a few ?"s about setting up a 30 g

sharpie

AC Members
Feb 2, 2006
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hi everyone-
i am kinda thinking of setting up a 30 gallon tank, but i have a few questions.
1-do i need to buy that live sand stuff or could i just use regular sand or just gravel not trying to sound stupid)

2-since it is going to be a fish only tank with no coral do i need a special light? right now i have a uv light on top of the tank.

3-would i need a different light if i was just planning on putting one piece of live rock?

4-could i use the hob filters that i have now in a salt tank?

5-if i do do this how much will it cost since i already have the tank light filters and heaters???? and how much would i be spending on salt?

-thanks so much
 
Take a peak at my set-up. It is theoretically a balanced set-up for 30 gallons. So far it has been amazingly balanced. If you get live rock and live sand all you need is an HOB skimmer and your filtration is taken care of. Around 80 watts of white and blue actinics combined should be sufficient. Just be careful with what your livestock is.
 
Fish only systems dont require any special lighting at all. Dont upgrading lighting just yet wait and see if you want to keep corals after successfully keeping a fish only system. 80 Watts probably wont cut it for most corals over a 30.

You could use the HOB filters but you will have better results with live rock and a skimmer.

Salt wont break the bank on a 30 it will probably cost about $10 to fill it up first off and then about the same again every 2 months or so.

My 40 is set up:

2 100 Gallon per hour Power heads
80 Lb live rock
40Lb live sand
CPR backpak skimmer
4 X 55 Watt T5 PC lights (7K)
2 X 24 Antinic T5 PC

I used to use a canister filter but now its all natural
 
Sorry but what does HOB filter mean?
 
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