My first 29g saltwater tank

WhiskeyCoffee · Aug 27, 2016

Hello everyone. My tank is already approaching 4 months old but I decided I would go back and backdate some entries so I could share the progress! Fortunately I have been documenting the progress along the way. So here we go!

May 4, 2016

Started the tank with some Caribsea live sand (the really fine stuff) and about 15 pounds of cured live rock from my LFS. The rock was more expensive than I anticipated so I only bought half of the required live rock with the intention of buying more down the road.

At this point I just putting everything in and am letting the tank cycle.

May 11, 2016

Added the rest of the rock so now I have just under 29lbs total of rock! Still letting the tank cycle with the addition of a few blue and red hermit crabs.

Chrisfish · Aug 27, 2016

Welcome, you've come to the right place. Your tank is looking good.

WhiskeyCoffee · Aug 29, 2016

May 27, 2016

Rearranged rock. Added a hammer coral and a clownfish.

June 13, 2016

Added a green star polyp. Having a pretty bad diatom outbreak so investigating adding a CUC.

meir · Aug 29, 2016

Following

WhiskeyCoffee · Aug 31, 2016

June 17, 2016

Bought a proper stand for my tank so it was no longer on the unstable dresser. Also upgraded my light to the Current USA Orbit Marine Pro and am configuring the settings. Picked up a Fighting Conch as LFS said it may help with the diatom problem. At this time also looking in to getting a new reef ready tank so I can have a sump with a protein skimmer

WhiskeyCoffee · Sep 1, 2016

July 2, 2016

Bought a new 29 gallon tank and am having it drilled so I can have a proper overflow box and sump.

WhiskeyCoffee · Sep 19, 2016

July 6, 2016

Tank is drilled, plumbed, and running smoothly with overflow box and sump. With the additional weight of the water in the sump we decided to move the tank to the first floor where it's less of a hazard. The brown stand looks kind of tacky so we are going to paint it with white chalk paint which will look really nice I think.

alfred14 · Sep 20, 2016

Would love to see a picture or two of the overflow/return. I also have a 29 that I would like to drill

WhiskeyCoffee · Oct 31, 2016

Upclose pic of my hammer coral.

WhiskeyCoffee · Nov 14, 2016

Tank is all setup with sump on bottom floor. Didn't want the tank upstairs just incase I had any spill emergencies! Will be painting the stand white soon so it matches the decor better.

WhiskeyCoffee · Feb 28, 2017

#reef2reef #worldwidecorals #mywwccontest

Budman93 · Mar 12, 2017

Awesome looking tank! I'm cycling my new 29g tank as we speak. How do you like the Current orbit marine pro light so far?

WhiskeyCoffee · Mar 17, 2017

Made a DIY skimmer following The King of DIY's instructions and by golly... it works!

Here it is in action

And after two days here is the result...

WhiskeyCoffee · Jun 7, 2017

Mar 22, 2017

Nightime shot!

WhiskeyCoffee · Jun 9, 2017

May 12, 2017

Had a Green Hair Algae outbreak after I broke down the refugium - I think the 'fuge was doing more than I realized! I also started dosing some Continuum Coral Exponential which probably caused the outbreak as well. I stopped the CE and picked up this SCA-301 to help clean up some stuff. So far so good! Also took out some rocks and cleaned them with a toothbrush and hydrogen peroxide.

This is currently how I have my sump set up - filter sock on corner next to skimmer then next chamber is chaeto then return pump. Not visible in this photo is the glass baffle I added to stop the chaeto from getting sucked into the skimmer. Obviously I wasn't able to silicone the baffle in so it's just kind of 'sitting there' but it's working.