New to saltwater, and in need of guidance!

[sebastio12]

So I'm pretty new to saltwater aquariums and I need some advice. I bought an etablished tank, but I want to take it further. Here's what I have,

29 gallon tank with...
-Hang on Filter (Marineland Emperor 280 with a bio-wheel)
- Heater (THEO UL Heater 150W)

It has...
-about 35 pounds of live rock
-about 2 inches of sand (looks more like crushed shells)
-Two Ocellaris Clownfish
-One Peppermint shrimp, one Fire shrimp, two small hermit crabs and three turbo slugs

Is the filtration for this tank adequate, I'm going to get a protein skimmer and some better lighting, and a powerhead soon. What else do I need for a healthy tank.
I might want to make it a reeftank soon, is this a good idea?

I Also, I put in two Green Chromis a couple weeks back, but both died. They seemed sick from the start. My second peppermint shrimp also died (I bought these at the local petland, not sure if it's a good place for aquariums). But my tank seems fine, I added my second clownfish two weeks ago and it's doing great, and the water tests came back normal, any ideas? :frustrat:

 

[wontonflip]

I think the first thing most people here will tell you is just ditch the bio-wheel. The skimmer you're planning on getting plus the live rock should be adequate. If you plan on going reef, definitely need good lighting. Lots of people here will give you suggestions :)

I use Aragonite instead of crushed shells. The crushed shells tend to be nitrate traps.

Do you have a test kit? Preferrably a dropper test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites, & nitrates. maybe your levels are off, causing the deaths. Did you acclimate properly? My acclimation usually takes an hour or 2 --I do drip acclimation. There are articles on this site for that.

 

[sebastio12]

Should I ditch the whole filter then, and just run the skimmer?

And any idea how much Aragonite i'm going to need? It's a 29 gallon, 30x18 i think.

And I took a sample to an aquarium store and the guy told me all the levels are fine, but that the nitrites were high i think (he said something about it having to do about tap water, which i'm not using anymore), and he said that the fish would do fine, they might just have been sick to begin with, but they survived a couple weeks.

Thanks

 

[sebastio12]

sorry, posted twice by accident

 

[project5k]

have you considered adding a sump to the system? this would increase your total water volume, and would make things happen more slowly(chemistry changes) and thus will make your tank more stable, and therefore easier for someone just starting out(no offence)

personally i would get rid of the crushed shels substrate, and i'd get some aragonite sand.. it'll be better in the long run...

Nitrites are the middle stop on the nitrogen cycle, so it would seem to me that you should see that # fall and then nitrates climb... partial water changes regularly will then get rid of the nitrates, and will also replenish the trace elements that are in the salt mix.

I personaly dont suggest using tap water around a salt tank, i did it and i paid the price, all i use now is RO/DI water, you can get yourself a ro/di filter for your personal use at home, or you can buy your water like i do from walmart. we have a culligan machine and its output is perfect for our tanks(well, once you mix in the salt that is)

also, i would eventually get rid of that filter and biowheel thing, you wont need it, but i'd keep it till you get your skimmer, even tho they do different things, it will add to the biological filtration and will provide some extra water flow...

 

[wontonflip]

The amount of substrate you use is up to your preference. Some people like dsb (deep sand beds), some don't like too much. I prefer to put just enough to cover the glass bottom. My 10g has 3 in, and my 45 has just enough to cover the glass. I definitely prefer having less sand. My 125g took just 1 40lb bag of aragonite to cover my tank.

Project is right -- nitrites mean your tank is almost cycled. Are you sure the lfs guy said nitrITES, not nitRATES? Nitrates are usually in Tap. You're better off buying distilled water or rodi water. Some of us have bought our own rodi units to make water. I know when I first started this hobby a year ago, my nitrates were at 120+ppm because of using tap. Now, I"m always at 0ppm.

Get your own test kit and do your own tests. It helps to do your own research, as well, and not rely 100% on your lfs to give you correct answers. :)

 

[project5k]

Are you sure the lfs guy said nitrITES, not nitRATES

i was asking myself the same thing, but decided to give the benifit of the doubt

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...everyone has you covered. You have enough rock in your tank, which serves as you biological filtration. Do yourself a favor and get rid of the crushed coral, and get some arogonite sand. Keep the hob filter until you get yourself a nice hob skimmer(either an octopus or aqua c remora). Don't add anymore livestock for right now until you get your levels straight. Good luck, and feel free to ask any other questions you may have...ps...post some pics of your tank also.:D

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard.
Looks like everybody has you covered pretty good.Just dont forget water flow in the tank.Make sure you got enough flow from powerheads to waste in suspension.

 

[sebastio12]

Wow, I love this forum, the wealth of info is huge! So let me try and go in order here.

Crushed shells... That's what the tank came with, If i want to switch it out am I going to have to cycle my tank again, or is it going to be ok to put my livestock in there when it settles?

project5k, any idea what size sump i might need for my 29g? and as for water, my lfs is providing me with RO water, I change out about 3 gallons a week.

As for the test all I remember was the nit... part, but it was a purple test thing that said it was on level three or something.

The protein skimmer I was looking at was the Coralife Super Skimmer. is it any good?
And I'm getting some powerheads soon.

Thanks for the help guys, please keep it coming!

oh and here are some pics, it's not much yet, and the wallpaper thing is cheesy but it's better than a whole bunch of cables and stuff. And the stuff in the third picture, it's growing on the live rock, is this beneficial?

 

[dcantucson]

Welcome to the forum sebastio12. They've got you covered. Thanks for posting pictures as it's kinda like crack to some of us here. :lol:

 

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome! I can't quite see what's in the third picture -- can you draw a circle around it or something?

I agree with everyone else about the filter. When you get a protein skimmer, you can get rid of the HOB filter. It really won't do you any good if you are running a protein skimmer, which is the superior method of filtration for saltwater.

If you had nitrites, it means your tank hadn't finished cycling yet. Nitrates are fatal to animals, even at very small levels, so that could explain why you've had a few deaths. The safest way to stock a tank is to add no more than one fish every 3 weeks (or two fish if you buy them in a pair). Waiting 3 weeks in between additions will help to make sure that the bacteria population has enough time to grow to adjust to the added bioload.

 

[sebastio12]

Bought some arag-alive to take out that crushed coral! It says it contains healthy cultures of bacteria and stuff so hopefully it'll work.

 

[tankedchemist]

if you havent' opened it yet, take it back.... the "live sand" with "live cultures" is just a waste of cash IMO. If they didn't have any regular, dry aragonite it's fine... but the live sand, to me, is just a waste of $. Still better than crushed coral though!

 

[sebastio12]

That's all they had unfortunately, I'll just have to keep it.

Hey guys, I think I'm buying an AquaC remora protein skimmer? I was stuck between that and a Coralife super skimmer, the remora's twice the price but I want something I can use later on when I upgrade tanks. Is this a good choice?

Also, is the Koralite nano a good powerhead, or should I go with the Koralite 1?

 

[Bifferwine]

The Aqua C is a much better skimmer than the Coralife -- good choice.

Go with the the Koralia 1, or even 2 for a 29 gallon tank.

 

[Solarfall]

It seems like you're really enjoying the hobby and already talking about potential tank upgrades only a few weeks into it so I just want to add that you may want to consider a bigger tank and using the 29 as a sump.

My tank's only been set up about 7 months or so and I'm regretting only getting a 55 rather than a 100+ tank. With a tank your size you'll only be able to keep 3, maybe 4 small fish. Not to mention that more water = more stability = easier maintainence.

Your tank's perfectly fine and everything, I just wanted to throw that out there from personal experience. Considering you're willing to buy a skimmer and all this stuff anyway, going to a bigger tank will assure that you that you don't feel like you've "wasted" money in the long run. Case in point: I bought the biggest, most badass light fixture for my 55 that would fit so I may use it on a bigger tank down the road.

That's just me though, I don't like small tanks.

But that Aqua C Remora is a great skimmer. I bought my Remora Pro used for less than what a Super Skimmer would cost new and it skims so much that it becomes overwheling sometimes. The collection cup literally fills up with disgusting black goop in a matter of 3-4 days.

 

[sebastio12]

Yeah, do want to upgrade my tank, I do want to wait around a year before I start looking for my new tank. I was actually looking at some pretty cool 125gal complete setups for 600$. For now though my little 29gal will have to do.

Changing my substrate out next week, hopefully it'll go fine!

 

[parrotchute]

everyone's pretty much said it, but with a tank your size, it will be a touch more difficult to maintain stable water quality, so keep up with the water changes.

Resist the urge to overstock the tank. It's hard, but it will make your life easier.

 

[sebastio12]

I will have to use self-control, there's so much cool stuff out there! The water seems pretty stable, I just hope it's stable enough!