29 gallon Aqueon - Need some advice

[Rollover]

Hi guys, I love this site. I was hoping my first post would be an intro to my 29g nano turned out, but instead I have a question. I just picked up a 29 gallon tank at the Petco dollar-a-gallon sale. My temper detecting drill reminded me with a crash that the tank I was going to use was a Walmart special. anyway, I want to drill the tank for an overflow. Should I drill the bottom or the back and why? (Either will work with the stand.)

Thanks in advance,
John

[reefreak]

Welcome to maast! Many people drill the back pane because the bottom is tempered

[Rollover]

Thanks for the welcome! I thought the small Aqueons didn't use tempered glass...

-John

[Rollover]

Thanks again for the advice. I ended up drilling the back for the drain and everything went well. Its had saltwater and 20 lbs of aragonite sand in it for almost a month and weekend before last I added about 2 pounds of wild rock and a couple of thin-striped hermits from Rockport. Today I added another 18 lbs of live rock (14 from Phenominal Aquatics and 4 from Fintique). Attached is a picture of the display tank. The system also has a 10g sump that is a work in progress. The lighting is DIY LED at about 32W (equal parts 6500k, 10000k and 15000k). Does anyone see any glaring issues?

Thanks for all the guidance,
-John
29g_sw_tank.jpg

[Mr Cob]

looks great, way to go on taking your time. Welcome to MAAST, I look forward to your build progress.

[Rollover]

Hey All,

Happy Saturday! I finished building the sump last night and installed it this morning. The main body is a 10 gallon Aqueon tank. Overflow water from the DT goes through a filter bag and pours into the 4 inch PVC starter tube (this was necessary to restart after a power failure). The starter tube drains into the fluidized filter which spills into a settling chamber that will be filled with rubble. The main chamber will have about 1.5 inches of aragonite gravel and chaeto. The return pump is a Rio1400 plumbed with 3/4 inch output to a 1/2 inch pvc manafold with two outputs bracketted to the hood. According to the pump's specs the system should be running at about 300 GPH. I checked the chemistry this morning and the stats are as follows: SG - 1.023, pH - 8.2, AM - 0ppm, Ni - .5ppm, Na - 20ppm. Does this sound right for a cycling aquarium? Anyway here are some pics and a video for your veiwing pleasure. As always all comments, questions, concerns are welcome.

sump4.jpgsump1.jpgsump2.jpgsump3.jpg

[klwheat]

Sounds like the cycle is about complete Welcome to MAAST

[Rollover]

Thanks for the welcome, Larry! I think it's close. The NI is still bouncing but the various things hiding in the LR have started to peak out. The NA spiked up to 40+ PPM so I picked up a hand full of Chaeto at Elegant Reef. ***WARNING*** The chaeto and Premium LR tank over there is full of white fiji stars so if you don't want them in your tank double check your rock. Otherwise WOW what a cool place!