29 gal setup advice

reefb

New member
Hey all,

New around here and to the reefing community and hoping I could turn to some more experienced reefers for help in setting up my first tank!

I've got a 29 gallon tank that I'm in the process of setting up and I'd like to eventually either turn it into a mixed reef system, but I am thinking of starting with mainly a variety of different zoas, soft coral and LPS and a bubble tip anemone.

For equipment, I don't really have space to run a sump or refugium, so I am trying to compensate for some of that with lots of live rock (45lbs), lots of water movement (~1400gph, between 45x and 50x flow), and I'm planning on running two power filters. For lighting, I'm going to use a Current USA Orbit Marine LED system.

I tried to make sure that everything here is hardy, fairly peaceful, and I hope they will all get along and play nice together. I'm hoping some of you folks can help me out on that front.

I've got my eye on four different zoa morphs and the following corals:
Soft:
-Pom Pom Xenia
-Green Duncan
-Pineapple Tree
-Starburst polyp
LPS:
-Caulastrea
-Branching Cyphastrea Decadia
-Alien Maze Brain
-Meteor Shower Cyphastrea
Anemone:
Bubble tip anemone

Fish:
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (hoping one or both pair with the anemone)
1 Watchman goby (hopefully pairing with a shrimp)
1 Royal Gramma
1 Sprineri Dottyback

Various cleaner snails, hermit crabs, a shrimp or two (hopefully one with the goby), possibly a crab, possibly some sort of sea star or sand sifter, still looking into these.

I know the fish load may be a bit high (~16"), and am willing to choose between the gramma and dottyback if need be, depending on fit.

I would also really appreciate some advice on a stocking order for the fish. I know you want to get the most peaceful fellows in there first and then work your way up the aggressiveness scale, but pretty much all of these are laid back (or at least I'm hoping), so advice on when and how I should put them in would be super super helping.

This is pretty much everything I can think of; if anyone has thoughts, comments or advice, I am more than welcome to it.

Sorry for the length, just wanted to be thorough!

Thanks!
 
A mated pair of clowns is not peaceful. They are extremely territorial and could easily take over that entire tank once they are fully grown.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk
 
A mated pair of clowns is not peaceful. They are extremely territorial and could easily take over that entire tank once they are fully grown.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk



And don't forget the dottyback. They are aggressive and territorial as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If your looking to get corals ditch the current Marine orbit. It's really more of a fish only light. Some have success with them and soft coral in shallow tanks but more often then not people end up wishing the got something better. If it's a standard 29g and your on a budget any of the black box fixtures are a good choice.
 
I have a 29 and would recommend the Mars Aqua for lighting. Will grown anything you want in a 29. When Stocking, be careful with anything territorial. Because the tank is so small it doesn't give enough room to allow more fragile fish to find a place to go when the Clowns and other aggressive fish stake out a spot. Stay away from Damsels.....bad news in a small tank.
 
Thanks for the insight all, greatly appreciated. As far as the clowns go, I wasn't thinking of a mated pair. From what I've read, it seems like clowns get along with each other as long as they're added at the same time. Anyone have thoughts on that?

I'm starting to rethink the idea of the dotty and going with possibly a dragonet or blenny. Anyone have thoughts there?

Lastly, the light I chose seems to have all the specs needed to grow coral well, at least according to the manufacturer. Maybe I got a bit tricked by the advertising, but here's a link if anyone wants to check it out: got the 24"-36" https://www.marinedepot.com/Current...quariums-Current_USA-CU04100-FILTFILD-vi.html.

Thanks so much for the feedback, much appreciated
 
If you want mated pair you have to start with 2 very small juveniles and let them mature together. But again, they will probably dominate a tank that size once they reach adulthood. Dragonets are very shy feeders and require mature live rock to provide the tiny animals they feed on. Most will reject frozen or prepared foods and would likely starve to death in a new tank. Some blennies might work for a while but would probably get bullied by the clowns eventually. My advice would be to forget about the clowns and go with small, peaceful fish if you want to have variety in that tank. In that case, most blennies would be a good choice. The light could work for soft corals that don't require strong lighting, but it's not really suitable for SPS or LPS.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk
 
^^^^+1 but I would still really rethink that light. Many thought exactly what you do just to find out that it just doesn't cut it and end up having to supplement it or buy another light all together. A 29g is a fairly tall tank and you might be able to get away with keeping soft corals halfway to 3/4 the way up your rock work but it probably wouldn't look right having the lower half bare. All the extra bells and whistles that light has are nice to have but not a necessity. For the same price and cheaper you can get a light that will guaranteed grow anything you want. Just my .02 anyways.
 
Thanks again guys. I just realized I’d been reading the info about the light wrong, so it, as you all said, won’t work. I’m working on a new light, but would be open to suggestions.

As far as the clowns go, would having a single clown work better than the pair, or would the single clown still bully others?
 
Thanks again guys. I just realized I'd been reading the info about the light wrong, so it, as you all said, won't work. I'm working on a new light, but would be open to suggestions.

As far as the clowns go, would having a single clown work better than the pair, or would the single clown still bully others?



Fornyour light. I believe the Chinese black boxes would be more then sufficient for a 29 gallon. Viparspectra. This is the light that I keep being pointed towards. You can find it on amazon. And my local LFS uses them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks again guys. I just realized I'd been reading the info about the light wrong, so it, as you all said, won't work. I'm working on a new light, but would be open to suggestions.

As far as the clowns go, would having a single clown work better than the pair, or would the single clown still bully others?
A single clown wouldn't be as bad because it wouldn't be defending a potential nesting site. It could still be semi-aggressive, but should be OK as long as you choose one that gets too big. Definitely don't get a maroon.

Sent from my RS988 using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top