29 gal NaNo mixed reef

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Well now that I have gotten back into the saltwater hobby and literally gotten my feet wet I feel like it is time to go after a full on mixed reef. I do have a build thread on here where I started a 54 gal corner tank. My initial plan for that tank was to make it a reef but as it progressed I decided I wanted to make it a FOWLR. Now that it is up and going successfully I have turned my attention to the reef tank. The FOWLR Tank I refer to as Ying and my REEF tank is my yang. Both are I my living room.. Ying is sitting on a black stand w/ black Hawaiian sand and Yang is on a custom skinned metal stand that is a light color oak wrap and has Fiji pink sand in it. So as you can tell my OCD has officially gone down the rabbit hole, lol. Right now the tank is sitting in the dark going through the cycling process. I started dosing some ammonium chloride today followed by some Dr. Tims one and only.

Right now the setup us as follows...

I have a 29 gal (30L×13W×19H)
30 lbs of Fiji pink
20 lbs of live rock (BRS Reefsaver)
HOB Fluval filter (40 gal)
HOB Finnex Refugium
Finnex heater (200 watt)
BRS RO/DI system
Squidwards house (gift from my son)

The stuff I have order that is on the way is...

Ato = Tunze Osmolator
Powerhead = Maxspect XF230 Gyre
Light = Nanobox DuoM

As the tank is done cycling I will be sure to put up some pictures for you guys to enjoy the process along with me. I hope you guys can get a little bit of enjoyment out of this build thread. I will however go ahead and say that this thread will probably start out slowly as I will not rush to get corals into my tank. I want to take my time and do it as well as I can. Hopefully you guys enjoy my boring banter and stick around to see the final product.

 

[jrwoltman]

Fantastic, good luck with the build.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Fantastic, good luck with the build.

Thanks, hopefully it turns out beautiful. If not my wife will scalp me for sinking a fortune into these tanks... lol

 

[jrwoltman]

Thanks, hopefully it turns out beautiful. If not my wife will scalp me for sinking a fortune into these tanks... lol

LOL, don't I know it.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Got a nice little present for myself in the mail today. Maxspect gyre 230 for the nano. The goal was to have as few wire as possible inside the tank and this seemed like the best bet. Not only is this thing strong as crap but it is virtually invisible at the top of my aquarium. It also comes with a preset that mimics the currents strength during a lunar tide based on the time you set on the controller. It slowly ramps itself up and down through the 24 hour day just like your lighting schedule does. I can not wait to get the thing blowing some coral around when my cycle is complete.

 

[jrwoltman]

Very nice, congrats.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Very nice, congrats.

Thanks man. I think it's gonna be ****** I'm this tank... fingers crossed

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Well last night I got the ATO hooked up on the tank. Went with the Tunze osmolator because of all the positive reviews. The extra redundancy to keep it from failing and messing up my hardwood floors was a big selling point also. I did go with the trigger premade 5 gallon reservoir. The way I have the tank sitting it wasn't gonna be able to be hid so I decided to just incorporate it into the display setup... I figured what the heck, lol. Right now I am just waiting on my light to get here and the tank to finish cycling so I can start stocking it. Right now I'm on the 8th day of the cycle and it is progressing slowly. Currently my ammonia is reading .50ppm and my nitrite is reading 2.0ppm. Nitrite seems to be holding right at 2.0ppm as I haven't seen it go any lower yet. I can dose more ammonium chloride to get it at 2ppm on the ammonia and the nitrite will have it right back at .50 or lower the next day. So now I guess I am just waiting on the nitrates to kick in an start working on the nitrite... Hopefully it won't be much longer.. I will post a few pictures when I get home from work this evening.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So the tank is moving along nicely with the fishless cycle and I have been debating on livestock for the tank once it is done. I have decided that the first fish I will put in will be a pair of Wyoming White clownfish. Mainly because o didn't put clowns in the 54 gallon FOWLR and I really like the little guys. So does anyone have any suggestions of where I can purchase some? I have search LiveAquaria and they don't have any. I also had a friend who had a bit of bad luck with saltwaterfish.com so I am kind if scared to use them. Has anyone bought any lately that can help me out? Thanks

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Just wanted to post a few pictures for the tank as it goes through the cycle. I know that right now it's pretty dull looking but hopefully it will be coming to life soon. I am happy with how the stand turned out. It started out as a metal stand that I skinned with some 1/8" oak planks I found at Lowes. I am still undecided on wether or not I will leave the aquascape alone. I wanted to go minimal with it but I fear it may be to minimal.. but I kinda like it so I may leave it just as it is.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So the tank has been checking like it has finished the fishless cycle. I will be waiting a few more weeks before I start stocking with coral to make sure everything stays solid on my parameters. That will be tough considering I just got introduced to a beautiful coral from over at Aquarium Specialty

Isn't that thing beautiful. I have a very good feeling this bad hai will be my first purchase. After my clowns that is... If I can ever find the ones I want.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So I picked up 2 clowns today to put into the new 29 gal nano. They will be the first inhabitants into the tank since it finished the fishless cycle. I have been checking parameters on a daily basis the last few days to insure no ammonia or nitrite reared its ugly head... and of course it stayed steady. Right now I have the little guys going through a drip accliacclimation to prepare them for the tank. Once they are in I will post a picture of them for you guys. When I went to the LFS I had no intention of leaving with anything but these little guys were the smallest clowns I have ever seem for sale. They honestly can't be any more than 1/2" long.. how old do you guys think they are? They are literally babies it would seem. The wife wanted them for the FOWLER but they would never survive in there with their size.. anyways guys. New fish going in soon..

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Well the clowns are in the tank and are doing well. They have eaten twice and are put playing and doing clown stuff, lol. Right now I have a makeshift light in top of it just to provide a little light until my nanobox arrives. They were just hanging in the corners until I put it up there and now they are put and playing. It amazing what a little light can do to..

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Hello guys, not much in the way of an update today other than I added a couple nasarrius snails into the tank over from my FOWLR. I did do my weekly water change today (5 gallons, just like every Sunday). Later in the evening I did my weekly check on the parameters and this is what I got.

Any thoughts or suggestions out there are appreciated. Thanks

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Alright guys, today o have another small update. Nothing real fancy going on yet but to me it is all exciting. I can tell by all the responses in here your excited also.. (sarcasm). However Friday my light that I order from Dave over at Nanobox came in and it was well with the wait. I know it's not a big name light like AI or Kessel but let me say that this thing is amazing. Not only that but with it being handmade I had great interaction with Dave and I have nothing but positive thing to say about him. I explained to him that my nano was placed up under my military promotion warrants, NCO sword, and of course my pride and joy the Honerable Discharge citation. So what he did for me us create a Red, White and Blue theme LED and I can not be more excited about it. Extremely bright, extremely powerful, absolutely beautiful color and on top of that it is perfectly quiet. Add in the bluefish controller and it is also very user friendly. What I purchased was the Nanobox Duo plus M so that I would have the moonlight features and I am glad I went that route. Not only am I happy but Bonnie and Clyde seem to be loving the consistency that come with it also with the programmable in and off feature. Well enough talk for now... I will put up a few teaser pictures until tomorrow when I can get some actual good photos for us to look at.

And of course per the usual my photos will be turned sideways by the site for your viewing inconvenience. [emoji106] [emoji631]

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So I made a litre trip up to my LFS to look around and see what peaked my and of course Nemos Reef was full of beautil fish and coral. That being said I could not leave without picking up a little something. I was eyeballing some zoas and a beautiful torch while talking to one of the reefers that work there. He then proceeded to tell me that if I wanted a anemone for the clowns it was better to get that guy before I got anything else. So with that said I picked up a rather big Green BTA for only 40 bucks.. I also picked up a few frags of GSP for a little island I set aside just for it. Soon as I get home I will pop some pictures and get your thoughts on it.... so pumped to have my first corals going into the nano..

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So here are a few pictures I snapped for the build thread. The Green BTA seems to be a little shy still from the move yesterday but other than that he appears to be in good health. Also the GSP is beginning to open up a bit as well.. gonna give it until the weekend probably and then I will pull it from the frag plug and put it right on the island. I really like the movement that GSP puts into a tank (especially the metallic green) so I specifically put the island there just for it, I just hope it's not to big of an island and take away from the rest of the tank. How do you guys feel about it? To big?

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

So just a quick little update on the nano. So far everything seems to be going well so far.. I am starting to get a bit if alge building up so I may need to bump up my CUC. I have been keeping close tabs on my parameters and everything has been super steady. I have included a picture of my BTA "Frank" to get your thoughts. I think he is happy in his new home but I would like your thoughts.. for whatever reason he has chosen a spot on the back corner to stay. He had been there for a couple days now.

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

The start of a custom DIY stand for the nano. Tired of looking at a crappy stand under my reef. This will be built by myself so it will be exactly what I want. Still not going with a sump on the nano but I want the ATO and other controllers to be out of sight. Not to mention some extra space to house my "reef crap" as my wife says.. lol. Can't wait to get this thing finished so you guys can see it

 

[Reef_Tank_Fan_SC]

Just a few in progress fotos for you picture junkies out there. It may not look like much but it will be a fir cry better that that metal turd it sitting on right now. Stand frame is constructed out of 1×4s with just a couple pcs of 2×4 on the top for extra support. It is 30"H ×32"L ×16"W... the 16" wide is overkill for a standard 29 gallon tank but I made it wider so it would hold my 5 gal trigger reservoir and my Tunze osmolator ATO. It will also be hold several shelves to store test kits, supplements, and other various reef supplies. Not to mention I am installing a power strip inside so that all my tank gizmos can be plugged inside of it and not be an eyesore any longer. I will post more pictures in the coming days as I wrap it up... hopefully. Thanks for looking and as usual all input is welcome. [emoji106]