New 29 Gallon Build

Drew1600 · Feb 1, 2021

Greetings all

I wanted to start a build thread for my new 29 gallon build, which contains the remains of a recently torn down Fluval Evo 13.5 gallon.

The tank itself is a standard 29 gallon, with a 10 gallon sump plumbed in. Eshopps PF-300 HOB overflow, with a smartpond pump as the return, running about 400 GPH. The sump is a simple 3 baffle, 4 chamber DIY build. Chamber 1 (set at 8") contains the drain with a filter sleeve attached, a DIY algae scrubber running off the stock Fluval Evo light, and Aquatic Life 115 Mini Protein Skimmer. Chamber 2 (set at 8") contains a 100w Aqueon heater, and a 9W Green Killing Machine. Chamber 3 (set at 6") contains carbon, zeolite, purigen, and chemipure. Chamber 4 (set at 6") contains the return pump and Aqua Auto ATO sensor.

Hygger Mini Wavemaker running on Random Variable for extra flow. NEWA 100 GPH powerhead in lower corner, with a carbon dioxide scrubber attached.

Viparspectra 165W LED

Stock:
Pair of True Percs
Blue Damsel
Green Clown Goby
Coral Banded Shrimp
CUC (Sand Sifting Sea Star, Pincushion Urchin, Turbos & Astreas)
Coral, mostly Soft and LPS
Derasa Clam

Pictures and more information to come. Any upgrade advice is highly welcomed. Thank you for your time, and enjoy!

Uncle99 · Feb 1, 2021

So, here’s my thinking.
The Occs for sure, if any chance for a pair and/or designer pair, that makes them a show piece.
The blue damsel I would trade for a royal Gramma.
Clown goby fine.
Coral Banded Shrimp........your call.....I’m wary of things with big claws. I would trade for the skunk shrimp.
CUC, Sand Star, waste of money won’t last a more than a few months until he cleans the entire sand bed of food. Urchin, sure, but keep in mind that they can bulldoze any frag and remove coralline algae. Get Nasarius snails for sand movement, some Astrea for rock cleaning, just a few when the tanks new.
Clam.......absolutely......Dersa, Squammy,Crocea,Maxima just make sure not to add till your water chemistry is right on point and stable. Same with Corals IMM.

BTW...I have the Visparspectra 165watt, actually 3, and I am so happy with them 4 years later. Grow anything. Running 100% blue/violet and 10% white/red/green at 14” from the water.

Drew1600 · Feb 1, 2021

Not too keen on "trading in" my living, breathing pets...

I have never had an issue with my Coral Banded shrimp.

As far as the sea star goes, I have had it for many months, plump and healthy. I occasionaly seed the sand with frozen food for it.

Youre right, the urchin can be a pain sometimes but I feel the good totally outweighs the bad!

Thank you for your time and suggestions, I greatly appreciate it.

Uncle99 · Feb 1, 2021

Drew1600 said:
Not too keen on "trading in" my living, breathing pets...

I have never had an issue with my Coral Banded shrimp.

As far as the sea star goes, I have had it for many months, plump and healthy. I occasionaly seed the sand with frozen food for it.

Youre right, the urchin can be a pain sometimes but I feel the good totally outweighs the bad!

Thank you for your time and suggestions, I greatly appreciate it.

Sorry, didn’t know they were already family members.

Dkmoo · Feb 1, 2021

my personal philosophy for reefing is to rely more on natural filtration and letting tank reach natural stability instead of overly reliant on external products. I have the exactly same set up as you - check out my build thread if you want - 29G +10G sump/fuge. My thoughts on your sump:

1) chamber 1 - i used to have socks too but i got too lazy ti change it out every couple of days. once i changed it out, i actually saw more stable water and better coral growth. the sock was filtering out too much dissolved food particles for my coral and other filter feeders to absorb

2) Chamber 2 - Skimmer is OK. Algae scrubber gets the job done in terms of NO3/Po4 control, but I would have preferred a macroalgae fuge instead in chamber 3.

3) Chamber 3 - UV sterilizer - this is where i would be against. I feel like having a good and healthy bacteria population is beneficial for the tank. UV sterilizer is good if you really have a bad disease outbreak but a constantly sterilized environment isn't going to be naturally stable and heallthy. I guess the analogy here is - healthy human who takes probiotics, and a human who always take antibiotics and live in a bubble, can both avoid being sick. question is which one do you prefer? My personal preference would be to make chamber 2 smaller so it just holds the skimmer, and make chamber 3 bigger to turn into a fuge that can also house beneficial bacteria, filter feeders, pods, live rocks, etc.. and turn it into a miniature biologically diverse biofilter. You can still keep the carbon bags in the baffle layers between chamber 3 and 4 to filter out the toxins

4) Chamber 4 - only thing here i want to mention is make sure you factor in head pressures to see if the 400gph is enough for the flow and turnover you want in the DT. My mistake initially was buying one too low and had too many bends in my plumbing that when it reached my DT it was like 100gph.

Drew1600 · Feb 1, 2021

I love the idea of a fuge, chaeto is just hard to find where I live, and I figured with the limited space in my sump not much nutrient export would take place anyway.

As for the UV, I use it strictly as a preventative. Better safe than sorry imo.

I will consider removing the fikter sleeve though, thank you so much!

Drew1600 · Feb 3, 2021

With a new 20lb dry rescape, the tank is near completion.

JosephM · Feb 3, 2021

If you ever want some cheato I can ship some for free you just gotta cover shipping. I’m all out right now but in a week or two I can spare a good chunk

Drew1600 · Feb 3, 2021

Wow, thank you so much Joseph, I really appreciate your offer! So kind!

JosephM · Feb 3, 2021

Drew1600 said:
Wow, thank you so much Joseph, I really appreciate your offer! So kind!

Just shoot me a PM if you want some so I can have your user saved when I have some ready to be sent out and can easily contact you!

Drew1600 · Feb 9, 2021

New sump complete. 20g long. 5 gal center refugium lit with stock Fluval Evo light, a 40 par blue light, and a red led strip. Skimmer/UV in chamber 1, running floss on overflow output. Bubble trap, filled with nitrate reduction pads, purigen, chemipure, and carbon. Chamber 3 contains the return pump, a 550 gph smartpond pump, and a 100gph NEWA powerhead that will carry water to my new sulfur reactor (setting up in a few days).

Drew1600 · Feb 9, 2021

3 gal rimless ato reservoir, housed beneath my fw planted tank.

Drew1600 · Feb 9, 2021

As she sits, 2/9/2021.

Also started running Algone for nitrate control.

Setting up a DI system for our well water this week.

Drew1600 · Feb 11, 2021

Drew1600 · Feb 11, 2021

Upgraded from an Aquatic Life Mini skimmer to a true skimmer - The Bubble Magus Curve 5. 2 days old so still overflowing like crazy, but I am so truly excited/blessed to have a proper skimmer now.

Nitrates have slowly started dropping (around 10-15 ppm from 20-25 ppm) after starting Algone, nitrate reduction pads by Acurel, and purchasing natural seawater and distilled freshwater, versus using our house well water, which still has yet to be RO/DI'd.

Installed a sulfur denitator for additional support as well, pellets coming tomorrow so I will keep you all posted. Running about 2-3
drips per second for flow rate.

Installed a second Hygger Mini Wave Maker in the bottom left corner of the DT for some additional flow. Moved the powerhead that was there to the refugium, to ensure my chaeto (coming next week, huge shout out JosephM) is always tumbling.

Added accent lights (2 Aqueon True Blue LEDs) to my DIY mesh lid, which are currently running solo as I also added a Blue Fairy Wrasse today, cut the main DT Viparspectra for him/her.

Drew1600 · Feb 11, 2021

Upgraded from an Aquatic Life Mini skimmer to a true skimmer - The Bubble Magus Curve 5. 2 days old so still overflowing like crazy, but I am so truly excited/blessed to have a proper skimmer now.

Nitrates have slowly started dropping (around 10-15 ppm from 20-25 ppm) after starting Algone, nitrate reduction pads by Acurel, and purchasing natural seawater and distilled freshwater, versus using our house well water, which still has yet to be RO/DI'd.

Installed a sulfur denitator for additional support as well, pellets coming tomorrow so I will keep you all posted. Running about 2-3
drips per second for flow rate.

Installed a second Hygger Mini Wave Maker in the bottom left corner of the DT for some additional flow. Moved the powerhead that was there to the refugium, to ensure my chaeto (coming next week, huge shout out JosephM) is always tumbling.

Added accent lights (2 Aqueon True Blue LEDs) to my DIY mesh lid, which are currently running solo as I also added a Blue Fairy Wrasse today, cut the main DT Viparspectra for him/her.