First go at a saltwater tank
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melypr1985
totally addicted
Those are some cute kids. I love that face!
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saltnewb
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Overflow 99% done. Have to glue all the pieces together, but wondering if I should put a ball valve in there somewhere? If you've done this before can you show me your overflow? Also is an anti siphon valve really necessary?
Kind of hard to see the pipe down below, but should I put a sock filter on the end of the pipe?
Kind of hard to see the pipe down below, but should I put a sock filter on the end of the pipe?
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saltnewb
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Finally have water sand and rock in it. So for filtration it has a fluval 405. With it turned up all the way, I wonder if it needs a power head? Also what should my next step be? Invertebrates? I put in a bottle of bio-spira from instant ocean. And according to the bottle I can start stocking the tank, but that worries me. Never gotten this far with saltwater. So excited and so scared, I don't want to screw it up.
melypr1985
totally addicted
Finally have water sand and rock in it. So for filtration it has a fluval 405. With it turned up all the way, I wonder if it needs a power head? Also what should my next step be? Invertebrates? I put in a bottle of bio-spira from instant ocean. And according to the bottle I can start stocking the tank, but that worries me. Never gotten this far with saltwater. So excited and so scared, I don't want to screw it up.
Look'n good there! Remember, it's not just about total flow in the tank. It's about keeping particles suspended so they can be sucked into the filter.... also, if you plan on having corals you'll want a powerhead in there to create a little clashing of water flow.. randomness if you can manage it.... even if you have to turn down the flow from the fluval.
beaslbob
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is your sump/refugium running?
wait a week and try a single male molly to test the system. Don't add food for a week and then start feeding 1 flake per day. See if you can get the molly to live for a few weeks.
wait a week and try a single male molly to test the system. Don't add food for a week and then start feeding 1 flake per day. See if you can get the molly to live for a few weeks.
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They can be converted to saltwater. Some people use them to eat hair algae in saltwater tanks.
You could do that but if you don't want it longterm make sure the store will take it back before you pull the trigger.
In a 29g, you may not want a Molly taking up room in your stock list since it will already be limited by the size of the tank
I would add some pure ammonia (no surfactants!) or a piece a shrimp to cycle, and watch for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Once your ammonia is zero, you can try to add one fish.
Maybe a watchman goby /shrimp pair if you are looking for suggestions. Your kids will love how they live in a symbiotic relationship. Though the shrimp will constantly rearrange the sandbed.
Get the watchman goby to start, wait a couple months on the shrimp.
If you are getting the requisite Nemo for your kids that may be a good one to start with as well.
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Ha, most the times we see pics of young kids, a clownfish is a requirement.
I'd still recommend the watchman goby they're a nice addition to a community tank.
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saltnewb
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Just realized I haven't updated this in over a year. Most of that time the tank sat dormant and only recently setup, December 2016, so here are some updated shots of the tank in action.
Only have the two clown fish now. I don't plan on getting any more fish anytime soon. Also, I loved how the tank stand turned out when I built it, but as time went on and after seeing the many tank stand pics on here, I hate it. I was going to build a new stand for this tank, but the wife said why waste the money, just build a new stand for the 90g tank that is just sitting around holding air. I said deal. So this will be my "learning" tank for the next year and I'll be starting a new build thread next year. WOOHOO!
As far as corals, I have 4/5 different zoas and some GSP. Inverts include some red legged hermits and some snails. The hermits are psycho and I never knew that before.
Only have the two clown fish now. I don't plan on getting any more fish anytime soon. Also, I loved how the tank stand turned out when I built it, but as time went on and after seeing the many tank stand pics on here, I hate it. I was going to build a new stand for this tank, but the wife said why waste the money, just build a new stand for the 90g tank that is just sitting around holding air. I said deal. So this will be my "learning" tank for the next year and I'll be starting a new build thread next year. WOOHOO!
As far as corals, I have 4/5 different zoas and some GSP. Inverts include some red legged hermits and some snails. The hermits are psycho and I never knew that before.
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saltnewb
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So, as of today, I now have HOB refugium with cheato and sea lettuce in it. It's the CPS Aquafuge - Medium. Not able to post pics right now, but wondering what ya'll think about it. Any thoughts would be appreciated and any tips would be loved.
I went the route of the HOB refugium because I'm not in a spot right now to setup an under tank sump/refugium and the tank isn't drilled.
I went the route of the HOB refugium because I'm not in a spot right now to setup an under tank sump/refugium and the tank isn't drilled.
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saltnewb
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wow, i'm soo behind on updating this thread. anywho. my wonderful T5 light fixture gave up on life. So I decided to budget build and reuse some parts, those lights are crazy expensive and I don't have any money for the T5 retro fit kit, so here is what I did. I built a canopy, salvaged my light fixture, and came up with this. Totally forgot how much I've rearranged things in the tank too. I have the blues on one switch and the whites on a second switch. The lights on the board are not attached to the canopy at all. I'm going to be adding a couple more levels in the canopy so I can raise/lower the light fixture itself, depending on how the corals react. They seem to be doing great since installing the lights again. Been running on the 2 light fixture for a couple days while I was figuring things out.
