New member here - 29g

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

Hello everyone,

My name is Josh and this is my first attempt at reefing - it was kind of a spontaneous moment when I picked up the hobby. I am a rather diverse individual that get's caught up in whatever peaks my interest at that moment. Other current/old hobbies include: HO scale model railroading, HT/Stereo, PC building/gaming, car modding, poker (if you can call it a hobby), and others that I can't think of at the moment. I had a 10g freshwater tank for a few months until I lost interest when I was in Jr High.

Reefing sparked my interest due to the attention/patience (ie difficulty) needed to successfully maintain the tank in the long term. I feel that once I have my tank close to what my vision was, I'll be rewarded with huge satisfaction. My goal with my first build was to get a tank small enough to reduce cost (since it is my first attempt and I don't want the possibility of failing and lose thousands rather than hundreds), while still being a big enough size to not overwhelm myself with varying water parameters. Ideally I wanted to start with a 55g, but it would have easily doubled my budget when learning the cost of LR (yikes!). I did a little research, and it seemed 29g was the sweet spot. After I complete my reef, as well as move into a house, I plan on going at least 90g (maybe 180).

My tank is about a 1.5 months new since initially setting it up and adding the water. The tank cycled rather quickly (10 days - most likely due how close the LFS is and how cure the LR they keep were). Nitrite only spiked after maybe the 3rd day and it was barely readable using my kit (API). By the 7th or 8th day I could not trace any nitrite and by day 9, there was a slight trace of nitrate with not ammonia.

Tank details:
29 Gallon standard all glass
pH: 8.2-8.4
SG: 1.025
LR: 30lbs
Substrate: 20 lbs LS on top of 10 lbs BS

Current equipment:
Stock hood w/ one built-in T8 24" 18W Florescent bulb (for now)
100W heater
Digital Thermometer
425gph hydor PH
HOB power filter w/ Chemi-Pure Elite
Kent Hi-S RO/DI

Future equipment:
DIY 24x3W LED light kit (just ordered)
Still debating HOB refugium vs sump
Still researching skimmers

Current inhabitants:

2 Percula Clowns (paired)
1 Two Spot Goby
1 Scarlet Skunk Shrimp
5 Hermit Crabs (1 zebra, 1 scarlet, 3 blue legs)
2 Emerald crabs
5 Snails (4 Turbans, 1 Turbo (Had 2 but 1 recently kept falling down and died)

That's going to be it for a while until I get my sump or refugium as well as skimmer set up to take on more bio-load.


Here's a little progress

First set up


After things cleared up and added more live rock


After the cycle, went and got a CUC


After 2 weeks of consistent water parameters, got 2 damsels to monitor for tank stability (note: tank seems cycled, I did not intend for the fish to be used for cycling!)


Added another piece of live rock and a cleaner shrimp


Added my goby


Yet another piece of live rock


After a month of monitoring the damsels, I felt I was ready for my clowns. I learned that it wasn't a good idea to have damsels since they are so aggressive, so I opted to donate them back to my LFS. After about 30 minutes of trying to chase around the damsels, I gave up and took out all of the LR. I needed to re-arrange them anyways. After 2 hours, finally got them bagged up. Came back with a nice pair of Percs. They seem real happy in the tank so far.

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

Saved in case i need more room for my build pics

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

I guess you're only given a certain amount of time to edit posts here.

Here's my final tweak to my rocks...

[philosophile]

Looks good. What else are you planning to add?

Just a word of caution.... Even though your readings are good, cycling a tank takes a long time. You won't really be finished with your cycle for a year maybe more so say some. You'll get things like diatom, and algae blooms inevitably.. so just be wary, and keep on top of things.

I'd choose the sump/refugium option, particularly for your tank since you have a small tank. More water the better for stability of things like salinity and such. (I have a 29g system too). I do weekly changes of 5 gallons, and every month I do a 10g change.

Also be careful adding LR to your tank directly, even if your LFS says its cycled.... A big piece of rock could start a cycle all over again, if it isn't clean.

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

Originally Posted by philosophile

Looks good. What else are you planning to add?

Just a word of caution.... Even though your readings are good, cycling a tank takes a long time. You won't really be finished with your cycle for a year maybe more so say some. You'll get things like diatom, and algae blooms inevitably.. so just be wary, and keep on top of things.

Thanks for the advice, greatly appreciated. I'll be contempt with what I have now until it matures as you said. Only plan on beefing up my CUC for now.

My goal is to have a few coral frags (mixed) to start growing at the 6 month mark

Originally Posted by philosophile

I'd choose the sump/refugium option, particularly for your tank since you have a small tank. More water the better for stability of things like salinity and such. (I have a 29g system too). I do weekly changes of 5 gallons, and every month I do a 10g change.

Also be careful adding LR to your tank directly, even if your LFS says its cycled.... A big piece of rock could start a cycle all over again, if it isn't clean.

That was the last piece of LR I'm adding. I'm hoping if it did cause a cycle, it was only a minor one which will barely effect anything.

Where did you get your sump/refugium, and did you place the HOB skimmer in the sump or is it hanging off the DT? How do you like the skimmer you have?

I currently do weekly 5g water changes as well. Do the monthly 10g change benefit the system? or is it more of a piece of mind thing?

[lin0501]

Looks good. The new rock scape is definitely a better look.

[BIG_KAHUNA]

lookin' good! Welcome to the forum. How long have you been into saltwater?

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

Originally Posted by lin0501

Looks good. The new rock scape is definitely a better look.

Tell me about it lol. I had no idea what i was thinking originally - although I really had no idea what I was looking for anyway. I then watched a guide on youtube form that nysteelo (or whatever the name is) person about what to go for when aquascaping. Definitely happier with it now

Originally Posted by BIG_KAHUNA

lookin' good! Welcome to the forum. How long have you been into saltwater?

As stated in my first couple paragraphs in my OP, I just started - in a spontaneous manner. Tank is about 2 months new now (first SW tank).

Thanks for all the praise. I just hope I can get it looking even 10% of what I envisioned! It's so hard to manifest what you imagine into the real world lol

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

New stuff to the tank... I decided to go with a CPR HOB fuge because of ease and cost. I plan on getting a bigger tank in the future, so I decided that it wouldn't make sense to make a 10 or 20g sump now when I'd rather use the 30g DT for the sump later. Also finally upgraded my lighting

Here's the stuff I bought:

12 x 3W whites
10 x 3W royal blues (450nm)
2 x 3W UV

Total 72W of LEDs



Got them to sit over night and wired them up the next day. I decided to go with 2 heatsinks and which measured 31x5" and spanned it across the tank rather than having all 24 LEDs crammed on a single one which is 15.5 inches long and having to hang it higher for more spread (using no optics). LEDs are spaced 2" apart



Here's what they look like at their brightest setting. Had to step back to take a picture.



And here it is sitting on top of an acrylic top I made. I made guards on the rear to shield it from moisture from the return and such.

This is about 80% lighting. anymore and I think everyone will go blind lol

[fronty]

Where did you order the led kit?

[FrEsHaZzBuRu]

Originally Posted by fronty

Where did you order the led kit?

www.aquastyleonline.com ... it totaled 165 shipped in a week.