29 Gallon Reef Build. Ground up :)

[Reef Recked]

Hello R2R im excited to start my first reef build ever with all of you. I know that a 29 gallon most likely wont be the easiest tank to maintain water parameters but due to me most likely moving in the next year or so and not being able to wait any longer im going to start small with a 29 gallon tank and 20 gallon sump. My plan is to get into the hobby and familiarize myself with the day to day aspects of reefing on this 29 gallon build and then hopefully sizing up to a 120 or 150 gallon after I move . Ive already ordered some rock and of course taken advantage of the dollar per gallon tank sale for the 29 gallon as well as a quarantine tank , I already had the 20 gallon, and have a good amount of equipment on the way such as a not so cheap 7 stage BRS RODI but i have some hard well water and would rather be safe than sorry!

Im going to try and post in here regularly and of course supply all of you with as many pictures as possible. Hopefully starting this weekend!

 

[James M]

Welcome to reef2reef!!
I Will be following your build thread and Pictures are always appreciated...lol

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Sounds like a plan. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Arcticfirefighter]

Welcome, and looking forward to seeing some pics!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hello R2R im excited to start my first reef build ever with all of you. I know that a 29 gallon most likely wont be the easiest tank to maintain water parameters but due to me most likely moving in the next year or so and not being able to wait any longer im going to start small with a 29 gallon tank and 20 gallon sump. My plan is to get into the hobby and familiarize myself with the day to day aspects of reefing on this 29 gallon build and then hopefully sizing up to a 120 or 150 gallon after I move . Ive already ordered some rock and of course taken advantage of the dollar per gallon tank sale for the 29 gallon as well as a quarantine tank , I already had the 20 gallon, and have a good amount of equipment on the way such as a not so cheap 7 stage BRS RODI but i have some hard well water and would rather be safe than sorry!

Im going to try and post in here regularly and of course supply all of you with as many pictures as possible. Hopefully starting this weekend!

Key is patience of Job, then you'll be fine

 

[norfolkgarden]

Welcome to R2R!

Moving a 29 gallon tank a few years from now shouldn't be too bad.

Look forward to seeing your build.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Sounds like a fun little build. Now post some photos!

 

[Reef Recked]

Hello R2R some gear started showing up! Its mostly a lot of the tools etc im going to need that I didn’t already have but if theres one thing I know its that you can never have enough tools. I wasn’t able to get nearly as much done as I wanted to as I was busy helping my girlfriend get a party put together for her mothers birthday. But life happens theres always next week! I was able to pick up some more supplies from Home Depot and start getting the stand frame laid out, as well as started leak testing all the tanks I will be using (including the QT). Im hoping to get the stand done by the end of the week. And tracking says that I should be getting all my rock and 7 stage RODI etc by the end of day today!

Plan is to break in the RODI tonight, then make some saltwater and start curing and cycling the rock in this home depot tub while I finish the stand and setup the plumbing on the tank

A few questions im hoping the many experienced reefers here could help me with. And im sure there will be ALOT more.

• Will this tub be okay to use to cure and cycle the rock? I know I’ve heard about some plastics leeching chemicals, is this going to be anything to worry about? I’ve cleaned out the tub and tanks with a vinegar solution.
• Im planning on using the SICCE 2.0 pump as my return. Im going to have a 20 gallon sump but most likely only will have 10 or so gallons in it running to my 29 gallon display tank. (about 3-4 feet of head) Will this be enough or too much? I plan on of course plumbing in a ball valve to control flow but figure having more is better than less.
• Also I’m planning on making my tank stand about 3.5 inches deeper and running my plumbing straight through the tank into the sump. I think this would clean it up somewhat but I don’t believe I’ve seen any other stands built this way which makes me nervous and tells me there is probably something im not thinking of ! I will of course be using as many unions as possible as well.
• Also im about to order a 800 GPH modular marine overflow im planning on 3/4” drains and going to run a bean animal system. I believe this should drain more than enough but heard that the 3/4” could be a little noisier than a 1” anybody with experience on this or do you think I don’t need to worry to much about it?
• also do you guys think this Xcel tool box liner would work well to top off my stand as some added protection for the tank?

Thank you all for your help! Hopefully more interesting pictures will be coming soon! Threw in a picture of the pup helping me unpack supplies until then!

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

+1 for the garnett & gold!

 

[Reef Recked]

+1 for the garnett & gold!

haha yes!

 

[Diamond1]

Looks like a good start.

 

[Reef Recked]

Hey guys started flushing and running the new RODI for a few hours last night. I was going to create a type of portable mount for it but didn’t have short enough screws and decided I wanted to use thicker plywood. So will post that by this weekend while I start soaking and cycling the rock.
TDS readings were 9 - 0 - 0 although pretty sure i remember reading it isnt quite as accurate until broken in.

Question my water pressure read about 38 PSI at first then quickly went to 52 or so after a few minutes, then 2 hours later it was back down to 38 PSI. Is this something that is still going to fluctuate or now that its mostly broken in is it going to stay around here?
which would mean I need a booster pump? because I know these RODI’s run best at 50 PSI

 

[Reef Recked]

Finally got around to unpacking all the Reefsaver started soaking in RODI last night going to check levels after i flush the water and let it soak for another 24 hours in fresh RODI. Im still having the issue where my BRS stage 7 RODI runs at about 52 PSI for an hour then goes down to about 38.

and this one piece i took the close picture on is it reefsaver too? looks like it might be another type of rock and possibly live, which worries me cause i would imagine that would mean i now have to actually cure this rock longer?

 

[Reef Recked]

Finally making some progress over the past week, most of the stand frame is done i just have to finish skinning and staining it. Over the past week or so of curing my rock to be safe, its ready for the cycle so will start cycling it hopefully by the end of the week!

This is what im considering doing for my aquascape, any comments or suggestions (im going to use rubble to make it look more fluid when im actually putting it in)

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Keep the pictures coming.

 

[Reef Recked]

Keep the pictures coming.

Haha im trying, next couple weeks it should start getting more interesting!

 

[Reef Recked]

hey guys moved to the nano section check out what ive done so far!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/29-gallon-reef-recked-build.523405/#post-5463680