# 29g Reef Tank



## Bluegill

Well, after asking many questions here and at ReefCentral, I have finally started my 29 gallon reef tank.









It is running a ten gallon berlin style sump (DIY) with a Mag5 return pump, a Sea Clone 100 skimmer, and has 130 watts of power compact flourescent lighting in the Orbit fixture from Current.

Today, I put in 30 pounds of aragonite, a pound of live sand, a pound of reef pool crud, and 16 pounds of carribean live rock, 5 pound of fiji LR, and 3 pounds of Kahelini LR. Oh, and I mixed some salt in there, too.

Here's a picture for you. Still a little murky from the sands . . .

View attachment 71686


It took me an hour to get the rock work looking kinda like what I wanted. Is it just me, or is everyone never quite satisfied with the way the rock work looks initially? I think I need more LR, or maybe if I just rearranged one more time.

Any comments, or suggestions are appreciated. My next task is going to be to rework the drain pipe, it is some half-assed DIY modified durso, that isn't quite right. I'll keep everyone up to date with more pix as the project progresses.


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## Joga Bonito

looks nice


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## hyphen

lookin good. i havent been satisfied with my rockwork since i've gotten it a couple months ago. i must've changed it around at least 5-6 times. as of now all the rock is just sitting on the sand bed until i figure out what i wanna do with it.


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## Bluegill

Thanks guys.

I'll keep everyone posted as to what happens in the tank. I got the Fiji and the Kahelini LR from Premium Aquatics in Indianapolis. The stuff looks great. All sorts of colors and little nubs of things that look like they might grow.


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## C.D.

wow i didn't know there was a premium aquatics in indy. where is it?


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## Genin

looking cool so far.


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## hyphen

just a word of advice that i never got in regards to rock placement...try to keep adequate space inbetween rocks so that they get good flow. otherwise you'll get some dead spaces on the rocks and won't be using them to their full potential for filtration.







i say this because i noticed some clutter with your rocks on the left side.


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## Bluegill

Hyphen - Thanks for the pointer. I have rearranged the rockwork, and will post more pix when I get home to my puter. They also should be less cloudy.

Genin - Thanks for compliment.



> wow i didn't know there was a premium aquatics in indy. where is it?


Go here: Premium Aquatics

They're on Barker in Northwest Indianapolis, and are as fara s I know the only Premium Aquatics. They are mainly mailorder, but are oipen to the public on Saturdays, and will let you pick up orders inperson during the week if you make an appointment. I went yesterday it was only an hour an a half drive for me.


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## C.D.

oh so its not like a store you can go in and look around and buy stuff? did you make an appoinment?


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## Bluegill

Yes, I spoke to them via online live help, and then placed an order on Monday for pick up on Tuesday.


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## akamakaveli

looks good







could you put up a picture of the sump. going to use the sump as a refugium? what are your plans as far as stocking? yeah i agree, everyday i ponder on how to redo my live rock to make it look better.


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## Bluegill

Oh, BTW here are some new pix. I've reworked the rocks:

View attachment 71822


View attachment 71812


Can anyone tell me what these are:

Some kinda orangish-rednubby looking thing,
View attachment 71814


and in this pic the white coral looking things.

View attachment 71816


Found a hitchiker, the little white line in the middle is a fan or tube worm, I think.

View attachment 71817


And, I've got my Sea Clown running. No skimmate just yet.

View attachment 71819


Now, comes the hard part . . .

. . . waiting, and waiting . . .

and more waiting before I can put anything else in the tank.


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## Bluegill

akamakaveli - I am using the sump as a fuge, but its real ugly looking. I ghave nothing in it but LR rubble, sand, sludge from a rock curing pool (only $1.50 per pound) and a big crack in the front glass. (I dropped some PVC into it after I had installed the baffles.







)

Fortunately, the crack did not go all the way through, and siliconed it up. So, like I said, its real ugly. Maybe once I get some macroalgae in it I'll post some pix of it.

As far as stocking, I'm planning on softies, maybe an LPS, and inverts. As for fish, I want to do a coral beauty, and yellow headed jawfish, but will probably do a lawn mower blenny b/c the sand bed is not deep enough for the jawfish.


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## K fizzly

get angler fish


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## Bluegill

Aren't they deep sea fishes that glow in the dark?


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## Guest

Anglers are awesome to keep. Not too pricey either.

Nice rockwork too.

--Dan


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## Bluegill

Thanks, Dan.

Do you have any idea what some of those things are? I'm trying to figure out if I have devil's hand and acro as hitch hikers, or dead versions of them.


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## vanz

Looking very good man! Looks like you have done all your research. Too bad the PVCs are showing. What about painting them black?

I have a 29G also. Been running for 2 months and everything is going good so far.


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## Bluegill

I'm hoping that the PVC crusts over with "good" algae. I'm also thinking of redoing the overflow, or adding more rock.

I think Live Rock is addictive or something because I keep on wanting more of it. (Hey man, you got any live rock?) They should deal it on street corners.


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## Genin

now that is sharp looking. good rock work.


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## Bluegill

A quick update. The live rock is already coloring up nicely. The thing that I thought might be a tube worm is definitely a tube worm. I saw it retract into to its tube when I moved. Better still, its not alone, there are several of them in my tank.









A picture for you:

View attachment 71948


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## Bluegill

Oh yeah, I'm also getting my first ever collection of skimmate.


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## illnino

when you stopping by gerbers. i work basically every weekday.


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## Bluegill

Nino - I've stopped by Gerber's probably a dozen times in the last month. I bought some of my LR there. Yesterday, I picked up 6 blue hermits, and 6 King nassarius snails.

Update - the rocks, the glass, and the PVC are all covering up with brown algae. It does not look pretty.

View attachment 72249


I am, however, discovering new hitchhikers. For instance, can anyone id this snail.

View attachment 72250


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## Bluegill

Oh, and, any suggestions on the brown algae. Or, is it a normal part the process?

Plus, here's a clearer pic of the snail:

View attachment 72251


If anyone can tell what type of snail this is I'd be much obliged. As you can see ther trail of white rock behind him, he's making quick work of the brown algae, and I'd like to buy some more this snail for that reason.


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## Genin

no clue about the snail but the brown diatom algae is completely normal for a new tank that is being established still. nice coraline on your one rock!


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## Bluegill

Well its good to know that the the brown diatom is normal. I hope to figure out what the snail is because it seems to love the diatom algae. If I wait a couple of days it might eat it all on its own, but I hope to give him an assistant.


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## hyphen

wow, your tank broke out in brown algae fast. it took mine a several weeks. not sure about the snail, but you can try various others to eat the algae.


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## Raptor

As for the snail it looks like a mexican turbo snail. They are very good at eating diatoms, and nuissance algae. Get a few cerith snails, and some tiger trocha's. I love the trocha's because they can flip themselves over in sand. Not many snails can do that. Margarita snails are great too and can flip over like the tigers and nassasarius snails and eat all the same algaes teh turbo's do.
1 queen conch or a fighting conch will keep the sand stirred up and eat the diatoms off of the sand.
If you see pura polypads get one and place it where you can get the most flow thru it in your sump like inbetween a baffle, and that should help your diatoms go away.


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## Bluegill

I picked three cerith snails today, and they ave already gone to work on the algae. I love this sh*t. There's always something going on in my tank. I can't wait until the thing has matured so I can start adding corals and fish.

Raptor - When is a saltwater tank ready for corals, and fish? After the tank has cycled?  I've been monitoring my water parameters, and the ammo has stayed steady at 0.25 ppm for a week now, and the nitrites and nitrates have remained at 0.0 ppm.


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## Guest

Bluegill said:


> I picked three cerith snails today, and they ave already gone to work on the algae. I love this sh*t. There's always something going on in my tank. I can't wait until the thing has matured so I can start adding corals and fish.
> 
> Raptor - When is a saltwater tank ready for corals, and fish? After the tank has cycled? I've been monitoring my water parameters, and the ammo has stayed steady at 0.25 ppm for a week now, and the nitrites and nitrates have remained at 0.0 ppm.
> [snapback]1150427[/snapback]​


I would wait a few months after it has matured depending on the coral. I think Mushrooms and Feather Dusters will be fine in a newly cycled tank though.

--Dan


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## Bluegill

Well Dan, the feather dusters are already in the tank. I didn't buy them they just showed up on the LR a few days ago. (Another reason I'm fast becoming addicted to keeping a reef tank.) I'm just hoping that they survive the cycle.

So mushrooms are pretty hardy are they? What about ricordia?


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## Genin

mushrooms are very hardy and a good first choice in a begining reef tank. i am the same way as you, i love to watch my salt tanks because absolutely everything in there is alive and something is always going on.


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## Bluegill

A new development in the tank. Today I noticed some new things growing in the tank. They look little glass leaves, but only the veins of the leaves. They are not aiptasia. Here's pic, quality's not the best, but . . .

View attachment 72468


It's jutting out off the rock to the right, and shows up very faintly against the black background. Any ideas on what it might be? I'm thinking it's the begining of tree coral, but what the heck do I know.


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## Bluegill

Well, my tank made it through a massive brown algae bloom. The snails did an excellent job cleaning it up. I am concened that the tank which is two weeks old doesn't seem to have cycled yet. So I picked up my first SW fish ever.

I added 3 blue devil damsels from Gerber's today. I understand that they are hardy fish, and should weather the coming ammonia storm that they are sure to produce. I'll keep everyone updated.

In the mean time, here's a pic of my first ever salt water fish:

View attachment 72772


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## Bluegill

Okay, so I was feeding the blue devils this morning when I noticed something new. On one of the pieces of Kahelini LR, there hjas been this red-brown branch looking thing. Well, today I noticed it seems to have sprouted leaves. Does anyone havbe any idea of what this could be?

Here's a pic in full spectrum:

View attachment 72831


And here's a pic in dual daylight only:

View attachment 72830


Any ideas?


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## Blitz023

Bluegill said:


> Okay, so I was feeding the blue devils this morning when I noticed something new. On one of the pieces of Kahelini LR, there hjas been this red-brown branch looking thing. Well, today I noticed it seems to have sprouted leaves. Does anyone havbe any idea of what this could be?
> 
> Here's a pic in full spectrum:
> 
> View attachment 72831
> 
> 
> And here's a pic in dual daylight only:
> 
> View attachment 72830
> 
> 
> Any ideas?
> [snapback]1155116[/snapback]​


algae








Looking good man. Grats


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## Bluegill

Blitz - Macroalgae? As in Caulerpa?

New update - I was looking at the tank this morning when I noticed some tendrils coming out of a hole in one of the rocks. No idea what it was so I watched it for a while when I noticed another set on another rock nearby. It turns out I have tiny little baby serpent sea stars hanging out in my rock as hitchhikers.


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## Blitz023

hmm.. not exactly caulupera, but some sort of algae or prolly sea weed. Can be food to some inhabitants.


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## Bluegill

I've been without a computer at home for awhile now. It crashed. Ihave made some new additions since my last post I'll post some pix soon. I added a coral beauty, a star fish, pumping xenia, green star polyps, two peppermint shrimp, and a favite.


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## Niche

u need to add some new pics then.. haha


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## Bluegill

I will as soon as I have my computer up and running. Right now all I can do is check in when I stop by the library or a friends place.


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