New to saltwater... ?set-up?

F

flipsta

Reefing newb
Hi Y'all

I am looking to start a saltwater tank and I was looking for feedback on my proposed set-up.

I have a 29gal tank with an Eclipse lid (lighting, bio-wheel and carbon-cartridge filtering). I plan to get a protein skimmer and use live rock. I have an few air stones too.

I've been looking it up on the web and half the sites say a bio-wheel is ok, and the other half disagree. I was wondering if the bio-wheel, live rock and protein skimmer combination is bad?

I've read the a protein skimmer and live rock is a good set-up. How important is water movement? Can I use the pump in the lid (without the bio-wheel) to move the water? Is that sufficient?

Thanks everyone in advance.

:)
 
Welcome. I'd leave the bio wheel out after a while, the rock and the skimmer should do it, along with water changes. As far as circulation, I think you should consider a power head or two, are you planning on corals?
 
Ditch the bio-wheel. I'm sure people have success with it, but it just adds more work for you....you have to maintain it well, otherwise it becomes a nitrate factory. Live rocks and a skimmer is really all you need for good filtration,
 
Get rid of the biowheel.
You will need good movement.

In my 30g I have a TUNZE 6065 and a Koralia 1.

Also, make sure you get the right substrate, RO/DI water and proper lighting (if you plan on keeping coral).

Read ALOT before you start and go VERY SLOW.....
 
Hello fellow Coloradan! Welcome to the site! I agree with the previous posters...you will have enough to do for your tank without needing to worry about the Biowheel. Excessive nitrates that can build up in that type of filter can lead to some very serious algae issues, which can be distressing to both you and your fish. A skimmer and live rock will be better for you in the long run.

I also agree that a couple of powerheads will help keep your tank healthy. I would get at least 2, and direct one at or near the surface to create ripples. This will help keep your water oxegenated. The second I would place a little closer to the bottom, also directed upwards. Not too close to the sand, or your will made a little sandstorm in your tank. :) This will help prevent waste from settling on the rocks and on the sand, keeping it suspended so your skimmer can pull it out of the water column.
 
Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you. I started out with that same eclipse 29 system for about a year, and it will be ok if you are doing just the basic saltwater set-up. Over time when you become more advanced and interested in the hobby, you will remove that entire top completely (that is what I did) and upgrade your lights and filtration system, and go with everyone's suggestions from above posts. Fell free to ask questions and post pics along the way. :)
 
Live rock, aragonite sand, a skimmer and a couple powerheads is all you need for filtration. Do a 10% - 20% water change every week or two weeks. It seams too simple, doesn't it? There's no need for fancy bio-wheel filters. There's no need for this patented design or that "new and improved" gizmo. Trust all of us when we tell you that those 4 basic items we all mentioned will do just fine for your tank.

Now, the lights is a totally different item all together. If you only plan to keep fish, then just about any light will work. But if you want to keep a reef, with corals, then you'll want to look into some Power Compact (PC) lights or T5 lights or possibly a MH light. Shoot for around 4 watts of light per gallon - just to get started. There are some corals that require MUCH more light than that, but 4w per gallon is a general starting point for most beginner corals..

On that 29g tank you'd want at least (2) 65w power compact fluorescent bulbs OR (4) T5 HO fluorescent bulbs OR a 175w MH light. That would be a starting point. With that much light, you can VERY EASILY keep any mushrooms, zoas, palys, softies, ricdordi, LPS and even some low light SPS. If you want to keep clams or high light SPS you'll have to look into something with quite a bit more bulbs and watts.
 
thanks y'all

you are all settling my nervousness as i enter the journey of saltwater tanks.

so to summerize... i should be ok to start with two small powerheads, living rock and protein skimmer.

so more newbie questions...
the normal lighting is good enough for just fish and living rock?
coral is different than living rock?
can i make saltwater with tap water? treated?

thanks again.

:)
 
flipsta said:
thanks y'all

you are all settling my nervousness as i enter the journey of saltwater tanks.

so to summerize... i should be ok to start with two small powerheads, living rock and protein skimmer.

so more newbie questions...
the normal lighting is good enough for just fish and living rock?
coral is different than living rock?
can i make saltwater with tap water? treated?

thanks again.

:)
Click to expand...
Your regular lighting will work with fish and Live Rock they're called FOWLR systems (Fish Only With Live Rock)
Coral is different than live rock, coral are living organisms. Some can live just with lighting alone, others need to be fed foods, either filter foods or some will eat meaty foods like chopped shrimp. Here's a little article about corals for you to read, http://www.iyor.org/reefs/
You can use tap water to make your saltwater however, it's highly discouraged. There are so many additives and contaminates in tap water that it is very bad for the creatures in your tank. You should use an RO/DI filter or at least use distilled water.
 
Last edited:
Couple powerheads, a skimmer and some live rock - you're all set! :Cheers:

Live rock is just rocks from the ocean - it's covered in good bacteria that will perform the major part of the natural filtration in your tank. Thats why they call it "live"

You can go cheap and get base rock or dry rock. Same thing. Dry rock is just - dry. It's not alive.......... YET. If you buy just a few choice pieces of live rock and then fill the tank with dry rock, it will all colonize from the live rock. It's all live rock in 6 months. :Cheers:

But that takes a little longer. It takes time for the bacteria to spread and colonize all the dry rock and turn it into live rock. It works. It's certainly cheaper. It just takes longer to get going.

If you have lots of cash, you can buy 1 - 2 lbs of live rock per gallon of tank water. For example - a 50g tank should have at least 50lbs of rock and you can go UP TO about 100lbs. A 200g tank would have at least 200lbs and not more than 400lbs. Those are just general rules of thumb. But that much live rock is expensive to purchase all at once.

I don't recommend using tap water. Most of it has copper in it or lead from the pipes in your house. Those heavy metals will kill corals.

Your best bet is gonna be to buy your own RO/DI filter or buy the RO water from Wal-Mart or your local grocery store.

Here's a few pretty good RO units:
FilterDirect.com Whole House Water Filters, Water Booster Pump Choices

I'm sure these work fine, but a little too much $$$ IMO:
RO Systems

Lots of choices here:
Water Purification: Aquarium Reverse Osmosis Systems

Good luck! :Cheers:
 
Live rock just means it has bacteria in it that maintains the biological filtration of the aquarium. It will also grow coralline algae which is the purple stuff in peoples tanks. The corals well just go shoping on Liveaquaria.com and you can see many many differant corals there to show you what they are.

You do need better lighting for certain corals. Some very basic corals can do fine under basic compact flourescents. Some corals require light basically mimicking the sun to keep. You need to decide what you want to keep before deciding on lighting. I'll let ya know I got metal halides even though at the time I only planned on a few mushroom corals and I never regretted getting these lights.

You need to treat the tap water. With a smaller aquarium you can buy RO/DI water pretty cheap from your LFS or usually even walmart. If you have a bigger tank or get tired of carrying gallon after gallon home you can look into investing in an RO/DI unit.
 
Agree with the advice you've received so far. I will also toss my coin in the tap water hat....don't use it. "Treated" only means the chlorine in it is neutralized. All the other contaminates will remain in the water and will get absorbed by your rocks and sand, only to feed your algae outbreaks down the road. I know it's a lot to think about and plan for when you are first getting your tank set up, but using tap water is asking for trouble!!
 

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