Newbie - Trying to start a 29 gal

C

celebrityovernight

[Hi everyone, i have been keeping fresh water fish for a couple of years now, i have 8 discus, and i'm finally stepping up to salt water reef aquariums. I am very interested in the reef setup and am willing to do my research. I'm planning on doing a 29 gal w/ 110 watts of pc lighting. That's pretty much all i have planned out right now. What kind of equipments would be best (i am very limited in my spendings because i'm still a student), and what is the best approach to starting a succesful reef tank?
Thanks for your help and time!]
 
[welcome to the hobby! The biggest difference with freshwater vs saltwater is the filtration. Freshwater depends more on mechanical filtration while saltwater depends on biological. The key to a succesful tank is bacteria...mostly from liverock. I apologize if I'm preaching to the choir. For a brief overview, this should be of some help.]
 
[Because it depends heavily on biological filtration you might contimplate a larger tank. While nano tanks are all the rage most book writers suggest at least 55 gallons. It would be worth your wild to buy one of the members used systems and save some money and time!]
 
[CON, Welcome to the forum and the hooby. The link to Marc's site should give you all the information that you will need to start your research. Just remember to read all you can on this hobby.
You will find that some people are very set in thier ways and will give you thier views. No two tanks are the same. Everyone on this forum will tell you what has worked (and not worked) for them. Please take thier advise, they are here because they love this hobby and want to help you.
If something does not make sense to you ask a question. I can not tell you how many mistakes I made because I did not ask a simple question.
Welcome again, and ask away.]
 
[A 29 is a small tank and is tough but doable. Don't let people tell you you can't!!

Read as much as you can. Especially about small tanks. And if you take no other advice do take this: GO SLOW!!! Plan, plan, plan, and ask, ask, ask! Many of us here have made enough mistakes to fill a book so ask away and we can help you avoid many of the pitfalls!

Another piece of advice. Figure out what you want to keep. Plan your fish list out before you even put a drop of water in! Also decide what kind of corals you want. Most don't play nice together so it will take some planning with such a small space!

Marc's site is great and you should take the time to read as much of it as you can. If you can afford a skimmer get one. The Remora is an excellent hang on skimmer. It will set you back at least $125 and that is used. This will also be dependant on your livestock (see above). If you just want some zoanthids and mushrooms and a pair of clowns you can definitly get by without a skimmer. If you want more fish and some LPS or other softies the water neads to be a bit "cleaner" and a skimmer would move up the priority list.

You can do a skimmerless but you will need a lot of live rock and incredible husbandry (be religious with at least weekly water changes, stocking very lightly, feeding very little, etc)

If your handy you can do a lot for cheap. You can make your own rock, build our own stand/canopy, do your own wiring, etc. That will make things much much cheaper!]
 
[www.nano-reef.com

Everything you want to know about nano's. I have a 20L and the difficulty level is the same as a larger tank...imo
:beer:]
 
[I had a 10 gallon for almost 6 months. (I just moved everything to a 90). I didn't think it was any more difficult to take care of.

The biggest thing you have to watch with smaller tanks is water evaporation. With such a small volume, even a small amount of evaporation can substantially change the salinity levels. I was burning up about 1/2 gallon of water a day in my 10 gallon.

I would definitely recommend getting a skimmer. Look for deals on used ones either here or on ReefCentral. I bought the EV-180 for my 90 Gallon on RC and saved almost $150 vs. buying it new.

Your livestock options will be more limited with a small tank, but with 30G you should be able to comfortably house a few fish depending on which ones you buy. (I had a clown in my nano)]
 
[I have a 25 gallon with a 15 gallon fuge. Because of the small water volume, any deterimental changes occur VERY quickly, being evaporation ( as JA99) , pH, nitrite etc.. An auto top off has helped me with the evaporation issue. I think the biggest problem I have had with a 25 gallon is constantly fighting the urge for a bigger tank. :D
If I were to do it again, I would probably start with atleast a 75 gallon. I am sure that you know that initial expenses rise very quickly with tank size, which was my original reason to start small. But you will quickly realize that the cost of tank, lighting, skimmer, becomes small in comparison with all the great things you want to place in the tank.]
 
[Thank you everyone for your great advice. I'll make sure to ask lots of questions and do my research. DO you guys think its possible to do a 10 gal refugium for the 29 gal, or is that too small? Also, what size water pumps am i going to need? Thanks in advance]
 
[Honestly the price jumps hugely as soon as you go sump/skimmer/return

Their are additional costs as you go bigger (bigger skimmer costs more, bigger pumps cost more, etc) but the jumps aren't near as big!

Ok with the last post you opened up the bag of worms!! Let me say this. If you can afford to do a refugium your tank will thank you for it! Bigger the better. The chaepest way to go is to get/make a hang on refugium. If you have the budget go ahead and make a sump with a refugium portion (read Marc's site about sumps).

Here are 2 options:

1) The sump/refugium under stand route. More expensive but much better

I would go with a Mag 5 or equivelent so that you can t off to the refugium etc. and still get plenty of flow. Splitting the output into tow you could probably get away with no additional in tank powerheads. Also then you could get an in sump skimmer which tend to work better. (Remoras are the only HOB that are worth buying in my opinion)

2) Go cheap!

Get a couple maxijets, and convert a HOB filer such as a whisper into a refugium. While small it does let you grow pods for your tank and is way cheaper!!! This will work fine. It is not near as good as the solution above but it is also a couple hundred dollars cheaper!]



Edited By kwl1763 on 1103832225
 
[AC500 Fuge

Using a AC500 is what I use for a refugium/sump. It saves lots of space and was fun to build and cost $30. See the thread and it will give you more info.]
 
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