New Salty: My 29

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

Best thing for u is put as much live rock in as you can afford/want (I know it costs loads lol) then wait for a spike as there will be 1 I reckons then wait for the ammonia and nitrites to drop off and then and your CUC it may take a little longer this way but at least you'll know you won't be fishing dead snails and crabs out! Lucky for me I haven't had to do this yet but I've heard it's quite yucky

Edit: oh dear this silly iPhone didn't load the 3 posts before this 1 until I posted lol

 

[56jman]

Will a 5000k crisp blue led bulb from Home depot be enough to grow soft corals such as mushrooms, zoas, polyps, and leather coral???
http/www.lowes.com/pd_321124-75774-LPAR20DM/5K/LED_4294801193_4294937087_?productId=3408204&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_LED%2BLight%2BBulbs_4294801193_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=
would 2 possibly work
look at the color scale closely on the package a blue crisp color

 

[Donya]

Hey are brittle stars ok for a reef while they are small and will they eat algae???

Reef safety depends on species. Brittle and serpent stars are omnivores, but the commonly sold larger species do not graze in an aquarium (they are primarily scavengers), so they will not clean up nuisance algae for you if that's what you are asking. Also, if you want to ensure the animals' safety, wait until your snail and Crustacean CUC animals have demonstrated that the tank is stable for a couple of months before considering any Echinoderms.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

Will a 5000k crisp blue led bulb from Home depot be enough to grow soft corals such as mushrooms, zoas, polyps, and leather coral???
http/www.lowes.com/pd_321124-75774-LPAR20DM/5K/LED_4294801193_4294937087_?productId=3408204&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_LED%2BLight%2BBulbs_4294801193_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=
would 2 possibly work
look at the color scale closely on the package a blue crisp color

I wouldn't of thought something like that would be waterproof ? ... Plus I got a 50k aqua ray strip and that's blue some couldn't imagine 5000k lol

 

[56jman]

but would it work??? besides not MABYE being water proof

 

[GGtank]

Before you do anything jared, you need to get more LR than what you have. 1.5lbs per gallon is a good guide. You have so little rock right now that I worry if you start adding more rock you will trigger an ammonia spike (there is always some die off with new LR and you do not have enough to beneficial bacteria to handle that as you have very little LR).

My advice: Get more LR, at least 1.5 lbs per gallon, and make sure they are on the glass (not the sand) and then leave your tank alone. Make sure the heater is working and you have powerheads on and get some T5 lights (which will be enough for some soft corals) and then leave the tank alone. Maybe check it out at night with a flashlight but let it cycle fully. Once it has cycled fully, then think about CUC and fish (and if you get a nice t5 unit, maybe even corals) but for now

1) you need more Live Rock
2) after you add it, you should let your tank cycle properly
3) Get a relatively inexpensive T5 unit for your tank. There is no need for expensive LED units. You need to practice taking care of softies first.

Then let us know the water stat results and I'm sure your tank will be ready for a CUC in no time.

I know its really really exciting and you just want to see a whole reef in your tank, but you have to take your time, otherwise you will end up hurting a lot of marine wildlife.


PS if you want to post your pics in the posts, just click on the ''IMG code'' that displays under them in photobucket and copy and paste it to your post

You will have a great tank, but baby steps k.

 

[56jman]

Making DIY LR with portland cement, pea gravel, and sand+rock salt. 1st sample more pourus than any other rock but crumbly still after 24hrs. How much longer to cure in cold vinegar water???

BTW is ReefCleaners a good place to get a CUC(because it is less than $50 for a ton of snails)

-Jared

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

Making live rock? Sounds erm toxic lol

 

[56jman]

Nope look it up DIY baby !!!

-Jared

 

[SaltNoob]

I thought it was something like 1-3 months to cure that stuff....

-Tyler

 

[GGtank]

No problem mate, you can defo make your own live rock but that takes A LOT of time to stabilise. If I remember correctly, Nemo had created home made live rock in the journal ''I almost Grew two feet''. Check it out and see what she did, I think she did crazy amts of water changes and left it to cure for a good long while. To cure LR you will need a lot of salt water, good water flow from power heads, and at least 6 weeks. Are you prepared to wait that long?? You also need to accurately test the water parameters regularly to ensure that the rock is cured and not leaking any sort of chemical that can warp your pH etc.

 

[lljdma06]

Making DIY LR with portland cement, pea gravel, and sand+rock salt. 1st sample more pourus than any other rock but crumbly still after 24hrs. How much longer to cure in cold vinegar water???

BTW is ReefCleaners a good place to get a CUC(because it is less than $50 for a ton of snails)

-Jared

Reefcleaners is a great site for CUC, I get my stuff from them, but remember, you can't add your CUC until your tank is cycled. Please, take your time on this and don't rush...

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I just feel like you are a bit unfocused with this endeavor. Take stock of what you're doing and take things very slowly and methodically.

L

 

[Donya]

BTW is ReefCleaners a good place to get a CUC(because it is less than $50 for a ton of snails)

I have heard good things about this site from other people, but there are two problems with using online bulk buy deals in general for a small tank: in a 29gal you don't need tons of snails, particularly not to start with, and you would need to pay the higher shipping rate ($28) to minimize the chance of a bunch of dead snails arriving at your door. The faster shipping is better because minimizing the time a box of animals spends with a courier also minimizes the chance of the box being left to get way too hot/cold in a truck or being squashed flat by improper handling. If you bought 10 mixed snails (which is frankly even more than I would start with in a lot of small tanks), then that shipping alone would tack on an extra $2.80 onto the effective price per animal. Obviously that amount will go down with a larger purchase, but stocking too many animals to save a buck also acts against the best interests of the animals, often resulting in unnecessary deaths due to starvation/attrition. It's a lot better for the animals' well-being to stock only a few at a time every 1-2 weeks as the tank develops. The easiest way to do that is to buy locally.

 

[ainsy]

Yes you can make live rock - but it is made with either aragonite sand and/or crushed oyster shells. Pea gravel will be useless as LR. If done correctly it will take AT LEAST 3 months to cure if not longer even with use of vinegar in the water.

The LED that you are looking at is useless - 5K is nowhere near to crisp blue and will look more orange/yellow. If you want crisp blue you need to be looking for a colour temperature at 12K - 14K or even higher.

 

[56jman]

Cure means to wait for bacteria to colonize it...not wait for it to stop leaching