Complete newb 30 gallon reef

n1zjd

Sure thing! Im thinking theres probably only room for a total of 3 fish in a 29g tank anyway, MAYBE 4 depending on which ones are chosen. Like I said before, coral is going to be the main focus anyway. I should have the items I ordered by next Thursday so I can start skimming the water! Im going to order my light in the next couple days so I can get started on some coral when I am confident that all the water parameters are stable with no spikes. Thanks for all the help once again Pasfur. Heres some pics

marine666

Tanks looking great, when are you getting your fish. I'm just building up my cuc just now got 4 red legged hermit crabs getting another 4 on monday.

cheers colin

Pasfur

You did an outstanding job on this. The sand depth is perfect. The live rock display is open and allow good water flow between rocks. You have minimal sand to rock contact, preventing detritus from settling and maximizing the sand benefits. Very nice.

n1zjd

Wow thanks for the kind words Pasfur, it means alot coming from you! Its always great when you can make your mentor proud! Im still trying to take things slow right now even though its getting harder knowing that the tank is closer to being fully cycled, well I think it is fully cycled but stability will definately improve the more the tank matures. I dont want to add to much at once but I want to continue to add more specimens to my cleanup crew. I was thinking maybe Friday I could add some more members to my CUC.

Pasfur, do you think it would be ok to add another 3 Astrea snails, 6 Nassarius snails and an Emerald crab? I dont need to add this many at once but would like to if you feel its safe to do so. And if your comfortable with adding those specimens, what if I added a sand sifting cucumber to that list?

Also, on my LFS website, the owner claims you should have 1 snail per gallon of water. I might be misunderstanding this here, but I almost think she recommends 1 per gallon of a couple different species. This seems overkill to me, what do you folks think?

Marine666, I will be adding fish last. I would like to finish my CUC and establish some corals in the tank before introducing any fish. I hope that within the next two weeks I will get at least one Anemone. Ultimately I would like 2, one for each clownfish I plan to have in the tank but time will tell if thats necessary or even a good idea. I still need to do tons of research so I havent made any decisions, but I do know fish are the least of my concerns right now.

So right now Im keeping an eye on all water params that Im able to test and just sitting back and enjoying my tank. There isnt a whole lot to look at just yet but its still enjoyable nonetheless. Im looking forward the Thursday when my skimmer arrives as well as my test kit and BIonic so I can focus on learning when/how much buffer/calcium supplement to add as needed so I can focus on coraline algae growth as well as stability of my reef.

Ill continue to update the thread as things progress. Thanks for taking the time to look everyone! It only gets more interesting from here on out!

n1zjd

Also, later today I will be ordering my light. Its going to be a Current USA Satellite 2x65W power compact. This should be the last item I need for the time being. Once I come up with a bit more cash I will get an overflow box and pump as well for my sump, but these recent purchases have me pretty strapped for cash.

Pasfur

I personally disagree with this standard. Adding this large of a CUC will only cause the animals to starve to death, especially in the case of snails. I believe in 1 snail per 5 to 10 gallons of water, depending on the needs of the individual tank. I use 1 crab per 5 gallons as a rule, and may increase this over time.

Anemone's can be very difficult, and it can be especially frustrating finding good advice. Anemones live for over 200 years in the wild, so be careful when someone tells you they have been "successful" with an anemone. Keeping this animal for 10 years in captivity is NOT success. It is slow failure.

Here is a great web site that can give you some basics on keeping anemones:
Caring for Rose Anemones the right way - INTRODUCTION
I do not agree with a lot of the advice that is given about filtration concepts, but you can't question her success in keeping anemones. The advice on anemone behavior, placement, water requirements, feeding, and selecting healthy specimens is the best I have ever seen on a web site. Take some time to visit her entire site and you will learn a lot.

n1zjd

Pasfur, thanks for the link. I spent about a hour on her site today reading various articles but will spend more time tomorrow reading some more. I have a question regarding the protein skimmer. Where should the placement of it be (left, center, right)? The reason I ask is because I'm just trying to plan ahead on where to cut it into the new glass cover I bought for my tank. With only 29 gallons of water to work with it doesnt allow for much evap before the salinity gets to be an unacceptable level, so I want to cut the cover as tight as possible to everything. Just trying to plan ahead for the future when I have an overflow box on the back as well as the protein simmer. Im going to try to find a submersible heater as well so I only have to cut a hole for the wire instead of the whole heater. Just trying to eliminate evaporation as much as possible to keep the tank stable.

So should I look into centering both the overflow box and the skimmer?

n1zjd

You know, Astrea snails are a pain in the butt! I have to rescue two of them several times a day off the sandbed. I have one that is a complete champ though, he has never had to be rescued. Love that little bugger. Unfortunately one fell behind the rockpile today and needed to be rescued. So a couple rocks got shuffled around. I still need more rock anyway so its not done yet.

I ordered the light yesterday, a 30" Current USA satellite 2 x 65W. Hopefully that will make it in by the end of the week but I have my doubts. Should be here early next week though. I cant wait until Thursday when the skimmer will be here as well as my test kit and BIonic.

Ill keep everyone posted.

Pasfur

I would center the skimmer, but not really an important decision. Just do what you think will look best.

n1zjd

Im more concerned with effectiveness than I am looks. Boy did I have a hard time not picking up a couple of $3.99 damsels to put into the tank. But after inspecting the tanks a bit more I just couldnt bring myself to do it. I saw dead fish in a couple tanks. Obviously not taken care of well enough for anything less than a 6 week quarantine IMO, IF they even survive transport. Im trying my best to be patient but its getting more and more difficult now.

Last week when I bought some more rock and the three Astrea snails my LFS said we would be talking fish this week. After emailing her earlier today she is now saying she would rather see me in two weeks! I suppose its probably for the best but I was really hoping to add some more to my CUC this week but I guess that wont be happening. Oh well.

At least that goes to show you how good my LFS is. At least the owner cares about a persons success and well being of the livestock enough to not sell it to you until they believe the tank is truly ready to sustain the livestock. So I guess for the next two weeks all Ive got to look at is 3 snails and a billion copepods.