My new 29 gallon reef

Hello all-

I wanted to use this to document the building of my new reef tank from day 1. I know that many of you on here have monster tanks so please don't be too bored by my scale of the hobby ;D.

Again if this tank is a monster failure then I wanted to have this to maybe help me find out why it failed.

Day 1
I picked up the tank from Petco (they are currently running a $1 per gallon sale on tanks under 55). Getting it home I then painted the back of the tank black using Krylon fusion flat black spray paint.

I traded my Scolymia for a coral life MH 150 fixture with a brand new 20K Ushio bulb. (it wasn't pretty just green in color, but a friend wanted it and I needed a new light.)

I cut the footpack of the light down by 1.75 inches to accomodate the HOB skimmer that will sit next to it, and I reinforced the back of the light with a small piece of wood to make the clamp extra snug. In the picture I highlighted where the skimmer will sit.

If you also notice in the pics the ballast is sitting on the floor. It will be mounted nicely after i mod the stand.

The Skimmer I purchased is the SRO LX1000s... god forbid it comes in the mail soon. pictures when it comes. ( I will possibly paint it black to compensate for the awful red acrylic it comes in.)

along with this for added water movement I have a Koralia 3 powerhead, and I was thinking of adding the Koralia Nano from my current tank. I don't know if it will do anything though because it is so small.

I have a built 29 gallon stand from PetSmart, but it is fiber board and cannot accommodate a sump / fuge, so I will be modding it today (hopefully with success) to eliminate the center brace to slide a tank into the bottom. The pictures show its current state.

Tank will also be drilled this weekend for the bulkheads.... I really do not want to screw this one up (probably will).

wish me luck, and hopefully more to come soon.

Justin

 

looks like a nice start

k+ for having pics

 

sounds good will be following your tank build

 

OK First Update....

I have 1 band aid on my thumb


Seriously though,

I reinforced my stand through and through however i now see that my floor is not level.... Does anyone know what to do to help level the floor out?


Thanks

 

You can use shims to level your stand. Be sure to wedge them under the stand all the way accross to keep it from bowing.

 

Nice start! No plans for a small sump? I had a 10g sump when I had that tank. Is that center brace load bearing?

 

Yea, I broke down and decided to make room for a sump / fuge. That is what I spent all day doing to my stand. I removed the load bearing center brace and reinforced the top, sides, and back to accommodate for the changes.

The only thing left is to paint the silver screw heads black to match the cabinet, and find a place to mount my ballast.

Pictures show the after of the cabinet's interior with a now open 26" x 11 1/2" x 26'' footprint (LxWxH)

The center brace that hangs vertically from the top is just in case i need something to hang a fuge light from in the future.

I am looking for a good sump now.... I like the Eshopps RS 75 reef sump, but I don't know if my skimmer will fit inside

 

That a guy! You can buy the 10g tank and plastic screen dividers cheap! Now you just need an overflow box, a filter sock, return pump and your rolling! What kind of skimmer you going to be using?

 

Great start keep up the good work, sounds as though you have it well planned out.

 

I bought a Super Reef Octopus LX1000s Hang on skimmer, I want to attach this to my sump.... NO IDEA HOW

Worst case scenario it will just hang on to my tank, but the ideal is to get everything off the back.

I'm waiting on the drilling for my tank until I am sure what size bulk heads i need.