Finally Gonna go Saltwater - 29 Gallon build

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inverts and corals are more susceptable to ammonia and nitrites than most fish, and corals more so yet. dont have them in your tank when you cycle... yes some do it and their fish live, but they certainly dont thrive and when you compare lifespan of fish that survived a cycle with those that didnt there is a difference.

I happen to have a small crab and some weird chitin looking thing in my tank during my cycle but only because they hitched a ride on my rock.
 
Any advice on the setup of the Fluval 405? What do you put in the media baskets. @Carey, if you are following, I know you used a canister on one of your tanks. How did you load it from top to bottom? Or anyone else that has run this filter?
 
I used mostly biomedia in my fluval canister on my 55g.

I used carbon too so I have that in there and I use filter pads for it as well. theres so many little compartments you can put whatever you want int here. The biomedia I have is up towards the top so that the most clean water hits it. You want the pads and such to get the bigger particles first before the bio stuff doesn't gather up gunk.

For the life of me I can't remember the order though, I'm confused since I have a fluval fx5 as well and it runs completely opposite from the other fluval. lol I think the fluval 405 goes from the bottom to the top as far as water flow.

Hope that helped a little bit. :)

If you go the fluval route make sure you maintain it properly, if not nitrates will build up like crazy in there. I actually ran mine and maintained 0 nitrates so it can be done. :)
 
@carey, do you think I will have to use a powerhead also with the 405, or should the flow from the filter be enough? Maybe put the 405 output on one side and a small koralia on the opposite side?
 
I used 2 750 koralias in my 29 when I first started. A bit overkill but I made it work.

I would have 2 powerheads Plus the filter output if it were me. The filter doesnt flwo very much actually plus you want total directional control over your flow. I use 2 750's in my 55g plus the fluval output. :)

I would go with a 550 koralia on either side. If I had that option when I bought mine I woulda done that. They didn't have 550's out yet when I got my power heads so I had either 425 or 750 to choose from.
 
A few questions

So, I still need to get:

Salt - How much would be good to start with that will last a little while?
Test Kit - Just the basic Saltwater master kit?
Ammonia - No surfactants!
RO/DI unit - Got the link from carey for that!
Live rock - $4/lb at my lfs for fiji - How many pounds should I get? Am going to use lace rock for the base rock. How much live rock to cycle and seed the base rock?

Already ordered:

T5HO 4 bulb light w/ LED night lights - kinda cheap Odessea.
Refractometer - careys link on ebay.

Thanks again for all the help and advise!

Sorry for all the questions, I want to do this right and make my wife want the bigger tank to be saltwater after she sees this one flourish!
 
I would splurge on a bucket of salt. I bought my first bucket of I/O salt for my fisrt tank and now I buy it by the 200g boxload. It's so much cheaper that way, I pay 42.99 for the box. I got the bucket so I can drop the bags from the boxes right into the airtight I/O bucket. I just jeep refilling the original bucket when its empty. :)

For cycling you need the saltwater master kit. After that when you go to corals then we'll chat then ;-)

Ace hardware is your best bet for the ammnonia. About $3 a bottle. Janitorial strength.

As far as rock I'd say a total of 45-50 lbs. You can get 35 lbs of base rock and then the rest in live rock.

The lights you picked are exactly the ones I started my first tank with, and I had absolutely no problem with them. They managed to bleach out a coral on me, so they have some power to them. They just barely fit on the rim of my tank was my only complaint.

If you need the links for anything just ask. :)

I think you got the basics covered. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that you missed. Maybe a heater ? lol that's all I got
 
Here ya go, this is the best deal ever. I get a $5 coupon for every box of salt I buy, in fact I'll be ordering another box next week and using my last $5 off coupon.

Saltwater Aquarium Salt: Aquarium Systems Instant Ocean & Reef Crystals Synthetic Sea Salt

Whats even cooler is if you add like $8 more of stuff which is really easy to do you get free shipping and it comes UPS. Whatever other items you order will come in days later, its so weird. lol

Looks like they are on back order for the buckets until today . I'd consider it cause it's the lowest I've found adn the best delivery ever.
 
I know they ship the salt that way, unless its fedex cause I get my salt in like 2-3 days and other stuff sometimes a week alter. i dont remember how the regular goods arrive via who....
 
So, the bucket is 160G and then you buy the 200G boxes after that to put in the bucket? Cheaper than I thought too! Do I get reef crystals or instant ocean? Will have a few corals later, better to get the reef crystals?
 
Went to my local store here that specializes in SW. We were looking at the fish and telling the owner about my future 29G build. He was very nice and will price match any deal that I find. I will do some shopping there! He also was testing the salinity in some of the tanks in the store and asked if I wanted to look at the refractometer. I had never used one before and was afraid that it would be difficult/confusing. I was so wrong. Put the drop of water on it, close the cover and read the SG. Totally cool!!
 
lots of people use them and some say it helped, the one made by fritz industries, i dont know if they have a brand they work with or if its called fritz actually seems legit, with secondary lab tests and everything to be good on the shelf for 6 months...
 
spoonman said:
So, the bucket is 160G and then you buy the 200G boxes after that to put in the bucket? Cheaper than I thought too! Do I get reef crystals or instant ocean? Will have a few corals later, better to get the reef crystals?
Click to expand...

I buy by the case. In the case are four individually sealed bags. When I open a bag, I split it into two zip lock freezer bags. That way, the only salt that is getting exposed to the moisture in the air is the freezer bag I am currently using. May be overkill but it seems to me that putting it in a bucket would expose all of it to moisture each time I open the bucket. I am sure as much water as Carey makes, it would be an issue for her but since I am only doing 5 gal PWC per week it takes me a while to use it up.
 
I keep just one bag of the salt in my salt bucket at a time.When it runs low then I add a second bag. :) I like the bag idea, keeps everything nice and moisture free.
 
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