CodyR29 29 Gallon build thread

[codyreed29]

I have been collecting and buying for a new setup for the past two- three months. I worked for a pet store named pet supplies plus and was given a 10% discount. Worked and taught some people about aquariums and well saved and made some money. After I purchased everything I have now quit my job and am going to work for lowes store.

Anyhow after buying new tanks ( dollar per gallon plus 10% off and 5$ of coupon) and alot of other super great deals, mail in rebates.

Tank I have now got a new 29 and 20 gallon sump.

Lighting I already had a 250 watt odessy with 4 t5ho so i will use this for lighting. A diy led rapidled 14 x 3w for my refugium section sump light and a 2x24watt t5ho for my quarantine coral and fish tank.

Filtration I took a old 29 gallon that broke from my past employer lol for free and used a side piece and cut it up to make a prefilter carbon and filter floss section with marineland bio rings and a large bag of bioballs. Then the water will go thru a skimmer either a eschoops p75 or a sca 301. Haven't purchased YET. Then over a removable DSB with a planted mangrove and some macro algeas.

Flow 1 jeabo wp10 un order YET 1 or two koralia2s have one might buy another and two maxijet pro 500 gph powerheads.

Misc Equipment Jager 125watt titanium heater a rio 564 gph return 1.5 inch bulkhead with strainer overflow drilled with hang over style return with nozzle reef master api test kit two part mix reef roids nano coral food reef chili hydrometer refugium container. I may eventually add a ATO, apex lite, and gfo reactor depending on P04 testing.



I'm going to build my tank stand myself and have made the plans and priced everything already. 40 inch tall 31 wide 13 inches deep.

I have ran tanks and have had problems with sand as they get stirred up storing deiterous and causing my smelly tanks and nitrates. So i was going to go barebottom. Well i like the look of sand and I'm going to be keeping this tank a while. So i put a barrier on the bottom of the tank to keep the sand where i can clean it out very goood each week. it runs around the sides and front of the tank and is only 3 inches wide. will be about an inch deep and is only about 8 lbs of sand. As far as I know as i am the first to do this came up with it myself. Call it Codyreeds barrier method. See first picture if you don't understand what i saying.

I built a 20long 20long sump tank to quarantine all of my new fish inverts and corals as i build the new tank this will be setup as soon as i move to my new house. Will start with seachem stability and some liverock and fish. Then coral quarantine. It has a 350 gph return pump and wood stone skimmer ran off of the overflow with a ball valve for tuning water level. It's a large skimmer and i will have a big air pump so hopefullly this works out if i have to use my new skimmer i will have to transport and setup my 10g for and treatments such as copper ich medications so hopefullly it willl workout.

I will update with stand build photos.

[codyreed29]

I cut the wood for my stand according to a plan i made a week or so ago things are going smoothly.

I found a deal at a resale show i went to see if they might have something already made or something i could alter to fit my needs. I didn't find anything that would work. So i asked her if she had any 1x4 lumber and she sold me some good boards that were used to be under mattresses to support them across bed frames for 10 dollars wouldve cost me 42 bucks at lowes.
bought some screws to put it together.

also a shot of the top for my quarantine tank keep jumpers in.

next update will be drilling tank and wet dry glass and building stand frame.

[codyreed29]

I have built the stand frame for the main display tank and drilled and painted it dark blue. I derimed my 20h sump and built in a biomedia first section it has 1000 Grams of marineland biomedia and 1 gallon of coralife bioballs. I had to derim the tank to fit it under in the stand.

I setup my quarantine tank yesterday and put some live rock and a refugium ( will end up in the display sump). I will be starting to add things to it in the next couple weeks. I will have a mh t5 once I get some corals and acclimate them to the light over a month or so . I will slowly start to stock it with some fish and clean up crew and inverts and what not over the next couple months i hope have all the fish first and somewhat soon.

Next update I hope to have my stand done and the tank running with new liverock. I also still have to get a wp10 and a skimmer for the main display.

[codyreed29]

Some more pics of stuff i add in the sand to my Cody barrier method this will give me the look of sand but the easy maintence im looking for. This tank is going to be heavily stocked so i will vacuum this every week. And this will take care of my water changes.

Also a picture of 4 t5ho Qt 20l

Some sand i bought a bag of carribean live sand and used it for my RDSB the darker of the two. I used the figi pink lighter sand for display this will give more contrast and light reflection.

[edinphilly]

Nice. Your sand barrier is a great idea.

[codyreed29]

I finished my plumbing on the tank.

3/4 return u tube with rio 2100
1 inch drain with duel outlets on sump

it is held by suction cups I might end up removing the suction cups as it wil go thru the back of the finished stand.

the heat from mh was bad I broke the front glass on it and it got the tank temp up so I raised it to about a foot up. I bought some electrical conduit and heated on the stove then bent it and dunked it in water to set it.

I might build a canopy or just paint what I have black unsure.

Added a royal gramma to qt I put some sand in my ten gallon and removed some rock for watchman goby shrimp pair to qt in until the tank is ready for them.

Found a esschops p75 used on craigslist for 80 picking that up tomorrow. As well as some other stuff.

I have found so cool sponges growing on the liverock in my nano tank. I guess they like what I have been feeding.

[codyreed29]

I have built a canopy from a 1x12 piece of wood with the front opening as a door. Still needs paint but will do that after the stand is complete and will be painted all gloss black.

The lights are 2x 24watt t5ho from a fluval fixture Diyed in. The mh is from a odessea fixture which used 10 gauge wire instead of 18 gauge which i thought for a 250watt was not good enough. The four t5hos that were in the odessy are used on the QT tank (which looks ghetto and unclean but will do)the Stock odessea ballast will be kept as it will fire a phoenix bulb which is the next purchase as well as the skimmer sca 301.

I also added some livestock to QT. I bought a pistol shrimp and yellow watchman. As well as a chromis which may be my last fish on list I might get a couple small neon goby pair if i can find soon.

Next job is to finish the stand and canopy with trim door and paint HEADING to lowes.

Oh i added a picture of the urchins in qt I aslo have a anenome unknown i think it is bunodosoma cavernatum. about 2 inches across red and blue very cool looking.

[codyreed29]

I finished building and painting my stand yesterday. It looks pretty good for a DIY job. I have built a few of these and this one is my best by far.

I used a cheap peice of panel board and cut a 22 x 23 inch door with black hinges and knob the top has a fan on one side with a grate on it. I need to get another fan to wire in and fill in the hole on the other side.

I have the canopy on my QT setup as the light are mounted in it.

I lost a fish in Qt my royal grama Not sure what happened but I noticed some black spots in my Removable Deep sand bed So i yank the mangrove outta it and decided to just use cheatomorph calepra and mangrove in the sump on my system. (along with a skimmer of course.

So i gotta get some more fish. OR not?
2 ocellarius
1 yelllow tail damsel
1 yellow watchman

I want more action maybe
1 clown goby
2 neon gobies

or

1 small dwarf angel
1 midas blenny

sorry for crappy phone pictures

[wetWolger]

Part of why a BB works is because you can get so much slow to keep detritus from just laying on the bottom. How are you going to get flow on the area without sand to keep it clean?

I worry it might not buy you that much on the maintainability.

[codyreed29]

With a powerhead in the bottom pointing upward a koralia 2 600 magnet under the tank in the center poiting up. Th8s should get all the processes detritus. After pods bacteria comsume whats left.

The ole turkey blaster method each week prior to glass clean powerhead clean and then sand bed vacuum. There will be some spots to blast into and get everything out. I just have to put some encrusting corals so that i can get in there wi5hout breaking or kncking things off the rocks.

[codyreed29]

[IMG]http://i60.*******.com/2cym8fs.jpg[/IMG] t[IMG]http://[IMG]http://i60.*******.com/2cym8fs.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]Trying to start loadin picture this is a sea anenome in my QT tank.[IMG]http://[IMG]http://i60.*******.com/2cym8fs.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]

The horrible brown slime algea is finally going away I don know what it is but its pretty awfull looking.
Looks like crap. But it is a Qt and im not tripping on it.

[codyreed29]

This is a shot of my 10g ( havent even been cleaning it latley just water changes) with two new fish. I put them in this tank as my clownfish have gotten aggresive and have killed the last fish I Put in with them. I also ditched my removable sandbed as It is taking space i can use to put a phsoban or gfo reactor which my phosphates are low .15 and nitrate 0 alk 9 calcium 450[IMG][IMG]http://i61.*******.com/jpd5sm.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]
I put a media rack to run a filter pad under one of two overflow pipes on 20l qt as detrtus was bulding up down there.[IMG][IMG]http://i60.*******.com/j794yc.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]

[joshsliftedzj]

is your sump sectioned off or all open?

[codyreed29]

So I have some pictures of what my display is going to look like. The blue pieces of tape will be where the maxijet 400 500gph powerheads will be placed (am using them in coral qt right now). And the koralia in the center is to keep detritus from settling on the bottom of the tank. The rocks will be postioned around the powerhead.

These pics are with 250 watt stock odessea bulb and actinics. The light that was for my 10g nano tank will be used for a goring cheato calepra and monagrove maybe a small frag rack.

Next task is to buy a skimmer and some quality light bulbs pheonix 14k for sure unsure on what t5 bulbs. I also need to get another fan for the canopy and some foam insulation as the fan vibrates and makes a bit of noise.

I have most of the fish and inverts that im going to keep. A trip to the lfs in the next couple days should finalize fish inverts - a clam in the future.

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[codyreed29]

My skimmer came in today I ordered the 150watt phoenix on accident so I have to send it back for a 250watt version. Also going to probably order a jebao wp10 with the new bulb. I want a little more flow thru the tank.

Here are some pics of tank. I'm going to a lfs this weekend to get some more liverock. I also have rock in my 10g to top it off after cycle.[IMG][IMG]http://i58.*******.com/qpey9t.jpg[/IMG][/IMG][IMG]http://i62.*******.com/fofw44.jpg[/IMG][IMG][IMG]http://i59.*******.com/s5e13a.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]

[codyreed29]

I got 12 lbs of live rock from the lfs today as well as a vacuum to clean sand bed and more salt mix. I went by radioshack and picked up a fan it came with leds which work as perfect moonlights PIC provided. I also got some glass to cover the top of tank as there is no glass in between the 250 de phoenix and water don't want uv to damage corals. Finished that and also made myself a ATO resivoir. It fits beside the sump underneath and carries 1.7 gallons. I also made a float switch holder with acrylic just put it over a candle and bent it. Anyhow I have ran out of powerheads and have to do a WC in my QT so the pump I using to mix water.

I also cut some tubing for the ato pump petco 140 gph pump.

I have another 6 pieces of rock im guessing 8-12 lbs that will go in after cycle as it is established with corals and sponges that ive been growing for 6- 8 months.

My galaxy s4 is in night mode the lights are not as bright as picture shows.

The last pieces of rock are going into the center of tank for a low wide rockscape. I think this looks good for a scape on a 29 gallon kinda difficult to aquascape.

I think this is it for the build thread all I have to do is put the ato res in slap the float switch switch out MH bulbs and its rock and roll. I will be keeping a 10g coral QT with 4t5ho running for a few months. Just waiting for the end of cycle and to slowly add in fish. My skimmer hasnt broke in yet.

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[codyreed29]

the guys at the lfs are pretty cool and almost talked me into buying a used reactor gfo for 40 bucks I told them if its here next time I come and I have some algea ill buy it Pretty cool lfs always a nice trip to SAn Antonio spurs tx.

[maddmaxx]

i would highly recommend splitting that sump into chamber. to have the return pump plus macro algae plus the skimmer all in one compartment is not a good idea and very rushed. you have the right concept of what to have in the sump. but not all together like that. it will lead to problems down the road...

also i hope your just pumping water into the QT tank and not using any equipment that touches the QT water then goin back into your main tanks water right?

[codyreed29]

Right i have bought double bydrometer each have own siphon etc.

I didnt put baffles because i was going to keep a RDSB.

[codyreed29]

Oops vacuum i mean

[codyreed29]

This should be the last update. As I have said before.

I installed my diy ato resvior and have it finished.

I also did some wire management and am using 3 powercenter three timers to control my tanks electrical.

The strip on the right is for the mh unit and fans as well as skimmer.

The back left on is for t5hos heater and led fuge light.

The third strip is designed for water changes has my return pump powerheads for a one switch flip water change. I also made a pvc tube to hook over the front of the aquarium and 1/2 tubing to pump the new freshwater in from a bucket. this way I will never have to pour outta a bucket. As well as a empty 1.5 gallon salt container with hose to fill up my ato.

Now I won't dread doing water changes and this will make thing a little more enjoyable on maintence. I'm pretty good about staying on top of things.

Here are some pics I think this concludes the build part of my tank so I will do a new thread on the tank only.

Day 4 my skimmer broke in and It's producing skimate at a fast pace.
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[codyreed29]

[IMG][IMG]http://i59.*******.com/2lm6mxl.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]Here is some pics of my Qt tank 20l with 20l sump.[IMG]http://i58.*******.com/24g4xo7.jpg[/IMG]
Everything is doing goo feeding three times a day flakes and frozen everything doing really good. Kinda ghetto light I removed this from a odessea fixture but it works good I have 2 fluval 18k 1 odessea actinic and a wavepoint red wave. If all my fish are ich free and look great and I don't have to hospitalize anything I will tear down this tank and use a smaller tank 10g for corals and any other small purchases.

I made some racks for the little tank to hold frags and running a large hob filter and heater only on this tank. Time to start buying some corals for the tank.

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current livestock

Cuc
2 nassarios
5 florida snails
2 pencil urchins
20 hermit crabs small
1 emerald crab

inverts
1 sabae anemone bleched from stress and low light leds.
1 unknown nem red and blue wild caught
1 small bleached nem
1 1/2 small bulble tip a little less than a half inch across red colored
pistol shrimp
Inverts wanted
coral banded or cleaner shrimp
rbta eventually
small clam

Fish

2 black oce's
1 yellow tail damsel
1 sixline wrasse
3 blue green reef chromis
1 yellow watchman goby

I have a bunch of soft corals, zoas and a leather. Will buy all my hardier soft corals first and lastly the sps corals as this tank is young and I want to do testing and get down my water changes and get my parameters stable.

[codyreed29]

Just ordered a wp10.

I was going to buy a rw4 but as I'm going to use the wp10at its lowest setting I just bought it instead.

I will be posting tank pcs and growth shot updates under Cody Reeds Reef In nano section. As I have ordered all equipment and added a few hermits to my tank.

[codyreed29]

Phoenix bulb came in yesterday day after thanksgiving and suposibly the jebao will be here on the dec4th.

Anyhow I did a water change and installed the new bulb it looks great nice blue color im pleased. Just been buying some frags and cuc. I bought a medium yellow polyps which will be all my polyp corals I have a bunch of zoa and pallys.

Also a candy cane coral.

Going to order some corals and berghia nudibranch to eat all the aiptissa nems.

I will eventually put three peppermints in after about 6 months of berghias eliminating the aiptsaia. I didn't buy a ammonia or nitite test kit so I just went to the lfs down the road. .25 ammonia 0 nitrite and I test for nitrate 0 this was two days ago no nitrate yet.

Just patiently waiting. once I get some nitrate readings i'm going to do a 10 gallon wc to fill my ten gallon for a coral fish invert qt. I lost a watchman goby somehow physically lost it. So im gonna get a hi red fin goby to pair with poistol pete my favorite invert.

Also going to qt new corals for a few days to monitor for any pest red bugs flatworms aipistia etc.

I've got really good flow already from 2 maxijets and return but excited as this will be my first wavemaker. I was going to get a mp10 vortech for Christmas but I think my parents bought me a new 50 inch led tv. So the jebao will do. really unneeded but I felt like a newb and not having a mavemaker just isn't cool since I bought the best I could on everything else. Can't live with everythings good where the wave pump.

as I said before I was done with equipment grr. I went an got a new bucket from Homedepot with lid and marked 4 gallons as well as a pvc and 90degree barb to thread fitting to fill the tank up with new saltwater.

If I didn't add before I put all my pumps return maxijets and (jebao in future) for a one flip water change feed mode. so I can just open the bottom flip the powercenter cord and everything goes off o feed and change water oh yeah the ato goes off as well. Then I just remove 4 gallon and put a bucket and pump on a small lader and plug the pump in. I have 3 different lengths and water comes out upward to not move sand around.

I also got my heater to match the water temp at 79 degrees. Now I just have to measure the amount of salt for simple fast water changes.

I tried to setup an inside ro unit but have had some trouble. Gonna get cold to be making ro water hope it doesn't freze the unit lol.[IMG][IMG]http://i60.*******.com/2hx8yl2.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]