30 Gallon Newbie!

[smithpants94]

I've been doing my research for the last couple of months and think I'm finally ready to take the plunge into the salty side of fish keeping.

I have a 30 gallon tank, coralife t5 Ho light fixture, heaters.

I'm going to get about 30 pounds if live rock and 40 pounds of sand this weekend.

I just have one... two quick questions-
1- Filter: I have a slew of HOBs and was wondering if one of those could cut it, maybe two.
2- Powerheads: should I have two? Should I invest in a wave maker model?

Looking forward to the replies and being a new salty enthusiast this weekend!

 

[huma-huma]

1. As long as its slightly oversized, yes a hob will work.
2. Invest in 2. Wavemaker (or controllable) powerheads are not a must-have, but are a very nice touch to have if you can afford it. They not only allow us to adjust and randomize flow, but they usually have several different modes as well.

Welcome to the saltie side of fish life!! Yes its expensive, yes its hands-on, and yes its worth every dollar you put into it! I wouldnt trade my sw tank for anything.

 

[smithpants94]

Thanks, this helps a lot! I didn't know a wave maker was an actual system... I thought it was just a Powerhead with a funny propeller.

 

[huma-huma]

Yeah hydor has an actual controller module you can buy to plug your hydor ph's into. Some (like vortech) come with the controller. Also vortech offers wireless controlling capability... But they are pretty pricey

 

[smithpants94]

I just found exactly what you're taking about... I don't think I'm going for something like that.. What are your tips for power setup and placement?

 

[huma-huma]

its really a case by case situation there. id start with 2 powerheads, one on each side of the tank facing inwards. let them run for a week or so then adjust as needed. look for algae to form in low flow areas.

 

[smithpants94]

For a tank like my 30 gallon, how much flow do you think I am looking for? I'm getting the powerheads along with salt, sand and rock after class tonight.

 

[Mebbid]

For a tank like my 30 gallon, how much flow do you think I am looking for? I'm getting the powerheads along with salt, sand and rock after class tonight.

A good rule of thumb for reef tanks is 10x - 40x the tank volume per hour. For a fowlr tank the 10x flow would be okay but I would shoot for more if you want a reef.

 

[smithpants94]

The most of a "reef" I see myself having is maybe a few soft corals or a zoo colony... but that'll be months from now

 

[Tkey3425]

I think 40 pounds of sand is going to be a little much for a 30 gallon. You only want about 1.5-2 inches of sandbed so 20# should be plenty use the extra money and add some more rock. i do 1.5 pounds per gallon as a rule of thumb. Sand needs to be a larger grain not sugar sand. I made that mistake and it just blew all over the tank and i wound up changing it anyway. I use the hydor controller with 4 hydor 1500s in my 210. I dont like more than about 15-20x turnover in my tanks. I would grab two power heads rated at about 400ish GPH to start with you can always add more. Your HOB filter needs to be rated for at least 50-75 gallons on a 30 gallon SW tank. There is a lot that goes into planning a tank and you dont want to do something to save money in this stage of the setup. It will likely bite you later down the road.

 

[smithpants94]

I was thinking about doing a deep sand bed.. I like to keep my tanks as natural as possible. Is 40 pounds still too much?

I was also thinking about doing 30 pounds of live and 10-15 of dry and let it become alive. Does that sound alright?

Thanks for the gph ratings, I'll pick those up today and get the tank setup tonight.

 

[Ingy]

Do you mean a real Deep Sand Bed, or just a deeper than normal sand bed. There is an inherrant danger running a DSB by the uninformed.

 

[smithpants94]

I want an undisturbed, bacteria, micro/macro filled sand bed to help process my nitrates into good old nitrogen.

 

[Ingy]

Good luch then. Watch out for H2S gas.

 

[smithpants94]

You don't sound too confident, Ingy. Let me know what you're thinking. You've obviously been doing this longer than I have- I'm here to learn.

 

[Big Tex]

1. As long as its slightly oversized, yes a hob will work.

x2 on this, a hob filter works just fine, ive been running for 2mo now with just a hob and my tanks happy and healthy

For a tank like my 30 gallon, how much flow do you think I am looking for? I'm getting the powerheads along with salt, sand and rock after class tonight.

for my 37g bow front tank, im running a topfin 75 dual valley high output filter, it gives me plenty of flow and i dont need powerheads right now due to the power this thing puts out

I think 40 pounds of sand is going to be a little much for a 30 gallon. You only want about 1.5-2 inches of sandbed so 20# should be plenty use the extra money and add some more rock. i do 1.5 pounds per gallon as a rule of thumb. Sand needs to be a larger grain not sugar sand. I made that mistake and it just blew all over the tank and i wound up changing it anyway. I use the hydor controller with 4 hydor 1500s in my 210. I dont like more than about 15-20x turnover in my tanks. I would grab two power heads rated at about 400ish GPH to start with you can always add more. Your HOB filter needs to be rated for at least 50-75 gallons on a 30 gallon SW tank. There is a lot that goes into planning a tank and you dont want to do something to save money in this stage of the setup. It will likely bite you later down the road.

i would go with the caribsea arrag-alive 20lb bag of live sand, its a nice grain size and not to much "cloud" when mixed up, mine cleared up within 2hrs of startup with just my hob filter, and as for as powerheads i think a pair of koralia nano 425's would be good, thats what ill be going with for my 37g at least, and as for as rock 1.5lbs/gal is a good ratio i have about 40lbs of live rock in my 37g tank and i still want more rockwork.

what stock are you looking at?

 

[Mebbid]

The amount of sand to buy is entirely dependant on the footprint of the tank. I have 20lbs of sand in my 20g reef but its a 20 tall. That gives me just about a perfect depth for my sand bed. If it was a 20long I would need more.

I would shoot for a little over 1" depth and avoid a dsb. Nowadays a dsb is more of a problem than its worth imho.

 

[Big Tex]

The amount of sand to buy is entirely dependant on the footprint of the tank. I have 20lbs of sand in my 20g reef but its a 20 tall. That gives me just about a perfect depth for my sand bed. If it was a 20long I would need more.

I would shoot for a little over 1" depth and avoid a dsb. Nowadays a dsb is more of a problem than its worth imho.

i used about 40lbs of live sand in my 37gbf and it gave me about a 2" sand bed, good for my goby to burrow through in the future lol

 

[Ingy]

You seem aware. The big risk in a true DSB is the anaerobic bacteria you seek WILL consume nitrates and produce hydrogen gas. But, they may also produce Hydrogen Sulfide gas if there is any sulphur present (there will be minute amounts). H2S gas is a toxic nerve gas often found in minig and Kraft pulp mills. To humans it can kill when the levels get high enough, but if you can smell it, you won't die (the first nerves it attacks are those giving the sense of smell. However, even at the stinky levels, it may be strong enough to kill fish. That's the threat.

But, you mentioned undesturbed DSB, which is good. NEVER vacuum a DSB as that can release the H2S gas that has been created. Over the long run, bacteria will also consume it (releasing Hydrogen and sulfur or oxygenated sulfate), eliminating the risk of a leathal buildup over time.

If you can smell rotten eggs in the tank after disturbing the DSB, H2S has been released. Massive water changed is immediately required.

On the plus side, you won't need to put a ball of chaeto in your sump.

 

[Mebbid]

You seem aware. The big risk in a true DSB is the anaerobic bacteria you seek WILL consume nitrates and produce hydrogen gas. But, they may also produce Hydrogen Sulfide gas if there is any sulphur present (there will be minute amounts). H2S gas is a toxic nerve gas often found in minig and Kraft pulp mills. To humans it can kill when the levels get high enough, but if you can smell it, you won't die (the first nerves it attacks are those giving the sense of smell. However, even at the stinky levels, it may be strong enough to kill fish. That's the threat.

But, you mentioned undesturbed DSB, which is good. NEVER vacuum a DSB as that can release the H2S gas that has been created. Over the long run, bacteria will also consume it (releasing Hydrogen and sulfur or oxygenated sulfate), eliminating the risk of a leathal buildup over time.

If you can smell rotten eggs in the tank after disturbing the DSB, H2S has been released. Massive water changed is immediately required.

On the plus side, you won't need to put a ball of chaeto in your sump.

Exactly what I mean by more of a problem than its worth I try to avoid anything that could kill everything in my tank.