29g tank

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thominil

thominil

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Jul 19, 2008
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In the middle of the corn....
Well this weekend I went down to my grandparents for a few days. And my uncle had a few tanks he wanted to get rid of......well I bet you know who took them.:D They are 10g and 29g same as I have now. The 10g is going to be a freshy tank and the 29g is going to be a salty tank. I was wondering if i could do a reef and have like 1-2 clowns in it. I know with having live rock I won't need a filter. What will I need? There wont be a sump. Here's some things I think I might need:

Skimmer
20-30lbs. of Live Rock
20-30lbs. of Base Rock
30-40lbs. of Sand
Light of some kind I'll do a bit more research on that.
Saltwater Master test kit
Salt of some brand

This will be set up in about 4 months maby more. I don't have any lfs' near me that are worth going to, the only one near me is a complete dump. So basically I have the three major guys, Petsmart, Petco, and Petland. And Walmart if they any good. It looks like Petland is the most decent of the three.

Thanks for any future help! :mrgreen:
 
Congrats on the new tanks. Make sure you read our articles and they will help you alot esp. the cycle.
 
You know IMO 30 gallon and below I would suggest just PWC`s. They would accomplish the same thing in a smaller tank like that. JMO
 
You might want to save up and get a new lighting system. I don't know that I would buy a used one off ebay, unless you are a DIYer.
 
hmmm.... well I'm trying to stay below $100 so would this work for corals?:Current Satellite 24" Aquarium Light 65 Watts - eBay (item 120358577697 end time Feb-02-09 18:55:20 PST)

Also what salt brand do you prefer?
Is there any other test kits that I need that the API saltwater kite dpes'nt include?
Do i need a powerhead? If so, which is best or could I just use one that is commonly used in fw tanks?
What sand is good I know there is a debate on if "live" sand is actually "live"

Thats about it for now.
thanks
 
I can't help you on the lights for corals, but if you want them in the future, save up and get one that can support all corals (that's just my opinion, otherwise you end up spending money on initial lighting and then UPgrading the lighting...)
Salt brand....you'll get many differing opinions on a salt brand. If you are looking to save money buy bulk. I used to use Instant Ocean, but (this is only a theory) I seemed to have algae problems (ALSO, I have well water). There are plenty of folks that use it and have no issues. Now, I use reef crystals.
The API saltwater master's kit is good for starting out (again you will get some other opinions on other tests for other things like Ca, hardness and such), seachem is relatively decent but ther are other more, precise test.
Phs are also a personal preference. I like the hydor korilias and also tunze (tunze being more expensive). I really like the hydors since they have a very gentle cone shaped flow. I have seen my snails and urchin crawl across it without being sucked in. Other popular brands are Maxi-Jet and aqua (something, I can't think of the name now).
Personally, save your money and buy dry sand. IMO "live" probably isn't live, they scoop it up, put it in a bag, store it (at different temp), ship it and then it sits on the shelf until someone buys it.
 
Thanks, I too am on well water. I've been reading some other threads and they mention a refractometer. Is this required?

Also, I am not planning on setting this up til April or later. I'm just making a list of stuff I'll need.

Also for fishless cycling how much ammonia do I add? I just skimmed over the article in ur sig but it gives no specific amount. I'll read the whole thing tommorow, gotta go to bed for now.
 
A refractomer is a better instrument than a hydrometer, so if you are saving up, get it.
I use 1 raw, unseasoned jumbo shrimp (from my local grocery store) per 30G of water for my fishless cycle. I am not too sure on how much or what ammonia to use.
Let me PM neilanh so he can help out.
 
You rang?

I prefer to use pure ammonia, because I can control the cycle a little better, vs. the raw shrimp method, however both methods do work.

If you decide to use pure ammonia, it requires you to check the parameters every single day during your cycle and react accordingly by adding more ammonia when needed. The most important thing is to make sure you get pure ammonia - it cannot have any additivies, such as color, scents/perfumes, or surfactants. The only place I've been successful in finding pure ammonia is at Ace Hardware, they sell a janitorial strength ammonia that is a 10% ammoinium hydroxide, with no additives. This is the stuff that I use.

Per the article, you'll want to dose your tank to between 3 and 5ppm ammonia. I use a small syringe from some old toddler medicine to dose with. Basically, you add a little bit, something like 1 ml, and test and see where this puts your system. Dependant upon your water volume everyone's system is a little different. After you add 1ml, you test and see where you're at, then adjust accordingly by adding more if necessary until your test kit reads out between 3-5ppm. Once you get it there, you test every day and add more as it gets processed out by the bacteria until you're cycle is complete. Make sure you have a good quality test kit, I use the API Saltwater master kit (or the Freshwater master kit for my freshwater tanks). You can cycle both you SW and FW tanks with the same ammonia and same method, and your cycle can take anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks, depending on all the factors detailed in the article.

HTH
 
Haven't posted in a while but I got a few things.

Coralife Aqualight 130w pc fixture $55 shipped on ebay. Only down side is that it came with 6700k bulbs. Petland has the 10000k and atcinic bulbs for $36 each, which is the cheapest I could find around here.

30lbs. CaribSea Aragamax Aragonite sand (not "live") Petsmart $30.

Next I plan on getting are the powerheads, I've decided to go with MaxiJet, but I need to know which size. Also I think I read that you need 20-30gph per gallon, is this true? So, what size do I need?


400-106gph
600-160gph
900-230gph
1200-295gph

I know that the pc lights have the lowest intensity compared to VHO and MH. So I think it's soft coral that I can have and I don't know if I can have LPS or SPS or neither?
 
YOu can have LPS, some LPS, but definitely not SPS with CF lighting :) Since I believe your tank is 20gallon high rite? You can either get 2x600 or 1 Maxijet 900, depending on what kind of corals you want to have, if it requires strong water movement then you need more gph for the PH.
 
Well, yesterday I got bored and washed out the sand. The sand bed is about 2" deep, too deep, too shallow, or just right? I plan on getting powerheads this week. So two 600's will work? Also, I plan on ordering about 30-40lbs of BR from Marcorocks.com and putting 5-10lbs of LR in with that is that enough LR to seed the BR?

And, while I'm at it, what test kits will I need besides the API reef master test kit?
 
I would go with the Nano Koralia and maybe a #1 Koralia.... I would get a ALK test kit Calium if already provided in the Reef master kit... Phosphate Test kit, Mag. right now I believe that should be it for now....
 
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