Let's see your 29 gallon reefs please.

[fishylongstocking]

Please post pics of your 29 gallon reefs. TIA!

[fishylongstocking]

up

[a novice]

I would also like to see them...

[Salt Creep]

I've got lots of pics and info about my tank online at http://kensreef.tripod.com/reef2.htm

I'll post a fresh pic as soon as I get the glass clean this weekend.

Ken

[despair]

you wanna give me your ricordea..

[Salt Creep]

Okay, cleaned the glass and pruned the corals a bit (had to move some that were getting too big).


Left side


Right side


How to hide a powerhead


Some SPS corals growing under normal output lighting (I have to keep them a few inches from the surface though!). The Pocillopora shown here grew from a polyp that detached from the mother colony and established itself on the overflow.


This clam lives in the middle of a Turbinaria colony. I can't move it anymore because it's attached itself pretty well.

[Jimbo327]

Ken,

You have the most beautiful tank for a smaller tank. I've been checking out your website ever since I found it a couple months ago. Nice update on the website BTW. I have a 40 gallon, just started about 4 months ago, and your tank makes me feel better everytime I see it. The reason is that it proves that you don't need a 100+ gallon tank to have an amazing tank. Sure make us little tank reefers proud. I do hate not being able to keep tangs and other fishes in my tank because they need more space...that's the only thing I regret getting a smaller tank. Anyways, good job...keep up the good work.

Jimmy & Ratna

[nanoguy]

Saltcreep....great idea for hiding the powerhead! Did you do that on purpose or did it just happen? I'm going to have to give that one a try myself !

[Project Reef]

Can someone please tell my why Salt Creep is not tank of the month. Honestly you should have been tank of the month instead of that dude who had the 20 gallon. Don't mean to be mean, just being real.

Great looking tank, truely inspirational for those who want to keep it small. Keep up the great work.

[Salt Creep]

Thanks, folks!

Jimmy, I wish a had a bigger tank too. Then I remember how much trouble I had when I had a 60 gallon (granted, I had less lighting at the time) then I slap myself and remind myself to be happy. It's hard when I see something at the fish store that I want to have but have no room for, especially after trading in some pruned frags. Agggh, gotta keep that website's diary up to date!

Nanoguy, I used a rubber band to attach some loose polyps to the nozzle. I wasn't expecting that much coverage though! Now it's impossble to clean the powerhead. At least it's also stuck to the glass better.

Project Reef, you are mean! And I was just drooling over that tank's lighting!

[fishylongstocking]

Hey Salt! Best 29 I've laid eyes on yet!! Good work. I just have one request could you take a pic of the whole tank itself that is kinda large say 1024x768 so I can make it my desktop picture lol!

[lakerfan]

Ummm Droooooooooollllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggg!
NIce tank. I think i need an upgrade now. I want a 29 gal tank now only if it looks like that though!!!
Oh yeah where in California do you live??

[Jeff Hood]

Salt creep, Has this been a tank of the month? If not then it should be.

Jeff

[Bucolic Buffalo]

I am almost ashamed to show my 29gal. It's only been up 10 months and I recently added a real nice piece of LR on the right side. Intended for a future project. It's a little dark so it doesn't look that great here. I also need to set the white level on the camera and I think the colors will be more true as my damsels look purple when they are blue.

[sbelanga]

Salt Creep:

Incredible tank! I'm in the process of installing a large tank, but you've inspired me to make my next project a smaller tank for my study!

I'm with the others: you get my vote for next month's tank of the month.

[Salt Creep]

fishylongstocking, I'm afraid I can't seem to take big pics well, they always come out blurry! Here's a top view pic that I just tried taking:

I just fragged the pocillopora in the middle, anybody wanna buy some frags?

lakerfan, I'm in North Hills in the San Fernando Valley. Are you a member of MASLAC? You ought to come join a meeting one of these days if you aren't.

The tank was featured a while back in Aquarium Frontiers; it's changed a bit since then. Thanks for the interest, guys!

Ken

[slimytadpole]

Salt Creep: How do you keep the SPS and the nearby polyps from stinging each other? I always see pics on the forums where the tank is absolutely packed with corals, but with very few exceptions, I cant have any corals with reach of each other.

[Salt Creep]

They're actually not touching each other much, and the parts that do touch do die. I try to peel off the Protopalythoa polyps from the base of the small Acropora now and then, and the branches of the Pocillopora get trimmed when they start getting too close to the polyps. Prune prune prune.

Notice the devil's hand next to the Pocillopora? It keeps itself just barely apart to avoid being stung.

Most of the soft corals that I have seem to touch each other with no problems. Mushrooms are the worst when it comes to stinging other corals.

[Bucolic Buffalo]

Wow Salt Creep! That is an amazing tank. How long have you had it up? You have an overflow, how large is your sump/refuge? Is your tank drilled?

Just looking for some tips!

Thanks

[Salt Creep]

The main tank has been up since 1996. The overflow is a hang-on type with a siphon (I WISH the tank was drilled, the overflow box takes up a lot of space!) and the sump is a 10-gallon tank.

I've added a refugium and algae tank over the years, and now it looks like a hamster trail.
http://kensreef.tripod.com/TankSystem.htm

Now I'm thinking of adding a 15 gallon between the overflow and the sump, if I can get it drilled!

[DerrickT]

Salt, I noticed you have your lights on during the night. Does anyone know if this work well for tanks with fishes in also? I also don't get home till late and it is quite hot during the daytime and my room is not that bright during the day. I was wondering if I can turn the lights at night instead. Anyone done this with fish tanks yet?

[yikan]

Wow. Now THAT is the proof we don't need MH light to have excellent mixed reef tank!

Truly outstanding tank Salt Creep.

[lakerfan]

Hey Salt Creep,

Thanks for the invite, I am a member of SCMAS, but i'm sure i'll make it out there soon maybe during John's Calcium reactor workshop. He said he should be able to host it in a month which is okay with his disaster and all.

BEN

[Salt Creep]

DerrickT,

I think the fish adjust well to it, because I have a pair of neon gobies in there that sleep all day (they won't come out to eat even if I turn the lights on during the daytime) and then wake up when the lights come on at 8. The watchman gobies hole up during the daytime "night cycle" too. The clowns and the damsel will wake up and eat pretty much anytime.

It's not just the heat, DWP has a special program where they charge about half the usual rate for nighttime and weekend power use (and charge double during the daytime between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. during weekdays so you gotta watch it during the peak hours).

yikan, thanks!

Ben/lakerfan,
Hope to meet you there too! I've been thinking of adding a calcium reactor but if the stony corals grew faster I'd worry that I'd end up with a rectangular chunk of live rock completely filling the tank. Hmmm, maybe if I just prune more?

[Salt Creep]

The tank nearly caused a fire last night! Read about it HERE.

Fortunately I had a spare endcap.Nobody was hurt.
Boy, wouldn't it have just been TOTALLY ironic if after showing the tank off, the lights burn the house down? Sheesh.