Im pressed for time in a major kinda way as I work nights and should be in bed playing Sleeping Beauty, so bare with me if this is brief as I am already starting to do "Touch and Go's"

20 lns of Gulf Rock is not nearly enough for a tank your size. This type of rock is extremely dense. If this is the kinda rock you are going to use for the rock in your tank exclusively, you need to shoot for at least 55-60 lbs if you can comfortably get that much in there. Despite it being about as dense as depleted uranium, I have to admit I really like a lot of the life that often comes on this kind of rock. Tonga Branch is just about as dense. If you use Fiji depending on the quality of it density wise you will need another 20 pounds or there abouts to top off your tank. If you use something thats very porous and light such as Pukani or Marshall Islands rock then about 15 more should do the trick. This lighter rock cost more but it takes much less of it in your tank to do its job.

So are you going to remove the sand and go Bare Bottom? Or are you going to replace it with something you find more appealing. I use a lot of Pavestone Pulverized Limestone these days since its a whopping 6 Bones a 50 lbs bag at Lowes or Home Depot. It falls right in between Oolitic grade sand and Carribs SeaFlor grade of sand in color and texture. Until I stumbbled into that stuff I used a lot of Tahitian Moon and Oolitic sand.

Nice Zoo's. I especially like the 2nd and 3rd pics. These are one of my favorite corals. They are pretty easy, dont demand a lot other than good lighting and moderate flow and come in a mind boggling array of colors, so there is sure to be a color that tickles your fancy.

Dont know what exactly you go going in those two photos that you asked about. I would need a much better pic with a Macro lense to have much of a chance at getting you a reasonably correct ID. IDing corals with just a pic is often just about impossible to do when it comes to most Hard corals, especially SPS corals. Looking at the pic there are a lot of things one could suggest. Sorry I cant tell you more. It does look as though you have a Liver Sponge or two on that one piece of rock in the picture.

Love the Chalice. Thats a very nice looking frag you scammed on. Some examples of Chalice can come in some pretty mind blowing color Morphs. I havent kept one of these yet but now that the prices for them are more reasonable and the demand has come down a bit I think there might be a future in one beinging in one of my tanks.

Ill get back with you on the rest of the stuff later tonight hopefully.

Question, i noticed these small gnat looking bugs on my sand, i cant get a picture they are way too small they are under an 1/8 of an inch, should i be worried about them, i know there are many "bugs" that are desired in the reef but i am not familiar with them so i wanted to try and be sure

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Hi Phil,

They are probably copepods, a really good thing, they will help keep the tank clean, reproduce and become food for your fish and corals. Check my gallery, I have pictures of various pods there and see if that helps to identify them.

Marlene

Marlene,
They dont look like any of the pods you have pics of. They are a like brown/gray color. with a distinctive head and tail section

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Here are some shots of the tank now got a few new corals yesterday, i will be putting up more pictures tomorrow when i get some more things
New Palys, are those star polyps on the right side of the rock

marlin just had to get in the picture even though he is blurry
more will be up with in the hour

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Here are the other pictures i promised





Nemo and Marlin

Marlin

New Palys and star polyps

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Looking really nice!

thank you
i am getting some more LR a bicolor blennie and a cleaner shrimp and more snails in the morning so its goign to look a lot different tomorrow once i re scape it

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

how much did the tank cost in full?

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I'm so sorry I haven't been on the forum in so long! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this lovely website! I moved to a different county back in May 2011 and started high school in a totally different school district. So I'm still adjusting and studying hard, and don't presently have any aquariums. But once I do, I'll be right back on this forum!

New Aqua scape

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

just gets better and better

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I'm so sorry I haven't been on the forum in so long! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this lovely website! I moved to a different county back in May 2011 and started high school in a totally different school district. So I'm still adjusting and studying hard, and don't presently have any aquariums. But once I do, I'll be right back on this forum!

thats the plan
the ocean is the limit

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Looking good. Keep up with the pics.. I would think of putting more liverock in. But it is a nice set up good luck with it all....

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what ever works for you is the way to go!!!!!!!!!

i just added another 10 pounds the other day i plan on adding more next week

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Update:
Everything is doing great, my new bicolor blennie is doing great. I turned off my big PH until i can make sure it doesnt kill any more fish, my blennie is really taking a liking to it, most of the time i find him sitting in the PH with nothing but his head sticking out. I am going to have to get some pictures of this it is too good to miss sharing.

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Latest update:
Zoa pox are threatening my new palys but the treatment seems to be going well furan 2 is a life saver, but i hate looking at my now green water

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

wowowowowowow its coming very nice keep the good job

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thank you very much

i just got a six line wrasse today he is doing amazing, may be getting a new tank this week cant wait for that monster, the guy doesnt know what he has but from what i have herd of it, it is a 125g

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

HELP!!! the slime is back and is driving me crazy!!!!! i cant get rid of it, i've tried the slime treatments and sucking out all that i could find, but it still comes back!

on another note tank will be here by next saturday it is a 90gal. i cant wait

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It has become more than a hobby! My 29gal Dream Reef DIY Build

Remove the excess nutrients in the water and the slime will go away. There is no magic bullet. You can use things like Chemi-Clean, but these are simply oxidized and are little more than a bandaid on a cut throat. They do nothing to correct the problem of high nutirents in the tanks water.