SomethingIsFishy Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 (edited) Just getting started in the planning stages of this one. My first attempt at salty tanks (standard 29 gallon) was doing well until a bottom seam let go. I attempted to upgrade that tank (managed to save the fish and some coral) into a 40 breeder, but it never took off. I know I rushed that setup, and it showed. Ended up taking the livestock to a lfs and went freshwater planted with the 40. Just can't stay away from the salt, though, so I'm gonna try again with the 40 breeder. I hope that by starting from scratch and building the tank up slowly like I did with the 29 I can be as successful with the 40 as I was with the 29 before disaster struck... I did save the equipment, so I've got a jump on that, but I may decide to upgrade a little... I have 2 koralia 240 powerheads and 1 425. They worked well in the 29, but I may consider replacing either one or both 240's with 425's. Lighting is a current orbit, again it worked well on the 29, but I may add another for better coverage front to back. Obviously budget is a concern, but I was satisfied with the performance of these brands on the 29, and expect similar results in this tank... Stocking plans include a clown pair and a watchman goby and perhaps a firefish, will stick with basic corals (zoas, mushrooms, etc.). Essentially the same stock as my 29. Again, looking to basically rebuild what I had before... Edited July 30, 2017 by SomethingIsFishy 29 gallons, not 40 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 Planning stages means things can change, and you want to look ahead to how things will work in the future, right? To that end I am also considering another 29 gallon tank as an option to the 40 breeder. I understand the "ins and outs" of the "bigger is better" argument, however maintaining a smaller tank is appealing- 10-20% water change is cheaper and easier on a 29g than on a 40g. There would also be less initial investment- I know the equipment I have will be enough to run a 29 successfully because it already has. I'm not sure if the same equipment is enough for the larger footprint of the 40, so I would want to upgrade some stuff (more $ on stuff, less for livestock). Just thinking "out loud"... 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) Finally getting things rolling again! I've decided to go with the 29 gallon. I got the tank, still have the powerheads, picked up some fresh aragonite for substrate... still need a heater and a new top (I suppose the top can wait until I get fish). I'm basically planning on repeating what I did with my first salty tank, I will definitely be starting a new journal on this tank... edit- wait a sec... this is a journal... I suppose I won't start a new journal... watch for updates here! Edited July 30, 2017 by SomethingIsFishy Correction 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Here's a picture... kinda boring, but it will get better... 2 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Found a shot of my first tank, this is what I hope to re-create... 2 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 Background painted! 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted July 31, 2017 Author Share Posted July 31, 2017 Old tank... Here's a link to a video of my old tank just a few days before the bottom seam opened up... sad to see what was and is no more, but at the same time exciting to know I will get there again in time... Slight correction- the video says "3/23/13", it was really 3/23/15. I guess I typed the wrong year, was a stressful time for me as my son was born 3/24/15... 2 months early... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 2, 2017 Author Share Posted August 2, 2017 Grabbed a few small chunks of dry rock today after work... 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 Thanks for all the likes!! The tank is getting wet, I may even have some live rock in this weekend... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 5, 2017 Author Share Posted August 5, 2017 It's all stirred up, but it's wet and rocky!! Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 5, 2017 Author Share Posted August 5, 2017 I was sooo tempted to grab a frag or two out of the "$10 or less" tank when I picked up the live rock, but I resisted... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 5, 2017 Author Share Posted August 5, 2017 Salinity 1.024 Ammonia .25 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Might get some more rock, I think it needs more height... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 5, 2017 Author Share Posted August 5, 2017 Well this just got interesting, picked up another chunk of live rock, turns out it's more alive than I originally thought... 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 6, 2017 Author Share Posted August 6, 2017 Any guesses on ID? Both types have hard skeletons. The brown ones glow a tiny bit under the blue lights. The individual polyps/heads are about 1/4" across. The other type is shaped sort of like a duncan, but small- maybe 3/8" across. It has clear tentacles with white dots on the ends of the tentacles and blue dots in the tentacles... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 10, 2017 Author Share Posted August 10, 2017 Quick update: hitchhiker corals looking good, and we're starting to get some diatoms... Testing ammonia daily, and dosing seachem prime to help the hitchhikers make it... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Ammonia has dropped! I have seen 2 snails, and a star, and the corals look great! Got a few decent pics (had to turn the blues down for some of the pics to keep my phone from freaking out). Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 16, 2017 Author Share Posted August 16, 2017 These guys are hard to get pics of with an iPhone... 1 Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 Thinking V2.0 is gonna be a little different... pretty sure I'm gonna skip the pulsing xenia, and the hermits. I've got a bunch of unidentified snail hitchhikers, and I've added a few astrea and nassarious snails for cleanup... looks like an all-snail no crab cleanup crew seems to be working better for most tanks here... I really liked the rock anemones I had before, definitely gonna have to get more of them. Then just more basic stuff, zoas shrooms etc. As for the fish, I'm gonna stick with a pair of clowns and a yellow watchman goby and call that good... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 Update: corals are doing great, but the clowns are another story. Noticed some fin rot on one, set up a hospital tank and started treating them, but it was too late for the one guy... he was gone when I woke up this morning. The other one is still hanging on, but I'm not sure he's out of the woods yet... he will be in quarantine for a while, if he makes it, to make sure the reef is disease free... kinda discouraged, but I'm not gonna give up... gotta focus on the stuff that's doing good... Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 10 minutes ago, Lugmos12 said: omg the star! Yeah, it's pretty cool... that's one of my favorite things about saltwater, finding new critters in your tank! Quote Link to comment
SomethingIsFishy Posted August 27, 2017 Author Share Posted August 27, 2017 SurvivorClown is doing well and all the corals are looking great! Just finished water changes on the reef and the hospital... I am getting a little "new tank" algae, but nothing crazy. So far, so good... except for the one clown that didn't make it... Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 On 8/5/2017 at 7:07 PM, SomethingIsFishy said: Well this just got interesting, picked up another chunk of live rock, turns out it's more alive than I originally thought... Not sure on the encruster, maybe a type of encrusting porites? The bottom pic looks like maybe a cup coral of some kind, they are common hitchhikers. Quote Link to comment
Thrassian Atoll Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Tanks moving along nicely. Sucks about your clown dying. Make sure that star is reef safe! You never know with star fish. Quote Link to comment
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