29 Gallon Reef Tank Project

[ReeferZack]

Hello, I am new to the reef hobby and have began on my first reef tank. I realize it is harder to start smaller but this is the largest I could do right now so I am sticking it out! I am on day 11 of the precured fiji live rock cycling. Nitrates and Nirtrites are way up.
Tank Features
29 gallon
reef octopus bh 1000 HOB Protein Skimmer
Solarmax HO 2 T5 lighting system. (Upgrading to the 4 bulb solarmax with built in timer)
Koralia 550GPH powerhead
About 35 pounds of Live sand
43 pounds of Fiji Liverock Precured (Pretty much uncured by the time you get it)
150 W heater
Going to get around to painting the back black.
My plans for the tank are going to be softies mostly, inverts, and maybe a clown fish with a goby. What do you guys think as far as where I am at with the cycling and the plans for the tank. Will the 4 bulb t5 HO do well for softies in a 29 gallon. When do you think I could see a drop in Nitrites? I had very high nitrites and even high nitrates rather quickly. Like day 4 really. I really want to get inverts to have something to look at! But I will not do it until I'm at 0 ammonia and Nitrites. (The pet rock stage is really no fun)
Thanks and I look forward to your feedback.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Great start ! Pretty rock - Sounds like your cycle is progressing right along just fine & your lights should support softies & some lps corals fine

 

[dmatt88]

Let the tank keep cooking! Looks great man. As for the lights u should b great for softies

Matt leaves out punctuation.

 

[Eric]

Off to a great start, slow and steady will make you a happy reefer

 

[ReeferZack]

Thanks a lot for the comments. I think this thread was best suited for the reef chronicles thread. If a mod could move it there that would be great:yehoo: I guess I wasn't too sure if a 29 was considered a nano or not. Anyways I am pretty happy with this batch of fiji. I got if off of live aquaria. They had a special, 99$ for 45lbs of premium fiji live rock. So I got it I'm still deciding on if I should get more flow in that tank. I'm not sure of the flow rate of the Reef Octopus BH 1000. I guess its 100 GPH? Anyways the powerhead is a 550 gph so I am getting at least a 20x an hour complete turnover rate I believe(correct me if I am wrong) If anything I will get a very small powerhead to stick on the other side for a better overall flow throughout the tank. Thanks again

 

[ReeferZack]

Some more photos because I notice the people here really love pictures instead of just talking about things that are happening and not being able to see them. I do apologize in advance for a couple reasons. 1. I'm not a photographer 2. I only have an IPhone for a camera and 3. My tank is cycling still so the water has a bit of a tan/yellowish tinge to it that makes pictures look odd color wise.
And I have a couple of questions about the below pictures. Do you guys like the aqua scape? It is about 45lbs of rock so I won't be adding more. If anyone has a suggestion on aqua scape then by all means please let me know, I am up for changing them around a few more times until I am satisfied. But I can say I don't mind the way they are now. Also on a couple close up photos you can't see the color because of the camera but what are the round shape pieces that stick out on certain spots of rock like little tiny oval shaped balls if you will. Some of it is green and turning a bit white. Im guessing it is some sort of coralline algae growth being affected by having lights on sparingly during the cycle? Another thing I noticed when testing the water is that when I use my reef master test kit the nitrates are at a 10 and phosphates .25. When I test nitrates with the tetra strips it is showing dark pink like around 80 or more ppm. Which test should I be trusting more since there is a huge variation in results here. Thanks guys/gals! BTW the pictures are mixed with antics only and daylight/antics

The little balls

 

[ReeferZack]

I have been looking at a lot of different lights besides the solarmax. How do you guys feel about this light on the 29. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049PMT6K/?tag=reefsanc-20

 

[ReeferZack]

Could a moderator please move this thread to reef chronicles. I think it would be better suited there and possibly have more feedback.

 

[Firefighter]

what are you doing for filtration HOB filter or sump?

 

[ReeferZack]

I think I wrote it in first post but if not I'm running a Reef Octopus BH1000 HOB skimmer. Its a bad boy and it is overkill for the tank which is how I like my filters.

 

[jjmoneyman]

30" fixtures are hard to come by because there isn't a 30" bulb. They use a 24" bulb and stagger them. Aquaticlife also makes a 30" unit. Not sure which is better though.