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I'm getting ready to set up my first saltwater tank and I'm not sure exactly what all I need. So far I have a 29gal. glass tank, aquarium stand, Fluval 405 canister filter, Prizm hang-on Skimmer by RedSea(for up to 100 gal.), Deep Six Hydrometer, glass top for aquarium, 2 30" light fixtures which each hold 1 24" fluorescent light, and 50 gal. Reef Crystals salt mix by instant ocean. The rest of my shopping list is:

Rena Cal 150watt heater, 1 24" actinic bulb, 54lb. aragonite based sand, about 45 pounds of live rock chosen out of the varieties sold at www.premiumaquatics.com, floating or digital thermometer, test kits, algae pad/scraper, NaturalWave multi-Cycle pump Timer(for powerheads), 3 powerheads(looking at either Rio 400 or Eheim Aquaball 1212), Coralife Power Center Day/Night Timer(plan to have full spectrum bulb on for day and actinic bulb on for night), nets.

How is that, am I missing anything? I also wanted to know about RO systems. I'm 19 and living with parents so I don't really have much of an option to hook up an RO filter. Also, the closest place to buy water would be a petco about 1 hour away. I have read of people using the water from the culigan machine at wal-mart for their tanks. Would that work? I have a Wal-Mart about 20 min. away.

The fish and things I'm thinking about putting into the tank are:

Fish:blue reef chromis, aquacultured orchid dottyback, aquacultured percula clownfish, neon goby, yellow watchman shrimp goby, royal gramma, lawnmower blenny, and aquacultured black and white clown.
Inverts:Serpent or Brittle Starfish, Chocolate Chip Starfish, Sand Sifting Starfish, Astrea Snails, Fire Shrimp, Cleaner Shrimp, Tiger Pistol Shrimp, Horseshoe Crab, Emerald Crab, Boxing Crab, and Cleaner Clam.

Any opinions greatly appreciated. Tank is 30Lx12Wx18H, plan to have about 3 inch sandbed.
 

Grins

Girl Reefer...we do exist
May 1, 2007
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Charlotte, NC
Welcome to saltwater. Sounds like you have a fairly good start. On your specs

tank: good that you got a long versus high

filtration: good choice on the sand. The cannister filter is OK but you may find yourself opting to get rid of some of the stages such as bioballs and ceramics as some fel they are nitrate traps. I am familiar with the Prizm Skimmer and tried it, lets just say I'd never recommend one to someone. If it works for you I'm going to guess you'll do a lot of adjusting to get it to skim much of anything. Good amount of live rock, you can maybe get by with a tiny bit less depending on the type of rock you buy. Marshall Island will need less than Tonga Branch for example. 3 powerheads is good but I'll let someone else comment on those brands.

lighting: Your lighting is OK for fish and basic inverts but not for the clam on your list. That will need MH or t5s if it is placed high enough in the tank.

other: The hydrometer will be fine for basic set-ups that doesn't have delicate stock but if you want to keep a closer eye on your SG you'll want to change to a refractometer. Good choice on the salt, if you want to save a little money you can use the same company's Instant Ocean brand until you fuss with a reef tank set-up. The heater size will be fine although many choose to have a back up one in case of a failure.

water: I understand about the RO/DI unit and living at home. The RO water from PetCo will work and be less expensive than the Distilled from the Walmart of the supermarket. You're going to get tired of lugging water even on a 30 with water changes and top offs. At the very least you might check into getting 2 new trash cans, one to store the freshwater and one for the water you mix. Maybe if you offer to do more chores around the house and share the extra water charges mom and dad will you let install the RO/DI unit down the road.

stock: Is this a list of things you're chosing from or were you hoping to have all of this in the tank? If it is the latter I think you'll be way overstocked and will want to cull from the list with some of the following notes:

blue reef chromis: good
orchid dottyback: although less aggressive than other dottybacks know that one might still go after your shrimp or passive fish
percula clownfish, black/white clown: decide on one type, not good to mix
neon goby: good
yellow watchman shrimp goby: good
royal gramma: good
lawnmower blenny: your tank is the minimum size for it but if you don't overstock you should be OK
Serpent or Brittle Starfish: careful, the green brittles will eat fish Serpents might as well if they get hungry. Not as notorious for it though.
Chocolate Chip Starfish: will eat your shrimp, small fish and pretty much anything it can catch
Sand Sifting Starfish: I think your tank is too small for this. Even after your tank is established it will likely starve to death.
Astrea Snails: good
Fire Shrimp: good
Cleaner Shrimp: good
Tiger Pistol Shrimp: You may have trouble with your other shrimp, maybe not.
Horseshoe Crab: They have specialized needs and I would personally only attempt them in a larger tank
Emerald Crab: Personal preference here but I'd not get one unless I was having a bubble algae outbreak
Boxing Crab: I've heard better things about these crabs than others but I please realize you're at a 50:50 chance with them just keep an eye on it if you get one
Cleaner Clam: your lights won't work for this. Clams, especially the crocea and maximus need metal halides or t5s and high rock placement at the very least. They'll also want pristine water so you'll need to upgrade that skimmer in my opinion. If you really one to get one you'll want to wait and work towards an upgrade.
 
Thanks for the opinion, Those are fish and inverts that I'm considering. I will not be putting all of those in the tank. I'll try to work with that skimmer for now but might replace it in the future if it has a lot of problems. I think that costed about $200.00. Not completely sure though. I may buy a refractometer in the future after I have the aquarium up and running. Thanks for the info on the clam, I won't get one of those. Also taking chocolate chip star, sand sifting star, emerald crab, horseshoe crab, b+w clown, and dottyback off the list. That narrows things down a bit. I'm also curious about spiny urchins, sponges, blue spiny lobster, feather dusters, and anemones. Will any of these do ok in my tank?
 

Grins

Girl Reefer...we do exist
May 1, 2007
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Charlotte, NC
Spiny urchins: I love urchins but haven't wanted to risk them until I know about them. Maybe someone else can chime in on those as you're looking around as well.

Sponges: You might even get some of these as hitchikers on your live rock. Shoot, I saw someone had a wrasse in their live rock purchase.Back to the sponges though, I'm setting up a reef with plans on SPS, stony corals, so I've b een reading up on which ones will work. If you're doing a FOWLER you'll have more options and I'd start here http://wetwebmedia.com/sponges.htm

Blue Spiny Lobster: I think they can get up to 24" soooo...

Feather Dusters: good choice

anenomes: wait on this one, you'll need high power lighting and a mature tank with pristine water. Your clowns won't need one and in fact might ignore it.

In a tank your size, FOWLER, I'd pick one showpiece fish and then 2 small ones and some of the inverts you've mentioned. Maybe someone else will chime in there are certainly more knowledable people here than I.
 
Update

Ok, I'm returning the skimmer Sunday. Could anyone recommend a better skimmer for my set up? Definitely not gonna get the lobster. I'll put off an anemone for at least a year too. I think I'll go ahead and buy a refractometer after I get my live rock, sand and new skimmer. So anyone have any recommendations for a good protein skimmer for me? Thanks again, Wayne.
 

Catpicklesdog

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Feb 25, 2007
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Being new to skimming I'm on my first one which is a V2 Protein skimmer http://www.fishsupply.com/ssk-v1000.html. Like I said I've never had one before so I have nothing to compare it to but it's doing it's job well and is really quiet. The link is for the 1000 but they do have smaller ones.

HTH
 
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