Equipment and Q's for new 29G

[RISEANDFLOAT]

I have had a 15G saltwater tank for almost a year now and I am ready to setup another SW tank. I am posting this just in hopes for people to maybe scan over it and make sure everything I am doing is right. The 29G tank is 30" long, 18" tall, and 12" wide.

I numbered and underlined all my questions; I know there is a lot of stuff on this one post.

I am going to do it pretty simple as far as the equipment goes. No sump or refugium. I was thinking an Emporer 400 for chemical filtration. A SeaClone 100 Protein Skimmer for skimming. I am thinking 30-40lbs. of live rock. A 200W AGA heater. A Penguin 660 powerhead rated for 170 GPH. As for as the lights go, I am undecided. I am looking to spend around $200.00 to $250.00 on the lights. 1.)Any suggestions for a lighting system based on what I want to keep?

I want to keep all soft corals. Nothing SPS! I want lights that will let me keep things such as bubble corals, zoanthids, mushrooms, maybe xenia, leathers, polyps.

As far as fish, I am not quite sure how many I would be able to put in this tank. I am thinking a list that looks something similar to this omitting all snails, hermit crabs and any kind of shrimp.

- 1 percula clown (amphiprion percula)
- 1 purple dottyback (pseudochromis fridmani) or 1 royal gramma (gramma loreto)
- 3 blue/green chromis (chromis viridis)
- 1 kaudern's cardinal (pterapogon kauderni)
2. Would I be able to keep all of these peacefully and as equally important would an established/cycled 29G be able to handle this fish load?

I am planning on cycling the tank with 30 lbs. of LR for a full two months before adding any livestock.

Also, I am planning on eventually taking down my 15G. 3. Would I be able to add the 15lbs. of live rock that has been in that tank to this new tank after the two month cycle? I also want to transfer all the soft easy to keep corals I have into the 29 as well but I understand that I might have to wait more than two months. 4. What is a recommended waiting period before transferring my corals?

Thank you for your patience and help.

 

[blazeyreef]

well, filtration wise I would get the best skimmer you can afford! I used ( and still have, just trying to sell the dumb thing) a coralife superskimmer 125 on my 29reef
lighting, I would go with maybe a 150 watt MH or 130watts of CF
fish... I would do the clown, royalgramma, kaudern's cardinal, and maybe a sixline wrasse, I would skip the chromis because they prefer to be in a school of 6+
I will reply in more detail when I have time!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Lighting: A 30" CF fixture should do you just fine. Something maybe like this...

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=484

Fish: I think you'd be pushing it with that entire list of fish. I think the 3x chromis push your bioload over the top. While they may prefer to be in larger schools, 3x would do fine - that's what I have in my 46g. But I think having all six fish in there would be too much. Also, the dottyback would be the bully of the bunch of all those fish. They're not the most peaceful of critters. I'd probably opt for the royal gramma instead as it's much more peaceful and similar in temperament to the clown and cardinal.

 

[itafx]

well, filtration wise I would get the best skimmer you can afford!

What about the Tidepool S.O.S. Pre-filter? F&S calls it a "silent overflow skimmer". What quality job does it do? I was even thinking about trying it out for a FW tank pre-filter, but I'm not sure how it works, whether it requires a power source, etc.

 

[roka64]

Personally, I don't use a skimmer, but a lot of folks say to go with the better name brands like ASM, Aqua C Remora and there are about 2 others I can't think of right now.

 

[Innovator]

Why not just use an AquaClear 110, turn it into a fuge and still have room for 2 50w Tronic heaters? If you do not want macros in there you can still use the main body and get better overall flow than the Marineland. A skimmer isn't necessary in anything under 40g ime, especially if you utilized the HOB as a fuge. As for lighting, either PC's or T5 (2x39w perhaps).

 

[RISEANDFLOAT]

I was very surprised when I saw everybody's feedback just now. Thank you all for inputting on this.

I think I am going to go with the Coralife 130W CF fixture for lights. I was also thinking about adding a Coralife T5 fixture that would add about 36 watts. Does anybody have any say on this? 1. Would that be a good or bad idea adding the T5 fixture?

As far as fish, I love the look of the Chromis sticking together and I really think three would be perfect for my tank. 2. Could I do these five fish? I am just omitting the basslet/dottyback option.

1 kaudern's cardinal
1 percula clown
3 chromis

As for the filtering, I am still going to do a little bit more reading. 3. Also, does anybody have any input on transferring the stuff from my 15G?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just my opinion, but those five fish in a 29g would be too much. I have those five fish (plus a little clown goby) in my 46g, and I feel like I'm right on the edge. Water parameters are perfect, it just seems like it's on the edge of being cramped. Don't know how else to describe it. I'd originally planned for another fish, but I consider I'm at my limit. Again... just my opinion - others I'm sure will offer suggestions.

Regarding the lighting, if you're not going to go the SPS route, it sure seems like anything in addition to that 130W fixture would be overkill. It's not necessarily a bad idea, just not required.

What about the Tidepool S.O.S. Pre-filter? F&S calls it a "silent overflow skimmer". What quality job does it do? I was even thinking about trying it out for a FW tank pre-filter, but I'm not sure how it works, whether it requires a power source, etc.

It's not a skimmer like blazeyreef is talking about... it's just an overflow that pulls from the surface - hence its "skimming" ability. It's no different than any other overflow.

 

[melosu58]

I want to keep all soft corals. Nothing SPS! I want lights that will let me keep things such as bubble corals, zoanthids, mushrooms, maybe xenia, leathers, polyps.

IMO VHO lights would fit the bill nicely. They are the only lights I have had and for your coral list they would do just fine. I`ve had all but the xenia and they have thrived of VHO`s.

 

[MT79]

I'll second what Melosu said. VHO's have a much nicer appearence than CF lights- for what ever reason. They just make tanks/corals look better IMO. FWIW I'd go w/ VHO or T-5 over CF. Also I'd skip the chromis and get a second clown and maybe one or two other smaller fish ie cleaner goby, etc. I had three chromis in my 55 gal and the largest one picked off the two smaller/weaker fish. It took over a year and a half, but it happened -as I was told it would.
HTH

 

[RISEANDFLOAT]

* Would either of you recommend a good brand or certain fixture to go with for the T5 VHO lights?

* Also, would I eventually be able to transfer all of my stuff from my 15G into the new 29G? This includes corals, live rock, snails, hermit crab. How long would you recommend for me to wait before transferring the live rock and then the corals?

* And I think I am going to skip on the chromis and go with a clown, kaudern cardinal, and royal gramma.

 

[melosu58]

Just get the new tank up and running and i you have enough LR from your old tank just transfer everything over to the new tank. I would use new sand and seed a cup or two from the old tank. Too much trash in the old sand to add it all to the new tank. On the lighting I just use retro fit caps on my VHO`s. I use URI Bulbs because they have internal reflectors and then I use a dome over the bulbs. Here is a few pics. No canopy for me.