Hi all, 29g fish and rocl only tank start u...

[mynamzmudd]

Hey everyone. A friend of mine is giving me a 29g tank with hood and light and I was thinking of starting a fish and rock only tank then using it for a quarenteen tank only after setting up my 125g. I was wondering, Will I need a skimmer for something this small or would a H.O.B. filter be suitable for a tank this small. Any info would be greatly appriciated. Thank you.

 

[marcah]

neither a hob filter or skimmer is required for a tank that size... just make sure you have enough rock( I would put around 40 to 50 pounds) the rock will be your filter, with some water movement then just keep up on waterchanges and you willl be fine...skimmer will just take a little extra of the junk out between waterchanges..

 

[Smitty]

+1 Marcah

 

[Waddi]

+2 Marcah
And Welcome to the Reef!

 

[chuck78]

+3 marcah

 

[gtb]

+3 marcah

+4 Marcah

 

[mynamzmudd]

Ok well if all I need is rock and a powerhead then how do I know it's safe to add fish? Im wanting to do thing's like blennies possibly a dottyback or gobies. How will I know if the tank is cycled? and how do you cycle it? Thank you all for your input and advise.

 

[Kully3xf]

Marine Lab Multi Test Kit | Master Test Kits | Test Kits & Refills | Aquarium - ThatPetPlace.com
Get a master test kit for ammonia nitrate nitrite and pH. Once all the levels spike and come back down to 0 your good, (except pH, you want that ~8 or so +-)

 

[Kully3xf]

and to cycle the tank just fill it up with salt water, like reef crystals or something, mix it up dump it in (After leak checking), then put the live rock in there and it will start cycling, ive heard of people putting in chunks of fish food like shrimp and stuff in there to get the ammonia going, but it works if you don't do that as well. the waste from the rock should be enough if you have 40 lbs of rock. My cycle took just under 2 weeks in my 29g with 40-45lbs

 

[mynamzmudd]

A local fish store has bio-ball;s that are in the saltwater tank's there for sale for $2.00 a piece. If I added thoes to the tank would that make it safe to put fish in sooner or no? I know you should not rush a saltwater tank but I was just curious. thank you for all the answers and support so far. I truely appriciate your advice.

 

[Eissie]

A local fish store has bio-ball;s that are in the saltwater tank's there for sale for $2.00 a piece. If I added thoes to the tank would that make it safe to put fish in sooner or no? I know you should not rush a saltwater tank but I was just curious. thank you for all the answers and support so far. I truely appriciate your advice.

Dont do it! The bio balls are nothing but a mess maker. They have a bad habbit if storing crud in their slots and making your nitrates go up. They have to be cleaned pretty often to keep then in good condition.

 

[Kully3xf]

no don't do that. you can buy bags of them for much cheeper ~10-20 bucks for a bag. Plus bio balls are for filtration devices like a sump with a trickle or something similar. they are used to oxegenate the water and help filter. Chuck's signature says it all
"Nothing good ever happens fast in a salt water tank"

Gotta take your time and do it right or you'll run into expencive problems later