29gal BUILD

db9181

db9181

Member
Hey All!
After over 5yrs of FW I have decided to convert one of my 29g to SW :) I am completely knew to the SW World, so any and all tips/help/advise/etc would be greatly appreciated.
I plan on starting with FOWLR but eventually adding some low-medium light coral.
Below are my current specs:
-20gal (standard)
-Fluval 150w Heater
-Fluval 305 Filter
-Coralife 24" HO 130w Light Unit (currently 2 Actinics, will be putting in a 10K)
-AquaticLife Internal Mini-Skimmer 115
-30 lb Live Rock
-40 lb live Carib Reef Sand
-Several Powerheads
Tank was initially setup on Sunday 8/21 with LR.
LS added on Thursday 8/25
Currently waiting on cycling / ammonia spike Pics to follow :)
 
db9181

db9181

Member
LR Added:

LS Added & Rock-work redone - Should provide a decent number of hiding places, etc.

Under 2 Actinics:
 
nanoreefer91

nanoreefer91

Member
So far so good!!

Like the rock work too! A lot of ins and outs for your future fish to swim through..... what are your plans for fish? and r you gonna have coral as well?
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
wats it look like with all the lights on? Looks good uve got a start!
I think ull find that u love sw and eventually ull have all sw tanks and only one fw lol!
 
db9181

db9181

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///t/387567/29gal-build#post_3411241
wats it look like with all the lights on? Looks good uve got a start!
I think ull find that u love sw and eventually ull have all sw tanks and only one fw lol!
Haha yea I know what you mean. FW i had 2 10s, 3 29g, and a 100gal... obviously Ive converted a 29g to SW. Got a lot to still learn so Im just starting with this one for now. Eventually I already want to turn my 100g to SW buuut I love my african cichlids (almost all of them Ive had since they were small enough for a 10g). That just means Ill haveta get ANOTHER 100g for SW :)
Heres a vid of my 100g FW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPQwtLeHZTQ Alittle dark and the fishies were just fed from the back of the tank so theyre all in the back wanting more food. Cichlids are probably the closest/most color variety of FW, hence why i went with them.
Ive always wanted to learn SW... finally gave in :)
 
db9181

db9181

Member
Tests for today:
-Temp: 81 -testing out how much heat my new 130w Coralife Unit gives off and then will adjust the heater accordingly. Currently running 2 65w Actinics. Bought a 65w 10,000K only to find out the bulb was cracked.
-Saltinty: 1.025
-pH: 8.0 (LS was added 2 days ago, so the pH should increase to about 8.2 shortly
-Ammonia: .25
-Nitrite: 0
-Nitrate: 20
Also, 3 of my 4 books came in:
-The Conscientious Marine Aquarist
-Oceanographic Series: Corals: A quick reference guide
-A Pocket-Expert Guide to Marine Invertebrates
Still waiting for:
-A Pocket-Expert Guide to Marine Fishes
This way I hope that I can ask less questions on SWF.com, and start being able to answer other's questions :)
 
tirtza

tirtza

Member
Good choice on the books. I'm new to SW as well, and when I first began I read 'Salt Water Aquariums for Dummies', that particular book was such a waist! I found waaaaay more useful and accurate information from this website! Now I come here for everything.
 
db9181

db9181

Member
Yes, the books are providing alot of good, very detailed information. Want to do it right the first time. :)
Side note, reference ammonia spike: I've read that sometimes it's not nearly as high when cycling with lr and ls -is this true? If so how high of a spike should I expect? Or will it just be when ammonia starts decreasing and nitrite increases?
 
kiefers

kiefers

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by DB9181 http:///t/387567/29gal-build#post_3411467
Yes, the books are providing alot of good, very detailed information. Want to do it right the first time. :)
Side note, reference ammonia spike: I've read that sometimes it's not nearly as high when cycling with lr and ls -is this true? If so how high of a spike should I expect? Or will it just be when ammonia starts decreasing and nitrite increases?
Hi! Great looking tank and your patience will be rewarded soon. The books will be a great source for you and of course you can always get further info on this site. You will soon see that every tank is different. Some spikes will come quicker than others with or without LR. typically from what I have been reading the cycle can be quicker but then some will be longer. Is that clear as mud? Lol....
 
db9181

db9181

Member
Tank has been running for 1 week (today) ammonia at 0.5 I'm anticipating alil higher spike so well see -wanna add part of my cuc next weekend :)
 
tirtza

tirtza

Member
I have a 29 gallon Biocube and I've had my tank set up for exactly 3 weeks. I never had an ammonia spike or nitrite spike, but it's possible that because of the cured live rock I got lucky and set up a base line bio filter.
I even made a huge mistake and added two damsel fish to introduce ammonia to the tank (plus I thought they are really beautiful fish). I just didn't realize they were so aggressive and it's actually a horrible way to introduce ammonia and so I returned them to the LFS last week. The tank hasn't had an ammonia spike, and so I finally put in some clean up crew 3 days ago (a Mexican Turbo Snail, and 3 blue leg hermit crabs).
Hopefully I'm right about the base line bio filter and there isn't a surprise ammonia or nitrite spike! I just keep checking the water parameters each day. A very wise hobbyist on this forum named 'Keifers' brought this article to my attention, you might find it helpful :) https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/386044/let-s-talk-about-cycling
 
db9181

db9181

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tirtza http:///t/387567/29gal-build#post_3411748
I have a 29 gallon Biocube and I've had my tank set up for exactly 3 weeks. I never had an ammonia spike or nitrite spike, but it's possible that because of the cured live rock I got lucky and set up a base line bio filter.
I even made a huge mistake and added two damsel fish to introduce ammonia to the tank (plus I thought they are really beautiful fish). I just didn't realize they were so aggressive and it's actually a horrible way to introduce ammonia and so I returned them to the LFS last week. The tank hasn't had an ammonia spike, and so I finally put in some clean up crew 3 days ago (a Mexican Turbo Snail, and 3 blue leg hermit crabs).
Hopefully I'm right about the base line bio filter and there isn't a surprise ammonia or nitrite spike! I just keep checking the water parameters each day. A very wise hobbyist on this forum named 'Keifers' brought this article to my attention, you might find it helpful :) https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/386044/let-s-talk-about-cycling
Thanks, that was a good article . Yea as i mentioned i started wit 30 lbs live rock and 40 lbs of live sand (carib-sea packaged w/ SW) so i guess I started with a good base-line as well. Ive added couple sinking shrimp pellets to kick it up alil more... I rather had a larger base-line started verses a small one. Im looking to add afew Nassarius, Nerites, Ceriths,and Astraea snails (maybe 2 of each) and maybe a blue-legged (for some movement) this upcoming weekend. :) well see how the tests read....
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you're on the right track. You will find many problems and many solutions along the way. It's what makes me love saltwater aquariums so much.
If you ever want to get started into corals, check out a book by Eric Borneman, Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History. It's a good start, so is his other books.
 
db9181

db9181

Member

Sounds like you're on the right track. You will find many problems and many solutions along the way. It's what makes me love saltwater aquariums so much.

If you ever want to get started into corals, check out a book by Eric Borneman, Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History. It's a good start, so is his other books.
Thanks snake -yea I'm already enjoying the complexity verses FW. If you look up in my post, I stated what books i have now, let mennnow if there decent as yes, I would like to get into reefs. Thanks for following :)
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist is a good starter book. Your doing good by researching a few books and getting some ideas about what you want before you buy anything. I really do recommend that book by Eric though, it's pretty comprehensive, and so is a few of his other books. I really enjoyed reading his article in reefkeeping magazine on Reef Food. If I were you, however, I would try to ditch the canister filter. The problem comes from inadequate/infrequent cleaning. Canister filters can become nitrate/phosphate factories overtime without proper maintenance.
I'm on the side of the less filtration the possible. I also prefer the most natural forms of filtration that I can get without using any mechanical filtration. It keeps free floating food always circulating in the system. However, on small enclosed tanks where sumps are impossible - it's hard to do it that way, unless you mod it completely.
Anyways, yes, I am along for the ride.
 
db9181

db9181

Member
Snake: thx I will look into that book. I'm regards to filtration, I'm mainly using it to polish as well as flow -it's great at 260gph, going to make a custom spray-bar to further spread out the output. Additionally, I plan on lots of maintenance...I also have a 100g, 2 other 29s, and 2 10g of FW...all of which require little maintenance due to how I have them set up :)
I am hoping that with the amount of great live rock and live sand (70lbs total) most of my filtration will come that as well as a somewhat properly stocked cuc.(I saw somewhat bc I don't know what the needs of my tank are yet, and some additions may be for personal preference)
 
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