29 gallon saltwater?

can anyone give me a list of stuff i'd need for a 29 gallon saltwater tank? I've never done saltwater before and I wanted another 55 but the wife wouldn't allow it so I'm thinking a smaller setup...

Good filtration(I used a PennPlex Cascade 700), protein skimmer(can't remember what model but I ran a Coralife), lots and lots of live rock. I'm a huge fan of CaribSea live sand. Made it so much easier to cycle my tank. And, by all means do not cycle with damsels unless you plan on only keeping damsels or tearing the whole tank apart to get them out. Those cute, tiny, neon blue fish are some of the meanest creatures I've ever come across. Had one kill a lionfish, that was plenty big enough to have eaten the damsel, by biting the tips off all his fin rays causing a massive infection. I'd opt for just dropping a whole uncooked cocktail shrimp in and measuring water parameters daily. With enough live sand and rock you may never get any measurable ammonia or nitrite. If nothing shows up after a week you're good to add fish.


It's much more challenging to keep saltwater in a smaller tank. Do a lot of research and decide before buying any fish what you want to do with it. This would be a good opportunity to get the wife interested in aquatics. Maybe a pair of ocellaris clowns(a bit more hardy than perculas, usually brighter color) would be a good start. The melanarus wrasse is one of the few wrasses that will stay small enough for that tank and still has stunning colors. Some of the basslets and dottybacks, too. What's your wife's favorite color? We can probably come up with a small, hardy, energetic fish in her favorite color to catch her attention. Firefish are another small high color fish. Good luck with this tank!

the set up will depend on what you want to keep in the thank. first decide what you want soft corals, hard corals,, fish only, etc..... 29 is small for a beginners salt in my opinion and expensive to set up.

Jeepluv77 & FishVixen

x2

ok.....a 29 is a perfect starter tank for taking the plunge into SW 1st off b4 you do anything...READ YOUR A$$ OFF!!!!!! read read and then read till you eyes bleed!!!! lol
it does depend on what you want to keep in your tank!
you have 2 options
REFF as in with corals and all the pretty colors and fish
or FOWLR which stands for Fish Only WIth Live Rock!

if you want to go reef you need to read on the subject alot and accumulate all the items you need!
filtration!
you can go with a simple HOB (hang on the back) filter just make sure its a strong one to creat a good flow in the tank!
you can also use a sump!!
a sump is VERY Beneficial to you tank! it not only act as a bigger filter but increases your water volume. the bigger the water volume the EASIER it is to manage you tank! you can also hide all of your equipment like you filter floss,heaters, skimmers, reufugium,etc..
depending on your Bio Load (the amount of fish you have/want in your tank) you will need a skimmer! a skimmer gets out all of the absorbed fish waste in your tank that regular filters cant get out! thus resulting in LESS WATER CHANGES!!!
another way of filtering you tank is the ol natural way.....with a refugium!
a refugium is a sectioned off part of your tank (noramaly in the sump) thats filled with Cheato Live sand and live rock!
live rock and live sand ALONE are a type of filteration also! the more suface area on your rock the more room for benefcial bacteria to grow and help keep your tank in check!
Live Rock!!!
the amount of LR youll need for your tank depends on how many Gallons it is!
youll need about 1-1.5Lbs or rock per gallon!
LIVE sand works the same way! bout 1Lbs per Gallon!

ALSO!!! for reef and corlas!
youll need PLENTY OF GOOD FLOW!!!!!
flow in a reef tank is KEY!!!! power heads are used to keep water in the tank from setteling...parts in the tank that dont have good flow are called dead spots.
if little to no flow touches a part of a tank waste accumulates and starts to get funky and can get you tank paraneters in a whack! plus piles of fish poop is nasty!

NAOTHER KEY THING!
is Lighting! now with lighting you get what you pay for! if you cheap out on lights dont expect you corals and tank to be thriving!!!!!
cheap lights will cause you corals to turn into a funky brown color. not pretty or attractive at all!!!!!!
also the type of lights you need would depend on what type of corals youll be housing! like SPS (small polyp stoney) or LPS (Large Polyp Stoney)
sps usually requires more flow and light like high output t5's or MH's (metal halides)

cycling you tank youll come accross algea blooms retarded Paramters and such thats when youll have to reed like crazy!
a good tank cycle takes WAY MORE THAN A WEEK!!!!(within the 1st 2-3 weeks you can throw fish in the tank) usually about (if you want to do it right) 3 months, then youll be able to actually start a reef!!!

CUC(Clean Up Crew)
consists of snails, crabs shrimp a bunch of lil invters and what not that clean you tank. certan crabs and snails eat the algea that grows in your tank as is cycles. thats the best time to throw em in ,it also helps make you tank cycle faster
READ ALL OF THIS!!!!
http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/
i read this like a good 10-15 times NO JOKE!!! b4 anything i still read these articles!

great info on salt set up.

Thanks for all the info. I am also about to set up a smaller size sw tank. Wife gave in. Yay. Just has to be under 40 gallons.

Wow Alkomist....man i might want to start a reef tank now have a 29 sitting on the shelf empty .....hehehe.

Great info on the subject thanks

Just saw this on Cl thought I would post...this is what my buddies where running for small salt tanks
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/for/2089320778.html

might be able to find better deals that already have fish/inverts included though

thats a pretty good deal their!!!
i saw one complete and running for 75$!!!!!
dude was moving and couldnt take the reef with him and just needed to get rid of it!
i called for it but within 20mins of the add beeing posted it was SOLD:(


and thanx for the compliments:)
im still reading on setting up mine!
i had set up a 20L but had to move within 1.5months of starting it:(
its gone now but i will hopefully have somthing up and running by the end of this year lol

08can-am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go for the 40!!! if not get the 30!!!
remember! the bigger the water volume the easier it is to controll the tank!!!:)

Going to look at the 30 tomorrow. It's on a black pine stand with matching canopy.

do it do it do it do it do it do it!!!!!!!!!
how much?

If I get it I will tell you. Don't want to jinx myself.

Until next episode> >>>>>>>>>>>>>. I don't like waiting!!!

I'm going to get live plants and do a lil more to my 55 then start operation saltwater

08can-am, if you're going to do a 30 or 40 gallon reef might I suggest looking around for a breeder tank? The shallower water depth will make lighting a lot easier and cheaper. Even if you're going with a FOWLR it'll give you a larger footprint allowing for more fish. :) These can often be aquired from a locally owned LPS that's either upgrading equipment or going out of business for fairly cheap. You might also be able to find one that was used for a reptile. Check the seams. If it's a fairly new or gently used tank it'll probably still hold water just fine. Honestly, I don't recommend going with a reef in anything smaller than a 75 for a beginner unless you have lots of time on your hands and disposable cash. The chances for catastrophic meltdown while getting used to dosing minerals, not over feeding, balancing fish loads, etc is too high for anyone with limited funds available. That being said, I also do not discourage newcomers to the challenge! As you've already said, read everything, and then read it all again. And, just as important, invest in good equipment! One way that I recommend saltwater beginners get into reef is to run what is essentially a FOWLR but with some mushrooms thrown in and set out with the idea of cultivating lots of coralline algae. This will get you used to all the testing, dosing, and way more frequent water changes without being quite as difficult or losing a lot of money if something goes wrong. You also won't have to deal with learning how to frag corals a couple months in. Sometimes you can find an LPS or local hobbyist willing to give you hands on lessons on things like determining placement, anchoring, and fragging of corals, too. I'd look into that and see what's available. dcninja, Animal Jungle here in Virginia Beach used to offer seminars for new hobbiest on saltwater, freshwater, plants, reefs, etc. Not sure if they still do but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Leroy, the owner of Fish Safari, might be willing to let you come in one day and watch while he frags out corals, too, if he happens to have any ready. I've been staying out of the saltwater section for awhile since I've been working on my tattoos so I don't over spend, so I have no idea what he's got back there right now.

whats the difference between fish only with live rock and reef?

Fish only with live rock is exactly what it sounds like. Well, usually with sand or live sand(the better option in my opinion) also. Reef has corals, often as the main focus of the tank. Reef tanks are much harder to maintain even in a large tank. Hence the fact I generally recommend starting with FOWLR. That doesn't mean you can't stock the fish with respect to adding corals later, though.

what difference does coral make? and what is live rock? rock with little organisms growing on it?

You've got a lot of research to do! Which is a good thing if you're willing to do the reading. Corals are another type of animal. Not in the normal sense of what one thinks of as an animal. Honestly, I don't think I'm good enough with words to describe exactly what a coral is. Hopefully someone with more experience explaining that will chime in. Your best bet is to read up on them. If I can find my books on marine reef aquariums I'll bring them to you when I meet up with you for that slate. However, if you're looking to start a saltwater tank within the next few weeks I would stay with FOWLR. Corals are extremely sensitive and require a lot of work with water chemistry. The books will be a good start on learning but I'd still recommend a lot more research if you want to go with them. Also, I'd start with something mushrooms or polyps if you do as they tend to be a lot more tolerant.

not in the next few weeks i gotta get the money up and stuff, it'll probably be at least a month or two.

Thanks Jeepluv, i do plan on fowlr to start. There is someone local who i think is willing to give advice and what not since he has already givin me alot. And if i can find a good test kit my wife will be perfect for that and i think that is where i can get her into the hobby. She works as a diaylsis (sp) tech and alot of what she does is testing the water and keeping it within certain perameters. I am also going with a smaller tank b/c i currently have a 90 and a 110. She said no more tanks but then agreed to try a small sw setup. So im not going to push the limits. Plust we really dont have room for much more over that any ways seeing how we live in a town house. Any suggestions on test kits?

dude if you dont know what live rock is then you have to read!!!
check out the link i posted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
read it all!!!!!!
for you i would suggest a fish only tank! even then! you should read up on it!
you still have to learn about flow and how to manage you bioload!!!!
READ!!!!

http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/

You talkin to me or the other person?