# First timer on 29 gal going for reef



## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

hello all this is my first try ever at any aquarium so any help or suggestion is greatly appreciated. Picked up 25 gallons of salt water from my local spot and a bag of some live reef sand. Wiped down the tank with water and dropped the sand in there. Then I poured the 29 gallons in, set my skilter, dropped in some ph control and bio culture additive. Pics below
Here's a pic of the tank after everything was done









Here's a pic of my skilters box









Here's a closer look at the skilter operating. Still gotta add some live rocks and I'm assuming 3-4 gallons of salt water so water level is a bit low.









And here are the bio culture and ph control.









Hoping to get the conditions in there ready for some nice looking reef for a few fish to make it their home. I still need to get a good lighting system and i don't even know where to begin with what type of fish I want to set up in here.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Yesterday I added 15lbs of live rock. I knew I would get some life in there from the rocks but I'm excited to say I've seen multiple thin black and white striped starfish and others which I don't even know what they might be. Going to let it settle for a week or two then get the water tested to see if the water has cycled or not. Pics below.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You need at least 30lbs of Live Rock in there. And that SKilter is not going to do anything for you. You need at least a power head rated at 300gph or 2 powerheads rated at 150gph each. Again, that skilter has no flow. You rgoing to need a heater, a Refracotmeter.


#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon.

#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.

#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads.

#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes.

#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.

#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.

#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one

#8-Rubber kitchen gloves

#9-Fish net

#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets

#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best.

#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.

#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.

#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.

#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank

#16-Heater rated for your size tank.

#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.

#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.

#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)

#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.

Volusion Demo Store

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and cycling. Methods for ammonia, nitrite removal.

aquarium heater | eBay

power heads | eBay

NEW 0-10% Salinity Refractometer Salt Water Aquarium | eBay

MarcoRocks Aquarium Products

Bulk Dry Live Rock - Bulk Reef Supply

Live Rock and Live Sand: Live Saltwater Aquarium Rock and Sand

Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand

Aquarium Lighting; Reef, Planted Light Information. PAR, Bulb, Watt, Kelvin, Nanometers, MH, LED.

http://live-plants.com/

What Your Coral Needs | Successful Reef Keeping

t-5 lighting | eBay

cree led aquarium | eBay

Aquarium Salt Mix: Salt for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Aquariums


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Whoa..lots of info. Thank you. It's is what I was fearing. Now I'm stuck with a skilter I don't wanna use. I highly doubt the stores gonna allow me to return the skilter but I will try that being that I told them my intentions with the tank. Will definitely get more live rock and I will look into a better filter, heater , thermometer, and lights. As far as the RO water filter can't I get away with just buying salt water from the store? Or are there problems with that water I need to be careful for? Once again, thanks for the information and help.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You don't need a filter. A Skimmer would do yiu much better, especially if your going with corals. There are no issues with buying salt water from the lfs, just costly. =)


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Damn.. I'm a little bitter that they just pushed this skilter on me for the sale instead of pointing me in the right direction. Should've been more patient doing research before I bought that. Ohh well... I'm still excited about my tank so I won't let that one store deter me. Luckily the lfs I bought my rocks from seemed very friendly and professional. Will stick with them.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)




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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Wow..changed it up a bit. I now have a 29gal oceanic biocube. I've removed some water after adding some live rock to it and cycled in 1 gal of RO water. Salinity is a ill high i was told by lfs so I'm cycling in 4 gal of fresh RO water at a rate of 1 gal per day. I've also added 5 peppermint shrimp, 3 emerald crabs, and 1 small horseshoe crab. I'll add pics later. Long day.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Hope your new additions make it through the cycle.
Lil info on Horse Shoe Crabs
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Horseshoe Crab


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Ok..so things have changed. Got a 29 gal biocube and I've been running it successfully until now. I have added 2 clowns and I feed them every other day. Some frozen brine shrimp. I just did a water change and dropped in 5 gallons of salt water from my lfs. Two days before the water change my calcium was at 140ppm(too low for reef) ammonia is at 0, phosphate is at .25ppm, nitrate was at 20ppm. After the 5 gallons of salt water calcium has gone up to 200ppm (almost there) ammonia still at 0, KH is at 215, phosphate has gone down to 0, but my nitrate was jumped to 40ppm! After a 5 gallon water change? Should I do another water change or what's the best way to correct this as of right now? I don't believe I'm over feeding. I have found 2 dime sized crab shells which must've snuck in with the live rock. Maybe their carcasses decaying somewhere in there is what has caused this nitrate jump?


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Some pics..
Brittle starfish..there's a couple in there..I believe this is the largest.









Here are my two clowns and new polyp on top left. Anyone know the name of it?









Original setup of rock









Here's the horseshoe crab. Can anyone identify the black and white snail there?









Here is a polyp I bought that had two different types on it but the brighter one has disappeared. Anyone know the name of the survivor?









Anyone know what this is?









Final setup









Sorry if some pics don't show..trying to work photobucket with my iPad is a PIA.


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## phil_pl (Apr 10, 2009)

Great looking tank! Is the water your getting from the LFS pre-made using R/O water or are you getting their old water? Do you know what salt they are using?


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

I know they have RO water so I'm assuming it is however I dunno how they mix it up. I called them about the nitrate.. We figured out it could be because I siphoned top layer of sand to remove algae. Should level out within two days I was told.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Checked numbers yesterday and 
calcium is at 440ppm
Ammonia is at 0ppm
KH is at 230ppm
Phosphate 0ppm
Nitrate 80ppm! 
Shouldn't the 5 gallon water change I just did help lower that? I know siphoning the top layer of sand to clean it causes a spike in nitrate. But it keeps getting worse. I haven't been over feeding ( every other day)


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## shutter (Feb 23, 2011)

You can always do more water changes to get the nitrates down. Just because your feeding every other day does not mean your not over feeding. Feed a very small amount. Make sure it is being comsumed. You can always add alittle more. Do you have a turkey baster to blow off your live rock? Food can get caught up and then decay causing your nitrates to go up. Did you get a skimmer? I had a skilter when I first started. I hated that thing.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I would change water , as 80 is about 2x as high as acceptable max.I would also change 50% as that should lower your level to 40.If it does not and your water (for change) came from lfs I woulld seek another source.The water,and its quality are key.The lfs probably sells straight ro and you could mix salt yourself.Either way I would also test the water you get(salt{premixed} or RO) and see if it is up to "snuff".My buddy buys RO when he doesn't get it from me and swears the store bought not to be as good.If mixing is not out of the question distilled water is like $.89 a gallon at walmart.(distilled is good stuff).


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Shutter: no..no baster..but I will get one. And I believe about 95% of food dropped in is being consumed. The other 5% might get trapped on rocks or back by the bio balls. I'll try feeding little by little to ensure it all gets consumed. Will also get baster to blow off rocks which seem to be doing a lot better since I dropped in the 12 turbo snails which two died *sh To be fair to the skilter knowing what I know now I feel it would've been ok for my previous 29g rectangular with two power heads and some decent lights. I haven't added a skimmer yet. I was going to get the biocube specific skimmer that just drops in the back but I've read many mixed reviews. I was thinking of upgrading to something more powerful that I can fit back there. I also feel I need more flow in there so I was thinking of changing out the stock pump for something with around 400gph flow and put a splitter to have an outlet where the stock one is and another towards the middle of the tank. While adding a power head with about 250gph on the right side of the tank facing forward.

Coral bandit: I did last time I added some and unfortunately I only tested salinity. Think ill just go to lfs I originally got my 25 gallons when I first cycled the tank. It cycled quick. I feel they had good h20. Can I change 15 gallons one gallon a day or can I change more at once without negatively affecting my tank?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

In order to reduce nitrAtes you should change as much all at once as possible.Your filter appears cycled(per test readings) so as long as water is close to tank temp should be fine to change all 15 at once.Changing only a litttle will dilute the nitrates ,instead of removing as much.


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## shutter (Feb 23, 2011)

Bioballs are doing the same thing as your live rock. You really don't need those bioballs. I run only carbon and one filter pad, that I clean out every two days. As long as you have good flow, the rock will stay clean, and everything will get exported to your filter pad.


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## shutter (Feb 23, 2011)

The red worm is called a bristle worm. They eat left over food particles, and detritus. Some people remove them, I have no problem with them. If you over feed alot I have seen tanks where they are everwhere. Stores have traps for bristle worms. Or you can make your own. (diy) The choice is yours. As long as you don't see them all over everything. I would just leave them be.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Shutter: yeah I'm going to let him do his thing. That's the only time I've seen him or anything like him in there. You say you run carbon? Where do you keep it, where the bio balls should be? Because the biocube filter actually has sections of carbon under the filter section before the bio balls. Is that what you mean or are you using higher amounts of carbon? So would removing the bio balls and adding live rock back there actually be better for me? Would I need a lot of flow if I put live rocks back there?


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## shutter (Feb 23, 2011)

No, you don't need the bio balls at all. All they do is trap food, etc. Then they just produce more nitrates. If all you have it just a sponge filter, you can take it out an clean it everyday. Your helping it lower nitrates, before they break down. If you put live rock in the back, it's just like more bio balls, food will get trapped, and produce more nitrates again. I stick to just a sponge(which I clean everyday) And carbon. Does this answer your question? If not ask away. 

You can buy small,empty media bags you can put anywhere. You can fill them with any media you want. Wash, refill, and put them back in. You can then buy bulk carbon, or anything else you want.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

I see..knowing this why are bio balls even in the market? Because they're cheaper than live rock?


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

What if I take out the bio balls and rinse them out once a month? Would that help me lower nitrates?


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## shutter (Feb 23, 2011)

bio balls work good in fish only systems. People who have large tanks with alot of fish, like Trigger fish, Puffers etc. Feed them and they make a mess. They need to convert to nitrates faster. Higher nitrates in fish only systems is not that big of deal. But to keep corals, we need to keep nitrates down to as little as possible. If you had to keep the bioballs, I would clean them at least once a week.

Are you feeding frozen food? Are you rinsing it out with R.O. water first?


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

I'd ditch the idea of using carbon, it has been known to cause HLLE in marine fish. You can always look into Carbon Dosing if yiur Nitrates are nit to your liking. When it comes to a water change, yiu should look at it this way, if you have 80ppm and you change half your water, you just exported 1/2 of your Nitrates also. But.......if yiur running a mechanical filter and have excess nutrient problems that equation goes right out the window.
Activated Carbon: HLLE Smoking Gun Found | Coral Magazine


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

I'll try cleaning them more often. Finished another 5gal water change. I'll test water tomorrow. Lfs said ph was a lil low and nitrates a lil high. Yes I do feed frozen brine shrimp I cut the lil cubes into thirds and feed a third to them. No I do not rinse it in RO at all.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Checked my water today..nitrates up to 40. So I cleaned out the bio balls and tomorrow I will change 50% of the water and throw in new filter. Gonna look into carbon dosing.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Why not just ditch the Bio Balls?


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Because I took them out to clean them and realized that the water running through the back will be loud as hell. Maybe I could put something else in there to not allow the water to splash? 

Also, I did a 50% water change today. So I'm going to let things settle and hope my nitrates lowered by at least 50%. I also bought a roll of the white filter screen stuff and some carbon so I can swap out the filter more often. Got a Haitian anemone and my peppermint shrimp were trying to eat it! They kept pulling at it and puncturing it. I put my shrimp in a container but when I got back home they had escaped but luckily they weren't bothering it any longer. I hope it was just a one time thing. Ill keep my eye on them till some time passes.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

peppermint shrimp are known to eat small aptasia(nusciance anenome),so I would watch them very closely.also try to provide some food they(the shrimp) really prefer.Often well fed whatevers don't revert to natural instincts.
Try a sponge or anything easily cleaned in place of bio balls.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

I was thinking of finding a larger version of the black sponge between the second and third chambers to fill the space where the bio balls go to reduce noise of the water falling.

Coral bandit: I was actually told that by lfs and luckily the anenome is still looking good. Shrimp have been free for about 9 hours and they were all just munching out on random things in the rocks but none near the anenome.
I still haven't seen my clowns take any interest in it at all? What are the chances that my clowns will host in the anenome? I was excited to provide them with something to get comfortable in but I feel like that might now happen.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

In time, the Clown will host. You can get a picutre of a CLown fish in an Anemone and tape it to the side of your tank that your fish is on, this has been known to help.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

That's awesome..lol gonna try that.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Ok..did the 15 gallon water change and it dropped my nitrates down to 20ppm. Lfs says that's acceptable but I want to lower it to 0! So my girls came with me and she decided to buy this product called AZ-NO3. Says it works by cellular respiration. Any thoughts on this product? 
















Also was getting tired of the biocubes filter so I decided to make my own when its time to replace. I basically gutted the filter and layed the white sponge that comes in a roll, over the gutted filter. Underneath the filter I layed out this bag called chemi-pure which is activated carbon. It just sits above my bio balls which I planed to remove. However, if I just full it with a sponge wouldn't it technically be the same thing? It would just be surface area for things to accumulate.
Here's the carbon bag
















Also.. The damn shrimp began picking at the anemone again. I dropped in some brine shrimp and the left the anemone alone to eat the brine shrimp. Think imma have to take them out =/. Any advice on this matter?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

never heard of the no3 stuff but even if I knew about it I think I'd say the same;"DON'T USE IT!" Nothing good comes from crap like that.This is just my opinion, but I think you'll be sorry.Also 20 is not the end of the world and personally with a tank full of corals I want 10.Some of my stuff won't open at all when I'm O.My tank stays wicked low(bio-plastics) and sometimes I really try to overfeed just to bring back up to 10 or anything besides the brightest yellow.Also check out madness link to HLLE as carbon is notable cause.Boyds is good stuff but not 24/7. When needed.The water changes you make are where it at and the best thing.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You want them lower? 20 is a good point with Trates unless your going with SPS. I keep mine between 20-40, Softies and LPS don't have problems with that. If you have a good skimmer, might I suggest Vodka Dosing.
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Ok..I dropped in the chem-pure so let's see how the tank reacts to it.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

No skimmer. I was thinking of getting one but looking for other options besides the biocube specific one. I will look into vodka dosing. Thank you.


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## [email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Read the vodka dosing link. Great stuff. Need a skimmer. Maybe a uv too. Will look into that.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

You don't need a UV.


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## Sta[email protected] (Oct 4, 2012)

Wow..been a while since i was here..time flies. So my water pump finally gave out. Any suggestions on replacements? Also, how long do i have before it begins to affect my tank?


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## All-Or-Nothing (Jul 4, 2015)

[email protected] said:


> Final setup
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I know I'm quoting from page 1 but WOW this looks nice.


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