Introduction and a few quesions.

[Brent H.]

Hi! My name is Brent. I love fish. I've been keeping a small (10 gallon) freshwater tank for around a year now. It's a community tank with 2 Tiger barbs, 1 platy, 2 zebra dainos, and 2 balloon mollies.

I posted this in the general introduction forums, and it was suggested that I post this question here for more detailed responses.

Now I'm interested in starting a saltwater tank. I would like to start pretty simple. I'm thinking a 29 gallon tank. I plan on just fish and live rock, with fake coral for decoration.

To tell you the truth, I don't really even know where to start. I don't know what live rock is. Can anybody explain in layman's terms? Also, about filtration; will a nice hang on rated for a 55 gallon tank work, or will I need a canister and a protein skimmer? Now, about lighting. The way I understand it, as long as I'm not keeping coral, I won't need anything more than standard, florescent lighting, is this accurate?

Also, about fish. I know that I'll be limited with a 29 gallon tank. I really want clownfish. Will a 29 gallon tank be big enough for a pair? And, if so, would I have room for any other fish?

Any other info that you think will be helpful to me is much appreciated! Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[Sadielynn]

Hi and welcome ...
There are so many places to start but we will start here .
LR (Live Rock) is rock that houses organisims , and living bacterias .
LR is the foundation to your tank . You will want aprox 1- 2lbs per gallon or so for LR . The more poruous it is the more ground you have for your bio filtration .
You can get base rock (LR with out the colors) and it will become premium with time .
The filter should be fine if it has bio wheels loose em as they will be a NitrAte, and phosphate factory, making it hard to reduce them with normal H20 changes .
You dont need a canister filter or a skimmer if you keep up with your water changes of 15-20% weekly ... Lighting you need nothing more than NO for just a FOWLR tank .. Yes you will be fine with 2 of the smaller clowns for a 29 gallon tank and even room for 1 or 2 more here is a link to read up on http://www.nanoreefing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=210

 

[amkelly]

Now I'm interested in starting a saltwater tank. I would like to start pretty simple. I'm thinking a 29 gallon tank. I plan on just fish and live rock, with fake coral for decoration.

a 29 gallon tank is a good size to start with its cost efficient and a can hold a good amount of fish for a beginner. the plan of just fish and live rock is a smart one for a beginner but honestly, i would lose the fake corals.. it takes away from the natural look.


To tell you the truth, I don't really even know where to start. I don't know what live rock is. Can anybody explain in layman's terms? Also, about filtration; will a nice hang on rated for a 55 gallon tank work, or will I need a canister and a protein skimmer? Now, about lighting. The way I understand it, as long as I'm not keeping coral, I won't need anything more than standard, florescent lighting, is this accurate?

Live rock is rock with organisms on it... live rock can come "cured" or "uncured". cured live rock will be added to the tank and you can start adding fish a week or two after... uncured live rock on the other hand needs more time to mature, and you will have to wait a month or two or even longer for it to fully mature. just ask your local fish store manager for cured live rock and it will be a lot easier on you. also to go with the live rock i would recommend "live sand" which can also be found at your LFS. aragonite works best in my opinion. for filtration i would not slump on this.. go with what you can afford at the time, yes a 55 gallon filter would work, but if you can go bigger, you can never have to much filtration really, and your system will stay very clear. the canister and protein skimmer would be unnecessary for a tank this size, so i would worry about them. as long as youre not keeping corals or anemones then yes normal PC lighting would be suffice. for future reference its recommened that you get about 4 watts per gallon when you search for lighting.. the best lighting is Metal Halide lighting and T5 lighting.


Also, about fish. I know that I'll be limited with a 29 gallon tank. I really want clownfish. Will a 29 gallon tank be big enough for a pair? And, if so, would I have room for any other fish?

a clownfish pair would be fine in a 29 gallon tank... i would say you would be allowed approximately 4 fish in your tank and maybe stretching it to five depending on size. other fish that can fit in a 29 are.. various gobies, small wrasses, damsels, chromis, blennies, pygmy angel... just do research...



seperately... this is what i suggest and stress... when setting up your tank people tend to get really excited and eager to buy, buy, buy... please, take your time, patience is everything in this hobby and if you arent patient you will lose a lot fo money and a lot of fish. when you add the live rock make sure you do the testing with a test kit for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and Ph. do weekly water changes about 20 percent of your tank. do not over stock and when you do stock add one thing at a time for example add 1 fish every three weeks or a month so the anaerobic/ aerobic and other organisms have time to react to the new change... good luck and if you have any other questions just message me...

 

[melosu58]

Read this

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73477

 

[fijiwigi]

I too wanted to start simple and cheap. Sure didn't turn out like that. I got really excited and wanted more and more. The 2 things I think were the best investments for me were 1. A refractometer to test SG (about 50 dollars) The hydromoters are totally inaccurate from what I experienced and 2. A protein skimmer I was shocked with the amount of nasty sludge that gets pulled from the tank water daily improves water quality quite a bit IMO. And with a 29 gallon there is little room for error and water quality and consistency will be crucial. the Asm miniG Proteinskimmer would work great on a 29 its like 115 dollars. So If you are willing to invest 165 dollars on these 2 things I think it would help your success rate a great deal. Hope this helps. Fijiwigi