bringing my 29g back to life
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=84326
Printed Date: April 18 2024 at 4:57pm
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Topic: bringing my 29g back to life
Posted By: Davidwillis
Subject: bringing my 29g back to life
Date Posted: April 19 2018 at 2:26pm
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I had this tank up and running a few years ago, but I ended up taking it down for a while. I don't have a lot of time, or money, so this is a very simple tank that I want to run with very low maintenance. To accomplish this I don't have any live corals (sorry I guess this is not really a reef tank, but I might add some later). I will be using the Hiatt system (since it worked well for me before). I am not sure why there are very few people using this system, however last time running this system I did have a hard time keeping corals alive, and my angelfish suffered from HLLE. I suspect the large amount of carbon could have been the cause of HLLE, and possibly my coral problems due to taking out too many trace elements (but I also had other issues). Tank: 29gal Filtration: 5lbs tri-based activated carbon, with Hiatt right now bacteria. I also use a canister type filter with filter floss before the carbon which I will change out when it looks like it is getting full, a second canister filter full of crushed coral to help maintain the ph, and a final micron filter to remove any carbon dust before returning it to the tank by way of a protien skimmer (Aquatop Xyclone PS370) used mostly for aeration. Lighting: 2 HIPARGERO LED Aquarium Light circulation: 2 Voyager Nano Stream Pump (530 GPH) Fish: 2- clown fish 2- Blue Sapphire Damselfish (I know these will probably be problems, but I love the color) 1- Royal Gramma 1- green spotted puffer (he might also be problems, but I really like this fish)  |
Replies:
Posted By: WildBill
Date Posted: April 19 2018 at 4:29pm
| Congrats on bringing the tank back. |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: April 19 2018 at 8:37pm
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Thanks. It is really good to have a tank up again, |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 10:30am
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So far so good. I have had fish in the tank for 17 days, and still have not seen any algae on the glass to need cleaning. I tested for nutrients today just to see what they were. Ammonia- 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 0 phosphate - 0 I am really surprised this system is not more popular than it is. However I see they now recommend using sea lab trace element blox When using http://www.hdltd.com/products/p_tribase.html" rel="nofollow - (TBPC) for your bio media and filtration system, it will absorb trace elements that you add to your aquarium water. By using the Sea Lab Trace Element Blox the needed trace elements are added to the tank automatically. NO measuring and NO worry that your marine animals are not getting the sufficient trace elements they require. I wonder if that is why I had problems keeping corals alive, and my angelfish suffered from HLLE??? Anyway, so far with just fish, and an anemone it seems to be doing great. But I might get some trace element blocks...? |
Posted By: WildBill
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 1:41pm
| How long did you cycle the tank? |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 4:12pm
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I mixed the saltwater, and added the fish with the "right now" bacteria the next day, (I added the Right now bacteria 5 minutes before adding the fish as per the instructions with the hiatt system). Edit: The cycle takes 24 hours, but I never saw any ammonia nitrite or nitrate. |
Posted By: WildBill
Date Posted: April 23 2018 at 8:44pm
| Cool. Never heard of that system. |
Posted By: Wrogers
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 5:14am
Would love to see pics of this tank in a year. I have read a lot now on this system with mixed reviews. Love reading about things I have not seen or heard of  ------------- William Rogers |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 7:39am
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Sure, I will post more pictures. Like I said in my first post, I have run this system before, and it does work great at keeping the nutrients down, and a clean tank. My problems before what that my sps corals would not live long, and also my angel fish suffered from HLLE, which has been linked to the use of carbon, but not proven (as far as I know). Where did you find places to read about this system? I tried to see if I could find more information before starting it again, and found very little. There were a few reviews showing it working, but when they went to a larger system did not continue with it due to the large amount of carbon they would need. I also saw a lot of people that did not like the system (even though they never used it) because they thought it would not work. So if you have some good sources, then I would like to read up on it more. I could not find any new articles, or of anyone still using the system, which is a concern to me. I do know the bacteria works great at cycling a tank. The first time I did it, I was very concerned about adding all my fish at one time with a new tank. But it has worked every time. This time I even tried it with an anemone (with is more sensitive) and it is doing fine. I do think I may get the element blox though, or it may die from lack of trace elements (I suspect this is why my sps corals died, but I still don't know). |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 8:39am
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Wow, Hiatt system! That's a blast from the past. Not something you hear everyday. Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: April 24 2018 at 1:20pm
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I know, I have been out of the loop for a while. Hopefully I didn't miss some important reason why it is not used anymore (it never was really very popular, but I am not sure why). |
Posted By: Wrogers
Date Posted: April 25 2018 at 12:39pm
Reef 2 reef had some talk about it.. Then the rest I googled. Found more info that way.. I spent a few hrs reading about it, could have spent more.. I read the ones that where or did use it and passed by the ones that where just sharing their opinion... Proof is in the pudding my Dad always told me..  ------------- William Rogers |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: May 08 2018 at 5:38pm
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I noticed some algae showing up on the glass, so I checked my phosphate and nitrate levels: phosphate 0.37 Nitrate: Just above zero, but very close to zero. Now I am wondering why the phosphate level went up so high. |
Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: May 09 2018 at 7:27am
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It could be old phosphate bound up in the rock or sand, or from food breaking down. ------------- My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread: |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: May 09 2018 at 7:59pm
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I will keep an eye on it and see if it goes up or down. I also added a little more bacteria to see if that will help. The skimmer almost mediately started producing foam (not a lot, but more than it was). |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: May 11 2018 at 10:17am
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Still going up.... 0.39 I am going to clean out my filters |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: May 11 2018 at 10:58pm
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I found a bunch of rotting food in my filter. Maybe I need to change it more often. |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: May 16 2018 at 3:39pm
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phosphates are slowing going down after cleaning out the filters. It is down to 0.33 now. I guess I need to clean them more often. |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: April 06 2019 at 1:14pm
As promised, here is a year later (or around that). I really have not been doing anything other than feeding the fish. I have not even tested anything other than salinity (not nearly frequent enough as it was way low down to 0.015). I have it back up now. The only thing I do for cleaning is clean the filters about once every 3 months (I know, I should do it more often), and scrap the glass of about once every 2-3 weeks (when I start to notice a little algae). I have lost a couple of fish. The Royal Gramma died, but I am not sure why, and the Green spotted puffer was somehow able to get into my overflow, and got sucked into a pump. I also added a couple of yellow mollies which I acclimated to saltwater. I needed some yellow, and I don't have a saltwater store close by, so I just picked these two up at walmart. overall, I think the system has done excellent, and is very low maintenance. I would really like to get one more fish that will be the main attraction to my tank, but it is difficult to find anything for such a small tank. I am thinking about adding a small puffer, maybe this: https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+39+2909&pcatid=2909 I would like an angel, but I have had issues with HLLE with angels using this system, and my tank is a little small.
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Wrogers wrote:Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: November 23 2019 at 2:31pm
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I don't do anything with this tank other than feed it, and clean the glass, skimmer, and filter socks once or twice a month. This system works perfectly. However I am planning on setting up a larger tank next summer, and I am afraid the large amount of carbon will cause HLLE in any tangs or angel fish I get. Also I have not had any coral in this tank, and I am afraid the nutrient levels are too low for them to do well. So I decided to test a couple of parameters, nitrate, and phosphate. They both show 0 on my test kit. The Nitrate test is on an API test kit, and the phosphate is using a Hanna low range tester. After the test I noticed my reagent had expired, so I orders some new packets, and it still shows 0. I guess that is the reason I don't have very much algae growing. Anyway, I don't think I am going to use this system with my new tank (180 gallon or so), because I want to have some tangs angels, and coral in it. So I am going to see if I can switch out the carbon (in this tank) for some ceramic filter media. I have already put the filter media in the sump, and will slowly start removing the carbon. I expect the nitrate and phosphate will go up, and if it does, I will try carbon dosing to see if that keeps it down. I want to make sure I can keep a good tank going without the large amount of carbon.
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Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: November 29 2019 at 3:41pm
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So I decided to get some new test kits, to make sure the reading are correct. I got an hanna ultra low phosphorus checker, and a salifert nitrate test kit. The phosphate is still reading zero ppb... I have no idea how it is so low.. The Nitrate is reading between 5-10
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