New Salty: My 29

[56jman]

It is 8 leds and I plan to make a plastic stand that will be raised up 6-10 inches off the water and mount it on that. I won't be having SPS just LPS and Softies like leather coral, zoas, and shrooms.

 

[SaltNoob]

8 is better. I'd do more =)

-Tyler

 

[56jman]

How many more would I need w/out optics??? Also are chromis a good first fish???

 

[SaltNoob]

I would not buy one. They should be kept in schools that are large 5+(too big for your tank) or not at all. They end up killing each other. I would start by figuring out what you really want in your tank and then figure the safest order to prevent any violence.

-Tyler

 

[56jman]

Would a fire fish be a good first fish??? And how many leds w/out optics???

 

[56jman]

Would this be a good CUC:
1 x Turbograzer Snail * $2.25

1 x Peppermint Shrimp* $5.00

1 x Nerite Snails (Small - Medium) $0.45

1 x Nerite Snails (Large) $0.65

2 x Nassarius Vibex $0.80

1 x Florida Cerith $0.50

1 x Emerald/Ruby Mithrax Crab* $4.49

6 x Dwarf Cerith $0.45

6 x Assorted Hermits* $1.50


These numbers are including what I already have--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SaltNoob]

You need to do your own research on the lighting. This list looks fine. I don't like peppermint shrimp =/ lol. I like fire shrimp or cleaner(skunk) much prettier!

The list looks fine BUT BUT BUT! Are you done adding your rock? Did you put all your "dead" rock in? And has it cycled? If you only have two rocks do NOT get any more CUC especially if you are going to add more rock. If you plan to just have the rock that is in their... You do not need a cuc of this size because they will have nothing to scavenge once the diatoms clear out and they will...

-Tyler

 

[56jman]

I went to TruAqua.com and they offered amazing deals!!! Check this out!!! Would this be adequate lighting for LPS and Softies???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquarium-led-light-24-inch.html
How good are these lights???
Is this canister filter worth it???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquatop-canister-filter-ef-300.html
Good???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquatop-power-head-ph-35.html
Worth the money or get UV sterilizer + protien skimmer separate for a small tank???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquatop-power-filter-pf-uv-15.html
Take a look around the site
These deals are amazing... but are the products good???

 

[SaltNoob]

I went to TruAqua.com and they offered amazing deals!!! Check this out!!! Would this be adequate lighting for LPS and Softies???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquarium-led-light-24-inch.html
How good are these lights???
Is this canister filter worth it???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquatop-canister-filter-ef-300.html
Good???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquatop-power-head-ph-35.html
Worth the money or get UV sterilizer + protien skimmer separate for a small tank???
http/www.truaqua.com/aquatop-power-filter-pf-uv-15.html
Take a look around the site
These deals are amazing... but are the products good???

Those lights are for show and dazzle. They are not really very strong for corals...

I don't know anything about those filters

The powerhead, I'd go quality and pay 10 bucks more for a hydor koralia nano....

Protein skimming is wise, I've never used a uv sterilizer either. Spend the money you wanna spend out a skimmer and sterilizer on LIVE ROCK lol.

 

[Donya]

Canisters have two main uses on a marine aquarium: as a place to put chemical media like carbon and phos remover in the absence of a sump, and as a place to have extra fitlration media like live rock in the absence of a sump. Most people do not use them on a nano tank and they will also not contribute to your flow substantially. Short of a very specialized setup, you should have no need of the second use (extra LR storage), and the first use (media holder) can be accomplished with a single stage canister on even pretty big tanks or with an HOTB on the size tank you have. The bottom line is still the same: figure out what you want to keep before you go deal-hunting for equipment like this. If you don't you can easily deal-hunt yourself into wasting a lot of money on products you didn't actually need or have to swap out later.

I don't know anything about those filters

I'm a bit skeptical of them too. They look like they're trying VERY hard to be Eheim models, so I have to wonder if they're a knock-off. They could also be completely legit! I have no idea. I do find it odd though that after poking around on the various product pages for 10-15min, I couldn't find one single review <5 stars. While it looks great at a glance, that doesn't really boost my confidence in the site lol.

 

[56jman]

I now have 2 standard CFL bulbs = to 100w each so 200w in a 29g tank. Do standard bulbs that you get at home depot have the light spectrum to grow coral??? They are a Crisp White to Bluish color no joke, looks like 10,000k bulbs for just $10

 

[Donya]

Do standard bulbs that you get at home depot have the light spectrum to grow coral???

Check the K rating on the box. If you don't have the box but you know what the light was called, you can also find that information listed for all of the CFLs on home depot's website.

If the bulb is meant for regular indoor use by people, it may have little peaks in at some of the important nm ranges, but it will not have the sort of spectrum that many corals require to thrive. With a strange spectrum you may also see nuisance algae blooms; for example, some of them really like lighting that is more to the red side. Marine-suitable CFL bulbs DO exist, but I have never seen them at a hardware store.

http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+8068+13736&pcatid=13736
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+8068+9870&pcatid=9870

 

[56jman]

They are 6500k bulbs... how many of the coral life bulbs would I need??? 2??? And you said "many corals" can shrooms grow???

 

[ainsy]

6.5K will be very orangey/yellow.

Personally I would not consider anything less than 10K and prefer it to be 14K

 

[Donya]

6.5K will be very orangey/yellow.

Personally I would not consider anything less than 10K and prefer it to be 14K

Agreed, particularly for a first tank. 6.5K works great for hair algae though LOL.

how many of the coral life bulbs would I need??? 2???

Do you have a fixture?

And you said "many corals" can shrooms grow???

Any randomly chosen mushroom? No. There are two primary reasons why I use the word "many" instead of "all" when making broad, sweeping statements about coral lighting requirements: (1) not all corals are photosynthetic (although non-photosynthetic species also tend to be rather difficult!) and (2) I have seen cases of various photosynthetic corals surviving and sometimes even propagating under rather unusual lighting. That does not mean strange lighting is something you should consider doing. The latter cases always required an awful lot of Watts and were hit and miss even with that. When you miss, you have a coral that bleaches, then requiring a more standard setup for rehabilitation. When you have massive watts, you have heat problems. For a first system you should be aiming to minimize the number of possible headaches if you want things to go smoothly, which means not trying to cut corners on the type of environment you provide for the animals you want.