New to saltwater just bought a JBJ 29 gallon with cf lighting

[1000rrstunna]

Hey guys this is my first reef tank attempt just bought a 29gal jbj from a local shop in tinley park.. They had the best price and were super awesome guys! It's currently up and running with 15 lbs of live sand 25-30 lbs of seeded "parasite free real reef rock that a few friends had cycling in tubs at his place since October. I also added a 260 gph hydor powerhead I'm gonna need a lot of help and can't wait to meet local guys to buy and swap also befriend. Thanks for letting me be a part of your community

Glenn

 

[DD]

Welcome Glenn, glad to have you on the site!

 

[1000rrstunna]

Few pics

 

[Lil BamBam]

Welcome!!!

 

[1000rrstunna]

Any input is greatly appreciated... I'm super new lol temps been fluctuating between 78.5-79.3 is that a lot of fluctuation i have a coralife thermometer digital in the sump without the heater since this tank has 2 pump sumps.. I'm switching the pumps ever 90 seconds with the wave maker that was included..

 

[DAS212]

Congrats and welcome. Good luck! This is a great hobby, and don't worry someday that fish store will betray you, that's how you know you've made it!

 

[DAS212]

Any input is greatly appreciated... I'm super new lol temps been fluctuating between 78.5-79.3 is that a lot of fluctuation i have a coralife thermometer digital in the sump without the heater since this tank has 2 pump sumps.. I'm switching the pumps ever 90 seconds with the wave maker that was included..

My tank fluctuates between 78-79 degrees during the day and at night, shouldn't be a problem.

 

[madjoe]

Welcome to the club. research and take u time . And remember every body has there own way of reefing so always get a few oppinions before making decisions.

 

[frostyjay1]

Welcome aboard. There are quite a few of us Nano guys on the forum here so anything you need ask away. What do you plan to keep in the tank, and what kind of lighting are you using?

 

[jm23]

Glenn, glad to have another south-suburb guy on the forums. If you ever want to swing by and ask some questions or pick up some corals let me know. I am not sure which store you are referring to in Tinley Park, but I have some advice on both of them as I have been in them both numerous times. Send me a PM if you have any questions or want to swing by.

 

[William Lutman]

Welcome to the reef Glenn

 

[trackfast]

Hello and welcome. BTW with the Coralife thermometer you might want to double check it with another thermometer. Mine reads +4 degrees of the actual temp.

 

[GBeck87]

Welcome my friend! Ya you may wanna double up the therms, becuase with those people have had 2 thermometer reading different temps. You gotta nice start going, keep checking the sweet deals and free stuff threads and youll be able to get some nice frags to start you off.

Sent from my LG-VM696 using Tapatalk 2

 

[CoralN00b]

Welcome Glenn. I like your scape, just make sure you are getting good flow in the tank, in between that rock and behind it. I have a 28 Gal nano, and that was my first mistake of many. Ended up with some Red Cyano. So I am just trying to pass my knowledge on to others.

Looking forward to meeting you. You joined a great community and will love it here.

 

[Herbie]

The lies of an LFS! Your tank is 28g if it's a JBJ. See how they prey on us?! . Welcome to the site and I loved my NC28. I agree on flow. You might check out the InTank media basket and then run one return constantly with the other on the wave maker. Or you can upgrade the pumps but be careful because it's relatively easy to drain the return chamber. Which light did you get. That's going to have a lot to do with what you'll be most successful with keeping.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[1000rrstunna]

I'm running the compact fluorescent light with 4 moonlight LEDs... It's like 3.5 watts a gallon I think... Any suggestions on improving flow or setting up the rock better current looks to flow around everything pretty good with the powerhead in its current location... Also what do I do with filter media? It's running stock right now I was going to break up some rock and jame it in the slots above the carbon bag and ditch the foam for poly fill or a carbon pad??

 

[Herbie]

after all the different things I tried I think the best set-up was/would be probably blue/white filter pad cut to size on top, purigen in the middle and then either chemipure elite or a carbon/GFO mix. You will want to change the top pad as soon as it gets browned up and the chemicals according to bioload and liverock. I tried really hard to run a chaeto fuge in the middle chamber and it just seemed to collect more detritus than it burned up in nutrient uptake. You want to be able to pull that media rack and clean it regularly too. There are a million different ways you can set it up though, so you'll most likely have to experiment with what works best for you and what you ultimately plan to keep.

 

[CoralN00b]

I am agreeing with Herbie on the media. I tried Cheato too but it did not work well for me. Mainly because on these tanks, the chambers in back are small and hard to keep a light, etc...

For the flow, if you feel it is working, then leave it as is until it becomes a problem, or even if it ever does. We can only tell so much from the pictures. If you are getting a good flow then don't change it.

I wouldn't do the rocks on the media. I have never personally tried it but I have talked to many that have and they end up ditching that. To each his own though and everything is different for everyone.

 

[1000rrstunna]

Pretty excited... Have a bunch of copods crawling all over my rock this am and a good feather duster growing on one! Can't see any pests or bad hitch hikers yet either! I'm prolly gonna go to the store today for a refractometer and test kit...

 

[Rich130981]

When your ready for coral swing by my place. I'll give you some blue and green rics for free. I also have some Zoas you can have for free. That way if they die you wont get discouraged. Welcome to reefijg. If your married finda good counselor.