Anyone own one of these lights? plus more questions.

1. That would be okay for a 'fish-only' tank.

2. Not under that lighting; anemones require strong lighting. They are also difficult to keep, requiring pristine water conditions, etc. They are best left to more experienced marine aquarists.

3. A clownfish would work fine in a 30g. Clownfish do not require an anemone, and many will never even take to an anemone - especially captive bred clowns.

4. See #2

5. This is one of the bigger debates in the hobby. Personally, I highly recommend a protein skimmer for beginner tanks. A Red Sea Prizm skimmer would probably work fine for a tank that size and they are relatively cheap. There are many hang-on protein skimmers available, but that is not my area of expertise, so I'll let someone else make other recommendations.

6. What kind of algae do you have? Is it on the glass, or on the rocks and substrate?

7.Absolutely not. Tangs require tanks ranging in size from 75-200 gallons.


Hope that helps!

SunnyX,

1. What type of filtration are you using?

2. The light you have would be okay for a clown but not nearly an anemone.

3. Don't waste money on exspensive fish you will probably kill them during the tank cycling (Tangs exspecially). Damsels are cheap and hardy although they can be a pain later in the tanks life.

4. What kind of media (aragonite,sand,?) do you have in your tank?

5. What is the dimensions of you tank wider is better that taller always if the reef setup.

6. The smaller the tank the harder it is to keep in a healthy state. Less water makes for less time to correct problems. It is worth buying a bigger tank you will be severally limited to the amount of fish or corals you can put in a heathly and stress free setup. And if you get into this hobby like i did you will really thank yourself latter my smallest tank is a 60 gallon breeded 36 long/18 wide. I have a anemone that split itself into two in there with a gold strip marroon clown the anemones move around and they need room to grow. Both of them are 6 inches in diameter which would fill a 30 gallon pretty much up. I have JBJ lights on that tank again these are exspensive but reliable and 96watts a bulb with built in fans.

7. Unlike humans fish break out in diseases that are sometimes water born when stressed. Tangs do not like other tangs, clowns do not like other clowns, sometimes there is no reason why but fish of different species just don't get along. That is why you must choose the right fish not all of them get along with each other and if your water parameters are off as well this will surely happen. Ich is the devil avoid it will quarinteen procedures for all new arrivals 2 weeks to a month has been recommended with copper at the recommended level. Copper will kill anemones and most invertabrates so never add it to the main tank unless it is fish only. A seperate tank like the 30 gallon if you go bigger would be great. If not get a 10 gallon for 15 bucks or what ever with a whisper filter and a heater and a air stone.

8. You will eventually need a protein skimmer they are key in helping get ride on dissolved organics such as food. The sooner the better some people say to give it a few weeks before this but if you have new live rock don't mess around. The seaclone is good and cheap on ebay.

9. Yes you will need some reef janitors but if you put them in when the water quality is low you will kill them two. I don't know how much money you have to spend but all my tanks and friends are ran using R/O water which stands for reverse osmosis, this purified water cleans out most of the harmful things that come in city water. You can usually get it from the grocery store where you fill up your own bottles of water. It is the best way to insure you pets get a fighting chance if you can't afford your own

10. I hope your into reading because you will do alot if you are serious and that is the only way to learn. I recommend About.com, Marine fish and reef usa magazine, books by Tullock and Bob Finner and many others. And of course Aquaria Central. This probably does not make complete sense but if you ask me to clarify i will try my best. The main thing is to have patience which i did not have when i started and killed many things that were not neccesary.

Hope i helped

BiggerWurm

Originally posted by BiggerWurm
clowns do not like other clowns

Click to expand...

Unless they are a mated pair

SunnyX,

I am using a little bit of everything. They say there is a millions ways to do it right. You could get away with out using a protein skimmer but you need something to get ride of the dissolved protein and other nasty stuff that gets left in the water. Carbon won't do it all and neither will a bio wheel, i have seen succsessful tank with bio wheels but that is not the main filtration. Water changes can help to dilute the problem. If you have good quality live rock and live sand and allow your tank to cycle until the water reads no ammonia,nitrite and nitrate and can hold a steady PH and alkalinity within there proper range with a biological load then no you don't need a protein skimmer. This can take along time and with a small tank you will increase your biological load (fish) to an unhealthy level quickly only a couple fish so a protein skimmer would help this alot. My 60 has 3 inches of aragonite gravel and i seeded it with GARF grunge great stuff. About 70 pounds of live rock and a wet dry with Cyclone Protein skimmer. And a little carbon with 3 fish,2 anemones and a killer green brittle star. This tank has ran for about a year. The 90 has about 200 hundred pounds of live rock which is over kill but i got it from a previous system and a 3 inch aragonite bed with garf grunge,wet dry,skimmer (berlin),and carbon sometimes. I have 2 96 watt jbjs on the 60, 4 4 foot VHO's on the 90 with icecap 660 ballast and metal halides are on the way when i get my bigger tank hopefully by the end of the month (no room left). The VHO's are good lights and do keep hard corals that flurish under the 400 watts although i would be afraid to put some hards under only these lights . Everything I have bought has done well other than what my dusky jawfish stole to make his home more comfortable. If i had it all to do over again i would use a mixture of all the proper size grains which you can look up which allows the water to flow through it properly and seed it again with GARF grunge and a Detritivore kit or two. I am looking into miricle mud and a refugium for next show tank but that is a whole different ball game. And for a 30 gallon you are off to a good start with 10 pounds so add a little more at a time (spikes ammonia) and depending on whats on it Nitrite and nitrate until your happy unless you already are. If you have a regular (dead sand) the live rock will seed it with time but i liked to give it a jump start. Basically something has to remove the organics in the form of nitrogenous wastes (ammonia,nitrites,nitrates) or you will not be able to keep anything alive or happy if the are alive in a waste trap. Also when placing the live rock the less gravel surface the rock touches the better because they create dead spots where there is no water moving under them unless maybe the worms and such

The prism should be fine for your 30gal. Just remember that before you bid Big Als sells the prism for around $30.00.
Brian