Smooth's 29 gallon build!

[SmoothSmoke]

My instant ocean swing hydrometer reads 1.026

My floating glass hydrometer reads 1.022

Needless to say, a refractometer will be purchased ASAP!

 

[SmoothSmoke]

My tap water is reading 1.004 using the instant ocean. I believe the glass hydro is correct. However, wont know till I order the refracto.

 

[AC2020x]

Looking good.. I will definitely be following this as I am looking to do something similar with my 29g. I love the ultra flex PVC idea.

Also, good call on the refractometer.. I never trust a hydrometer.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Looking good.. I will definitely be following this as I am looking to do something similar with my 29g. I love the ultra flex PVC idea.

Also, good call on the refractometer.. I never trust a hydrometer.

Ultra flex is great. But at 1.5" its not so pliable. Still better than rigid I believe. Do you have a build thread?

 

[AC2020x]

No, I don't.. At least not yet. I'm thinking of starting one though. Right now all I have is a 29g with some rock, sand and 2 clownfish in it. I need to drill it and connect a sump first.

 

[Krewlife]

My tap water is reading 1.004 using the instant ocean. I believe the glass hydro is correct. However, wont know till I order the refracto.

BulkReefSupply has a Refractometer as the item for deal of the day! ends in 9hours though

 

[SmoothSmoke]

BulkReefSupply has a Refractometer as the item for deal of the day! ends in 9hours though

Good looking out! Bought it this morning. Set me back 43 shipped.

 

[dinger28]

Tank looks great man! Had a question about the flex tubing. How did you install the tubing into a regular PVC fitting? Would like to do that for my next tank but wasn't sure how. Thanks!

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Tank looks great man! Had a question about the flex tubing. How did you install the tubing into a regular PVC fitting? Would like to do that for my next tank but wasn't sure how. Thanks!

Ultra-Flex PVC is pretty much the same as regular PVC. It will fit into regular rigid fittings, slip that is. The black ultra flex was slipped fitted into the regular white fittings. Pretty easy and worth it! A bit of advice, always order a foot or two extra, as you may never know what may come up that you'll have to redo a portion of your plumbing.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Day 3 of my cycle. I'm surprised to see nitrite so soon. Is that usual?

Ammonia = 4 ppm
Nitrite = 0.25 ppm

 

[SmoothSmoke]

4th day of cycling. Nitrites are going up, ammonia slight drop.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Figured I'd check the PH and Phosphates today.

PH tested between 7.8-8, a bit low?
Phosphates at .25 ppm

I did a light curing of my dry rock using lanthanum chloride for 2 weeks. Hopefully it worked and the phosphates stay close to where they're at!

 

[SmoothSmoke]

My refractometer came in today. Compared all 3 meters.

Refractometer = 1.025
Instant Ocean swing arm = 1.025
Petco glass floating hydro = 1.024

My salinity seems to be in range!! One less thing to stress about.

Tested ammonia and nitrite....today is day 5.

ammonia = roughly 3ppm, a tad lighter than yesterday
nitrite = 1ppm

 

[BC29Reefer]

When using API make sure to never use the white line, it's almost always never 5ml. When I used those test kits I used a syringe for accuracy.

Nice looking tank, very clean.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Yeah, I heard that sometimes the marker is not accurate. Thanks!

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Cycle Day 7 update:

Ordered the Jebao WP10 wavemaker. Hopefully I'll have enough flow with the wp10 in combination with my Sicce 2.0 which is rated at 568gph before head loss.

Ammonia is about 1.5ppm
Nitrite is at minimum 5ppm if not higher

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Cycle Day 9 update:

Ammonia dropped again, now between 0.5 and 1.0ppm, Nitrite is hanging above 5ppm. I expect ammonia to be 0 withing 48 hours.

This is how the tank looks now. That piece of live rock does not fit in with the rest of the scape. I'm just leaving it there for the time being. Will probably remove it once the cycle finishes.

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Installed the skimmer today. Should break in by the time the cycle is over.

 

[Krewlife]

awesome stuff man.. have you decided what fish you are going to add first?

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Maybe the chromis, green goby or royal gramma. Whichever of the 3 I can find locally. At worst I will head to Neptunes in Milipitas. I do want a flame angel but my tank is probably too small....still undecided.