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BC 29 Craigslist Special


drewbold

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I just picked up this BC 29 and stand for $75 on craigslist. Such a great deal I couldn't pass it up.

The tank was previously set up as a SW tank but has been empty with dried sand at the bottum for a few months.

I got all the sand out and i filled it up in the tub, where it currently sits filled with tap water for the leak test which it seems fine. I was thinking this would be a good place to finish cleaning it up.

 

My questions are since the glass is very dirty with old algae. What can I do to clean it besides just scrub?

 

I have heard to use baking soda? and or a vinegar solution of some sort (if so how much)?

 

As I am a noob and this will be my first real SW tank I wasn't sure if either or both of these would be safe to use?

 

Thanks to anyone and everyone that helps, I'm really not sure what to do next.

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Welcome to the BC club. White vinegar would be the best. Any ratio would be fine, doesn't need to be anything crazy. Read the biocube resource guide under the All In One section and read through other members biocube's threads. Ask any questions you have to see what people have done or what they wish they would have done.

 

Go slow and research as much as you can. Patience is key and will save you lots of money in the end.

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I just picked up this BC 29 and stand for $75 on craigslist. Such a great deal I couldn't pass it up.

The tank was previously set up as a SW tank but has been empty with dried sand at the bottum for a few months.

I got all the sand out and i filled it up in the tub, where it currently sits filled with tap water for the leak test which it seems fine. I was thinking this would be a good place to finish cleaning it up.

 

My questions are since the glass is very dirty with old algae. What can I do to clean it besides just scrub?

 

I have heard to use baking soda? and or a vinegar solution of some sort (if so how much)?

 

As I am a noob and this will be my first real SW tank I wasn't sure if either or both of these would be safe to use?

 

Thanks to anyone and everyone that helps, I'm really not sure what to do next.

Awesome Deal,and good luck with your new tank ;)

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Thanks for the replies guys, I have been planning a bc14 for a few weeks and have already read through it a ton, but now I have to go back and reread cuz I was planning on the 14 and didn't pay much attention to the 29s as much, I have already taken out the bioballs and cut the barrier between 1 and 2 for more flow, also took the floor out of 1 and 2 which was nasty cuz the guy had them in and it still had water under them.

 

So I still have the tank in the tub and it hasn't leaked, should i just add like a cup of white vinegar to the tap water its sitting in, let it sit for an hour? then scrub more and drain?

Also, after I add the vinegar should I plug in the return pump and let run for that hour? Thanks again.

 

Thanks for the welcomes guys, I am really looking forward to this and this website and all the members tanks are so great.

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I would just dump in a gallon of white vinegar to the filled tank and plug in the return pump and just let it run for a day and see what happens. You may need to scrub some parts but just take it lightly to make sure you don't scratch anything. Just make sure you rinse it out well afterwards.

 

I did a 50/50 vinegar to water bath for a bunch of equipment that was covered in salt and in 30 min, it looked brand new. All I had to do was lightly scrub with a toothbrush.

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Awesome thanks so much, I really appreciate your help. I am gonna head out and buy a gallon of vinegar real quick and get this going. I will start a thread tomrrow on my new tank, I already talked to the LFS about gettting 35g of R/O DI water. I have live rock from another old tank, which I think I need to boil as well but I am thinking of setting it all up tomrrow depending on how the vinegar bath goes. THANKS AGAIN!

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are you reusing the sand that the tank came with? if i was in your position, i'd toss it out just in case the previous owner used copper. itd be a shame if all your corals died.

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No, as you would I threw out the old sand it came with and planning on buying some sand from the LFS i believe it is caribsea white sugar sized sand. I am planning on the 30lbs bag, do you think that will be enough for a shallow bed?

 

Vinegar bath going strong, thanks again Jeff. I'll have to empty it before morning so my wife can take a shower before work, so I will post some more pictures tomrrow after I get it cleaned out.

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I think I have about 25-30 pounds of substrate, i went with the caribsea seaflor special because of a burrowing goby and shrimp pair I was planning on getting. See if they have a little bit bigger grain size like the fiji pink or theres another one thats the same size as the fiji pink but i cannot remember the name of it. I got a pound of live sand fom the lfs to see the caribsea with.

 

Just leave the tank in the shower, your wife is going to have to realize the commitment to the tank sooner or later so why not start now :P

 

 

 

jk better wait till the tank is set up so it cannot be nixed before you even start lol

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ROFL, ya she is already giving me a hard time, cuz I was thinking of suspending tracklighting from the wall or ceiling to do 2 or 3 par 38s so now idk what i'm going to do, I dont really want a MH cuz of heat and price of electric bill and replacing bulbs and what not. I am wondering if I can get away with one of these

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/fuo/2224465680.html without the shades and mount it somehow to the back of the tank. but 3 par 38s looking at 250-300$ so idk there may be another more cost effective option. So much research and decisions ahhh :) good times!

 

Oh yea, they dont have much selection of sand at my LFS so maybe I'll just order online, which size would you recommend? I've never seen pink sand before so I'm not sure if I would like it.

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The vinegar bath worked liked a charm! I am a bit disappointed though, because now that i can see through where the algae used to be, I have found right in the middle of the FTS there is about a 2x1" series of small scratches. I guess thats what I get for getting such a great deal on the tank and stand. It's not enough to discourage me though as the rest of the tank looks great.

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thanks for the kind words, ya it was an awesome deal! I have a bc14 that i ordered from petco with no stand new for 150$ coming in the mail tomorrow, so I can take it back to the store and poof more money for upgrades! :) time to check out your build now ;)

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thanks Beijo, I just checked out your build. Looks like you got a great start and your new additions are awesome!

 

On a side note I'm pretty pissed cuz I called the LFS yesterday to make sure they would have 30g of RO D/I water for me to use to setup my new bc29 and they said NP (their system holds up to 100g).

 

So today I call before I head out the door just to be sure, and what do you know THEY USED ALL THEIR WATER TODAY! :( They said I'll have to wait til wednesday or thursday now... so sad

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Ya I could but I dont really feel like packing up 30 1g jugs of water and bringing them all home plus im not sure which ones to get. The RODI from the LFS is real close and I have the 5g buckets to put it in and mix salt in. I can hold off a few more days for the total setup. I did end up bringing home 5g from the lfs to get a mix goin for my old live rock to cure.

 

And thanks for the welcomes :) it's very exciting and addicting to be here!

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I did the 30 1g jugs of distilled from walmart, wish I would have just bought my ro/di from the start. At .90 or 1 dollar each, that's a good amount of coin that could have gone towards something that I knew I was going to buy anyways.

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From my LFS i get their RO/DI water at .50/gal so only 15$ for 30g and a quick start. RO/DI unit will become a neccessity though. Not to mention the LFS is like 2 miles and the nearest walmart is at least 8-10 so that would add to the cost going that route.

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From what I see on that website, that same water is available at my local petco, which it is. But 12$ / 5gal is pretty steep. From what I've read though it seems to get good reviews.

 

But yes being landlocked in Iowa sucks!

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From my LFS i get their RO/DI water at .50/gal so only 15$ for 30g and a quick start. RO/DI unit will become a neccessity though. Not to mention the LFS is like 2 miles and the nearest walmart is at least 8-10 so that would add to the cost going that route.

RO/DI for .50 is a lot cheaper and better then anything you would get at walmart so that's not bad. Good ro/di units cost $150-200 so if doing 5 gallon water changes a week including top offs, it would take 1-1.5 years to break even. But this doesn't include the extra time driving to the lfs and the ease of buying extra things while there because you just couldn't pass up the amazing price on *insert coral name here*. :P

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Wow, at .75/ gallon thats a steal, after the 25-30 bucks for 50g mix of salt and .50/g for RO/DI water you are saving a good amount. Even after driving (depending on how far) it sounds like it would be totally worth it. STINKIN IOWA!

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