Hello SWF !
- Thread starter stonepran
- Start date
jillian ayers
Member
Hey! Welcome to the board! Feel free to ask all the questions you want, we've always got someone who knows something here!
hairtrigger
Active Member
Hey stonepran. Welcome to the board, this place has saved my butt many times. Only advice, is to become aware of who offers great advice here, and who doesn't know jack. Ask the mods for info on that. But, this is a great resource. You'll love it. And the "search" option is an invaluable tool. Good luck with the tank! 
hairtrigger
Active Member
Yep... I had to buy about 300 lbs of sand so all aragalive would have been waaaaaaay too costly. But, what I did was to buy regular small grain natures ocean dry aragonite and seed the sand bed with about 4 inches of the stuff. Then my last 2 inches was the aragalive.
Put it this way though... if I had the loot to buy ALL aragalive I would have. And I have a feeling my DSB would be coming along a lot faster than it is. But the way I did it seems to be working. Slowly.
Put it this way though... if I had the loot to buy ALL aragalive I would have. And I have a feeling my DSB would be coming along a lot faster than it is. But the way I did it seems to be working. Slowly.
ophiura
Active Member
I do not know where the cut off is, perhaps Bang Guy will chime in, but a DSB is not always considered to be terribly functional in smaller tanks, and I am not sure a 4" sand bed in a 29 would be worth the lost space.
Instead, might not be bad to consider adding a refugium.
A few basics, what I consider to be the most important stuff, and I have written it before:
You can have a lot of money, the best equipment and more gadgets then anyone, but the most important things you need are things you can't buy.
1) patience (it takes time to do it right)
2) knowledge (read, research, ask questions, read some more)
3) patience (you can't keep a lot of fish, even if you like them...)
4) discipline (to do the work, maintenance, and for #1-3)
5) patience (it takes a long time to properly stock a salt water tank, many many months or longer)
6) humility (to admit when you've done something wrong, to know when you've forgotten about 1,3 and 5, gone out, bought a fish without doing 2, and now it is dead)
7) patience (the tank might be empty or just plain ugly while it cycles, but you have to give it time to mature)
8) responsibility (to do 1-7, to face a mistake as in 6 and learn from it)
9-99) patience (money won't get you out of most problems, 1-8 will)
100) money (for when you realize your 29 is too small and want a new tank)
The best place to start is researching, and by getting a few books to decide what you want to keep in your tank. If you know anything about freshwater tanks, now is a good time to set it aside (except for how to use a siphon) and start learning about saltwater tanks. Very different indeed.
Search for things like "Live Rock (LR), Live Sand (LS), Deep Sand Beds (DSB), Cycle, Cycling, refugium" There are important terms for an early tank.
I am serious about the patience. You can have a lot of money to put into the best equipment, but without a lot of patience you will not succeed. You can have a very nice tank without a great deal of money (relatively), if you are patient. It is the golden rule of reefkeeping. IMO
Please take your time and decide what you want to keep and how to do it best.
WELCOME TO THE BOARD! Ask, ask, ask away!
Instead, might not be bad to consider adding a refugium.
A few basics, what I consider to be the most important stuff, and I have written it before:
You can have a lot of money, the best equipment and more gadgets then anyone, but the most important things you need are things you can't buy.
1) patience (it takes time to do it right)
2) knowledge (read, research, ask questions, read some more)
3) patience (you can't keep a lot of fish, even if you like them...)
4) discipline (to do the work, maintenance, and for #1-3)
5) patience (it takes a long time to properly stock a salt water tank, many many months or longer)
6) humility (to admit when you've done something wrong, to know when you've forgotten about 1,3 and 5, gone out, bought a fish without doing 2, and now it is dead)
7) patience (the tank might be empty or just plain ugly while it cycles, but you have to give it time to mature)
8) responsibility (to do 1-7, to face a mistake as in 6 and learn from it)
9-99) patience (money won't get you out of most problems, 1-8 will)
100) money (for when you realize your 29 is too small and want a new tank)
The best place to start is researching, and by getting a few books to decide what you want to keep in your tank. If you know anything about freshwater tanks, now is a good time to set it aside (except for how to use a siphon) and start learning about saltwater tanks. Very different indeed.
Search for things like "Live Rock (LR), Live Sand (LS), Deep Sand Beds (DSB), Cycle, Cycling, refugium" There are important terms for an early tank.
I am serious about the patience. You can have a lot of money to put into the best equipment, but without a lot of patience you will not succeed. You can have a very nice tank without a great deal of money (relatively), if you are patient. It is the golden rule of reefkeeping. IMO
Please take your time and decide what you want to keep and how to do it best.
WELCOME TO THE BOARD! Ask, ask, ask away!