Starting a SW Tank...here are my plans

[PhillyPhish]

Hey folks. Here's the deal...

I had a 29G fresh with come malawai cichlids in there. Unfortunately they needed to be separated to a few different homes due to their aggressive behavior towards eachother.

Anyway...I want to use the left over 29G and turn it salt.

All I have right now is the tank and hood.

I would like some information on:

1. lighting
2. filtration/water movement
3. chemicals (if needed)


Ideally I would like to keep maintenance to a minimum...hopefully by increasing filtration and water movement.

What I would love to see in the tank are a few anemone, clown and some small damsels. No more than 3-4 small fish to keep bioload down.

I am also not too crazy about a substrate...if I can avoid it, I would greatl like to do that. My other tanks are crushed coral (cichlids) and maintenance has become a real hassle.

Can I go bare-bottom with anemone? What sort of lighting do I need to reach the bottom for these organisms? Do I need live rock and if so, how much? What filter system would be best...penguim vs emperor vs aquaclear, etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Let me also end by saying that I am serious about this hobby and will do what is necessary to make things go right. I have one 10G that is barebottom and to be honest, I like the way it looks...and would like to continue that trend for future setups.

Thanks all.

 

[PhillyPhish]

BTW

If I can do a low-maintenance substrate, that would be great as well. In fact...if an under-gravel filter with a good powerhead as well as a hang-on filter would cut vacuuming down, that would be cool.

Main issue is time and my apt complex...wall to wall carpeting so water changes can be messy with the siphon which is why siphoning water and adding water isnt bad...but "Vacuuming" a gravel bed can be difficult.

Again, the reason I would rather go barebottom than sand +python.

Thanks

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

I know what you're talking about with the cichlids! I have had to remove a few from my tank as well. Well as far as your lighting you will need to have 4-6 watts/gal to keep anemones. This amount of light will allow you to have several different corals. For filtration you can use liverock at 2lbs/gal along with livesand and a good skimmer or you can do a combination with a power filter along with liverock. Lots of liverock is definitely a good thing. As far as water movement you want to have a turnover of 10x tank volume per hour. Oh I forgot about sumps and refugiums. Well I think that you should do some research. You can look around on this site and find a basis for what kind of a system you wish to go with and then we can get into detail. I hope I at least gave you some ideas

 

[yanek]

low maintenance 29G saltwater ... that's a tough thing to do! As far as anemones go, many like ample light, and they're adamant about water quality. Mine likes a sand bed at least 5" deep (mine's 6").

 

[nodoubt471]

unfortunatly, most anemones need a sand bed, and a tank that is at least a year old.

if your really interested in bare bottom, do a search on reef central for starboard (sorry im reccommending another forum, but there isnt much on this site about it)...

HTH

 

[PhillyPhish]

I have been doing some reading and realize that anenome may not be the way to go.

But I would still like to stick to barebottom with live rock.

I need advice on what size/brand of filter and powerhead.

Again...looking to keep a few small salt species...clown, damsel.

Thanks again for the advice and I would appreciate more feedback.

 

[jamesmooni3]

i just set my tank up a few days ago and its doing great. the water at first looked foggy and i didnt know why. and i added 20 lbs of LS and the water is perfectly clear. the damsels i added seem to be doing fine. my tank is a 26 gallon a little smaller then yours. i would recommend using LS