Maintaining a marine aquarium is a huge step up from goldfish in a glass bowl. Fish that come from salt water require more equipment, such as sophisticated filtering equipment, pumps and lighting. One leader in lighting technology is Transworld Aquatic Enterprises from Inglewood, California, which sells aquariums in the U.S., Canada, Spain, UK, Germany, Portugal and throughout Asian countries from Singapore under the JBJ-USA Aquarium Products brand. With their 28g Nano Cube – LED aquarium, they offer a small 28-gallon (106-liter) tank with lights that closely emulate natural sunlight and moonlight.
Glass that’s 6-millimeters (¼-inch) thick and constructed with a slightly curved front is used to craft this aquarium. The tank is 18 inches (45.7 centimeters) wide by 22 inches (56 centimeters) deep by 22 inches (56 centimeters) high. A corresponding stand matches the width and depth dimensions and is 32 inches (81.3 centimeters) high.
Three big plusses with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lights are that they don’t emit huge amounts of heat, they are the most energy-efficient lighting ever developed and they burn for a long time.
An LED light bulb uses at least 75 percent less electrical energy than any incandescent bulb. LED bulbs stay lit 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs and are more efficient than fluorescent lights, because of their longer lifespan. Incandescent bulbs put 90 percent of their energy into heat and fluorescent bulbs use up 80 percent of their energy in heat.
JBJ uses high intensity lighting from LED bulbs in such a way as to copy the light spectrum shown in the natural world throughout different times of the day and night. A total of 25 LED three-watt lights shine in a JBJ 28g Nano Cube – LED aquarium to give off light similar to a full-sun day in the real world. For more of a dawn or dusk setting, only four of the three-watt LED bulbs are lit. Two LED one-watt LED bulbs shine to copy the light coming from the moon.
The LED technology enables JBJ to claim that bulbs last for 50,000 hours. Based on their calculations, if you have the lights of your aquarium on for 10 hours each day, you won’t need to change these LED lights for at least 10 years.
Even though LED lights are cool, JBJ engineers ideas into their aquarium lighting hoods to keep them even cooler. An aluminum heat sink is built into the flame-retardant plastic canopy, allowing for a quick dispersal of heat.
Four cooling fans that automatically come on when the LED lights are turned on also keep lights cool. In case the fans fail, a thermal protector automatically turns the lights off, but turns the LED lights back on when safe temperatures are reached.
You aren’t required to lift the whole hood on top of this aquarium in order to feed your saltwater fish or to get a sample of your water. That’s because a smaller light feeding lid is built into the top of the JBJ 28g Nano Cube.
The filtration on a JBJ 28g Nano Cube – LED is clever. Water is pumped into a center overflow and aimed into a basket containing biological ceramic rings, a mechanical sponge and a chemical activated carbon filter. This three-stage filtering basket is transparent. Changing filters is easy. Just lift the basket’s handle, allow the water to drain, pull out the existing three-stage filter, slide in a new one and drop the basket back into place. The filtering system also contains allocated heater and skimmer columns. A skimmer must be purchased in addition to the aquarium, since it doesn’t automatically come with the kit from JBJ.
Ocean waves can be duplicated in your JBJ Nano Cube – LED aquarium with a memory chip that fluctuates the water flow from two pumps to two direction flow nozzles located on each side of the center overflow. A dial allows you to alternate your currents to change anywhere from every 10 seconds to six minutes.
The stand comes with a chiller compartment, side vents and a storage shelf.
When you want everything that you need for a complete saltwater aquarium, the JBJ 28g Nano Cube – LED is a great answer. This easy-to-use marine fish system also looks outstanding.