Martin's 29 Gallon

M

Martin76

New member
Here is my 1st attempt at a saltwater aquarium. It is a 29 gallon 30 inch long tank.

List of equipment:
Reef Octopus HOB Skimmer
Arctic-S026 LED Aquarium Light
Jebao WP-25
Mighty Mite 50GPD RO unit
40 Pounds of CaribSea Aragonite Fiji Pink Sand
30 Pounds of dry reef rock
Kent Salt

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Looking at how the rock will look.

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Making a light hanger.

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Day 1 of cycle 05/24/14

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Finally clearing up after a few hours. I'm using a shrimp to start the cycle.
PH 8.2
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
 
So far so good dude. What's your stocking list look like? Great choice on the wp-25. I went with the wp10 on my 29 and it's not enough, should have went with the 25 and dialed it back down. That or I got a bunk unit.
 
Great looking tank! Love the rock work.

Just a few tips for speeding up the cycle I've learned in the past week: Use Instant Ocean Bio-Spira. I was using Brightwell's Microbacter, but the IO really kicked the nitrogen cycle past the goal line. Really amazing product, and it's available at places like PetCo. Only caveat is to check the expiration date on the bottom of the bottle, you don't want a bottle thats been on the shelf for 6+ months.

Once I was pretty confident in my tanks cycle, I tried the ammonia trick, but at a very reduced rate, safe for the inverts in my tank. I used Ace Ammonia, its 10% Ammonium Hydroxide, at a rate of 5 drops (per 27 gallons of H2O in my tank), then test NH4 after 30 minutes. Also, a seaChem Ammonia Alert is a good safeguard as well.

After the tank was comfortably handling 5 drops, I tried 10, making sure the ammonia never went over 0.25. I tested the NH3, NO2, and NO3 hourly, until my tank was able to process all of the ammonia within 3 hours, and all of the nitrite within 18.

Only use this method if you're a huge chemistry geek like me, as I don't want your Shrimp to suffer!

Edit - Welcome to RC!
 
SmoothSmoke said:
So far so good dude. What's your stocking list look like? Great choice on the wp-25. I went with the wp10 on my 29 and it's not enough, should have went with the 25 and dialed it back down. That or I got a bunk unit.
Click to expand...

I haven't played with the 10 but the 25 was way to much even on my 40 dialed down. You can't really dial down on these from my experience they seem on or off. Tank is looking pretty good so far though. Can't wait to see it progress.
 
terrypercula said:
I haven't played with the 10 but the 25 was way to much even on my 40 dialed down. You can't really dial down on these from my experience they seem on or off. Tank is looking pretty good so far though. Can't wait to see it progress.
Click to expand...

I think the s3 or w3 mode is 50% power? I'm probably going to upgrade to the new wireless rw-8. 700-2000 gph. Just waiting for a 10-20% off sale lol

I think I got a bunk wp10 unit. The 10 minute feeding lock no longer works. I'm having the controller replaced free. Hopefully it somehow gives it more juice too.
 
Not sure about the stocking list yet. The WP 25 does put out a good bit of action. I think I will be happy with it. S3 is 50% power. If I could upload a video of it I would but I haven't figured out how. I know I want a pair of clowns. Going to just take things slow at first. Bobbravo2 i'm using a frozen shrimp. :)
 
SmoothSmoke said:
I think the s3 or w3 mode is 50% power? I'm probably going to upgrade to the new wireless rw-8. 700-2000 gph. Just waiting for a 10-20% off sale lol

I think I got a bunk wp10 unit. The 10 minute feeding lock no longer works. I'm having the controller replaced free. Hopefully it somehow gives it more juice too.
Click to expand...

It's supposedly S1=100%
S2=75%
S3=50%

It is more like S1=100%
S2=99%
S3=98%

I got a bad WP25 it worked for a week then it was stuck in else mode. I also tried WP40's but I was not a fan. They were way too large and the three I tried were super noisey. I suggest keeping them clean as well. They tend to lose power fast from what I've heard.
 
Must have been a lemon terry, so far "know on wood" mine works on the 100%, 75%, 50% settings and no noise.
 
Guess my cycle is progressing well.

Day 1 5/24
PH 8.2
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Day 2 5/25
PH 8.2
Ammonia 2
Nitrite .25 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Day 3 5/26
PH 7.8
Ammonia 2
Nitrite .25 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm

Day 4 5/27
PH 7.8
Ammonia 4
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 5

Is this progressing normal?
 
Love the aquascape! Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Ammonia didn't go up that high for me but it all depends. Sometimes it goes higher than others. That's fine though. As long as it drops down to 0 and so do the others then you are good. Patience is a virtue here

Welcome to RC
 
Day 5 5/28
PH 7.8
Ammonia 4
Nitrite 5 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

Day 6 5/29
PH 7.8
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 1 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

Day 7 5/30
PH 7.8
Ammonia 1
Nitrite 5 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

Day 9 6/1
PH 7.8
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 5 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

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Diatoms ?
 
I think the fact you have those numbers and are posting them is a good sign that you will do good with upkeep
 
6/2 through 6/5
PH 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 5
Nitrate 5

I'm dosing 5ml of ammonia every day to bring the ammonia up to 4. Wonder how long it will be till the nitrite starts going down?
 
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