Going to start a 29 gallon reef. Need serious help!!!!

[zumiez09]

Okay, I'm going to start a 29 gallon reef, I guess you could call it a nano, your call. But I have a 10 gallon saltwater already, but its only like a trial run, I got the tank for free. In the 10 gallon, I have a crushed puka at the bottom, a heater and a filter. Do I need to get a bigger heater or filter for the 29?? I was going to get live sand to put in the 29 and live rock as well. But how many lbs do I need? I have heard that a pair of clown will do well and get a few other fish later as the tank gets more established. But I was hoping to add a clean-up crew since I'm getting live rock. What would be best?? I need all the info. I can get. Thanks so much!

 

[zumiez09]

I'm not so sure about the live sand. I dont fully understand it? Does it just provide a base for the tank?

 

[yae4volcom]

A 29 gallon sounds pretty good. If you want a reef, you will have to get decent lighting. For sand, you can start with regular "dead" sand and then seed it with a couple of cups of Live sand or you can just get all live sand -it is up to you. If you do get mostly "dead" sand it will just take some time to become live. As for rock, it is up to you how much you want. Most people suggest 1-1.5 lb per gallon but it's really just preference. Of course the more you get the better filteration you will have. For a Heater, I am pretty sure you will need a 75 watt. As for your filter, It is up to you if you want to use it or not. The rock should do alot of the work.

 

[dcel22]

I am just like you but you have a little more experience than me. I am in the middle of starting my first 20 gallon so here is what I have learned so far. Live sand is not just a pretty bottom, as long as it is live or once it is live it will help serve as biological filtration just like your live rock. In my 20 I also plan on keeping a pair of clowns and after talking to a few people I have decided that my LR and my LS is enough filtration for the bio-load. Hmmmm cleanup crew, I wanted to get hermit crabs and I think they still may be ok but I have heard a lot of people advise me not to. So for my cleanup crew I am going with some shrimp and snails. I would assume you need a heater that is about 100 watts but I really am not sure on that so please don't quote me. Also I don't know if you know about southdown playsand, but if not and you are like me (trying to cut some costs), you might want to buy some of that ($5 for 50lbs) and then just seed that with your live rock. Oh well like I said I am not pro, just kinda in the same position and figured I would share what I have learned. Later.

 

[dude crush]

I am in a bit of the same situation as well. See, I went to a LFS wanting to start a saltwater tank. I told the guy that I had no experience at all. I did have a 10 gallon tank already. So he helped me with the filter, heater, instant ocean, the bedding, and the hydrometer. He said we could put anything in it, but the lava rock stuff. So, I got a fake coral, a decaritive ornement, and some plastic grass. He didnt mention anything at all about a cycle. He said to come back in 1 or 2 days after the tank has been running to get some fish. So, I did. He got me a percula clown and a damsel. A day later, the clown dies. 3 days after that, the damsel dies. I'm assuming because of the ammonia. But it cheesed me off that they didnt mention anything at all about the ammonia and nitrites and nitrates. So, I blew all my money on that. So, I'm just gonna have freshwater fish in that tank and save up for a bigger tank and LR, LS, and whatnot.

 

[beaslbob]

Dude: You gotta be kidding. boy did you get bad advice. that advice was bad even for freshwater. You simply need time to build up the biological filtration on any tank.
LR helps reduce the time required. LS does contain bacteria but it is mainly anerobic as opposed to the aerobic bacteria used for the nitrogen cycle. The LS will process nitrates which are the end product of the nitrogen cycle. An even more effective means is to use algae/macros or marine plants. My fw have only plants for filtration and nothing else. My saltwater didn't settle down and stabilize until I added macros. Didn't know about them at first. Seems the industry wants to sell LR.

 

[007]

Alright here is the deal . . . . I think that starting a 20-29 gallon tank is a great place to start. It is where I started and is the only size tank that I have run for over a year now. my tank is quite successful and I have little to no problems with it.
for filtration, all you will need is a sand bed, LR and a skimmer, the bak pak works great for tanks this size.
Two powerheads for water movement, a 100w heater, and some lights. From there its all up to you.
Don't buy into that "plants are the best thing for a reef tank" crap. Granted that plants will help filter the water in a marine tank if they are properly set up in a working refugium, but they will not solve your problems or shorten your cycle.
DCEL: whoever told you not to buy hermits was wrong. You will have a difficult time keeping your tank clean without hermits.

 

[overanalyzer]

in a 29 gallon tank I would do the following:
1. Plan out your tank and do research.
2. Plan out your lighting: PC or VHO would suffice unless you want to keep SPS or Mxaima Clams (you should know this after your research)
3. Look into what you want in the tank with your fish (fake stuff or live corals)
4. If you decide you want plant life figure out a way to hook-up a refugium (Hang-on or plumbed). But NEVER put macro algea's in your main tank. If you want plant life in your main tank look into some manatee grass.
5. Look into southdown sand and use your LR to seed it.
6. Buy your LR locally with a keen eye for getting cool pieces. Your tank will fill up pretty quickly.
7. Avoid Dude Crush's LFS AT ALL COSTS ....
8. Locate a pure water source such as yoru LFS or grocery store or buy an RO/DI filter
9. Set-up sand - shallow at first - save some sand after you get your rocks into the tank.
10. Slowly add premixed salt water to tank
(To properly mix water do the following:
a.) Aireate fresh water over night
b.) Add about a 1/2 cup of salt per gallon of water
c.) add heater to mix (use larger rubbermaid trashcan - not pretty works awesome)
d.) aireate and mix overnight
e.) fill tank next morning)
11. once water (don't fill the tank to the very top though)and some sand is in tank add dead shrimp to tank (get a raw small shrimp from gorcery store) - I would use an old nylon and put it in (so you can fish it out once your cycle kicks off)
12. give it a couple of days to a week (to settle some) and add your rocks and play with aqua scaping
13. ONce aquascaping is completed add the rest of your sand this does two things:
1. - Helps stabilize rocks because they will be buried
2. - Allows for the sand to come in direct contact with rock and helps to seed the sand bed.
14. Go to other fish friend or LFS and get a cup or two of "gunk" from the bottom of their rock curing tanks
15. Test water for the big four (ammonia, Nitrite, MitrATE, and PH)
16. Remove shrimp once ammoinia spikes (should not take more than a week or so).
17. Top off tank and then be patient - test weekly until Trates are down to 0
17. (a) ONce Nitrates are near zero add your first clean-up crew
- Some Nassarius snails to keep sand bed stirred (10-20)
- Some other snails to clean rocks/glass (do a search for kipass and snails - read his my takie on various snails thread)
- some scarlet hermit crabs (10 or so). I prefer blue legs but they tend to be violent
18. Add first fish (if adding pair of clowns then do them first).
19. Perform 1st water change 2 weeks after first fish is added (ignore people who claim you do not need to do a water change .... especially in a nano)
20. 1 week after first water change add your first corals (do a search but shrooms of all varieties are good)
21. 1 month after first fish added add second fish (wait two more weeks if you added a pair of clowns)
22. PRepare next water change (monthly)
23. Monitor levels
24. After two months beef up clean-up crew as needed (also you can add shrimps - peppermints or cleaners with your original clean-up crew)
ENJOY and Good Luck and welcome to SWF.com

 

[dude crush]

I have a question about the water change.
So, do you take out half and add more salt water(just not as much salt)? Cuz then wouldn't you have to have another cycle??

 

[dcel22]

a 50% water change??? That seems like a huge ammount of water to change.

 

[overanalyzer]

Originally posted by Dude Crush
I have a question about the water change.
So, do you take out half and add more salt water(just not as much salt)? Cuz then wouldn't you have to have another cycle??
You will find a wide variety of opinions on this point. I would do 3-5 gallons in a 29 gallon tank .... more at the start until all you bioligcal filtration catches up (so 5 gallons first few months for sure).
Use hte following steps:
To properly mix water do the following:
a.) Aireate fresh water over night
b.) Add about a 1/2 cup of salt per gallon of water
c.) add heater to mix (use larger rubbermaid trashcan - not pretty works awesome)
d.) aireate and mix overnight
e.) verify salinity and PH equals the salinity and PH of your tank
f.) using pump or siphon remove 5 gallons of water
g.) Quickly replace using siphon or pump (be cautious of stirring up a sand storm)
have some filter floss on hand in case you do stir up a sand storm ....
in my 20 the most water I have ever changed is 5 gallons .... and that was just recently
HTH