My 29G Reef Tank Synopsis
With my upcoming 1 year anniversary, I have decided to start a new diary of my reef tank experiment. Here is the honest truth of costs, lessons learned and what has died over the past year.
I started my reef tank March of 2006 after having fresh water tanks for over 10 years. I wanted to try something new and decided this would be a fun experiment. My tank sits right next to the front door of my condo so the setup has to be esthetically pleasing which has led to some compromises (no room for an auto top off). The original goals were simple, keep it inexpensive and keep it neat. I soon learned that inexpensive doesn’t go hand and hand with a reef tank, but one can have a decent looking tank without credit card crazy.
Setup costs over one year
29G tank $50 - my old fresh water tank
Metal Stand $70
15G Sump $50
45lbs Live Rock $150
Current 130W PC* $140 - no longer in use
65W PC Retro $30
250W 14K MH $330 â€"œ PFO minipendant with icecap ballast
30lbs Aragonite $30
RO/DI Setup $140
Jaeger 300w Heater $20
Maxijet/hydor $50
Lifereef Overflow $130
Mag5 return* $50 - no longer in use
Mag7 return $60
Test Kits/refrac $100
DIY canopy/panels $150
Timers/cord Switch $50
Emerg UPS $60
Hoses/Clamps $50
Coralife 65 Skimmer $90
Fluval 205 $100
Total cost ~ $ 1900
Maintenance schedule - 5 gallon water changes every 7-8 days
Top off every day
Seachem Reef Complete (Ca) and Carbonate (Alk) every other day
Lighting period - actinics 8am - 10am, Metal Halides 10am - 6pm, Actinics 6pm - 8pm
Feeding Schedule - Filter feeders are given DT every other day. Fish are feed ... Mysis, Plankton, Formula 1 pellets, Hikara pellets 2 times a day. Corals are feed mysis 1 a week
Last test Parameters
Temp - 79.7
Salt - 1.026
pH - 8.2
NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0
Alk - 9
Ca - 440
PO4 - 0
Future upgrades -
Redo Sump
Controller for electrics
Bioload -
2 false clowns
1 firefish
1 watchmen goby
1 cleaner shrimp
1 crocea clam
6 Astrea snails
2 Nassarius snails
Corals -
Candycane
Trumpet
Green open brain
Green closed maze brain
Red open brain
Green star polyps
Brown button polyps
Porites
Green Mushrooms
Red mushroom
Green ricordeas
Frogspawn
Red zoos
Green zoos
Hammer
Monitpora platiformis
Montipora capricornis
Montipora digitata
Acropora tenius
Things that have died in the past year - that’s life
1 finger leather â€"œ poor circulation ?
1 yellow polyps â€"œ melted after 2 weeks
1 frogspawn â€"œ killed off by powerhead
2 false clowns - ick
2 cleaner shrimps â€"œ first one after 6 months, and another after 2 weeks
6 astrea snails â€"œ fell and cant get up
1 pink ricordea â€"œ tried to frag and it melted
1 green zoo frag â€"œ fell onto another coral and go stung
Lessons Learned
* If you really think you will get into this hobby, go MH. (When I decided to play with SPS, I needed to upgrade to MH)
* If your corals are acting funny, just let it be for a few days. Don’t play with your corals
* Don’t buy brown corals just because they are cheap. You will soon be wanting to replace them
* Things will die on you no matter what you do
* Take it slow and easy.
* Internet forums are sources for good & bad advice
*If you have decent Photoshop skills like me, you can make an ugly tank look good : )
All pictures taken with a Nikon D200 and nikkors 12-24, 35-70, and 60mm micro
Regards
RFC
With my upcoming 1 year anniversary, I have decided to start a new diary of my reef tank experiment. Here is the honest truth of costs, lessons learned and what has died over the past year.
I started my reef tank March of 2006 after having fresh water tanks for over 10 years. I wanted to try something new and decided this would be a fun experiment. My tank sits right next to the front door of my condo so the setup has to be esthetically pleasing which has led to some compromises (no room for an auto top off). The original goals were simple, keep it inexpensive and keep it neat. I soon learned that inexpensive doesn’t go hand and hand with a reef tank, but one can have a decent looking tank without credit card crazy.
Setup costs over one year
29G tank $50 - my old fresh water tank
Metal Stand $70
15G Sump $50
45lbs Live Rock $150
Current 130W PC* $140 - no longer in use
65W PC Retro $30
250W 14K MH $330 â€"œ PFO minipendant with icecap ballast
30lbs Aragonite $30
RO/DI Setup $140
Jaeger 300w Heater $20
Maxijet/hydor $50
Lifereef Overflow $130
Mag5 return* $50 - no longer in use
Mag7 return $60
Test Kits/refrac $100
DIY canopy/panels $150
Timers/cord Switch $50
Emerg UPS $60
Hoses/Clamps $50
Coralife 65 Skimmer $90
Fluval 205 $100
Total cost ~ $ 1900
Maintenance schedule - 5 gallon water changes every 7-8 days
Top off every day
Seachem Reef Complete (Ca) and Carbonate (Alk) every other day
Lighting period - actinics 8am - 10am, Metal Halides 10am - 6pm, Actinics 6pm - 8pm
Feeding Schedule - Filter feeders are given DT every other day. Fish are feed ... Mysis, Plankton, Formula 1 pellets, Hikara pellets 2 times a day. Corals are feed mysis 1 a week
Last test Parameters
Temp - 79.7
Salt - 1.026
pH - 8.2
NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0
Alk - 9
Ca - 440
PO4 - 0
Future upgrades -
Redo Sump
Controller for electrics
Bioload -
2 false clowns
1 firefish
1 watchmen goby
1 cleaner shrimp
1 crocea clam
6 Astrea snails
2 Nassarius snails
Corals -
Candycane
Trumpet
Green open brain
Green closed maze brain
Red open brain
Green star polyps
Brown button polyps
Porites
Green Mushrooms
Red mushroom
Green ricordeas
Frogspawn
Red zoos
Green zoos
Hammer
Monitpora platiformis
Montipora capricornis
Montipora digitata
Acropora tenius
Things that have died in the past year - that’s life
1 finger leather â€"œ poor circulation ?
1 yellow polyps â€"œ melted after 2 weeks
1 frogspawn â€"œ killed off by powerhead
2 false clowns - ick
2 cleaner shrimps â€"œ first one after 6 months, and another after 2 weeks
6 astrea snails â€"œ fell and cant get up
1 pink ricordea â€"œ tried to frag and it melted
1 green zoo frag â€"œ fell onto another coral and go stung
Lessons Learned
* If you really think you will get into this hobby, go MH. (When I decided to play with SPS, I needed to upgrade to MH)
* If your corals are acting funny, just let it be for a few days. Don’t play with your corals
* Don’t buy brown corals just because they are cheap. You will soon be wanting to replace them
* Things will die on you no matter what you do
* Take it slow and easy.
* Internet forums are sources for good & bad advice
*If you have decent Photoshop skills like me, you can make an ugly tank look good : )
All pictures taken with a Nikon D200 and nikkors 12-24, 35-70, and 60mm micro
Regards
RFC
Excellent photography too. :thumbsup:
Incredible...that's all I can say about the tank and pics! I would definitely vote for you for TOTM or nTOTM or whatever!
