First Marine Tank. 29 gallons

[mastocker]

I have been bit by the fish bug.

Moved into my new place and the first thing I knew I was doing was keeping fish. Nothing lights up a room like a saltwater tank, and when someone asks if it is a freshwater or saltwater tank and you say freshwater, first thing I think is, lame.

So without a doubt, saltwater was the decision. Anyways, the tank has been up for since beginning of January with minimal issues so far.

Here is a list of what is in it.

About 30 pounds of live rock
20 pounds of live sand
Maroon Clownfish
Firefish Goby
Chalk Basselt
Cleanup crew including nassarius snails, turbo snails, and hermit crabs
Green Bubble Tip Anemone
Frogspawn
Torch Coral
Kenya Tree
Green Metalic Mushroom
Zooas

I use a hang on back filter with a Korola 2 and a Korola nano powerhead.

Other than that, it is a pretty basic marine tank. Here are a couple shots of the tank.















Let me know what you think and any suggestions or comments are always welcome.

[gkugelman]

I like your rockwork! Is that 5th picture a full tank shot?

[roneil]

looks nice

[mastocker]

Originally Posted by gkugelman

I like your rockwork! Is that 5th picture a full tank shot?

It is a cropped full tank shot, not full, almost full haha. There is a frogspawn to the left that is out of frame.

I have been having problems with Aptaisa. I went to the pharmacy to get a syringe. I've never needed to buy a syringe before so I went there not having a clue and got a 10 pack of a smaller gauge. Any recommendation on what gauge to use?

Anyway, I tried to inject them with lemon juice of a lemon, did it and it looked like they shriveled up but they all are coming back with more vigor than before. Any other ideas to get rid of these bastardos?

[Sugar Magnolia]

Neat perspective on those picture angles. I'd like to see a full tank shot.

[mastocker]

I'll get a full tank shot up soon. I am currently waiting for my BTA to pack up and move from its current location so I can install my new power head. Coincidently, the BTA decided to plant its foot on the bottom part of my zooa colony, which I planned to move to the other side of the tank so the power head wouldn't be blasting them. Ill post a pic once it packs camp and gtfo.

[dogstar74]

Originally Posted by mastocker

I have been bit by the fish bug.

Super nice start! Great aquascaping. But won't that chalk basslet get really big? Right now he's nice and small, but I fear they will get really too big for a 29.

But otherwise it's a great start! And a nice looking tank!

Aaron

[mastocker]

Originally Posted by dogstar74

Super nice start! Great aquascaping. But won't that chalk basslet get really big? Right now he's nice and small, but I fear they will get really too big for a 29.

But otherwise it's a great start! And a nice looking tank!

Aaron

I researched them before I purchased it from the LFS and they only get up to about 3" or so, so I am not too concerned. I only have 3 fish in the tank currently so they still have plenty of room. I dont have plans or the money to have any tanks of the month quite honestly, but who knows.


Tiiime, is on my side....

[sunfishh]

IMO the chalk bass should be fine in your 29

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yup, chalk bass are fine. I had one for a few years. Neat little fish!

[oodle]

What kind of light system do you have on that beautiful aquarium?

[mastocker]

Yup, chalk bass are fine. I had one for a few years. Neat little fish!

Yeah they are. Look really cool with the atinic light. My roommates gf bought a bangai cardnal and that was such a boring fish! It died in a day and I didnt want to tell her so I went out and bought another lol. 4 days later, that thing got stuck to the filter so I threw in the towel and told her. Boring fish, dont plan on getting one again.

What kind of light system do you have on that beautiful aquarium?

Currently i have a AquaticLife Dual Lamp T5 HO Marine Light Fixture - 30 in. on the tank with a glass canopy. When I first set up the tank I had an old school single bulb fluro on there that just wast cutting it. Since I figured its tough to have too much light, I also placed that old one on the glass canopy also until I decide to drop more money on another more modern light. I plan on doing that sometime in the future, but I am not sure when. I also plan to make a hood if I get any ambition anytime soon.

On a side note, I have noticed that it is rather rare nowadays for people to have 30 and 29 gallon long tanks nowadays. Everyone is doing the cube.

[mastocker]

So the anemone finally packed up from my zoa rock and got off of it so I was able to install a new power head. While I was at it, I decided to change the aquascape around so make it more interesting and improve the overall flow.

I have noticed a couple new mushrooms spawning under the big one, so it looks like the mushroom infestation has begun.

I am having a hard time controlling aptaisia. I went to walmart and picked up some syringes and tried to inject the large ones with both boiling water and lemon juice and they just came back stronger. I am going to the fish store tomorrow to pick up a couple shrimp that will hopefully keep them in check. Anyone else have any ideas for the buggers?

Ill post a full tank shot when I get off work.

[tenvibes]

full tank shop asap


looks pretty good so far. for the aiptasia, i would recommend peppermint shrimp. i have 2 peppermint shrimp in my 34gal tank and they got rid of all the aiptaisia in about two weeks. just limit the amount of feeding during this time so that the shrimp will continue to feed on the aiptasia.

[mastocker]

I only have one concern with getting shrimp. I have been feeding th tank Mysis Shrimp, Krill and Formula 2. The Bassett loves krill, as does the anemone. The Maroon clown eats it all. Are these two going to see/smell the peppermint in the tank and see live food?

[mastocker]

Request by popular demand...

[pandarider007]

Originally Posted by mastocker

It is a cropped full tank shot, not full, almost full haha. There is a frogspawn to the left that is out of frame.

I have been having problems with Aptaisa. I went to the pharmacy to get a syringe. I've never needed to buy a syringe before so I went there not having a clue and got a 10 pack of a smaller gauge. Any recommendation on what gauge to use?

Anyway, I tried to inject them with lemon juice of a lemon, did it and it looked like they shriveled up but they all are coming back with more vigor than before. Any other ideas to get rid of these bastardos?

apitasia x works pretty good.

[Reefingman]

I've heard of people boiling some water, sucking it up in a syringe and just spraying a little bit on it. Not too much or it can raise your temp some and kill more than just the aptaisa.

Hope it helps.

[gozermantis]

peppermint shrimp eat apitasia.

[mastocker]

Over the weekend i picked up 3 peppermints that were on hold for me at the store and popped them in. Yesterday I noticed that one rock that was slowly being covered in aptaisia is now free off the little buggers. I guess the peppermints are nocturnal bc they are usually hidden upside down under a rock during the day.

I think I am going to get 2 more fish and call it kudos for the tank. One of them is going to be a 6 line wrasse, and I am not sure of the other yet. I am open to suggestions. I also want another skunk cleaner. Those things are really cool to watch

[mastocker]

Alright so I have settled on getting a protein skimmer up and running. I am wondering if this skimmer would be too much skimmage for my tank. Is it a bad idea too have too powerful of a skimmer? I plan on upgrading my tank the next time I move which would probably be in around 8 months or so, so I figured getting a bigger one wouldn't be a terrible idea. Let me know your 2 cents though, I am all ears.

I am looking into purchasing a Reef Octopus BH-300F

http://www.saltysupply.com/ProductDe...C6114&CartID=1

[gweston]

I nearly went with that very Octopus skimmer for my 29gal. I ended up with a use AquaC Remora HOB as I got it locally used at a crazy bargain. The Remora handles the 29g very well and pulls out very dark skimmate. My only complaint is it does dump some microbubbles into the tank. It would be better with the overflow/bubble blocker accessory.

The remora was a complete mess when I got it. The previous owner seemed to never clean it. I cleaned it VERY well, so had to effectively break it in again. The microbubbles are there, but not such a problem anymore.

It is possible to overskim for sure. I'd think that if you run a system without other forms of filtration, it would work just fine.

The cool thing about the 300F is, you can stick a filter sock filled with carbon in the return section for some extra benefit.

[mastocker]

So my big concern still remains. Is it too much ooomph for my system?

[mastocker]

Eh so I was bored at wok during inventory week and wa sslacking pretty hard and just browsed the net looking for deals. Came across a new lighting rig for 200 bucks.



Figured my tank would appreciate better lighting more than a protein skimmer. And seeing how the coral stock is going to start to increase, I figured why not.


Damn bordom at work cost me another 200 bucks

[MilkWeed18]

nice light . Where did you find that at?