New 29-Gallon Saltwater tank!

R

raul salcedo

Reefing newb
Hello everyone well after much time spend on my FW tanks 60 gallon mbuna and 20 Shellies. I read books on marine aquariums one written by Michael S Paletta, "The New Marine Aquarium." I found to be very interesting and finally decided to take on the marine tank project. :bounce: Well I decided to make my own mine reef with a 29 gallon tank. I decided on 35 pounds of live Fiji rock and 30 pounds of Fiji pink live sand, 1 100watt heater, 1 110 size aqua clear external filter (500GPH) and 1 power head (200 GPH). I already decided on the fish to house and I would love some suggestions on some coral, but as you can see I have not decided to upgrade my light fixture. :shock:
  • One Orange spotted goby
  • One Royal Gramma
  • One Eibl’s Angel (Centropyge eibli)
  • Two Cleaner Shrimp
  • One Brittle Star (Class Ophiuroidea)
  • Three Feather dusters (Families Serpulidae & Sabellidae)
  • I need a two bulb fixture light that I can include coral
  • I will add HOB skimmer, but need some direction
  • Oh I almost forgot to include one Ocellaris Clownfish with host anemone

Remember I will not add any fish until I complete my cycle, but who should be the first in my tank?
I read many of the articles and all have great information, but I need help to understand if what I planning am going to be successful
:mrgreen:
 
after your system has cycled, the first thing is to add your cleanup crew. go slowly here too and do not add too many at one time. once you have your clean up crew in and all is well for a month or so, then add one fish unless very small and then maybe 2 max. wait for system to cycle and if all well in a couple of weeks to month you can add more, but, be careful that you do not add more bio load than your system can handle. a protein skimmer is a must for the system with the number of animals you are proposing. check out the helpful articles and you will find all kinds of information dealing with setting up your system to what and when to add. good luck keep us posted. welcome to the forum.
 
I have read many articles and I am confused :question: I really would like to know if my power filter will have any true contributions to my tank? So far from what I read my canister will become a host for nitrate, can I alter the aqua clear filter and not use the media, but continue to use the filter for water current support? Or can I just and floss in the media area and change three times a week? I thought that using this type of filter will cycle my tank, not take away from the live rock and live sand........... :shock:
 
I dont know much but i would assume if your having to change it 3 times a week, that it would be far cheaper in the long wrong to go with a dif setup altogether.
 
the aqua clear filters are very good filters in my honest opinion. you can just remove the sponge and rings, throw some floss in there and run some carbon in a media bag...you can even turn the back of the filter into a small fuge if you're good at DIY projects.. have fun, be patient and good luck with you new hobby :bounce:
 
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:bounce: You do have a concept that I could manage. the floss is far less expensive to purchase and you are right about DIY project convert the aqua-clear into a hang on back fuge :bounce: well this project should take about 2 months (saving :twocents: ). I look into buying canopy and stand from some dude that makes him from home and places them on ebay for sale the guy has great feed back. I really need to call him. What kind of lights should I invest in? with the canopy I could manage some retro-fit stuff, but what kind for a newbie??????
 
Thank you for the leads I'm trying to look at the classifieds for anyone that is getting out of the hobby to but off lights................... :D I am really looking into converting that filter into a fuge =, but only time can tell. How many power heads should I use???? I'm aiming for 2 power heads but cant decide on the GPH................ :frustrat:
 
water turn over per hour should be at least 10 times to 20 times the gallons of water in the system, however, you do not want lenear flow so strong that the corals are damaged or not happy, so chaotic currents are best. two pumps aimed at the front center to meet twards the top from each back corner will be a good place to start. just try and get currents through out the system so there are no dead spots. tweak from there. check out the helpful articles also, i believe i have posted information there dealing with currents and water turn over. good luck.
 
My setup is simular to yours.I use a coralife superskimmer that works great.
I would recomend some power compacts at 130 watts total if on a budget.I have a retrofit coralife 2x 65 in my canopy.I have a verity of mushrooms and polyps.I also have a green hammer coral that is gowing like a weeds.I would go with the gobie and the gamma first after your clean up crew.This will help since they are more passive and timmid fish.Being in first they become comfortable with your tank before the others arrive.I use my aqua clear for floss and the occasional addition of a bag of rowaphos.
 
minireefer where do you have your skimmer hanging off the aqua-clear or next to it? Do you have any recent pictures of your tank. What length of light fixture are you using? :D
 
Ok I change my mind.......even though I'm starting with a small tank I thinking long term with the equipment. I will no longer try to make my own fuge., I would rather buy it from oceanpro aquatics...these are the specs of the reef sump Item:

ESRS 100
Dimension: 24"L x 12"W x 16"H
Sump Capacity: 20 gallons
Usage: 100 to 125 gallon tank

can anyone recomand a good pump?

If I decide to upgrade later..........much later to a 60 gallon saltwater tank I don't need to upgrade my sump. :bounce:
 
:frustrat: I just do not want to create a problem :frustrat: Is that all it really takes plexi-glass and a sealer............If I buy a 20 gallon tank where can I get plexi-glass?? Let alone cut it to my spec? Man you really are making me think this out....................... :shock:

Make it or buy it???

Get it right the first time............................I'm buying

20 gallon tank = 20.00 bucks new

plexi-glass sheet = ???

sealant = 15.00 all-glass

time = priceless

really I compared the price difference and you have a point.........Thinking


HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Look in the DIY section. Also you local lowes will have lexan or plexi, either should work. If you can put a few hours or hell even a day if you that bad at DIY projects, its still gunna be well over a hundred bux cheaper. thats money you can spend on other aspects of your new setup.
 
I need to drill my tank.............. :shock: I need loaner tool from someone :mrgreen: . I will need to practice before I work on my tank. I'll go to my local glass shop and buy 12 x 12 from of temeper glass and practice until I feel comfortable with the tool and my pressure on the glass :shock: I place a order quote from reef mania for a 3-sided overflow to place in my tank, but sealant do I use :question:
 
You do not want to mess with your tempered glass. That is if it is tempered, youll make the tank weaker by doing so. Try to find out if the sides are tempered or not and go from there. Or just get an overflow box, then plumb from that down to the fuge.
 

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