29 Gallon Reef
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Main
Forum Name: Tank Threads
Forum Description: A place to show off your tank build.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=73982
Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 4:03pm
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Topic: 29 Gallon Reef
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Subject: 29 Gallon Reef
Date Posted: December 10 2014 at 8:23am
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Hey everyone, Im starting a 29 gallon reef tank that i purchased a month or two ago off of the forum. Right now I'm getting my cycle going. I have 30 lbs of dry rock from reefcleaners.org and 20lbs of fiji pink sand. I currently have as far as equipment goes, a HOB refugium with a Hydor slim skim, and have a metal halide/t5 combo light. I think i might upgrade the lighting to LED in the near future. As i mentioned, rock and sand are in, and Aceofspades was nice enough to help me with water, a small live rock and some live sand to get everything started.
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Replies:
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: December 10 2014 at 8:25am
| I woke up this morning to the front pane of glass on my tank bowing about 1/4". i quickly drained the tank about 1/3 of the way to relieve some pressure but still keep everything covered. Hopefully the tank can make it till after christmas. Petco is having their $1/gallon sale. That way I can pick up a brand new 29. |
Posted By: speyside712
Date Posted: December 11 2014 at 4:42pm
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I've got a 26 for sale pretty cheap if you want a replacement. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=32700821&cat=371 How was it bowing? As in the front pane of glass was coming detached from the other 3? Petco's tanks are usually pretty cheaply made.
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: December 11 2014 at 6:44pm
| I saw that today. I've had great luck with petco tanks. I bought this one used and didn't know anything about it prior. It could be fine and never break, but I don't really want to chance it. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 26 2015 at 9:46am
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Update: I got my new tank, and set it up. Tank is holding water like a champ, only to realize my HOB Refugium has sprung a leak. Siliconed all the joints last night to remedy that (hopefully). Im starting to think I'm cursed. RODI unit has been purchased from BRS thanks to aceofspades help. And I should be set to go soon. My cycle is close to ending. I think. Tank levels/cycle: I've got 8.0ph, and 0ppm for ammonia and nitrites, and 20-25ppm nitrates. My question is, I've never gotten any diatoms. A lot of people online say if you haven't had diatoms, your cycle isn't over. so I guess in playing the waiting game. |
Posted By: 80cent
Date Posted: January 26 2015 at 10:51am
| Sounds great! Can't wait to see pics. |
Posted By: Reefer4Ever
Date Posted: January 26 2015 at 12:12pm
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Patience my young grass hopper. ;) ------------- 90 gal reef w/refugium 24 gal softie tank 11 gal nano anemone tank 5 gal fresh water |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 26 2015 at 3:53pm
| i know, im sure you know what it feels like to just want to get going. i know i have to be patient and that patience is the best tool for a successful reef. Its just sad how excited i am just to get a clean up crew.. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 8:27am
here is a picture from last night.  30 lbs of dry rock 20 lbs of "live" sand RODI water
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Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 10:20am
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When you're ready to get your cleanup crew let me know if you're interested in carpooling down to any of the local fish stores. I need to boost mine too. Although you probably don't need much of one until you have other life in the tank. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 10:34am
i'll probably take you up on that, at least to get some hermits. Reefcleaners, sells a 29 gallon CUC for 29.50 with free shipping. its all snails though. Thanks!
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aceofspadeskb wrote:Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 10:40am
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A lot of people really like reefcleaners. I've had 2 bad experiences with them. Basically both times I ordered from them half of the order was DOA. Saltwater Paradise is my favorite place to get a CUC. David at Reef Kingdom has always given me an awesome deal on Astreas and blue leg hermits, but that's all he sells and it's hit or miss when he has them. Both places are near Weber St. |
Posted By: 1stupidpunk
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 10:54am
| I've ordered from John (reefcleaners) dozens of times with very few issues. I did have an entire pack of snails arive DoA but im fairly sure it was the shippers fault as the package was badly damaged. I emailed john and he sent me a replacement free of cost. If your going local then i agree that saltwater paradise as the best deal for a CuC. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 11:11am
| yeah, John at reefcleaners is awesome. he answered questions about my rock, and made sure i was entirely happy with what i got. He even put in specific types of pieces that i had asked for. Great guy running an awesome business. |
Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 11:24am
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Apparently I just have terrible luck... |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 28 2015 at 11:29am
| i hope you emailed john to let him know. i mean, usually he sends a bazillion snails anyway to account for some DOA. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: January 30 2015 at 6:43am
RODI came today, so excited to no longer have to buy water. Thanks aceofspades for the hookup
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Posted By: aporter360
Date Posted: January 30 2015 at 11:10am
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If you want a good clean up crew, head over to benepets, they sell snails and crabs at 50 cents, way cheaper than online and you will have a much better survival rate! ------------- 54 gallon rimless mixed EA sump 1 year running |
Posted By: laroc
Date Posted: January 30 2015 at 6:02pm
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I also have this same set-up 29g with a 10g sump via PVC overflows ( never had a problem in 3 years starts and stops just like a regular overflow). As far as the slimskim I have found that if you take the air line hose and move it higher than the skimmer its pushes the bubbles up better and cleaning about once a month ( the entire skimmer but really just the bubble apparatus just on on top of the pump.) If you woulld like pictures I can send you a text 385-226-1725 names Skyler. Otherwise happy reefing. ------------- Always be leery of a fish farmer...wait or is it a pig farmer? |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 02 2015 at 8:32pm
| Today was awesome, I was just sitting in front of the tank and admiring the rock work. All of a sudden I see something crawling around. Stomatella snails! I found a couple. So cool to finally see things coming together! |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 03 2015 at 5:03pm
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That IS cool! -------------  |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 06 2015 at 9:39pm
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Last piece of the puzzle has been purchased. I got a light fixture off eBay. It's a 165w Dimmable full spectrum fixture. Everyone on reddit raves about them and the cost makes it a pretty easy choice. I plan on mostly growing mostly softies and LPS. http://m.ebay.com/itm/190999433320 |
Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: February 07 2015 at 10:15am
Several people on here and other forums really like these lights. I know a lot of people change the optics on them in order to keep SPS if you decide to go that route...perhaps someone else can chime in on that. Great addition! 
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 13 2015 at 7:50am
the day has finally come. Lights are hung up, diatoms are here, and nothing is leaking (for the time being.) Need to get a CUC and then we're on our way to the fun stuff. I built a light hanging kit for my new light out of electrical conduit and painted it all black. Looks pretty good to me. kind of ghetto, but better than a lot of the other ones i saw. 
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Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: February 13 2015 at 8:46am
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Let me know if you're interested in carpooling down to a LFS to get your cleanup crew. I need to restock mine as well. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 13 2015 at 9:07am
maybe next saturday we could go?
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 19 2015 at 10:01pm
| CUC has been ordered. I got the all snail pack from reefcleaners.org, but will be headed to saltwater paradise on Saturday for a couple other snails and some hermits. So excited. Things are moving along great. I met up with Softplan and he hooked me up with a free cabbage coral. I Got it home on Sunday and acclimated it. All polyps are extended and it looks to be doing well. I've also found a couple pineapple sponges in the tank, and recently found some super small bugs on the glass. Not sure how big Copepods are.. So I don't know for sure if that's what they are. |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 23 2015 at 8:25am
| CUC arrived in good shape. Came with at least 30 dwarf ceriths, 12 nasarius, 11 florida ceriths, and 10-11 nerites. I visited Saltwater Paradise and purchased some hermits who immediately removed the hair algae that had accumulated. So things are going great. I also traded my old lights for a toadstool leather and an acan. Hopefully picking up a clown tonight, and a frogspawn possibly this weekend. So far so good! |
Posted By: BobC63
Date Posted: February 23 2015 at 10:16am
Looking good so far 
And I think your DIY light fixture is pretty sweet - not ghetto at all! ------------- - My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) - * Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 * |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: February 26 2015 at 1:10pm
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Here are the corals that i have going in my tank right now. Thanks to everyone who's been so great to work trades to get this started. I'm loving it so far. I find myself just sitting down in front of the tank and watching for hours. I've even started getting my wife interested. She likes the toadstool. The toadstool was pretty upset that i fragged him off of the rock he came to me on (bubble algae), but hes started opening up again just yesterday. The acans i received as a trade are starting to make a comeback. They fluoresce orange under the blues, but are pretty drab under daylights.      
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Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: February 26 2015 at 1:39pm
Good lookin' coral!  |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 26 2015 at 7:24pm
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Very pretty! ------------- |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: March 02 2015 at 8:01am
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Here are some new additions thanks to a couple members. Frogspawn, GSP, Idaho Grape Monti, Red plate monti, Xenia, and my first fish, i believe its an ocellaris clown. everything is happy and open. I did have my first death though, a hermit fell victim to a bigger hermit wanting his shell. may he rest in piece.
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: March 02 2015 at 8:05am
i almost forgot, here is a full tank shot. |
Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: March 02 2015 at 8:15am
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If it were me, I might slide that GSP a little more away from the rest of your rock...Unless you REALLY like GSP that is. Good lookin' tank! |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: March 02 2015 at 8:17am
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it looks a lot closer than it is from that angle. its about a 2"-3" gap.
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Posted By: aceofspadeskb
Date Posted: March 02 2015 at 8:40am
So excited for Spring break...that other fish store tour thread was awesome! |
Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: March 05 2015 at 12:14pm
This should be a lot of fun. i don't have a ton of stuff to buy, but it'll be great to see all the stores i've never been to.
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: April 13 2015 at 4:18pm
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Things have been going great in the tank. no coral or fish losses, minimal to no algae breakouts. Corals are all growing great. My Sunny D's i got from Nick801 have sprouted 5 new polyps, and my montipora that i got from P.Kapp is spreading quickly. Everything is happy and healthy. Next I plan on purchasing a tail spot blenny in the near future to add a little more diversity to the tank fish-wise. I'd really like to keep more zoas as well. I never liked them when i started my tank, but they're my favorite coral now. Thanks to everyone along the way!
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: October 15 2015 at 12:12pm
tank update. it's been about 7 months since i've added a photo. Check out the progress.
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Posted By: sleepingdeep
Date Posted: December 04 2015 at 1:21pm
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One year old! 
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