My 29 gallon tank

[badgers034]

Heres some pictures of my 29 gallon nano tank/cube whatever you want to call it. I just converted it from a freshwater to saltwater today!

9/17/06

9/17/06

As you can see the tank is cloudy. I have a sterilized corona bottle in the middle, a plastic plant on the left, and a crappy cave thing in the back middle. All of these will be taken out as soon as I get my LR. They are just in there so I can see how much clearer my tank gets.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

lol cant even see them as it is!

 

[Mchllmarsh]

Good luck!

 

[fantastic4]

post updates, following thread. What is your equipment list?

 

[badgers034]

Equipment list:
*Old Bio-wheel 280
*A simple hang-on heater (Planning on upgrading to Visi-therm Stealth)
*Azoo PowerSweep powerhead Model 214
*Instant Ocean Salt
*Deep Six Hydrometer
*Basic Flourescent Lights.

Now, I was thinking, can I use aluminum foil where a reflector for a flourescent light should go?? What Im saying is that can I use tinfoil to reflect light off of?? I mean, I dont think it would help that much, but it wouldnt hurt right?? Here are some more pictures of the tank today:

9/18/06

As you can see, Im not a great photographer... Anyways, I got the salt at the correct salinity (about 1.023) according to my Deep Six, which are known for being inaccurate. Well, its all I got for now. I will be adding LR sometime this week hopefully, but for now, these are all the pictures I can take, not much more I can take a picture of.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

i tried the aluminum foil when i had freshwater. To be honest..it made no difference. I tried it on both sides (one is duller than the other) and it didnt relaly do anything.

cool corona bottle tho that'd look pretty cool w/ like coraline and stuff all over it (not to meantion corals )

If i wasnt gonna try and make my tank look as natural as possible, i'd be half tempted to leave the bottle in and see how it looks a year from now lol. But then again...i suppose nowadays a beer bottle out in the bottom of the ocean isnt too uncommon w/all the people throwin stuff out there...so in a way i guess it could be "natural" lol

 

[Nimmie]

I've heard on some planted tank boards that white paint works as a good reflector for flourescents, i.e., paint the part where a reflector would go bright white and it's supposed to reflect quite well.

 

[badgers034]

Yea, the Corona bottle may or may not stay. I have a feeling that it would look really good, but I am not sure if I want to stick with it as I am trying to make this tank look as natural as possible... We'll see.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya thats what i always like to do with my tanks. Make them look like you would see it out in the ocean as much as possible. But like i say, i might try that carona bottle some day lol. I saw a local guys tank and he had one of those plastic scuba diver dudes that have the bubbles coming out their heads...it was completley covered in coraline (different colors too) and he had a little piece of gsp on his head so it looked like he had hair lol. I guess he just cut the gsp if it grew at all (or let the guy grow his hair out )

 

[badgers034]

That diver sounds like it looked pretty cool.

 

[badgers034]

I did the tinfoil today, and it slightly improved my lighting. (I think, or maybe I just THINK it did, so my mind is tricked into thinking is better, if you know what I mean). Well, I am going to get some LR HOPEFULLY tomorrow. And some base rock. I am thinking about getting about a pound of LR, and about 10 lbs of base rock just to get me started. I am on a limited budget, so I am trying to make this as cheap as possible.

 

[badgers034]

9/21/'06

I am going to get some Live Rock at the LFS today:beer:. I will mostlikely get some Lace Rock. Will post pictures.

 

[ReefArtist]

I do like the bottle. My friends want me to get a plastic shark that has bubbles, I just look at them :thumbdown

 

[chocolateblnt]

I'm at work and now you've made me want a corona ... I hate you!

Oh and take out that plastic garbage in the tank including that rock ... you've converted to saltwater ... remember?! It's just gonna get disgusting anyway once you hit your algae cycles ...

Live Rock I know you're looking for so get that a.s.a.p. ... a pound is like nothing but whatever seeds the tank with more bene-bacteria.

If you're going low budget you need to at least get some PC lights and also a canister filter ... that light won't penetrate past a few inches even though you'll see light at the bottom of the tank. The canister filter will help you with much needed filtration since you won't have much seeded LR.

Once your cycle is done ... Add fish S L O W ... and until you get proper lighting don't even think about coral

Good Luck!

 

[badgers034]

Ok, thanks. Well, I didnt get my LR today... I went to the LFS today and had them check my salinity. Well according to their refractometer it was 1.028. So he told me to get my salinity correct and come back tomorrow or another day. Well, I took about 5 gallons out and added freshwater. I will see what my salinity is tomorrow.

 

[deeplove]

Leave the bottle. It should give the fish some entertainment.



Maybe you can give them a bottle that's half way full...

Rhumba!!!

 

[badgers034]

Well, I got my salinity down to about 1.20, which is good. I will mostlikely get some LR today. But, you never know how things go. If I do, I will take pictures.

 

[badgers034]

Oh, yeah, about that cave and plant. I used the cave kinda as a marker of what I can see when my tank was real cloudy. Same thing with the plant. They are both out of the tank now. PC lights and corals are definately in my future, once I get a handle on things. Of course, lighting first, then corals.

 

[badgers034]

9/22/'06
Got some Live Rock today, 2 pounds worth. Probably some time this weekend I will get base rock. I want to get some of that kind of base-rock from the thread "smiths 10 gallon ghetto tank" or something like that. I know it isnt that much LR, but its kinda just to get the cycle going and get things started.

Now, a few questions. How Long should I leave the lights on for?? Do I need special lighting to keep the LR alive and thriving? Do I need special lighting for coraline algae to grow??

 

[badgers034]

Also, do I need to "feed" the tank to encourage it to cycle?? If so, how much food??