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[Demm]

what's up all.

completely new to saltwater here. I just converted my 29 gallon freshwater tank to saltwater yesterday. have a couple questions.

for my freshwater tank I had 2 filters. an aqua clear 50 and a topfin 30. right now I have my aqua clear filter running in the tank. it has a sponge, those matrix rocks, and purigen. am I going to be able to cycle the tank with this filter and keep it going with it? I'm planning on cycling the tank with 2 demsels. the guy at the fish store told me I might be able to cycle it with it. just wanted to hear opinions on it.

also, might be a stupid question but would this be comptible. clownfish, sea urchin, and a cleaning crew (shrimp and stuff)?

thanks for the help, sorry if I repeated any questions others have asked I didn't find nothing in the search.

 

[tmreynolds]

Please read the pinned topics in the nano section. Sounds like you need to do some more research before jumping into things. You need to be fully prepared and understand the concepts before starting a marine tank.

Please do not cycle your tank with fish either, its not necessary.

If you read the pinned topics then ask more questions you'll get plenty of help.

What are you going for, fish only, fish only with live rock or a reef tank?

 

[Demm]

going with fish only and live rock

 

[blabadie]

I think a greeting is in order!



I think the cliche thing to say is "welcome to the salty side of things" or something to that effect

Ok,

So you definitely need to give us more information:

What type of substrate are you going to use?
How much money are you willing to spend on the hobby? (this is a really good question)
Do you know what kind of fish you CAN put in the tank?


Here's what I would start doing.

I would get my substrate (sand) and also add some live sand (or maybe sand from another, cycled sw aquarium). Then you can start buying pieces of live rock here and there (especially if you are low on cash). Don't put any fish to cycle the aquarium, you should be able to do this without fish. I mean, come on; would you use your kid to cycle your tank? No, so don't use fish.

You should cycle the tank for a good 4-6 weeks, testing water parameters regularly. Some things you might want to think about BEFORE you go any further:

Do you want to have a sump? If yes, maybe you should consider getting your tank drilled... (I am assuming you don't know what a sump is (if you do, then don't read this), but a sump is used to put heaters, skimmers, filters, etc. in and also where you can treat the tank (additives)). Contact some glass places, they might be able to help you. Otherwise you can just do regular water changes, but sumps are nice for 'getting things out of the way.'

I would STRONGLY suggest setting up a quarantine tank the same time you are setting up your main display. You will not regret this decision. Do not add any animals to your tank without first using a quarantine tank. A 10 gallon tank should be fine. Just throw an HOB filter, heater, and some PVC pipe in the bottom (NOTHING ELSE!). Get used to using the quarantine tank, you'll be happy you did.

During the period of time when you are gathering live rock and cycling your tank, I would consider looking at pictures of reefs and finding out what fish will work best in your tank.

Right now you could be looking at maybe something along the lines of:
1 Perc Clown Fish
1 Firefish
1 Sixline Wrasse
1 Clown Goby

Or something, those are just ideas. You will find fish you like, just go exploring, but don't buy anything without first coming home and checking it out.

Hope this gives you a good start.

Brandon

 

[Demm]

hi there blabadie! thanks for the reply

i'm willing to spend as much money as it takes to do this right. i have spent about 1.5k on my freswater tanks, this tank wont be any different. although i wont spend it all at once (obviously) but from week to week i'll keep adding to it.

a sump i have not looked into yet, but i plan on doing to in the future.

right now i'm using the cribsea arag-alive sand.

as of right now i have the aquaclear filter in there with the above mentioned. i have a maxi-jet 900 power head (230gph). and i just got about 4 lbs of cured live rock, will be getting more in a few days, probably getting about 10 more pounds or so. also i have a heater, thermometer and a hydrometer (the usual). i dont have any fish in there at all, i have read up a bit and decided it wont be getting fish yet.

the stocking that i want for this tank is 2 clownfish, and the shrimp and things to clean. also a lionfish that i'm gonna throw in there with the clownfish (just kidding lol lionfish comes later when i have my 125gallon set hehe). but that's really about it. theres honestly nothing thats i've really seen around here at the stores that have really caught my eye.

also i have to upgrade my light before i really get into things, will be doing that in a couple days. i have an "eclipse daylight" bulb right now, 20watts.

those are really my plans as of right now.

 

[tmreynolds]

hi there blabadie! thanks for the reply

i'm willing to spend as much money as it takes to do this right. i have spent about 1.5k on my freswater tanks, this tank wont be any different. although i wont spend it all at once (obviously) but from week to week i'll keep adding to it.

a sump i have not looked into yet, but i plan on doing to in the future.

right now i'm using the cribsea arag-alive sand.

as of right now i have the aquaclear filter in there with the above mentioned. i have a maxi-jet 900 power head (230gph). and i just got about 4 lbs of cured live rock, will be getting more in a few days, probably getting about 10 more pounds or so. also i have a heater, thermometer and a hydrometer (the usual). i dont have any fish in there at all, i have read up a bit and decided it wont be getting fish yet.

the stocking that i want for this tank is 2 clownfish, and the shrimp and things to clean. also a lionfish that i'm gonna throw in there with the clownfish (just kidding lol lionfish comes later when i have my 125gallon set hehe). but that's really about it. theres honestly nothing thats i've really seen around here at the stores that have really caught my eye.

also i have to upgrade my light before i really get into things, will be doing that in a couple days. i have an "eclipse daylight" bulb right now, 20watts.

those are really my plans as of right now.

Where are my manners, "welcome to the salty side"

Right...some of the fundamentals are

You should always use RO/DI water for marine tanks. This can be obtained from your LFS or you can buy an RO unit from Osmotics.co.uk or similar place.

You need to aim for between 20-30 x water turnover per hour in powerheads. ie 29 gallons = 580 gallons per hour minimum turnover. This is best achieved with more than 1 powerhead so there are no dead-spots.

IMO, you should add all your live rock before you add any stock. Adding more live rock after adding stock risks an ammonia spike. Get all your LR in there, cycle nice and slow then add livestock

I would remove all sponge filter media, and all other filter media IMO as they can cause nitrate build ups. The LR does all your bio-filtering. Instead I would have a filter bag of rowaphos (phosphate remover to stop algae) and a filter bag of activated carbon only as media.

You need to buy ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate marine test kits as a min for FOWLR (fish only with live rock), I also recommend a refractometer instead of a hydrometer as they are much more accurate. Once your cycling, post your water params up here and we'll help you analyse your cycle and when your ready for your clean up crew.

Are you getting a skimmer. Your proabaly best off with one for a 29 gallon. Where are you from, this will help us make a recommendation on skimmer brand.

Post pictures! We love pictures

And finally, be patient, you have to reign yourself in when starting a marine tank. Its exciting but mistakes can be very costly if you rush into things. Disasters happen much quicker and are more devastating than in freshwater tanks. Slowly slowly catchy monkey as the saying goes?!!

Hope this helps, please ask lots more questions and you'll get lots of help.

Good luck

 

[Demm]

thanks for the welcome reynot.

yes i plan on for now adding all the live rock i'm going to use.

i will probably be getting a skimmer soon then, many people told me tha ti dont need one, then some told me i do, so i was kinda confused. but i will get one for sure then. i'm from the US (san antonio, texas).

rowaphos i've never heard of, i'll look at the store to see if they have it. the carbon i'll be getting as well then.

the powerhead i plan on getting another one soon so have a current on the other side of the tank. i'll probably do this when i have more live rock. the current is to much even now, so i'll wait for the live rock to break up the current a bit.

i will post some pictures later on today. it'll be kinda funny, empty tank, with a freshwater background lol (havent switched it yet)

 

[blabadie]

I hope you have a good start now. I am not going to argue with the RO water comment, but I will say that I don't use it (in my FOWLR) and have been happy with the outcome. There is algae build up on the glass every morning, but it's nothing I can't get rid of with my magfloat.

Definitely get a refractometer. It's worth, and you can pick a good one up off of ebay for around $40 (which included shipping for me).

If you are even considering adding a sump to your 29 gallon, get the glass drilled! I can't stress how much of a pain it is to use an overflow box...they are really loud and expensive to buy.
You may also consider buying a canister filter for this project. That kills two birds with one stone, IMO, because it will clean your water and takes the place of a powerhead.

Brandon

OH, and yes, we won't care if it is a picture of a tank...we like pictures

 

[SkiFletch]

Some fantastic advice so far, I really only have 3 things to add. Firstly, when buying pieces of LR, try to choose longer skinnier pieces. A 29g has a difficult footprint to aquascape and if you select squat round rocks, you're going to have some trouble fitting them in the tank and still have sand space left over.

And secondly, consider a method for running a granular ferric oxide (GFO) phosphate remover such as rowaphos or phosban from day 1. This will keep your phosphates and silicates in check and will often prevent algae blooms before they start.

Finally, if you're only doing FOWLR, better lighting is not required. High-powered expensive marine lighting is really only necessary for corals.

 

[blabadie]

I am unfamiliar with the 29 gal tank specs -height, width, length, weight - but check out this website for some cheap lighting...


www.catfishlighting.com

I am running their smallest compact lighting and it works great. In my FOWLR, I've decided to go with Macro Algae instead of Coral (hence FOWLR). The macro algae adds a nice touch and doesn't get too out of hand when you take care of it... here's my tank:


22gallon nano

The algae is starting to grow and it looks really cool, IMO.

 

[SkiFletch]

A 29g is 30x12x18" in dimensions

Nice little nano there blabadie

 

[Demm]

thanks for the site, i'll check it out. i wanna upgrade my lighting either way. i dont really like the color of it.

 

[blabadie]

Catfishlighting.com is a great site to buy lighting from. They are cheap and they provide fast service. I love them.!

Thanks for the compliment about my tank as well, fletch.

 

[Demm]

I checked out that site along with several others for lighting. but non of them seem to have 30 inch light for a 29 gallon tank. how can I make this work? would I have to hang the light from the ceiling or something?

 

[SkiFletch]

Usually for a 30" tank people use dual 65watt power compact tubes... You could light it with a single halide as well if you wanted, but that would require a little modding and DIY.