New 30 Gallon tank?

[joeyg2100]

Hi I am new to SW fish keeping. I have kept FW for over 2 years now, and have decided to start a SW tank. I have read through most of the information her in the newbie forum. I have an idea of what I want to get so I will just put what I want and what I have so far

I want to get pair of Ocellaris clownfish with an anemone. I have read that some of the tank bred clowns will not take to anemone's, so would it be worth it to have one. I was also thinking about getting a gobie or a firefish.

I know that I am going to need a small clean up crew and have found what I need from here.

This is what I have for my setup of the tank
30 gallon tank 30x12x18
I am going to get 30# of sand
50# live rock

As for my filter, I have a HOB filter that is designed for tanks up tp 75 gallons. Will this work or will I need to get a canister filter?

200 watt heater

I am going to need to get a skimmer, so what are some recommendations for my size of tank?

I have two powerheads

Any other imput will be great. If you have any suggestions on books that would be helpfull too. Thanks for the help

 

[Reefscape]

Its really good to see that you have been doing you research here on the forums....

With regards to you plan..Well, it all sounds like a solid plan in principle...A couple of observation that i ahve made whilst reading through it...

1) With that ammount of live rock, you dont HAVE to have the hob filter on there. The live rock will provide you with all the mechanical filtration that is required. But, you could have it on there and use ot for extra water circulation.
2) I shall let the people here who live in the US area to comment about makes and models of skimmers..
3) the two powerheads should be ok. What brand and model are they? The water circulation will need to be good to enough to support the anemone that you want..which leads me on to...
4) Anemone - I would wait for minimum 10 months to a year before introducing a nem. This give the tank time to mature, get you into a good maintenance routine to keep the water prestine which a nem does require.
5) you have not mentioned lighting in you write up? do you have this already? or what are thinking of buying?
6) No real issues with the goby or firefish. Only thing to remember is that firefish can be a jumper when stressed, so some sort of coverings should be used on the tank to stop the fish going on holiday and doing some daily carpet surfing...

Hope this info helps a little for you. Anything else at all, just shout up...

Niko

 

[Pallen81]

This is what I have for my setup of the tank
30 gallon tank 30x12x18
I am going to get 30# of sand
50# live rock
As for my filter, I have a HOB filter that is designed for tanks up tp 75 gallons. Will this work or will I need to get a canister filter?
200 watt heater
I am going to need to get a skimmer, so what are some recommendations for my size of tank?
I have two powerheads

I set up my first SW tank about a month ago and it's very similiar to your planned set up. Here's some advice for you from what i've learned.

I have a 30 gallon (breeder tank though) as well... with an HOB aquaclear 40filter (thats purely for circulation, to pull particles out of the water, and for carbon use), about 30-33 pounds of live rock and 20 lbs of fiji sand. I chose to keep my sand thin, its about 1/2 inch to 1 inch deep. I wanted more room for water instead of sand. In a tank that small, you may find after you put down your 50 lbs of live rock... there really won't be alot of surface space for sand without it being really deep. So I'd recommend putting your rock down first, then try it with 20 lbs of sand and see if it fills in nicely, I'm betting it will. (if you want a blenny or goby, deeper sand may be a good option though)

I chose the Corallife Super Skimmer 65 Gallon. So far, I've been really pleased with it. It took about 3-4 days for the "break in" period before it started really skimming, but thats normal. About every 3 days I empty the collection cup and clean the cone out. It's easy to clean and works really well!!! It's easy to adjust as well which needs to be done daily to achieve the best results.

I also have two Maxi Jet Powerheads (400&600) and that gets the water moving very well. I don't know which ones you picked up, but sounds about right.

Niko is right about the coral. Lighting can get really expensive when you want corals to grow. I decided to go the FOWLR for a while until I build up my experience and knowledge before dropping an arm and a leg on lighting equipment. It can get mad expensive. Clownfish don't need one either, but it is cool to watch them in one I'll admit. hehe.

I just bought an Orange Firefish. He's awesome looking, really amazing colors. He found a cave to hide in immediately, but he's coming out more and more (only been 3 days) and he eats like a champ. So I'd recommend one! btw, they are FAST!

Hope I was of some help to you! Best luck to you on the salty side of things!

 

[joeyg2100]

Ya I did forget to add that I have the lighting. I have a Jebo 260 watt fixture. It has 2-65 watt floursents and 2-65 watt actinic bulbs. I think this would support some corral. I think that I might stay away from an anemone as they are expensive and sound like they are hard to keep. I want to keep thing relativly simple for my first SW tank. Thanks for all the help so far.

Also i am going to go with 25-30# of rock instead. I researched this more and I would have had no room in my tank for any coral or fish. Plus it was an overload for the filtration.

 

[Germanman]

i would recommend Berlin, and cpr Aquatics for skimmers. watch the lighting due to teh fact that jebo isnt under proper regulation and is lowere end lighting. the amount of light u have will pull off what a nem needs to survive but not to flourish. you can have more rock if you want like u brought up swimming room is the only issue, other wise u can never have to much live rock, i have over 80lbs in my 55 gallon.