Thinking of buying this 29 gallon...your thoughts?

[TheTrav13]

It's been 5 years since I've had an aquarium. I used to have a 55 gallon reef. I can't even remember the specs, that's how long it's been. I had to go off to college so I got rid of it. I'm looking to go smaller this time, no more than 30 gallons, and instead of buying all the parts separate I'm looking to buy something that has everything included. A biocube setup was my original plan, however when searching the classifieds I cam across this.


"i am selling my 29 gallon saltwater reef tank the was just setup less than month ago and is finishing the cycling process. the tank is a standard 29gallon fitted with all the nessecary components to successfully and properly house a marine reef ecosystem. this tank is perfect for the new and advanced reef keeper alike and will not need any other upgrades in the future. the combination of the deep sand bed, refugium, and the protein skimmer effectively remove the waste and maintain perfect water quality as well as provides live food for the main display tank. Ive included some fish corals and inverts from my other aquarium and will offer any advice and assistance in the move. the following is a list of all the components and livestock.
components:
29 gallon glass tank and stand
30" current 130 watt compact florescent fixture
red sea prism hob protein skimmer
aqua clear power filter retrofitted with nano refugium.
seio 200 gph power head
8 watt t-5 10,000k daylight fixture for refugium
red sea hydrometer and thermometer
whisper heater
livestock:
3" deep live sand bed
20lbs of live rock
1 yellowtail damsel fish
1 pink skunk clownfish
1 pepermint shrimp
5 hermits
chetomorpha and calerpa rubble rock and 2.5" deepsand bed in refugium
frogspwan, evergreen starburst polyps, and 3 blue ricordia polyps

like i said before this a great system will be sold as a whole system and not parted out."

I'm looking to go 29 or 14 gallon reef, and by reef I mean I'm going to be going with a few polyps, some mushrooms, a condi anemone possibly a bubble tip until it gets too big, a pair of clowns, a blood shrimp, and possibly a marangue goby. I'm looking to spend about $300 dollars total on the tank with everything included, not the fish etc.,

I just wanted your opinions on upkeep and if this seemed like a reasonable deal. Also if you have any precautions you'd suggest I take. Your comments are greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Travis

[Gregcoyote]

A little like buying a used car, some good points about it, but you do get the mistakes of the past owner passed on. The equipment list looks okay, I would personally opt for a different light for the main tank (I prefer LED, especially on small tanks where a light powerful enough for coral makes the water too hot). I believe the forum will back me up on the point that smaller tanks are actually more difficult than larger ones as there is less room for any errors. But these basic components in a properly cycled tank, that doesn't endure temperature swings, should be good for most of the species available commonly.

[177ichael]

I had a 29 gallon cube. Check out my build thread. The problem with making skimmers work effectively with small nano tanks is keeping water level consistent for skimmer to work properly. This leads to finding solutions such as ATOs (auto top offs), etc.. And thus the journey of reefing begins.. Good luck.

[TheTrav13]

Thanks for the input guys, I've narrowed it down to a 29 gallon because I live in an apartment. I haven't decided which one I'm going to go with yet. I came across this one the other day

"System includes

29 Gallon All Glass Aquarium
Current Nova Extreme 4x24 watt T5HO fixture ($250 by itself)
ATI Bulbs 5 months old
CPR Bak Pak 2R Protein Skimmer ($150 by itself)
CPR Skimmer Box
25lbs of Live Rock ($6.00 a pound in store)
Live Sand 1 1/2 inches sand bed
2 Blue Green Chromis (Optional, I can keep these if you don't want them)
Zebra Damsel
Flame Scallop
Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber
Corals (Kenya Tree, Mushroom, Zoas & Palys)
Small Clean Up Crew (Snails & Emerald Crab)
2 Powerheads
Heater
Metal Stand

I will also include other supplies not listed like a syphon, buckets, cleaning magnet etc and also some extra salt to get your started. This is a turn key system for keeping whatever you would like in the tank. If you are new to saltwater I will be glad to help with any questions you may have. I want to see whoever takes this tank succeed and have and outstanding reef."

This one is for $300 also.

The big thing for me is the lighting. I used pc's in my 55gallon years ago and I haven't read up on the current trends in lighting and which is best for what. If I'm looking to go in the direction of a more powerful light so I can put more in my tank, what are you thoughts on each of these tanks? and is it possible the t5 will be two powerful/and or make the water too hot?

the specs are:
24" Nova Extreme 4x24watt
T5HO 2-10k/2-460nm actinics
96w total wattage

I'm going to meet with this guy today to check it out, and I'm not going to buy it before I know exactly what I want to do.

[TheTrav13]

Also, I've been looking all over the forum for a post on the lighting hierarchy, could you guys please point me in the right direction or break it down for me?

[classklown90]

well the T5's are better then Pc's. what kind of coral do you plan to keep?

[177ichael]

Originally Posted by TheTrav13

Also, I've been looking all over the forum for a post on the lighting hierarchy, could you guys please point me in the right direction or break it down for me?

Halides can be brighter than T5 but consume more energy. Find a fixture that will accommodate standard T5. You have more options to space bulbs appropriately and use reflectors. Also color options are more abundant with T5 over all other bulb types.

[TheTrav13]

livestock:
2 clowns
mandarin goby
arrow crab, white spot anemone shrimp (which anemone does this host?), or blood shrimp
possible corals
mostly LPS, torch, frogspawn, candy cane, green polyp leather, toadstool mushroom, or brain coral/favites, open brain coral