of seed water out of my main tank, and put 15 gallons pre-mixed water in there. Throw the bio rings in there tomorrow (they are in my sump right now), and it should be good to go by the weekend!

Gonna get some small cerriths if I can find them (very small), and put a small yellow tang in there for algae control. Hopefully this weekend. I figure with 5 gallons seed water from my main tank, and the bio rings from my sump, it will be good to go, right?

 

[Lenny718]

Sounds like you got a good plan, as far as being good to go just test your water after a few days to see how you stand.

 

[ZippysFunLand]

Good advice. Thank you. One other bit of advice... How do i post photos to the site? Do they have to be hosted elsewhere on the web, or can I upload them directly somehow?

 

[ZippysFunLand]

Hi,

Here is a picture of my frag tank. I stuck with my plan and tested the water after a few days. Everything turned out just fine, so I moved the big GSP in there. On Sunday I went and picked up my Yellow Tang out in flushing for $24, and put him in there. He hid out below the grate for a few days, and then on day 3 I spotted him swimming around in the tank.

Most of my frags are in there by now. I have a good sized kenya tree that im starting to chop up, and im going to keep growing these GSPs.

I'll probably do a 5 gallon water change this weekend just because the tank is new. I cleaned it out really well, but i think it's not a bad idea. Also, has anyone else noticed that this 20 gallon tank only holds 15 gallons of water? The guy at the aquarium shop said "Yeah, but you have to figure in the sump in the back", but the thing is that the sump in the back is connected. I filled the whole thing up and it only holds 15 gallons of water.

 

[ZippysFunLand]

Update on this tank, below is a recent photo of the tank.

A few notes on the tank for anyone interested in one, the back of the tank has a plastic lid on it that warps from being exposed to the humidity from covering the tank. I reached out to JBJ support and they send me a replacement cover. The replacement cover warped just the same though.

Since there are no lids available for this tank i ended up making my own. I had brackets 3d printed and had panes of glass cut for a top. No photos for now but the custom lid looks great!

Most recently i have been noticing a strange snapping noise in the tank. I thought maybe i had some sort of small critter that makes a loud snapping noise but i've figured out that its because of the back wall of the tank that separates the tank from the sump. Since the wall is made out of plastic, it is also warping and breaking away from the tank. Luckily there is no risk of leaking, but its kind of falling apart.

I reached out to JBJ support again and they shipped me a brand new tank asap for free. They didn't even ask for the old tank back (amazing), so i'm planning on getting some glass cut to replace the plastic backing in the new tank before i move all my stuff over.

 

[ZippysFunLand]

I've been running one of their 20's for a little over a year now. The only thing I would, and did, change about it right out of the box is the filter layout. A baffle just before the final baffle that leads into the pump section turns the center area into a refugium.

Mike, This is great advise. When i pull the plastic back out and replace it, im definitely going create a refuge too.