nYgel's 29 Gallon Reef

[fish1031]

Im interested in making my 29g a reef tank
I already have a filter, live sand, a tiny bit of live rock (I need a lot more)
The tank is very established has been up for 2 years... its empty now...parameters are all good.... I need to start with lighting... you said you have a 65W? I just has the regular bulb it comes with... what do you reccomend I buy... Do I need a whole new ballast or do the have just bulbs for this (I am new to reef as you can probably tell)
Just curious you have some corals but not a ton... how much have you spent on them total... I see you live in Indiana... I am in Florida and it might be a tad cheaper here.
Thx

 

[clay12340]

Nygel, your tank is looking very nice. I have the same problem with my rockwork. I think I get scared when I try to stack it higher, so it always ends up looking flat. Your ricordea is looking very nice. Did you pick it up locally? I'm in Bloomington and wouldn't mind picking up a frag.
fish1031, your lighting will depend on what corals you want to keep in your reef. The ones pictured in his tank are soft corals and are all pretty accepting of low light, so you can get away with t5 or PC lighting.
However, if you wanted to keep large polyp stony(LPS) or small polyp stony(SPS) corals you'd probably want to go for halides or possibly LED lighting if you've got a lot of money to spend and want the newest gadget on the block.
Most fish and coral sale websites have their corals split into soft corals, lps, and sps. So going to a site like www.***********.com or www.***********.com and looking at their coral listings can give you some idea of what is readily available and what category they fall into. Although there is no substitute for seeing the corals in person you can do a ton of research online and make your life much easier.
With regards to pricing you'll find better dry goods prices online in most cases so your cost should be very close to his.

 

[fish1031]

I will def. stick with the soft corals (they seem easier and cheaper after my 30min research)
So will I need to buy a new ballast or do they make a t5 or pc 65W or so bulb?

 

[nygel]

Originally Posted by Clay12340
Nygel, your tank is looking very nice. I have the same problem with my rockwork. I think I get scared when I try to stack it higher, so it always ends up looking flat. Your ricordea is looking very nice. Did you pick it up locally? I'm in Bloomington and wouldn't mind picking up a frag.
If I were you I'd edit your post... you advertised competetor sites, thats a big no no . moving on. I picked them up at Inland Aquatics in Terre Haute, awesome place, They were $6 per polyp. decent deal. i go to Delilahs sometimes in btown, but they are ridiculously expensive on corals. well.. everything for the most part.
I wish i could have a stacking problem in my tank, my problem is not having enough TO stack. Though I should be getting alot more soon.
thanks all. oh, i also plan on getting some T5 hopefully mid - summer.

 

[nygel]

So, i couldn't resist getting a juvenile male scooter to pair with my female one (especially since it eats frozen as well.)

 

[oak]

Originally Posted by nYgel
So, i couldn't resist getting a juvenile male scooter to pair with my female one (especially since it eats frozen as well.)
How can you tell if it is male or female and you sure they are a pair? Oh and you got very lucky with the scooters and madarins. I'm jealeous

 

[nygel]

one has the fin right behind their head larger with blue spots, one is smaller, (big one has smaller, little one has bigger..... pic 2 shows it on the little 1, just about all the other show that the big one has the smaller one.) this is my understanding. Also, yeah, lucky apparently....

 

[nygel]

MAJOR UPDATE
Alright.... i lost several fish... some right before my very eyes... . So with the excite of all but three fish, i did some reaquascaping and well... I think it looks alot better now.. behold... my new 29g.
Fish:
1 Scooter Blenny
1 Watchman Goby
1 Cherub Angelfish
1 Clown
Inverts:
Porcelien Crab
Coral Banded Shrimp
CUC
Corals:
Unknown Zoos
Pulsing Xenia
Frogspawn
Several Mushrooms
Few Rics
Toadstool Leather
Green Star Polyps
also several plants... liek the red kelp going all over teh left side of teh tank.

 

[nygel]

more

 

[nygel]

few more

 

[b0bby1]

nYgel, get rid of the Coral Banded and get a fire or cleaner. i had one for a week and it killed 2 peppermints and almost my blue tang. i traded him in and got a fire and a cleaner.
also, wut fish died on you?

 

[nygel]

i've watched this guy for a while at the lfs, he seemed most peaceful... im still not willing to pay more for a shrimp than i do on most fish, so i wont get a cleaner. I've always thought the CBS were the coolest looking invert. If he gets out of hand, he'll be gone though. I have an invert prison.... haha.. my HOB filter converted to refugium... I had a crazy blue leg hermit that would sit on my toadstool leather... hes gone now.
the juvenile percula died after my horsefaced blennie died after my pipefish died

 

[b0bby1]

ya i knew that pipefish would die. i went to the LFS to get one the other week cus i saw urs. when i asked the owner he said i shouldnt because the move very slowly and wouldn't get much food, cus all the other fish would beat him to it. he said they belong in species only tanks otherwise theyll starve to death

 

[nygel]

yeah... it wasnt that... i turn off most flow for feeding time (helps scooter take half the food ) I watched him... he was swimming normal... then he just jolted into the glass then jumped out the tank hit the lights, came back down and hit the sand and got buried part way, then died... it was like he had a heart attack or something.... it was crazy, especially cuz i was talking about him to someone at the time...
I'll have a HUGE addition hopefully by wednesday.... HUGE....

 

[b0bby1]

wut do u plan on getting?

 

[nygel]

HUGE! hint... its a coral.

 

[nygel]

So, I picked up a 12 headed hammer coral.... its awesome, it hasn't even came close to opening up all the way yet though, its still new. But its still the biggest thing in my tank. and a few random shots taken today too. I was feeding them at the moment too, so thats why their is mysis floating around.

 

[b0bby1]

nYgel, i got one question for you. what kind of camera do you use?
My moms getting one very soon before we go on vacation, and I want something that takes good pics, but thats not the price of one of those SLR's.

 

[nygel]

Kodak Easyshare Z650
thats the ONE QUESTION! aight, i answered it I'll go take a pic of my new clownfish while I'm at it....
nevermind, no battery.... it'll drain a battery really bad, and i dont know if its all cameras, but going through a tank apparently kills zoom... cuz it'll go out of focus once it sees my tank.

 

[nygel]

bump, why not?