tank setup plan

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ben72227

AC Members
Jun 21, 2003
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Arkansas
Hey everyone, I'm not sure when I'll set this up, but i was wondering about the following setup:

30 Gallon AGA Tank(I would get larger, but i don't have much
space to work with)
CustomSeaLife 2 x 96 PC/Moonlight Lighting System
2 Maxijet 900s for Water Movement
EboJager 150 Watt Heater
AquaC Remora w/ MaxiJet 1200
Possibly an AquaClear 150 for more water circulation

I'll probably get a Perfecto Glass Canopy - but i'm wondering if there is cut out space in the back of them to put the skimmers, powerheads, etc.

I also have a empty 10 gallon that i would like to use for a sump, but i don't really know much about how sumps work and im not really into drilling holes into my 30 gallon tank. I saw that there is an alternative - "overflow" thing (i think thats what it's called) that uses siphoning to bring the water down to the sump(and you don't have to drill any holes), but i'm afraid that if there was a power outage (and there are a lot of them where i live) that the sump return would go off and the siphon would keep going and eventually flood over. Please explain this to me!

Seeing as this is my first tank, I'd like to go with FOWLR and use Fiji LR (as TBS LR has so many invertes, anemones, etc. and i don't really want to mess with those yet until i can manage the fish first) and i'll probably use some playsand for the subtrate

Here are the fish i want to keep:

2 (Pair) Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Banggai Cardinal
1 tiger pistol shrimp
I wanted a White Ray Shrimp Goby (Stonogobiops), but they are a bit pricey for me, so what other gobies would work well in this setup and would also form the symbiotic relation with the tiger pistol shrimp?

Thanks (and if there's anything i left out please tell me)!
 
Glass canopies usually come with about 2 inches of plastic 'space'--a thin strip that goes on the back and can be cut to allow room for cords, etc.

For the overflow--overflows work with 2 boxes. The one on the inside skims from the surface, and controls how low the water level in the tank will drop by means of 'teeth'. Once the water drops below those teeth, it won't remove anymore from the tank, but the siphon won't break. So, when the power goes out, the water level drops to the bottom of these teeth, and then stops. Your sump should be large enough to accomodate this much water--it takes a bit of trial and error in advance to determine the appropriate water level to maintain. The return line from the sump needs a hole drilled just above or slightly below the normal water line inside the tank, so if the power goes out, your return won't siphon water from the tank. I have overflows running on 4 tanks right now, and have experienced many power losses (including a 20 minute brown out last Saturday!) and have never flooded as a result.

The Hi fin red banded goby will pair with a shirmp. LiveAquaria.com carries them: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=181

Looks like a good plan!
 
Thanks OrionGirl! I also have a couple of other questions too.

I think I understand what you are saying about sumps, but could you show me some pictures (if you have any)?

I also was wondering about how much sand i should use and what kind of playsand i should look for (i know that southdown and old castle are the best but if my home depot doesn't have those are there any specific sand types? i was reading something about aroganite and sillica but i don't know what those are exactly)? Also, i've read that a lot of people use DSBs but that some others only use 2-3" of sand in their tanks? Any thoughts on this?

Also, what websites do you recommend to order Fiji LR from? I went to liveaquaria.com and they had some there that looked nice. Have you or anyone else had experience with liveaquaria.com ?

Also, if i get a pair of clowns, do they have to be the same species? Could i have a percula and an ocellaris in the same tank?
 
I would be careful with a Pistol Shrimp, they are in the same familiy as Mantis Shrimp, and might try to kill or eat any fish they can catch, and they do it rather skillfully.
 
Actually, although they're in the same family, they aren't that much alike (aside from the noise they make with their pincers). Pistol Shrimp aren't harmful and don't pose a threat in the tank, except (possibly) for very small shrimp - which i don't plan on keeping.
 
For sand, you want the smallest grain size you can find. Aragonite means the sand is made from finely crushing coral, so it's calcium based. Silica is from granite and won't buffer the tank, but is otherwise fine to use. Anywhere up from about 2 inches will be beneficial. Since you want the goby/shrimp pair, I would go with at least 3 inches, to make them a more comfortable burrow.

I haven't ordered live rock from the net--but liveaquaria has a good reputation.

I would not mix clown species, especially in less than a 75 gallon tank. They tend to be very aggressive to similar looking fish. I don't know if the same would be true with percula and oscellaris, but I would not want to risk it. For such cute fish, they can be brutal.
 
Okay, so heres what i need to know now:

In what order should i put the fish in the tank?

I still would like to see pics. of an overflow sump thingie.

How good is the lighting i talked about? If i wanted to convert to a reef tank, what would that kind of lighting support?

Finally, when should i add the clean up crew and what should it consist of?

Thanks
 
oh, almost forgot, what type of foods do those fish eat?

Could I feed them a diet of frozen mysid/brine shrimp with some prime reef flake to supplement or what do they need? do some of the fish have individual dieting needs that are different from the rest of the fish?
 
Least aggressive first--I would go with the goby, then the cardinal, clowns last.

Yes, lighting will be good for a reef. You might not be able to have clams, but most softies and some hard corals will be fine and happy. I would not put in an anenome, but that's more due to their need for established tanks and difficulty.

I don't have a pic--check in DIY and see if anyone's posted a pic. I think I recall seeing one or two.

Clean up: hermits, snails, crabs. Get a mix of snails (some graze rocks, others bury themselves in the sand, you want both).
 
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