My 29g Reef - former AP24.
 

Hi I am new to the site and I thought I would share my journey of my first reef tank. It is 20 days old now, but things are happening great.
I received the tank and set everything up on November 7th.

24 gallon aquapod
comes with standard:
- 200gph power head
- 65 watt lighting with atcinics and lunar lights. (upgrading to 130watt coralife power compact with 12,000k, atcinic and moon lights)
- bioballs being removed and replaced with Chemi-pure
- Crushed coral subtrate (came with it from Jimskoi)
- 17.5lb Cured premium Fiji Live Rock transported home in bucket with water.
- 3 small mushroom heads from Jim.
- Koralia 1 400gph powerhead.. in the mail on it's way.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...het1/reef1.jpg

24hrs later:
So far my reading have been extraordinarily good. At first I thought I was doing them wrong so I did the reference check and they came back right and so I redid my tests 3 times and they came back the same.

PH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.225
Alkalinity: 4 meq/L
Ammonia: free = 0.05, total = 0.1 (after the 30min wait)
Nitate: 1.5
Nitrite: 0


http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...het1/reef5.jpg


Nov. 10th: The white pods and diatoms appear.
Nov.11th: Feather dusters appear.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...et1/reef17.jpg

Nov. 12th Parameters:
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 1.225
Alkalinity: 4.5 meq/L
Ammonia: free = 0, total = 0.05 (after the 30min wait)
Nitate: 0.1
Nitrite: 0

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...et1/reef20.jpg

Nov 19th: Added CUC, Hammer Coral and Xenia frag on shell.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...et1/reef22.jpg

Nov. 20th Parameters:
PH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.223
Alkalinity: 4.5 meq/L
Ammonia: free = 0, total = 0.07 (after the 30min wait)
Nitate: 0.15
Nitrite: 0

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...et1/reef28.jpg


Nov. 26th Parameters:
PH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.223
Alkalinity: 4 meq/L
Ammonia: free = 0, total = 0.05 (after the 30min wait)
Nitate: 0.1
Nitrite: 0

Hammer (I purchased as a frag for $20) is very happy now and loves flowing all over during the day.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...et1/reef29.jpg


Xenia Coral obviously growing and has now split into 3 stalks.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...et1/reef30.jpg


Here is an idea that I have for the future of the tank... many months down the road. I don't plan on placing fish in the tank until the third month in.

http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/o...1/tankplan.jpg


- Acropora at the top, only a couple of those.
- Back left GSP, to grow out and train to grow on the back of the tank.
- Back Left top on hammer skeleton a small torch frag.
- Front left, sponge on it own, and on the rock some Zoa's.
- Middle a crocea clam as long as it gets good light. Will double check on that one once I get the upgraded lighting done.
- Front right, Bubble Tipped Anemone (Hoping it likes the spot)
- Back right, Toadstool.
- Front middle right on rocks, sun coral, above that back further candy canes, to the left of that Duncans, and a Monti Cap just behind the sun corals to block the light for them.

Let me know what you think.

Looks good. I look forward to seeing it grow!

Very good start! Be aware SPS, Clams, and Anemones won't survive under PC lighting. Though, I did notice you say "Will double check on that one once I get the upgraded lighting done. ", You may want to wait up to a year with a nano before trying any of the above.

Yeah I would not put any SPS (except easy montipora... definitely no acropora), clam or anemone in there. I also get nervous about anemones in small tanks because if they don't like where they are, they'll get up, move and sting everything in their way. Also, you need to very carefully consider whether or not you are willing to feed that sun coral almost every day; I know too many cases where people have bought them and just got fed up with the high maintenance they require.

Your ammonia has to be zero. Also, salinity of 1.225?! I assume you meant 1.025? Are you measuring that with a refractometer?

I agree with the above two, and also be aware that the SPS will be brown without super intense lighting.

SPS Etc.
 

I have been keeping an unknown Acro and a RBT anemone quite happy for a year now in my 14g biocube with std pc lighting. Although for Christmas they are getting a 90 gallon upgrade.:mrgreen:

I am aware of the issues with the Acro and the lighting, this is why I will be placing them near the top of the tank, I am also looking at deep water species that do not require the same lighting perametes as most othe Acros.

The lighting upgrade I have will be the 130 watt power compact flourescent which comes with 12,000k bulbs and dual atcinic.

Yes, sorry I meant 1.0225 and I have been going back and forth with using a hydrometer and a refractometer to ensure it is the same.

The Corals I am getting are coming from a fellow hobbiest and he has been growing these under Pc Lighting and others under Halide mix t5 lighting. The clams and BTA I am getting from him will be coming from a PC lighting system and they have beautiful colours on them. Also, BTA require less lighting than other anemone. They can deal with 5.5+ watts per gallon, but you do also have to ensure they are fed properly. Takes a little more work but I kind of like that.

The tank I have was used for 6 months previously by my seller as a display tank until he upgraded his garage to house more tanks, and when I purchased stuff from him, I ensure it was all cured and seeded the system with some of his cured crushed coral and water. But I am taking things slow and he suggeted I should be able to add the BTA and 2 clownfish in February, but also suggested that I keep a eye on parameters and doing it on different weeks so I don't get a huge spike.

Update: Discovered the following in my tank last night after lights out when I was looking through it with a flashlight. 1 Chiton, and 2 Itsy bitsy little starfish about the size of an eraser on the end of a pencil.

I used to have a similar light and trust me, if you plan on keeping SPS (even in a high location) you are going to run into issues

ignore the whole watts per a gallon thing. It really comes down to the PAR that the light is producing. Say you have a 130 watt power compact and a 130 watt T5HO fixture with individual reflectors. the T5HO fixture will have a higher output due to the design of the fixture and the bulbs give off more PAR.

Plus compared to LPS or soft corals it is hard to keep your parameters contants in a tank that size. I am not trying to blow you off away from SPS but like mentioned before a monti or birdsnest is a better choice. acro's need proper chem balance and proper lighting, they are beautiful but you need to limit yourself to what you can keep with your equipment.

That is the reason why I am going with the deep water Acros and the Monti and only going for 3 max and getting small frags. The rest of the items in the tank will be LPS with a minimum of softies.

This is the one thing I have noticed when it comes to information on lighting on the Internet and forums. There are a lot of opinions back an forth on what is better and what isn't. Overall I am finding that Metal Halides are better on System over 30g, and Power Compacts better on the Nano's because of heat issues and because the height is normally under 20 inches. I guess people just have to experiment until they find what works for them and what they want to achieve the most.

I will have to keep the journal updated on that.

I actually am keeping SPS in a 10gal right now and I can tell you that PC does not cut it and this is from experience. Originally i had a small birdsnest and a tiny millie frag under PC for about a week. polyp extension was very little and until i upgraded to my NEP (T5HO) they were not as happy as they could have been. I also tried acro under this lighting and compared to the same frags at the LFS i was getting horriable extension from it. Even when it comes to T5's its all about the bulb selection as well. I don't even think my NEP is enough for SPS anymore. you can keep them but all my frags browned on me and i have decided not to add anything else till my new tank is up and running.

If you want to try it, give it a go but it is not reccomended