New to SW 29 or larger?

S

shella

Guest
I am also new to SW. I have had freshwater for the last 30 years and took a leap of faith and decided to start SW with my 29 gal. tank. I am at the end of the cycle and am considering purchasing a larger tank before I purchase any fish. My thought is if I am going to go larger, now would be the time. Any opinions and size recommendations?
 
superhero

superhero

Member
First off
WELCOME TO THE BOARDS!!!

The general rule of thumb is if you are a beginner you want to go with the most water volume you could afford because smaller tanks leave less room for error... When i got my first tank i made it a 150 gallon and am very happy i did so... i have a ton of room for many different fish and also have a lot of room for error where as with a 29 i would have had next to no room... so if you have the money and the room, i would reccomend going bigger for sure... Its a tough decision now but trust me you will not regret it 2 5 or 10 years down the road because i gurantee that you will run out of room in the 29 down the road and ennd up getting a newer and bigger tank anyways... just my 2 cents

-Tony
 
S

shella

Guest
I appreciate your 2 cents. This is not a cheap hobby and I don't want to be throwing good money after bad so I am trying to make the smart moves up front. I am doing as previous posts has stated and try to located a used aquarium on other web sites and I have found that there are plenty in my area for sale. I am considering 75 - 100 gallons since I have the room and it appears I can make the money work. My next question is, once I purchase another aquarium, can I move what I currently have (after cycle completes) and put it in the new? Do I have to "cycle" the new again? Sorry, I said I was new to this :)
Thanks for your opinions!
 
blenny

blenny

Member
Originally Posted by shella
http:///forum/post/3060205
I appreciate your 2 cents. This is not a cheap hobby and I don't want to be throwing good money after bad so I am trying to make the smart moves up front. I am doing as previous posts has stated and try to located a used aquarium on other web sites and I have found that there are plenty in my area for sale. I am considering 75 - 100 gallons since I have the room and it appears I can make the money work. My next question is, once I purchase another aquarium, can I move what I currently have (after cycle completes) and put it in the new? Do I have to "cycle" the new again? Sorry, I said I was new to this :)
Thanks for your opinions!
Welcome!

Yes you will have to cycle once again ,because you will add more sand ect.
 
superhero

superhero

Member
Originally Posted by Blenny
http:///forum/post/3060211
Welcome!

Yes you will have to cycle once again ,because you will add more sand ect.
but one good bit of news is that it will most likely not last as long as the first cycle because you already have built up some of the bacteria that you need to begin with

and 75-100 is a great size for a beginner its big enough you can keep some diverse fish... are you thinking of doing a reef or fowlr?
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
you can still use the sand and rock that your already have....you will just need to add more in. Which will be no problem. I would suggest looking for a reef ready tank, one with a built in overflow and drilled for plumbing. The filter would be a sump underneath the stand. These IMO are the easiest tanks to care for. You will also want to look into getting a good protein skimmer, particularly if you want corals. If you want you can post a sale add and we can help you figure out if it's a good deal or not. Just be sure not to post the URL of the website.
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
bigger = better IMO
I started with 125, with a 29 you cant have tangs or larger angels which are some of the most popular and beautiful fish in the hobby
as said before you'll run out of room fast also
yeah it's more expensive but if you start out with FO and slowly add things over time it really doesn't hurt the wallet that bad
 
S

shella

Guest
I really appreciate all of you taking the time to offer your suggestions. I will take you up on the offer to review the details when I find a tank that I believe will fit my purpose. Thanks again and I hope to be asking for you help again soon. Off to lookin'

Shella
 
big

big

Active Member
Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/3060221
you can still use the sand and rock that your already have....you will just need to add more in. Which will be no problem. I would suggest looking for a reef ready tank, one with a built in overflow and drilled for plumbing. The filter would be a sump underneath the stand. These IMO are the easiest tanks to care for. You will also want to look into getting a good protein skimmer, particularly if you want corals. If you want you can post a sale add and we can help you figure out if it's a good deal or not. Just be sure not to post the URL of the website.
Yes a Reef ready with overflow drilled is the way to go. The bigger the better up to a point, I like the 125's.......Sometimes the little things like partial changes etc. can just become too much of a chore with very large tanks....
Welcome to the Boards.........
 
brokendeck

brokendeck

Active Member
Go with a 125 or larger. There are so many fish out there that you will prolly want but you cant have them bc your tank wont be big enough. A 125 or larger would be perfect if you have the room for that size tank.
Welcome to the boards!!!!
 
d-man

d-man

Member
I started with a 29 and I think it is absolutely the beast to start with because when you start with a big tank you have to deal with big water-changes and I would not have been able to do them as often with a 29 I can do 1/3 water-changes and 2yrs in I have not lost much and have had many times that I was not able to take care of my tank because I can get my tank "out of trouble" quick
who want's fish when you can have coral anyway coral cleen and fish poop
 
S

shella

Guest
D-man, you are so funny. Your right though, I do want coral's. My intentions is to have a reef tank with a few fish such as the clown of course. I came home last night and my tank I believe is at the end of the cycle. It has cleared substantially and I finally have the protein skimmer regulated right so that I no longer have billions of tiny bubbles. I am still checking CL for tanks and I hope I find the right one soon. I don't want to start adding anything live to my 29, I would rather wait for the "bigger is better" tank
Do I need to do anything to the tank I have right now ie. water change, in the mean time?
 
superhero

superhero

Member
Originally Posted by shella
http:///forum/post/3061476
D-man, you are so funny. Your right though, I do want coral's. My intentions is to have a reef tank with a few fish such as the clown of course. I came home last night and my tank I believe is at the end of the cycle. It has cleared substantially and I finally have the protein skimmer regulated right so that I no longer have billions of tiny bubbles. I am still checking CL for tanks and I hope I find the right one soon. I don't want to start adding anything live to my 29, I would rather wait for the "bigger is better" tank
Do I need to do anything to the tank I have right now ie. water change, in the mean time?
if you are at the end of your cycle and your nitrites have dropped to 0 and you have ammonia and nitriates go ahead and do a 20 % water change then you should be ready to take the plunge and get a fish... if you wish

-Tony
 
S

shella

Guest
I started my 29 gal. 3 weeks ago with 30 lbs. LS and 17 lbs. LR. One week into the cycle I added 19 more lbs. of LR. I checked the water today (3 weeks) and the SG is at 1.022, nitrite is .05 and ammonia is >.10 ppm. My nitrate is at 2.5 ppm. Am I at the end?
Also I have read the nitrate should be >.25 ppm for a reef and I have read that it should be 10-20 ppm for a reef. I am so confused and terrified to do anything else while I am searching for the larger aquarium that I would like to upgrade to. But if I can't figure out what to do at 29 gal. I feel I am lost.
Help!!!
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
If you are still showing any ammonia or nitrites...NO...you are not done with your initial cycle....trates CAN be 10-20....0 is ideal though....remember ammonia and nitrites are toxic though
 
superhero

superhero

Member
Originally Posted by shella
http:///forum/post/3065836
I started my 29 gal. 3 weeks ago with 30 lbs. LS and 17 lbs. LR. One week into the cycle I added 19 more lbs. of LR. I checked the water today (3 weeks) and the SG is at 1.022, nitrite is .05 and ammonia is >.10 ppm. My nitrate is at 2.5 ppm. Am I at the end?
Also I have read the nitrate should be >.25 ppm for a reef and I have read that it should be 10-20 ppm for a reef. I am so confused and terrified to do anything else while I am searching for the larger aquarium that I would like to upgrade to. But if I can't figure out what to do at 29 gal. I feel I am lost.
Help!!!
Ok you are still cycling because your nitrite and ammonia will be 0 once you have completed your cycle but your nitrates will still be high and this is because of the ghost feeding or decomposing shirmp you have in there... Now nitrates are not good for your fish however some micro-organisms thrive on these and that is why people use live rock as a filter... so you do not want any nitrates in your aquarium and the way you keep those down is by keeping the bio load light and doing frequent water changes... hope this helps
-Tony
 
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