29 Gal tank progression.

[Trex420]

29 gal tank shortly after setup on 6/21/2005

This is my 29 gal Marine shortly after upgrading from my 12 gal Nano-Cube. I used this tank to cycle the extra LR I would need then I moved the inhabitants to their new home. I also bought a pair of Firefish Gobies to go with my Flasher Wrasse and Scooter Blenny. You can see my Fire Shrimp, some Green Button Polyps along with various types of snails and if you look closely you might be able to see the 2 Peppermint Shrimp. There is a Cleaner Shrimp, a Watchman Goby, a Red Pistol Shrimp and an Emerald Crab that you don't see in the picture. What even I didn't see for at least 5 months were the 2 hitchhiker crabs that came with some of the LR, they ONLY come out at night. One of them is very small and compact; some might say fat, with tiny little claws and short stubby legs. The other is smaller than my Emerald Crab and much thinner, it looks very much like a spider, but then donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t almost all crabs look like spiders.
I eventually had to remove all the sand substrate due to a case of red slime that I just couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t get rid of. Vacuuming the sand to remove the slime would only mix the slime in; the slime would be back in a matter of hours. I had no substrate for several months. The red slime disappeared, now Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been adding small handfuls of crushed coral every couple of weeks. I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t want a deep bed but I would like to give critters that like to a place to hide in the bed. I have two power heads blowing to form a circulating current; I tried using the power head on the left only at first and a small of the LR in front turned grey and seemed to become necrotic. I then put the power head on the right in place and Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve had no problems. The p/h in the front right looks unsightly though and I would love to remove it. I have a Cyclone 100 Protein Skimmer hanging on back and a 130 watt CF lighting system with ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œmoonââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ lights, the small but very cool, blue LEDs. I use a sheet of plexiglass to cover the tank that I cut to fit the top of the tank with cutouts for the protein skimmer return. As always, Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m open to suggestions.

 

[Trex420]

29 gal tank as of 2005-12-29

29 gal tank as of 2005-12-29

This is the tank after 6 months. The LR is now covered with coralline algae. The Marshall Island LR on the right and the Tonga LR (bottom middle and top left) was white when I received it and now it is very colorful. There is a good amount of coralline algae growth on the sides of the tank. The front of the tank also gets covered even quicker. I found that a scrub pad made for glass gets most types of growth off the front of the tank fairly quickly but when coralline algae starts to cover the front I take a razor blade to it. That works very well in a fraction of the time with coralline algae. The back doesnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t seem to be getting covered as fast as the other 3 sides.
The summer was long and hot so I didn't collect many corals. In the front from left to right there are some Pulsing Xenias (bottom left), Bubble Coral, several more Pulsing Xenias above the Bubble Coral, two Feather Dusters (bottom middle), Green Star Polyps (bottom middle), there is a Kenya Tree Frag (top center, small white dot is the rock its attached to), Green Button Polyps (bottom middle), Rose Anemone (top right) and some Xoas (bottom right).
The livestock that you can see in the tank are two Peppermint Shrimp, a Firefish Goby, and a Watchman Goby.

 

[Trex420]

29 gal tank as of 2006-02-13

29 gal tank as of 2006-02-13

This is the tank after I installed a Refugium and an overflow. There are also several new corals. There is a new Torch, Frogspawn, Candy Coral and a Hammer LPS coral. I also picked up some softies: there are two Spaghetti Finger Leathers, Anthilia, Ricordeas, Rhodactis and more Xenias. I picked up two SPSs both Digitatas. One is behind the Bubble Coral and the other was knocked over by a Turbo Snail, one tip of the Digitatas was touched by the Torch and the whole thing turned white in less than 12 hours. Sucked. The other piece is doing alright under just PCs.
I also just picked up a Spotted Hawkfish which promptly ate one of my Peppermint Shrimp. I think it is going back to the LFS I got it from. It is a beautiful fish I hate to return it but my other shrimp are in hiding. It doesn't seem to like frozen Mysis as much as fresh shrimp.

 

[Trex420]

29 gal tank as of 2006-03-09

29 gal tank as of 2006-03-09

Well you can see things have been coming among nicely despite some minor set backs. The system has changed slightly since adding the refugium and I'm still trying to get use to it. Thanks to many of you here I have almost more corals in the tank than I have room for. Good thing I have the 75 gal almost setup. The other M Digi was touched by a blowing tentacle of a Torch for a short time. Sure enough the Digi turned white very quickly. So now I am SPS free. SPS seem a little touchy and the chem. levels in that small a tank fluctuate too much. I picked up some different Xenias you can see in the top right. The Bubble Coral has grown immense; it is actually turned so you are seeing the narrow view of it. The Green Star Polyps have really started to encrust the large piece of Marshall LR that stands on the right side. The Hairy Mushrooms have grown to 6ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ in diameter and developed a cool green tint to them. There are at least 6 new types of Zoas most spread out on the flat piece of Tonga that is on the left that I use as a shelf. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve had bad luck trying to mount the Spaghetti Finger Leather. I have given one mounted frag to a friend and the original frag I got has grown faster than almost anything else in the tank. I also have some unidentified encrusting growth that I glued to the back of the tank in two spots. I was told it was an encrusting leather of some sort. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve Googled and found nothing similar. It looks like Green Starburst Polyps very much except that its polyps have feathery projections from each of its eight branches. It also grows from a purple matt but slightly differently than the Green Starburst Polyps, the polyps have more space between them and they donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t look the same when shrunken.
I have changed the flow direction in the tank. I have used the return to create flow behind the rocks where power heads couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t reach. I also removed one PH and the protein skimmer. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve also added some more substrate that I got when I purchased the 75. The LS has some cools worms in it.

 

[Bovetek]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing the progress with us.

 

[Trex420]

Refugium initial setup - 2006-02-06

Refugium initial setup - 2006-02-06

Here is the basic view of the refugium. Sorry for the salt on the outside of the tank. This is my refugium as initially setup. I made it from a 10g AGA aquarium. There are two baffles that separate the Ruge part from the return area. I built a small box into the corner for the overflow hose to drain into. I drilled many holes in the box and filled it with LR rubble. I have a 100 w CF style bulb that I got at HD for $14. The bulb consumes at much energy as a 29 w bulb. I use a Mag 3 350 gph return pump. The pump kicks! I'm thinking of getting rid of my last power head in the tank. I picked up a Bristle Star that ecreef gave me. I tossed two Turbos and two hermits in there.

 

[Trex420]

Refugium setup - 2006-03-09

Refugium setup - 2006-03-09

Here is the refugium with some Cheato and Caulerpa. I'm also having a little bit of a Cyno bloom currently. The bacteria came in on a frag that I picked up from some one and seems to have taken hold in the fuge. I think I'll be forced to treat it with something soon. It is killing the coral it came in on by covering photosynthetic its surfaces.
There is one major flaw with my design, the area where the return pump is too small. Evaporation forces me to top off that area every two days. I need to finish working on my auto top-off system. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m thinking of just using a gravity fed system using IV tubing and control connected to a 3-5 gal jug. The jug will then be obviously just above my fuge.

 

[gsxrguru2]

Awesome progress, congrats on a very nice system!!! Did the chemical swings stop once the fuge was added? I think you'll be very pleased with the auto top off, I know it was a Godsend when I got mine hooked up. Good luck with everything and if you've got more pics, please post them- I love these types of threads!!!

 

[Clown-N-Around]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing

Is the new 75 an upgrade or an additional tank?

 

[Trex420]

Come on now Christina... When ever you get a tank no matter how many you have, no matter what the intention, it ends up being an additional tank. I'm just going with it, no denial here. Additional tank all the way baby!!!

 

[Trex420]

Oddly enough the chem swings got MUCH worse! I don't get it I'm just monitoring it more closely now. At first my Nitrates which had always been an issue went from a typical 10 ppm to 0 ppm and stayed there for sometime but now nitrates, nitrites have both shot up. I'm just doing more water changes for the time being.
One question. I have scum on top of my algae in the fuge. It is very difficult to get out without removing the cheato that it is always on top of. Any ideas people? Should the cheato that is browing and covered in scum be removed?

 

[pnsnowboard]

its starten to look good

 

[adams0816]

is it brownish red & slimmey?

 

[Trex420]

I do have a cyno bacteria problem currently that came in on a frag. I am treating it with a half strength dose of Maracyn. Works wonders. The crud I am refering to is floating on top of the algae mat in the ruge only. I don't know if there needs to be surface agitation in the fuge. I think that would help but it would mean to much flow. I've tried to take a picture but they don't turn out well enough to post. I'll try again.