cvcdrk's 29g Mini Reef

Background: I dabbled in saltwater aquariums a few years ago but never that seriously. I decided a few days ago to get back into it. As I read some articles it all came rushing back.

So I decided to get a 29g mini reef. I bought a tank on sale at Petco for $45. Standard rectangle (30in wide)

This is the list of the things I bought:

Tank - 29g (30" wide)

Heater - 100w heater with adjustable temperature settings, but the default seems to be working well.

Filter - 10 gallon canister filter. I found out here that I don't need filter system but I saw this for $52 at Petco and couldn't resist. It has a built-in 3 stage filter system, but eventually I can use my own media and I'll just fill it with live rock rubble and it will be added flow/filtration. For the time being the activated charcoal and the ceramic biological media will really help with the beginning filtering of the water.

Powerheads: One 250gph circulation pump and one Hydor Koralia Evolution 750gph circulation pump (which will be here tomorrow).

API Test Kits, Thermometor, Hydrometer, and salt.

Sand: I bought 20lbs. of live sand from the LFS and 20lbs of fine white gravel aquarium substrate and mixed them together after washing the gravel. It has covered about 1-1.25 inches of covered over the bottom.

Lights: I do not have lights yet. This is a hot subject for me. I get paid of Tuesday and plan to use a big chunk of that check for a lighting system. I do not know whether I want metal halide lighting or if I want an LED system. I would appreciate links to lighting systems that would be good. I need enough lighting power to be able to keep nems.. My other requirement is night time blue bulbs WITH a secondary switch to control them.

I would like opinions on this setup:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Saltwater-Aquarium-Light-Fixture/dp/B000YHCYEY/ref=sr_1_10?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1339026808&sr=1-10[/ame]

Is 10,000k enough to grow anything I want in a 29g or will I need more than that for some things? How much power do I need?

I set up the tank on the new stand and filled it last night. All equipment is working well.

Live Rock: 9.89lbs. of some very nice live rock from my LFS. I picked some good solid pieces with interesting crevices and things. One has a small polyp growing on it and a few others have some great-looking algae.

Dry Rock: I ordered 21lbs of dry rock from Marcorocks.com as referred by here. It is scheduled to be delivered on Friday. I have to work that day but hopefully they will leave it at my door. The live rock I got today will seed this rock and bring my total to about 31lbs of live rock.
I haven't decided yet whether I will be adding more rock to the tank. I decided that I wanted to wait until the bulk of it got here and see what it all looks like in the tank. I am NOT a fan of a cluttered rock-filled tank. I have already decided that I'm going to have a large sandy area in one corner. This is where I dream of having a beautifully colored clam living someday

So far Its going well. I've set everything up. I just put the live rock in a few minutes ago and I have everything up and running. The water is still really cloudy but there is no good light in there right now so it could just be that. There's also salt building up on the inside of the glass. I remember this happening to me last time and I just have to scrub it with my tank brush to get it off.

So now that it's set up and the rock is in....I just wait. I just have to wait. I have the salinity at about 1.025 right now, which seems right about perfect. I have the pH at a firm 8.2 and used buffer to get it there. Even though I didn't want to I went to walmart and bought 30 gallons of reverse osmosis water so that is what is in the tank now and I used Kent's reef salt and Instant Ocean (two different salts) to mix my tank. This has proven to be a nice idea as my levels have been steady and I'll have some extra nutrients that will be good for my future corals and things. My temperature is still a little low but I've done like 20 small water changes to get the salinity just right and it hasn't really had time to catch up...so I'll give that time to do it.

Good luck! And welcome back to the "dark Side"! lol

welcome aboard!!

Which color should I use for a background? I'm leaning towards blue but black is an option. Any insights?

Black seems to make the colors on corals pop a bit more then blue. Black is way more universal. But in the end it is your tank. If you use a water based acrylic paint, you can always just scrap it off if you don't like it.

Just looked it up. You can buy water based acrylic paint at walmart.

I doubt I will paint it. The tank is in place. Definitely not going to be moving it around anytime soon. I will try to find a nice plastic background that's blue on one side and black on the other.

Does anyone have any comments on my fitter idea? I bought it to do it's original purpose to start out but over time I want it to become like a self-contained bacteria city....just teeming with bacteria and I'll just take out the other filter mediums and just pump water through the rock....all of it being contained in a nice neat little setup.
That is why I bought the weaker one. It only pumps at 79gph but its intended purpose will just be as extra filtration and a place where bacteria will be able to teem undisturbed.

Pics update. Before and after setup.

As long as you keep the filter cleaned out you should be okay. Adding live rock and eventually chaeto to help control nitrates/phosphates instead of using chemical media is a great idea! As for the light, is that a 2 bulb fixture? You might be able to get away with 2 bulbs for softies and LPS on your tank, but you might need something more for SPS and clams/nems. I'd also change out the bulbs to add at least one actinic. My only experience is really in LED though (otherwise I'm just going off of other advice I've read here), so hopefully someone else will chime in on this!

Could you recommend me an LED fixture that will be enough light for nems/clams and also has two switches (so I can have the blues on at night)?

I don't have a protein skimmer yet either. I know I don't need it in the beginning here because at this point...anything solids breaking down will encourage bacterial growth...but eventually I will need one. My goal would be to get the quietest one possible but it doesn't seem like any re actually quiet...so my main question would be....can the protein skimmer be on a timer to run periodically through the day and have it off at night?

I have a 20g long tank and I have this light
JBJ Unibody Dimmable 54 Watt 6500K-20000K LED Fixture

I don't know what your price limit is, but I love mine! It has whites and blues on two different channels, both dimmable, & built in fan. There is also a separate remote control so you can buy to program it as well! It also has moon lighting in case the blues turned all the way down is too much. Here's a pic of mine with just the blues all the way down. Sorry for the crappy phone pic

cvcdrk said:

so my main question would be....can the protein skimmer be on a timer to run periodically through the day and have it off at night?

Click to expand...

And yes, some people only run theirs sporadically. You'll find the right fit for you. You may need to run it all the time or you may not even need it at all. I don't have one yet in my 20g and still undecided on if I need one or not.

I bought a phosphate test but I found it to be difficult to read. I'm not sure if I have a phosphate level or not.

Regardless, I'm strongly considering getting a phosphorus treatment just for the cycling. I've read a lot of articles talking about how phosphorus can come from rocks, especially cured rocks like the ones I'm getting Friday....and then can embed itself into the sand and rocks and leach out over time. I've read good ways to eliminate problem algae outbreaks later on would be to use phosphorus-absorbing media during the cycling process.

Btw, my parameters for today:

Specific Gravity: 1.0245
pH: 7.9 (needs to go UP. Will buffer it tomorrow when I confirm this reading)
Ammonia: 0ppm (can't wait to start seeing this show up!)
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: about 15ppm....not sure how I'm detecting any nitrates but I'll take it.
Temperature: 74.5° (needs to go UP. I have two independent thermometers reading this temperature, but my heater seems to think that it's good as it has he little green light on. I really need to make sure I can keep a stable temperature with this heater or I may be spending more money on another heater).

Welcome to the 29 gallon club!


(wet dry filter and skimmer is the way to go, I've had mine for a month now and my water is perfect! And as far as lights go on aquatraders.com and look at the 4 bulb 96 watt t5ho light fixture it's $70 and a pretty damn good light for the money....

dro is this the light your talking about?
Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

I would run your skimmer 24/7, it will work much better that way.

Also most phosphate test kits are junk, algae consumes phosphates so rapidly that you cant accurately test for it with commercial test kits. Also, most of those phosphate and nitrate absorbing media take a long time to start working, so you will most likely need to keep using it after the cycle.

lilmatty5dimes said:

dro is this the light your talking about?
Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

Click to expand...

yea thats it. it really is a good light for the money (leds suck but the actual lights are good)

So I have two questions about this light:
Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

It looks fantastic!
1. It says 95watts, I read you need at least 150watts to keep anenomes eventually and certain corals. Is this true or will this light be enough power to do this for me?
2. Does it have a separate switch for the moon light LEDs? I plant to put the system on a timer if possible so that it has the same light cycle everyday.

Sorry for the questions but all these saltwater sights do a TERRIBLE job describing their products and the capabilities.

cvcdrk said:

So I have two questions about this light:
Odyssea T5 Aquarium Lighting

It looks fantastic!
1. It says 95watts, I read you need at least 150watts to keep anenomes eventually and certain corals. Is this true or will this light be enough power to do this for me?
2. Does it have a separate switch for the moon light LEDs? I plant to put the system on a timer if possible so that it has the same light cycle everyday.

Sorry for the questions but all these saltwater sights do a TERRIBLE job describing their products and the capabilities.

Click to expand...

that light will be close to what you need...if you paint the back of your tank and have good bulbs im sure you can get away with it...i can be wrong. and yes the light comes with 3 cords. one for the white lights one for the blues and one for night time leds....but if you dont wanna risk it go with the MH thats plenty of light!

Odyssea Metal Halide System

I'm leaning towards that one. My only price requirement was under $200 and that satisfies me.

Plus this way I KNOW it will be a quality light that will last. The only thing better would be finding an LED fixture with enough power and under $200 which I am still hoping for but don't think I will find it.