Is my tank ready for corals?

[UnderseaOddities]

Maybe another thing to look into is vpd if your house is to hot anything above room temp(72 degrees) in the winter our house usually are about 76 degrees this causes something called vpd vapor pressure deficit when temperature rises and there is a presence of porous material(i.e your house,wood carpets,drywall insulation) and moisture is drawn from the atmosphere now scientifically speaking liquids with a higher nutrient density and specific gravity dissolve and apperate at a faster rate than that of a normal polar liquid with a lighter relative gravity and nutrient density) causing salt creep(how can this be corrected or diverted) we can put more clothes on or take them off and set the thermostat to 68 I know this is cool but your aquarium will thank you in the long run secondly we can make a lid from greenhouse paneling instead of paying 48$ for a 36 inch lid we can pay 12 to 20 for thicker and better acrylic that will also diffuse the light and keep in moisture lowering vapor pressure deficit third you can get a diffuser vaporizer and humidifier and run all of these as well as the microclimate of your room will have more moisture to draw from the air not depleting the h20 content of your aquarium,also adequate airflow ceiling fan and oscillating fan pointed on the tank for optimum airflow are all thing we should practice to help provide even more stability on a environmental level

 

[UnderseaOddities]

I know this and noticed this because when I lived at home I was topping off more in the winter because my mom was constantly cold so my houseplants and aquarium would suffer,10 years later I live by myself and keep the thermostat at 68(keeps ambient temperature 70 to 72 degrees)and everything is dialed in perfect

 

[Acros]

The tank seems to be arriving at a nice balance now. I have been keeping an eye on the tank and the temp is still staying at 78 (the heater is still working). I didn’t see any fluctuation in temp even after midnight.

I am excited to test ph and alk again tomorrow and will keep an eye on temp.

 

[Sudaien]

My tank is three months and a week into the WWC/BRS bare bottom cycle. I seeded the tank with Fritz TurboStart(dry rock + live rock mix) and added fish after waiting for a week. Ammonia and Nitrate have always stayed at 0 since the first week.

Parameters: (from today's test)
Salinity: 1.026 (Milwaukee, has been exceptionally stable)
Alk: 9.3 (Hanna, reduced from 10.2 using sodium bisulfate)
pH: 8.0 (API, stable)
Cal: 490 (Salifert, between 450-490 in previous tests)
Mag: 1500 (Salifert, between 1440-1500 in previous tests)
Nitrate: ~0 (API, stable)
Phosphate: ~0 (API, stable)
Salt: IO Reef Crystals
Tank: 29g standard + 10g sump.

I have hair algae growth in my refugium, so my Nitrate and Phosphates can't be 0.

I would appreciate everyone's input on my parameters as I am thinking of getting a test frag and some snails today.

Are my Calcium and Magnesium too high? They have always been within the above-specified range. I do not dose anything to the tank, and I only have two almost dead test frags I added about a month back.

I had unexplained snail death within 24 hours of being introduced to the tank. They seemed to be fine initially and even grazed on my algae before dying.

Is my tank ready for corals and inverts?

Here is a picture of my tank. I regret not getting a 40 breeder. There is no space in the 29 for interesting rock work.

There is space for interesting rock work although you may have to start over. Get yourself some Marco rock and look online on YouTube you'll see videos on how to make these I've done it with mine and they're amazing

 

[Jilly92]

My tank is three months and a week into the WWC/BRS bare bottom cycle. I seeded the tank with Fritz TurboStart(dry rock + live rock mix) and added fish after waiting for a week. Ammonia and Nitrate have always stayed at 0 since the first week.

Parameters: (from today's test)
Salinity: 1.026 (Milwaukee, has been exceptionally stable)
Alk: 9.3 (Hanna, reduced from 10.2 using sodium bisulfate)
pH: 8.0 (API, stable)
Cal: 490 (Salifert, between 450-490 in previous tests)
Mag: 1500 (Salifert, between 1440-1500 in previous tests)
Nitrate: ~0 (API, stable)
Phosphate: ~0 (API, stable)
Salt: IO Reef Crystals
Tank: 29g standard + 10g sump.

I have hair algae growth in my refugium, so my Nitrate and Phosphates can't be 0.

I would appreciate everyone's input on my parameters as I am thinking of getting a test frag and some snails today.

Are my Calcium and Magnesium too high? They have always been within the above-specified range. I do not dose anything to the tank, and I only have two almost dead test frags I added about a month back.

I had unexplained snail death within 24 hours of being introduced to the tank. They seemed to be fine initially and even grazed on my algae before dying.

Is my tank ready for corals and inverts?

Here is a picture of my tank. I regret not getting a 40 breeder. There is no space in the 29 for interesting rock work.

I would break those rocks up a bit. I had 30 lbs dry rock and like 7 lbs liverock to start. I found that once I broke them up, the algae started to really take off spreading. Also, I would add another bottle of beneficial bacteria since you have no substrate. I believe it takes bare bottom tanks longer to cycle. Your magnesium is high but I've read thats not a big deal, mine was tested at 1200 last week. What salt are you using? I wouldn't add anything new until you see improvement.

 

[Acros]

I know this and noticed this because when I lived at home I was topping off more in the winter because my mom was constantly cold so my houseplants and aquarium would suffer,10 years later I live by myself and keep the thermostat at 68(keeps ambient temperature 70 to 72 degrees)and everything is dialed in perfect

We keep the apartment at 69f during the winter. Temp barely creeps above 71f when we cook.

I noticed significantly lower evaporation once it got colder, however the humidity in the apartment was became high. We were waking up with fogged up windows and decided to buy a dehumidifier. Running it at night has solved the issue.

The CO2 level is definitely off the scale in my apartment (it is a small apartment with 2 adults and 2 pets). We have a small fresh water tank and ph often dips below 7 in that one.

 

[Acros]

There is space for interesting rock work although you may have to start over. Get yourself some Marco rock and look online on YouTube you'll see videos on how to make these I've done it with mine and they're amazing

I totally agree with you. Getting a narrow 29g was a mistake. There is very little depth do anything interesting. I had a better rockscape in my 10g.

The plan is to move everything to a 40 breeder this coming summer. That should give me more depth to play with. I am hoping that being a bare bottom tank, I should be able to move things without much issues.

 

[Acros]

I would break those rocks up a bit. I had 30 lbs dry rock and like 7 lbs liverock to start. I found that once I broke them up, the algae started to really take off spreading. Also, I would add another bottle of beneficial bacteria since you have no substrate. I believe it takes bare bottom tanks longer to cycle. Your magnesium is high but I've read thats not a big deal, mine was tested at 1200 last week. What salt are you using? I wouldn't add anything new until you see improvement.

I should do something about the rock work. It is just a pile of rocks at the moment. I have plans to move everything to a 40 breeder in the summer.

I will look into adding a bottle of MB7 (it is cheap anyway).

I use IO Reef Crystals. They mix at a high alk (closer to 11 on this batch).

 

[Jilly92]

I should do something about the rock work. It is just a pile of rocks at the moment. I have plans to move everything to a 40 breeder in the summer.

I will look into adding a bottle of MB7 (it is cheap anyway).

I use IO Reef Crystals. They mix at a high alk (closer to 11 on this batch).

Goodluck, and don't get down on yourself. Keep with the water tests and make adjustments and you will be fine. This forum has saved me multiple times and has some smarties on here who love to share their wisdom so don't be shy to post any questions. You will start seeing some pretty weird **** soon haha happy reefing!

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Worse case you could always use the 29 as a frag or qt when you upgrade so it's not like it was a waste of money I think a 29g or 30 is a good start for anyone to dip their toes then if they can keep up on that invest in 50 or 75 then upgrade to a 106 120 or 200 so on and so forth it's one of those things though if your having trouble on a small scale I wouldn't be looking to upgrade until I know I could keep fish and Coral with basic equip before I start dropping 1000s of dollars on tank equip and livestock your looking at 200$ a month upkeep between dosing salt and water plus filter changes every 6 months on rodi)kiss(keep it simple stupid Lee's gear less problems more sucssess more gear more room for error anything can go wrong) I'd look for a 50 or 75 if you got the space on fb market place or locally on cl or insta if your elooking to upgrade;and use the 29 for a frag tank but only if and when you know you can keep things stable on a small level

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Not to be rude but you might just be buying yourself problems when you could've paid your rent for the mont or bought a used car instead I'm not trying to kill your dream allsI'm saying is wait until you know you can keep it stable b4 you upgrade

 

[Acros]

Not to be rude but you might just be buying yourself problems when you could've paid your rent for the mont or bought a used car instead I'm not trying to kill your dream allsI'm saying is wait until you know you can keep it stable b4 you upgrade

It is a space issue. We also do not want to get too big of a tank before we buy a home. Moving that won’t be fun.

40 breeder seemed like a good compromise in the meantime.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

I should do something about the rock work. It is just a pile of rocks at the moment. I have plans to move everything to a 40 breeder in the summer.

I will look into adding a bottle of MB7 (it is cheap anyway).

I use IO Reef Crystals. They mix at a high alk (closer to 11 on this batch).

Theres still alot that can be done with a 29g this Is just one of many 29s I have(I have 5 scattered around my house) this is a ghetto setup 29$aqueon 29g 30$aqueon 75quietflow 12$liverock $18 caribsealivesand 35$light this is what I use to cut my frags and qt ne pieces(different then where they are kept) I keep it hypo saline at 1.026 and it's my ugliest most barren tank and it still looks nice after 10 years

 

[Acros]

Theres still alot that can be done with a 29g this Is just one of many 29s I have(I have 5 scattered around my house) this is a ghetto setup 29$aqueon 29g 30$aqueon 75quietflow 12$liverock $18 caribsealivesand 35$light this is what I use to cut my frags and qt ne pieces(different then where they are kept) I keep it hypo saline at 1.026 and it's my ugliest most barren tank and it still looks nice after 10 years

Looks like I have a weekend project lined up.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Hardcoral bedroom setup 14g and 30g plumbed to 20gal sterilize tote

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Notice how I have a little dg fan agitating the surface

 

[Jilly92]

Theres still alot that can be done with a 29g this Is just one of many 29s I have(I have 5 scattered around my house) this is a ghetto setup 29$aqueon 29g 30$aqueon 75quietflow 12$liverock $18 caribsealivesand 35$light this is what I use to cut my frags and qt ne pieces(different then where they are kept) I keep it hypo saline at 1.026 and it's my ugliest most barren tank and it still looks nice after 10 years

I have the same 30g frag setup. Fluval canister, Blackbox light, one half working powerhead, fluval heater and a big butt castle haha

 

[UnderseaOddities]

My camera sucks but you get the idea you can do just as much with the 29 as a 40 ime your stocking options just equate to 2 or three less fish

 

[Jilly92]

Hardcoral bedroom setup 14g and 30g plumbed to 20gal sterilize tote

I love that so much!

 

[UnderseaOddities]

I have the same 30g frag setup. Fluval canister, Blackbox light, one half working powerhead, fluval heater and a big butt castle haha

It's not a frag tank it's a frag cutting tank and coral qt for new pieces before they're put in dt or frag tank or grow out tank