Please Help, Upgrading To a 29 or 36 Gallon Tank Many ?'s

[nikkoli110]

Hello, I am a beginer in salt water tanks, and I bought a 10 gallon 4 months ago, and have had a lot of trouble keeping it stable. I only have a green chromis in it right now, and a hermit crab. I had a clown but he died. I saved my money, and now I am about to purchase either a 29 gallon tank, or a 36 gallon bow front tank. (Thats as big as the 'rents will allow) Now when I start the new tank, someone at ***** (yea they dont know much thats why I am asking) told me that when I upgrade, I can just put the hang on filter (that was in the 10 gallon, all cycled) on my new tank, along with the new one I will be using. He said that will cycle it. I will be using live sand, and Catalina Real Ocean water. I will also be buying more live rock in addition to the pieces I currenly have. Also I am thinking about a small or nano reef. I am not experienced in this lighting terminlology. Are there any that are ready made all set to go lights in a hood, or do I have to purchase a hood and then attatch the lights? Thanks!!!

 

[viet-tin]

IMO id get the bigger tank because the more water you have the more easier it is to keep your levels stable. If you want to go with a reef tank then id highly suggest investing in a good skimmer. The HOB filters arent so good, althought they do do a good job with catching stuff but eventually all that gunk will turn into ammonia and then your gonna have some problems. You can also use your old tank as a sump or a refugium. This wil add water volume to your tank and the sump will give you a place to hide your skimmer, heaters, pumps, etc. A refugium will help you bring down nitrates by means on biological filtration. You can add macro algae in here to help bring nitrates down. It will also be a safe place for your pods to reproduce. For lighting id suggest a 175w mh, then youll be able to keep many different types of coral. You can purchase a retro fit and drill it into your hood or you can hang it from the ceiling and have an open top for better evaporation.

 

[ivanfj]

If you are looking into reef, I would highly recommend you get a skimmer. A lot of people have success with the remora and I am running a Prism myself but it's not doing a great job IMO. As for the lighting, you are probably looking into something like the aqualight setups. They come with an internal fan and basically what you have to do is mount it on top of your tank and plug it in. You could ask your LFS about the mounting legs. Hellolights.com gives a lot of great information about lighting.
HTH

 

[nikkoli110]

Thanks!! )

 

[lionfish12]

get a 36 gallon tank. Learn about htings befor you even start them. Look in the reef section and just read all the post and do some reasearch online. The only other 2 tihngs i recommend is to take it slow and research.