moving and want a new tank! help with 24 gallon sw

[couplescaddy]

hi guys, i'm about to move to LA and live in my own apartment for college. i have a 20 gallon freshwater planted tank going for about 2 years now and is VERY healthy and alive. well, i want to get into some reef and saltwater fish and was thinking about a 24 gallon aquapod with all of the skimming and filtration in the back. it can come with 2 sets of ligting, a 30 watt regular and a 70 watt HQI??? i'm thinking about a bunch of LR and maybe 4 or 5 corals and anenomes and a few fish with some crabs and shrimp. will this be a sufficient tank or should i go bigger? also, are the built in skimmers and filters sufficient? any suggestions would be great! thanks,

 

[Devilishturtles]

An HQI is a Metal Halide fixture, which would be pretty nice but would heat up that tank fairly quickly I'd imagine.

24 gallons is sorta small but I'd stick to something like a Bubble Tip Anemone if you decide to go with one and wait until your tank matures a few months before you get one...they are very sensitive...and expensive.

The "skimmer" on those tanks I think are simple surface skimmers and not actual protein skimmers. If you are going to be using tap water I'd look into buying a Protein skimmer for the tank, especailly if you are going to be keeping an anemone and some corals.

HTH

 

[melosu58]

or should i go bigger?

Bigger will be better as the bigger the water volume the more forgiving it will be should you have a problem or make a mistake. It can be done with the 24 just have to keep real close eye on tank parameters. I do agree with Lindsay that you might be dealing with some heat problems with that lighting. Hope all goes well.

 

[Agnate80700]

Pretty sure those kit aquapod tanks come equipped to handle the heat they produce, correct me if Im wrong but I believe the hood is equipped with fans to discharge the heat (I thought I saw that at my lfs)

 

[ILM75Dodge]

The Fans in the hood will help to keep the light/hood form adding too much heat to the tank but if the tank is in an hot room to begin with then thats where it may start to run too warm!!