Started up a 29g tank

[lyman1415]

I just start up my tank and need some help turning it into a reef tank. I don't have much in there just a couple pieces of live 2 fish and a couple blue legged hermits. Any advise will be appreciated.
There's more pieces of rock than that now.

 

[yannifish]

Well, for starters, how long has the tank been set up?
How big is this tank and what kind of fish do you have? I see a clownfish (maroon?) in the picture.

 

[lyman1415]

It's been set up for little over a month and it's a 29 gallon tank with a bio cube skimmer, rena xp2 canister filter and nano korlia fan. The skimmer is from my old tank. The fish are a maroon clown and yellow clown gobie.

 

[yannifish]

Sounds good.
You've kept tanks before?

 

[lyman1415]

Yeah but I never do well with reef tanks. My fish always do great

 

[lyman1415]

Added some more live rock and snails to the tank.

 

[yannifish]

What equipment are you using on the tank?

 

[lyman1415]

I'm using a Rena XP2 canister filter and Bio Cube protien skimmer (from an old tank)

 

[yannifish]

What about lighting?

 

[lyman1415]

Coralife t5 dual light fixture

 

[yannifish]

How many watts?
Does that fixture have individual reflectors for each bulb or one big reflector?

 

[lyman1415]

This is straight from company website.
Offering significantly more light than conventional fluorescent systems, High Output T5 lighting is an excellent choice for saltwater, reef, or freshwater tropical aquariums.
Aqualight High Output T5 Dual Lamp Fixtures come complete with two high output lamps. Each high output lamp can provide approximately twice the light output of a traditional T8 lamp making these fixtures a great choice for saltwater aquariums and aquariums with live plants.
Aqualight High Output T5 Dual Lamp Fixtures feature a quality design including:

• 
  10,000K and Actinic lamps included
• 
  Low profile powder coated aluminum housing
• 
  Acrylic splash guard to protect lamps
  Adjustable mounting brackets
  Available in sizes 24" 30" 36" and 48"

 

[yannifish]

Okay. My guess would be that it doesn't have individual reflectors then. Individual reflectors greatly improve the amount of light reaching your corals.
However, I'm not at all an expert on lighting. Hopefully someone else will chime in here.

 

[novahobbies]

That is a great introductory light for basic reef entry. It will suffice for basic easy-to-keep soft corals and corralimorphs such as mushrooms, ricordeas, many zoas, and leather corals. You should be able to keep things like Kenya tree coral and xenia under that lighting system as well, and (possibly) lower-light loving LPS. I would go very slow and research any LPS coral before you added it, however.
If you're looking at just getting into the basic husbandry of reef-keeping, this light will be a decent starter set. I warn you, though....once you see some success with your corals, you will be tempted to try some of the more difficult species and this light will NOT cut it. You will want at the very least a 4-bulb T-5 fixture, preferably with individual reflectors on each bulb. If that's something you want to do eventually, you may want to consider returning your current lighting setup and saving a little for the "bigger" fixture. Do some research on a few of the newer metal halide pendants and swing-arm fixtures, and of course you might want to consider the pricier LED fixtures.
Oh, and you will almost certainly want more live rock in that tank when you start moving towards adding coral.

 

[yannifish]

Quote:
Originally Posted by novahobbies http:///forum/thread/385693/started-up-a-29g-tank#post_3384010
Oh, and you will almost certainly want more live rock in that tank when you start moving towards adding coral.
+1. More rock is a good thing.

 

[lyman1415]

I'm slowly adding more live rock to the tank it's hard finding some at decent price in jersey. I also want to upgrade my skimmer. I've mushrooms and spas they do fine for about month then they close up and won't open back up.

 

[yannifish]

Have you ever thought about a sump?

 

[lyman1415]

I've thought about it i just don't have room for it under such a small tank. Everything that I have for both of salt water tanks is under the 29 gallon tank except for the one filter.

 

[yannifish]

Okay. They are just nice because the hold a lot of the equipment that is in the tank right now.

 

[lyman1415]

I would like to do one. I just don't have the space since my bigger tank is on a rod iron stand that is completely and with a toddler that is in to everything I just can't do it. I am looking for another stand for the tank so I can store supplies under it.