30 Gallon Long

kbuser92

kbuser92

Breeder
So I have a 30 gallon long tank sitting empty and I'd like to consider making it into a smaller, mini-sort of reef. Do you think this would be okay with a snail, a shrimp, a clown and a couple of chromis or something? Maybe a couple of blue velvet damsels? What sort of equipment would I need for this small of a tank? Would I need everything one would need in a larger tank?
 
kbuser92 said:
So I have a 30 gallon long tank sitting empty and I'd like to consider making it into a smaller, mini-sort of reef.
Do you think this would be okay with a

Snails? Yes, most of your CUC (clean up crew) will be made up of a turbo, astreas, and some nass maybe.
Shrimp? Cleaner shrimp are very good and funny shrimp to watch
Clown? You could get one clown or a pair, depending on what other fish you want.
Couple of chromis? Again depends on the other fish wanted, maybe you could fit 4 fish max in your tank, and those would have to be small fish.
Maybe a couple of blue velvet damsels? I would skip and forget about any damsel, they are just mean and aggressive, not worth it.
What sort of equipment would I need for this small of a tank? Well for a Reef, I would go with some T5HO, maybe look into aquatraders, skimmer (dont need if keep up with water changes), powerheads, heaters the usual.
Would I need everything one would need in a larger tank? Im guessing you mean equipment wise and no not really.
Click to expand...

Your answers are in red ;)
 
A pair of Clowns and 2-3 little gobies? Along with maybe 1-2 turbo snails and a Scarlet Skunk cleaner shrimp.

Note: Petco has a 38 gallon with filter, heater, lighting, etc...for $149.99. Since it's the same footprint as the 30, I'm going to go with that and upgrade the equipment as well as adding a powerhead. What gph would I need for 38 gallons and what all do I need?
 
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As far as decoration, I was thinking around 10 lbs of live rock to start, along with maybe 40 lbs of regular old lace rock with zoas, mushrooms, an anemone, a brain, etc...I really want a smaller reef.
 
you dont want to use lace rock, it will leach stuff back into the water that is toxic to inverts and can fuel endless algae issues. Just get the normal reef rock whose scientific name alludes me at the moment.

Also, you can only keep one goby per tank, unless the tank is very large, otherwise they will fight to death over territory. But two clowns and a goby is plenty of fish for 30 gal tank.

With the nems, you are going to want to wait around a year before adding one. they are some of the hardest animals to keep in this hobby, they require pristine water conditions, and very stable tanks, conditions which are rarely seen in tanks under a year old. They will also require very high lighting conditions.

But lots of people make really sure awesome looking reefs in the smaller tanks. But that really isnt a great deal, because the lighting wont be good for keeping corals, and the filter is going to be more of a bother than its worth. It would be much cheaper to just get the tank and the heater, and then buy the proper equipment for keeping a reef. For any reef tank, i would suggest having the tank turned over 30x per hour. This can best be accomplished by getting a few powerheads.
 
I agree with little_fish. Stay away from the lace just get a few pounds of live then get some dry like this MarcoRocks Aquarium Products - KeyLargo .. As far as that package goes from petco the only two things you would use out of it is the tank and heater, the lighting wont be adequate and the filter will be a headache for you as you go.. powerheads I would go with something like these, maybe a 550 and 750 Water Pumps & Wavemakers: Hydor Koralia Evolution
 
A 550 AND a 750? I could do that. I think I'll go buy the tank and everything seperate. I like the Aquon Pro heaters, as I already have one. Would that be okay? I believe I would need 150 watts, is that right? I've also been told that the filter and powerheads should turn the tank x30 gph? What filters should I be looking at? I'd like to keep with a hob because I'm familiar with them, such as a bio-wheel, but I'd be open to suggestions if there's anything that would better suit the tank.

I'd rather think that I'm spoiling the fish, not myself, so any suggestions for happy fish (that are mildly budget-conscious) would be great.
 
yes you will need 150 watt for the heater ( whatever brand you are comfortable with).. filter itself you wont need the liverock will take care of filtering the tank.. a protein skimmer would be a good thing to look into for the tank.. reef octopus make a nice skimmer.. yes 30x per hour or better is a good turnover rate for ther tank.. so you would be looking to get at least 1140 per hour or so, that is why I was recommending the 550 and 750..
 
So all I would need is a skimmer and those powerheads? I found a skimmer at PetSmart that was for BioCube 14, 29 and HQI, would that work? It looked like it could just suction to the inside of the tank. I also found a UV Sterilizer called a Green Killing Machine in a 9 watt version.
 
While, the Biocube skimmer is pretty cheap IMO it's not worth the money you'll spend on it. I'd either get a nicer skimmer or skip it all together.
 
I personally dont like them, i think they remove too much of the good stuff to be worth it, especially when its so easy to keep your fish disease free by keeping them stress free.
 
I can't say, I don't know much about the UV. For the skimmer, look at the Tunze 9002 or the Hydor Slim Skim. Both great skimmers for nano tanks but, you're going to pay more then the biocube one.
 
Price isn't the biggest deal in the world, but I would like to keep it mildly wallet-friendly. I'm also worrying about that 300 gallon show tank that I believe you have both given ideas to.
 
Haha, yeah. I'm not too worried about price, but I'd like to keep it somewhere under the $1000 range, including fish and rock. Corals will come later so I'm not too worried about that, yet. Is this entirely possible while still using quality equipment? What kind of filtration would I use? I really would prefer to stay away from a sump for this tank...canister? HOB (Bio-wheel)? I would be okay using one of those HOB-style sumps if that's an option.

So far I have the skimmer(s) in mind, along with some dual T5 fixtures, x2 10,000 and x2 Actinic along with 2-3 moonlight LED's. I will also be using whatever heater I find and decide to use. XP Any suggestions for heat? I was thinking of using x2 100 watts.
 
Yea, there's no reason this should go over $1000. For filtration, just the live rock and skimmer will do, I wouldn't use a HOB filter or canister. And for the heater, since there's no sump and it'll be in your DT, I'd just go with one 150w. It'll take up less space only having one.
 

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