Hey everybody!

Hello,
I've finally decided to post after spending many late nights reading these forums absorbing as much information about this amazing hobby as I could.
I got into saltwater/reefkeeping about 8 months ago and have pretty much gone off the deep end with upgrading my little 29g Biocube which I bought to see if this was something I could get into. I live in an apartment and plan to buy a house in the near future so I have obviously not been able to get a bigger tank as I am limited by space and already don't look forward to moving the equipment and livestock in my small system.
As you can see from my signature I enjoy the technology of this hobby almost as much as looking at the life in my tank. I realise though that with complexity comes increased risk and more things that can fail and I am fearing the first power outage (which is why I have also invested in a 1800w battery backup system which should give me about 6-8 hours of uninterrupted power to my essential components).
I am thinking about starting a thread detailing the evolution of my tank from startup as I have seen a few of those threads on these forums if anyone is interested. I want to do this to get opinions and feedback from more experienced people on how I can make my system better for all the little guys in my tank.

 

Welcome to 3reef!! Do you have any pics? Sounds like you have a lot going on in that biocube.

 

Welcome, that sure is alot of equipment for a 29g tank. After reading your sign., I had to go back and amke sure I read the 29g cube detail. I think I speak for everyone here when I say, " got any pics"?

[SCROLL]Luna[/SCROLL]

 

to 3reef.

 

Welcome to 3reef.

 

Hey thanks for the welcome to this great site. I've pasted below from another thread I started under '29g Biocube Matamorphosis' on this site. I've got some more pics over there. Thanks for looking!

Ok, here are some pictures of my tank as it looks today after much tinkering over the last 8 months. Not quite a stock oceanic 29g biocube anymore and loads more coral. I've got lots of pictures of the in-between trial and error since the start which I'd like to add and get opinions/criticism/suggestions on what everyone thinks.



12/12/08 Remora skimmer (bulky but not to offensive on the side), with second Tunze Nano DOC skimmer in second filter chamber which cant really be seen here. I mounted the Reefkeeper 2 controller flush with the cabinet and the vortech pump controller below it (Its programmed to run in reefcrest mode during the day and has a 10hour gentle lull cycle overnight after lights out). I was a little anxious taking power tools to the cabinet with all the livestock just inches above needless to say. Thank God for no catastrophic events that day... Inside the cabinet I have the hardware including a 3-4 gal freshwater reservior hooked to the Tunze osmolator ato which senses the water level in the 3rd filter (return) chamber. You can just see the pH probe in the backround which is tied into my my kalk drip dosing pump through the controller. I also maintain Ca (460) and Alk (9-10 dKH) with a Korallin Ca reactor with a second stage I added in a NextReef MR-1 reactor (awesome piece of equipment). My Ca reactor is fed by a 5lb CO2 tank and solenoid controlled by an american marine pinpoint pH controller. Also in the cabinet is another MR-1 reactor running chemi-pure and Rowaphos. All of this fits snugly and I even have room to keep my fish food down there. I wonder if I could also fit 100 circus clowns down there with all of that stuff. I really didn't think it would fit but it did. Gosh I wish I had a sump but I just don't know where I would put it! On the floor just barely out of sight is my JBJ arctica 1/10hp chiller which kicks in about 10 times a day under the 250w CurrentUSA metal halide I put in after I chucked the stock hood and lighting that came with the aquarium. All of this for 29 gallons of water.

 

You have a very nice system there. K+. Let's get some close ups of your livestock!!!!

 

Well it is safe to say when you upgrade you can keep a lot of that equipment! What a cool tank! Thanks for joining 3reef!

 

Welcome to 3reef!
Nice set up! Alot of money invested in a SMALL TANK INITIALLY, THOUGH AS YOU SAID, WHEN YOU UPGRADE ALOT OF THIS CAN BE EMPLOYED IN THE NEW TANK!
Great job and good luck!

 

Thanks coral reefer. Thats my plan. I actually wanted to buy equipment designed for a 200-300gal tank (Korallin CA reactor, media reactors, vortech pump, controller, etc) so I could use them on that dream tank that will hopefully come sooner than later when I get into a place I own. Obviously I've throttled back to practically the minimum of the capability of these components for this tank but they have all actually worked out amazingly well since I've had them dialed in. Needless to say a small twist of the dial on my Vortech pump will nearly blow everything in my tank out the top. I've become very good at "gentle" adjustments to everything going into the tank. All good lessons and I think its a good practice to learn this hobby on a smaller tank like this one contrary to some advice that bigger is better. Understandably, larger tanks are more forgiving but they also breed complacency when everything just seems so stable. What a pity to see 90-150 gallons of a fully stocked beginner tank crash due to mistakes that could have been learned on a smaller system. Thanks again for looking!

Glad to be here! Thanks. Yea ditto to the reply I gave to coral reefer. You seem to have replies on everyones thread!

Thanks pharmrjohn. I actually have posted a lot of photos on a separate thread if you're interested under '29g Biocube Metamorphosis' under 'show off your tank' forum. Please check it out and let me know what you think. More pics to follow of course!

Thanks again everyone for this great exchange of dialogue. I appreciate the replies!

Brendan