My 29g build. First try with saltwater.

[Kerwin1721]

Hello,

I had this on in another area but didn't get many suggestions so I'm posting it in the Members tanks area. Please help with any suggestions.

I am finally setting up my first salt water tank after years of freshwater tanks and a bit of time breeding cichlids. I joined R2R a while ago and have done a ton of research and reading everything I can so I can set up a tank.

My original plan was to set up a 20gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. I had the tanks left over from when I used to breed the cichlids. They have been sitting around for about a year in my basement. After cleaning them really well, water checks and drilling the tank I built a stand. The way I built the stand there ended up being about a 1.5 inch gap on both sides of the tank so the sump would fit into the stand.

Thinking I was finished with the stand my wife ended up not liking the gaps and suggested I just use one of the 29 gallon tanks so I could keep the 20 gallon as a sump. I wasn't going to argue about going bigger so I drilled the 29 gallon and rebuilt the stand. This time instead of having two door, I made the front one panel that would open. I still wanted it to look similar to the 110 gallon cichlid tank that it will sit next to so I put false doors on the font.

When plumbing the tank I decided to use two overflows, one that will be the main tuned to make a siphon with a ball valve and one as a emergency. I used a schedule 80 cap with holes drilled into it as the main and a schedule 80 elbow as the emergency. On the back of the tank I am using clear flexible tubing to carry the water to/from the sump.

After doing a lot of looking at how other have built a sump I started in on mine. The silicone is not pretty but for a first attempt I don't think it was too bad. In the tank I used acrylic sheets to make the baffles and a filter sock holder. I tried to make the compartments for the filter sock/skimmer and the return pump about the size as the equipment so I could leave as much room as possible for the refugium.

Here is how it looked that I have everything into the sump and in the stand.

I built a stand for the light and will paint it black this weekend.

I'm also on a bit of a budget so I couldn't go as nice as I wanted to but the equipment I have picked up after reading reviews and lots of posts on here are.

Substrate - CariSea Arag-alive Figi Pink
Skimmer - SCA-301 by SC Aquariums rated for 65-75 gallons
Return pump - PP53006: 530 GPH, Submersible - 45W, 6' Cord that I picked up from Amazon
Powerhead - Hydor Koralia Nano 425
Light - 165W Dimmable LED Aquarium Light Full Spectrum Reef Coral Marine Lamp
Under stand light - white LED light strip.

I have a little bit of dry rock consisting of a couple tonga branch and shelf with a little base rock as well. I also have some Pukani rock coming from BRS today.

I am still confused about a few things and want to have a solid plan before it is fully cycled or even consider putting coral/fish. I want to learn as much as possible and do thing correctly to help head off problems that may come up later on.

First few questions.
1. How does the setup look? Anything I should consider changing, adding or skipping?
2. What is some suggestions on what should go into the refugium? I know there are so many options. Should I just put more live rock/rubble? Macro algae/what type?
3. I would like to add an ATO. Which type would you recommend? I was looking at the Hydor or the Tunze.

Thank you all for your options and suggestions. I have enjoyed reading as much as I can and figured now that I am this far I would share and get any/all opinions/suggestions/criticism I can get.

 

[Chris-tico]

Hey!

the tanks is looking good!
for your questions i would say:
1. i like how it looks, maybe try to add more rock.
2. you can try some chaeto.
3. i've never use an ATO so i cant help you with this.

 

[Oscaror]

You could use a bit more liverock

 

[Harold Green]

This is going to be a nice looking setup. Definitely go with the ato. I'm using a 29 for a frag tank and it evaporates over a half gallon per day. Do plenty of research on the ato systems. For mine I bought an inexpensive kit. It has two float switches, a relay, transformer and a small box to mount the relay in. I have a remotely located ato reservoir with a 30 gallon holding tank. A small pump turns on when the relay calls for more water and sends it into the sump. It's a good idea if you can to size the sump large enough to hold most or all of the water in your ato reservoir in the event of a failure somewhere in the system. Is the light stand open on the top to allow for cooling? The main mistake most new reefers make is to rush the cycling of the tank. A rough approximation is around six weeks to cycle. Continue to add an ammonia source until the tank can break it down to zero is less than a day. When ammonia and nitrite read zero you're ready to start slowly stocking the tank. You may want to consider something to control the circulating pump to get a less constant flow of water in the tank. I would definitely add more rock to the sump and even consider a deep sand bed in it along with a macro algae. You can have a mix of algaes in the sump if you wish. Hope this answered some of your questions.

 

[steve&mari]

Tank looks nice good work putting it together. For rock the island on left I'd add to to raise for higher light demands of some corals and adds filtration. For fuge I use rubble rock and cheato for filtration and pods. Ato tunze is awesome I use it on our 40b with 29g sump.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! I really want to do this right so I am taking my time. Not going to rush the cycling. I'm having a blast just reading everything I can.
Harold, I left the top open just because I see lots of other builds on here that hang their lights. I thought saltwater tank needed to be as open as possible for the gas exchange. I wasn't sure about height a light should be so I put it about 6-7 inches off the water. Should it be lower/higher?

I also received the pukani rock from BRS today and added it to the tank. What do you think? Suggestions? I'm still going to play with it since I am not sure I'm content with it. Sorry about the pics, I don't have a DSLR, just pictures from my iphone.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Along with the Pukani rock, I also received a refractometer. I used the calibration solution that it came with from BRS to calibrate it to 1.026/35ppt like the bottle shows in the instructions. Then I tried it to read the salinity in my tank. I have been using an Instant Ocean hydrometer. The hydrometer has landed between the 1.025 and 1.026 each time. I have read they are not as accurate so I have taken many reading to try and get an average each time I test. The refractometer showed 1.031. I couldn't believe it so I tried a few more times and it showed the same. I then tried the hydrometer again and it was still showing just above 1.025. Thinking I did something wrong I tried the calibration solution again and it showed 1.026.

Is it possible that the hydrometer is way off? or did I not calibrate the BRS refractometer correctly.

Thank you for any suggestions!

 

[Chris-tico]

hey men, trust the refractometer!

 

[TheEngineer]

Nice looking tank. The only thing that I'd be concerned about is the return chamber of your sump. You don't have a baffle between it and the refugium so as your water evaporates you might get some bubbles in the DT. If you have an ATO that keeps that level steady, then it isn't an issue.

Have you tested that emergency drain? I'm worried that your siphon grating will clog and it looks like that emergency drain doesn't catch until the water is at the rim of your tank.

 

[namkiii]

love my 29 good luck man

 

[Kerwin1721]

Icecool2 - Thanks for the suggestions. I have tested the emergency drain quite a few times just to make sure, I even capped the siphon drain to make sure it could handle it. The water ends up coming up to that lip before the rim. I am planing on picking up an ATO. I'm looking at the Tunze Jr.

Namkiii - Great looking tank! Is yours a cube? Mine is a rectangle. I'm a bit concerned that just having the one powerhead on the right won't be enough for sufficient water flow. What type light are you running? I would eventually like to pick up more of a slimline light.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Tank has been up and running for 22 days. I have tested on a regular basis and my readings are:

Ph: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 5.0+
Nitrates: 5.0

I am now seeing what looks like brown dust on the rock and sand. I know I read about it somewhere but can't remember what it said or where it's at. So should I do anything to contain it? I have no livestock in the tank. Just rock and water.

Should I start putting in a clean up crew? Do you suggest hermit crabs, snails or something else?

Here is a pic of what I see

 

[TheEngineer]

Hold off on the clean up crew. You are still in your cycle if you have a high Nitrite reading. Ammonia is gone, which is good. Nitrites are the next step in the nitrogen cycle and then nitrates. Your patience will pay off. Starting with dry rock slows the process a little bit.

 

[Kerwin1721]

Sounds good. Thanks! Do you know what this stuff is called?
My LFS suggested dumping a bottle of trigger-pods in from reef nutritions. He said since there would be nothing to eat the pods they would have a great chance to get into the rocks, breed and build up a good population while the tank cycles. Has anyone tried this? Is it a good idea or should I skip that?

 

[Harold Green]

The brown diatoms are a natural part of cycling the tank. Normally they will disappear in a week or so. If you have something to eat in the fuge you can add the pods there. When the nitrite is gone add the clean up crew and it will help to get rid of any diatoms left.

 

[Kerwin1721]

My ammonia and nitires are now at 0. I'm very excited. I know I need to preform a water change. How much should I take out. There is 29 gallons in the display and about 15 in the sump. I've tried to find a consistent number but have come up with anywhere from 25-75%. I know its to help get rid of the nitrates. My nitrates tests show it is at about 40 ppm.

Any suggestions?

 

[TheEngineer]

25% is generally the accepted amount for a change. Your cycle is progressing well.

 

[Harold Green]

There's no set amount to change because it varies with your method of reef keeping. Some don't change water at all while others change massive amounts. For now I'd change depending on what level you want to lower your nitrates to. Eventually the tank itself should remove some nitrates and if you grow macro algae in the sump you can remove more. There are also chemical ways to remove nitrates.

 

[Kerwin1721]

I pulled out about 11g. The Nitrates went down to between 5-10ppm. What type of macro algae would you suggest? I have read about Chateo and red grape vine something or other. Do they all do about the same or is one better at removing something vs something else? I also plugged in my skimmer. Not sure if the setting was on max or minimum but one settings completely overflowed and one bubbled right at the top of the neck. I thought the water may be too high so I put two pieces of egg crate under it to raise it a touch. Now when it is at the setting to keep the bubbles lower, they come up to the bottom of the collection cup. Here are a couple of pics. I know it still needs to break in before it works efficiently as it is a new skimmer but am I right at having the bubbles come up to the bottom of the cup or should the bubbles be higher?

Lower bubble setting.


Where it is at the lower bubble setting.


How it sits now


Egg Crate

 

[Harold Green]

Best way to tell is watch it for a few days and see if you're getting some of the bubbles frothing over into the cup. Then you can tell by how dark the skimate is whether it needs further adjustment. Most large algaes will work. Chaeto is preferred by many since it's unlikely to bleed out like many of the caulerpa species. If it grows quickly and you can remove some occasionally it's fine.