28 Gallon Bow Front Build!!

collegenano

collegenano

Member
OK so it starts. I'm starting a 28 gallon bow front tank. It has been set up running for about 3 weeks now. (The cycle)
I have been testing and the last results are
Nitrate-20
Ammonia-2.0
Nitrite-1.0
P.H- 8.0
Salt- 1.022
Temp-78
I did a 10% water change today. When will i be ready for my clean up crew?
I want this to be a reef tank. I'm looking at Odyssea T5 Ho 96w light. I will be keep lps corals
I have set up a wish stock list and here it is. Tell me what u think
Fish
2 Green bar Gobys
1 Blenny of some type
1 Clown Yellow goby
Other options
Clowns( I have had them in every tank i have ever had)
Blue Eyed cardinal's
Inverts
2 peppermint shrimp
5 hermits
10 snails
1 sally lightfoot
1 Pistol Shrimp
Corals
Xenia
Colt coral
Hairy mushrooms
Maybe a frogspawn
Heres the first pic
 
nano-newb1983

nano-newb1983

Active Member
i would maybe wait til the weekend to add any cuc.. wait until your parameters are 0, or at least very close
i would up snails to 20 or so as well.. once the hermits grow they will kill the snails for thier shells.. I got about 30 snails in my 24gallon
also what are you using to test salinity? If doing reef i would strongly invest in a refractometer.
So are your looking good, keep it up
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
Yes that is what im using. I had a 125 gallon reef and kept everything from it. But it was already a cycled tank so this is my first cycle.
 
nano-newb1983

nano-newb1983

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by collegenano http:///t/388124/28-gallon-bow-front-build#post_3420778
Yes that is what im using. I had a 125 gallon reef and kept everything from it. But it was already a cycled tank so this is my first cycle.
ok cool.
but IMO i would wait until the ammonia and nitrites go down a bit.. maybe few days, but i would think by the weekend a cuc would b fine
cant wait for more pics
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Well, if you're still showing a 2.0 ppm on your ammonia reading, you've definitely got a little more waiting to do. I would not add any animals until the Amm was at 0. Is your test kit old, by any chance?
I have that Oddysea fixture you mentioned; it's not on a tank yet but set aside for a planned 20g pipefish system. I put it through its paces when I received it and I liked what I saw, but I'd love to hear your opinion of it after you've had it going for a while.
I really like the 28g bowfront "style." I think you may be under your fish budget there, especially considering that most of the animals you're looking at are very small. If you like the idea of multiple small fish, you could consider adding more clown gobys or green-banded gobies. Alternately, you could add a trio of Banggai Cardinals or blue-eye cardinals to that mix. I understand how you feel about the clownfish; I've had them in a few tanks and I'm sort of over them right now as well.
That 96w light should be more than enough for the corals you mentioned. Question, though: you mentioned you wanted to keep mostly LPS corals, but your stock list is predominately Softies. I think you ought to be fine with pretty much any sp. of LPS with that system.....Frogspawn, Torch, Open Brains, etc. Go looking for some Acan colonies; they're easy to keep and fairly forgiving under moderate light!
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
Ok. Ya im planning on ordering the light after the next pay check lol.
With the fish i just didnt want to over do it the fish but i may look into it.
The testing kit is about 6 months old. I use it to test my grandparents tank and it has worked.( Or i hope it is lol)
I did about a 5 gallon water change last night. Should i do another this week?
I will also look into the Acan never seen them around here. I live in a small town with two fish stores lol
 
novahobbies

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Where do you live? Time to get in there and update your profile for us nosy types, my friend.
If you have the spare 7 bucks, I'd get a new API test kit just to compare. It just seems like a bit more ammonia than I would expect after 3 weeks......
....then again, every cycle is different.
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
so seeing as im not adding anything right now i thought i would show some pics of my old tank and my grandmothers.

THis is my old 125
I was working on my grandmothers and was going to add some pods but she has no sump or anything like that so i went to my fish tank grave yard and found a old overflow and set it up to contain pods and grow them. I will get pics when the lights r on.
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
well i tested again today
Nitrate-20
Ammonia-1.0
Nitrite-1.0
P.H.-7.8
Saltlevel- 1.021
I think the water changed helped
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
Ok will do i plan on doing a water change this weekend so i will slow try to bring it all up. I did buy my first fish today and put him in the qt tank its a ORA stripped Blenny. I had one in my 125 and loved it so i decide to grab one. Hoping to get the cuc in before long but going to hold off till the tank is just right.
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
Well today i did another water change will test in the morning.
I have started putting a list of corals together this is what i have so far. Tell me what you think
Bam Bam green Acan
Meteor shower War Coral
Evil Greens Zoanthid
Xmass Favia F
Green Goblin Gavia
I have bought 1 Fish which is in the qt tank right now till the tank is ready
Its a ORA Striped Blenny( Thanks SaltwaterFish.com)
I hope it comes together soon lol
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
well if anyone cares I think the water changed helped
tested today
Salt is up
Salt-1.025
Ammonia-0
Nitrate-20
Nitrite-1.0
P.H-8.2 ( I want to get it up just a little higher)
So today i added 5 snails and one small hermit crab that got tossed in lol
More clean up crew to come!!
Then Corals
And slowly add in my little fish...
 
nano-newb1983

nano-newb1983

Active Member
glad to hear waterchange helped out, and yes more CUC will be needed
IMO i would think 20 snails and 5-10 hermits do the trick.. Some snails may die due to crabs wanting the shells, but it bound to happen
Looking forward to some new pics
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
Well today i decide that the aqua-scape need some help. Need more room to sit corals.
By the way I listed some corals that i listed???
Heres the new aqua-scape. Tell me what you think. I have to buy a new blower that one moves the sand around to much.
Soon to come is about 5 more hermits and 15 snails.
After that corals and fish.

Hoping the new light comes in trw!
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member
So today the light came into day and its on there! 96w so its a little over 3 watts per gallon then after Christmas and my birthday we r going to upgrade the bulbs!!
I also put together a fish list and i want opinions
yellow Assessor
Yellow Clown Goby
Stripped Blenny( already have)
True Percula clowns
Pink bark Goby With shrimp
What do u think????
I will upload a pic tonight with the new lights on it!
 
collegenano

collegenano

Member

So today I bought some
10 snails
and 5 more hermit crabs
Total:
6 Hermit Crabs
15 Snails
I also bought a kenya tree today!
It was 5 dollars and i could not pass it up!!
 
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