first saltwater tank

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oscar83

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May 21, 2004
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so im trying my hand at saltwater for the first time. sadly i only have room for a 30 gallon tank so that what im gonna have to go with. i was just wondering if what i have will be suitable for a reef tank. my set up so far is, obviously, a 30 gallon tank, 40 lbs crushed coral, about 20 lbs base rock, fluval 204 filter, and a powersweep 214 rotating powerhead. i havent purchased any lighting yet b/c well, im not done with my cycle yet so it would be a waste of money right now. i was thinking about getting a uv sterilizer and POSSIBLY a protein skimmer. as for stocking i was thinking a pecular clown or 2, mandarin goby, dwarf fuzzy lion ( i really really really want one of these), a star fish of some sort (not sure what yet), and some shrimp possibly. as for corals and things of that nature im not sure about yet. if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
 

ChicoRaton

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Jun 5, 2004
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for what it's worth, which is about $0.02, here's my 2 cents:

Think about getting the skimmer before you think about the sterilizer. IMO, it's more important.

The mandarin goby probably won't be able to find enough food no matter how much live rock and sand you stuff into a 30 gallon. Usually, they only eat copepod and worms and stuff in the live rock.

You might also want to consider removing a lot of the crushed coral. it will trap detritus and increase nitrates with that deep of a bed. An inch should be plenty.

I'll let the people who know what they're talking about answer your other questions ;)
 

mogurnda

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Apr 29, 2003
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I totally agree with Chico on everything. I would add that PowerSweeps seem to fail after a few months, so get a couple of higher quality powerheads like aquaclear or maxijet.

This will bring the total to 0.04.
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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Additionally, I wouldn't mix a percula with a lion--even the dwarf lions are more than capable of eating a clown. A choclate chip or red knobby star would be a good addition, and help clean up the tank. There really won't be any fish that you can safely mix with the lion that won't outgrow the tank.
 

Gealcath

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Nov 9, 2003
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A chocolate chip, crown of thorns, or red knobby star wouldnt be the best for a reef since they will eat everything that makes a reef a reef :)
 

oscar83

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May 21, 2004
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i'll figure out exactly what im getting in terms of fish/inverts and the like once my cycle is complete. what i wanna know now is if what i have set up thus far is sufficient. from what i understand i should definetly get a protein skimmer, right? uv sterilizer is secondary to that from what chico said. but yeah, thanks for ur help thus far, any ohter help would be greatly appreciated.
 

OrionGirl

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Wups, sorry--tend to group lions in with 'not-reef' tanks, since they will also eat decorative shrimp. The stars I mentioned are way not reef safe--most of the reef safe stars tend to be less pretty. A few tile species and linkias are the exception, but the linkia are very fragile and hard to find in good shape.
 

wastememphis

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Sep 6, 2003
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the lion would create way too much waste for you to keep a reef stable, so unless you thought first of a good skimmer... and then still over filter the water fluval 404 maybe!? (lots of water changes too) you could get a lion in there... it wouldn't be an attractive reef set up since it'll go after alot of inverts, that are neat.
 

oscar83

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May 21, 2004
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grrr... so what im gettin out of this is that the lion would be a bad idea, right? well i really want one but if its not going to be a good idea then i'll have to pass on that for now. so now i just gota figure out what else i wanna throw in there... any other suggestions/ideas/help would be totally kick a$$............. great goin so far everyone, thanks so much
 

chunksofpoooo

sloth loves chunk
Sep 16, 2004
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dont give up on the lion so quick. Id be extra work, but they're gorgeous. You wouldnt be able to to keep the variety you might want, but the lionfish is one helll of a centerpiece.

just my two cents
 
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