Advice on tank setup needed....

[Marklyall87]

Hi, I need a little advice on setting up a tank & thought this would be the best place for my post. I'm thinking of setting up a small tank for my grandad as he has recently become unwell & has alot more time on his hands, last time I see him he showed a great intreset in our sw aquariums & I feel this would be a great way to use his time.

Basically, I don't have a huge budget & the aquarium needs to be relativly easy to maintain so I don't want anything large, but i want something larger than a nano reef so I was thinking maybe a 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5ft as my brother currently has a simlar setup running.

Im hoping to get a couple of small soft corals / frags in there, probally a pair of small clowns & a couple of chromis but any advice on what are small, easy keep fish would be good..

What sort of equipment do you reccomend using on this? I was thinking I'd probally get away with....

a small external canister filter using live rock as media. I was thinking about a small sump instead but it seems alot of hassle & il probally get more media in a canister..

a cheap but resonable skimmer, possibly even a hang on.

lights of some sort, i don't really want to use a halide as on a small tank like that the water would heat / evaporate too quick so I was thinking possibly T5 or even
T8, how many would you reccomend?

a small powerhead in the tank for flow

I was hoping to get away with that lot but I want the aquarium to run ok & the fish to live healthy so any advice would be great..

Thanks in advance..Mark

 

[wontonflip]

That's around a 20 or 30g, right? Not sure about a chromis since they tend to school and need swimming room, but a goby would be great in that tank (check out liveaquaria.com for some fishie choices that would do well with that tank size). Sump is usually the preference, but I know some reefers who've done well w/ a canister filter, but you need to really keep up with its maintenance, otherwise you'll get high nitrates, which won't do for corals.

For lights, you might be ok with a power compact, but it depends on the corals. You can try to find a cheap t5 setup on ebay or craigslist maybe.

 

[mikewurtz]

I'm actually doing the same thing for my dad at the moment. I don't have any experience with coral but from what I understand they usually do not equal easy maintenance. A 29g BioCube all in one unit might be an affordable solution.

 

[dcantucson]

I would look on Craig's list or eBay for a deal.

 

[reeffreak]

I would look on Craig's list or eBay for a deal.

You think they have a Craig's List in the UK?

I think it would be easier on him if you get an all-in-one kit.

 

[Marklyall87]

Yeah, perhaps that might be the way to go, although I'm not keen on them as I don't think the filters are very good, thinking about a sump now then...