Used JBJ Nano Cube 28 Gal

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Tank_QT

New Member
Hi everyone,

I decided to get back into the saltwater aquarium hobby! I had one 10 years back and had to give it up after I went to college. Any how, I'm finally financially (ish) stable LOL *the struggle* -- and wanted to get back at it!
I found a good deal on FB for a JBJ 28 Gal Nano cube for $80 with a stand (going to go used for now). The previous owner still had the live sand and rock in the tank so I decided to just take it also. The tank was still running the night before. So.... my question is...

Keeping the sand and live rock -- and maybe a quarter of the old saltwater in there - I'm assuming that the tank will have to cycle again? I already have it running for about 5 days and diatoms now appearing (and a small amount of magenta colored algae appearing also).

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Keeping old sand and live rock is always a bit of a toss up. On one hand you have an established bacteria base, on the other you have all the problems the former owner had.

Moving a tank is going to disturb the sandbed. This is usually not good and why many times people replace or completely clean the sandbed. I'd say if you sandbed is fairly clean, leave it alone. If it's got a lot of stuff trapped in it, replace it. Yea, I know this means tearing down the tank and setting it up again, but it's far better to do this now, rather than after you added a lot of livestock.

As for the diatoms this usually occurs in new tanks, and isn't usually a long term problem. As for the "magenta colored algae", this is likely cyano, and can sometimes be a real problem. Test your water for nitrates and phosphates to see if you have any problems here. Also test it for ammonia and nitrite to see if you are going through a cycle.
 
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