29g nano journal!

[sweetpickles7]

Well i finally broke down and decided to go nano! Im going to go to the lfs later and pick up a few things to get the tank started. Im going to go get my substrate and of course oceanic instant salt. Is there anything else that i should get while in there? The tank is one of my old 29s that has just had water sitting in it for awhile. My question is, will it hurt anything if i have a little freshwater green algae on the sides, im sure i got all of it but there might be a few trace remains.Also i couldnt get all the playsand that i had in it out, will that hurt anything since im going to add aragonite, theres just a little on the bottom not even enough to cover it.I cant remember the rule is it a pound of sand for every gallon?I already have the power filters so thats good and a heater but ill probably get a new one too. Okay did i miss anything? Any questions or comments?

 

[alter40]

Any powerheads?

 

[sweetpickles7]

Power filters is what i accidentally called them yes i have 2.Also is there a difference in RO and distilled water? and if there is can i use the distilled water?

 

[sweetpickles7]

Im leaving in about 30min to go to my lfs, should i get some LR?

 

[sweetpickles7]

Okya tonight i got 13pounds of LR, a 30 pound bag of aragonite, instant ocean salt, a hydrometer[ lfs was out of refractometers so now im on a waiting list], and a test kit. The water is still a little murky so ill post pics tomorrow after school!

 

[alter40]

Awesome! Look forward to the pics. Your probably going to want or need more LR in the future with the tank. From what I understand you should have about 1 pound of LR per gallon.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Yea i am going to add more LR in the future. I just didnt like the rest of the options that my lfs gave me, that and i wasnt sure if i had enough money. Thanks for the comments!

 

[alter40]

No problem I love following along these journals and watching how other people setup their tanks and how they just come along with age. I have been planning on turning my old 10 gallon tank into a nano so I'm curious to see how yours does and maybe get some ideas from it. Once I start doing mine I will probably do a journal as well for other to follow. Good luck with your tank and I can't wait to see it and see how your LR looks in there.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Well after about 20hrs the aragonite is starting to settle. I have 3 pieces in there that come to an a grand total of 13 pounds. Which cost me around $80. I also now have 3 powerheads in there each with a gph of 170, is that to much? I was thinking of maybe taking one out. I also need to top it off. I ran out of RO water and im out of aqua safe because i did water changes in my freshwater tanks. In the pic of just the LR you cant see it now but theres a nice hole that goes through it. I also have another piece that has a hole that curves down but comes out the other side. I dont know why the pics came out purple? I used my phone so that was probably the reason. Ill take more pics later once it settles down a little with my digital camera. So how do you think it looks?

 

[sweetpickles7]

Okay i got a quick few questions. First is does anyone now what type of LR i have [meaning where its from]. Also can you mix different types of LR? Cause i got a deal of 10 pounds of it for 40 bucks, is that good?

 

[Lotus]

You should be fine with that flow.

Yes, you can mix different types of LR. That looks like it might be Fiji, but it's hard to tell just by looking at the rock. Fiji is the most common.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Thanks Lotus! Do i need to get a protein skimmer for this tank? Ive had some people say that i should and some people say i dont need one? Should i just go ahead and get one anyways?

 

[Lotus]

A skimmer is always a good thing, as long as you get a good one. Read up, or post a question about good ones for your tank.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Okay thanks again Lotus! Well my water has cleaned up very nicely and i can even see my heater now so hopefully tomorrow i will be able to post some nicer pics of the 29!

 

[sweetpickles7]

Well this morning when i woke up the tank was fairly clear but after topping it off and moving my LR, my water is now a little foggy again. I was just wondering, do i need something like cheato or just cheato? Tell me what you think of the tank, im planning on getting at least 25lbs of LR this coming week.

 

[alter40]

Looks good now that it is topped off and I love the LR with the big hole through it! Get some more LR in there and let it cycle, it will look great.

 

[Lotus]

The chaeto generally goes in the refugium, if you have one. If you don't have a refugium, don't worry too much about it.

For the first week or two (or possibly longer) your sand will get kicked up more easily whenever you move rock. It's not a big deal. As the tank matures, the bacteria will cause the sand to be more "sticky" and it won't fly around the tank as much.

 

[sweetpickles7]

Yea im getting 25lbs of fuji live rock , cured, sometime this week that should put me close to my limit i would think. Thank you very much for the comments! Yea it looks kinda bad with just 3 pieces, lol. I dont have a refugium yet but i was thinking about possibly getting a HOB refugium?

 

[alter40]

I doubt you need a refugium yet anyways. You can do that down the road. There are quite a few posts about DIY refugiums on here that would give you a good start if thats the route you were thinking about going.
Make sure to post some more pictures once you get the 25 pounds of LR in there. I know I love pictures haha

 

[Lotus]

If you get your refugium going sometime near the end of your cycle, it should be good.