30g reef tank

bigvisk1

New member
Hello all,

I was referred here by monsterfishkeepers, where i have often gleaned knowledge for my freshwater tanks, and sometimes input my limited knowledge.

I have recently decided to start up a salt water reef tank.

The tank is 30g roughly 36"x12"x16",

I was planning on running it with no filter or skimmer. i planned on using about 40lbs of live sand and 30-45 lbs of live rock, letting it settle in, then start adding some corals. some form of the pulsing xenia will be among the first corals introduced, as this was the only way my fiancee would allow me to set up yet another fish tank.

The lighting i am planning on is probably the 36" 250 watt from http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/metal_SunPod.htm , as per the recommendation of someone on another forum.

we have not decided on any fish as of yet, but will probably try to get a pair of false clowns, and maybe a small star fish, if that would work, and the regular clean up crew.

So, any ideas on if this sounds plausable, and what you would all do to modify (or trash and redo) would be greatly appreciated.

thank you,
bigvisk
 
I'd recomend a little more live rock due to the no skimmer thing, but other than that, definatly doable. As for no filter, wrong on that, the live rock and sand IS your filter. I would recommend a mechnical filter though, even if only a small HOB filter. This would make a difference by removing lot's of particulate matter from the water before it dissolves and raises nitrate levels and more. A skimmer normal battles alot of this, but without, water quality may suffer without appropriate countermeasures.

A starfish is also not a real feasable choice, being a small tank and the types of food they eat, but there are many choices of livestock for this sized tank that I'm sure you'll love just as much as a starfish. A brittle star/serpant star would probably be okay but doesn't really have that "starfish" look that most people think of when pictureing a starfish.

a 250MH on that size tank will allow you to keep just about anything with higher light requirment, xenia is no exception. Just keep that in mind, it may not be good for any of the lower light corals, like mushrooms. Depending on the corals you are looking at, you could probably even go lower on that light. a 175w would probably do the trick just as effectively, while at the same time, not heating up the tank as much as a 250 will (but don't misunderstand, both MH lights will definatly heat the water up and you'll need to take that into consideration when placing the tank, choosing equpiment, ect. ect.)
 
I'm running a 30 gal as a spare/quarantine--it has 30 lbs of live rock and a 4 inch sand bed. I am using a strong hob filter like papagimp recommeded--you really do need that--once a week I turkey baste the live rock and lightly the sand--alot of debris does accumulate without the skimmer.

I would also run a power head in there for further circulation esp with the hob filter
 
a hob filter aye, i could run an emperor 280 or 400 if i had to. i suppose i could look into a skimmer if it would be very beneficial.

i was also planning on using 2-3 small powerheads to circulate roughly 500-700 gph around the tank.


what is the deal with a refugium, would it be beneficial for me to make one, i could by a 20g tank, or use a 22g rubbermaid that i already have, and i could hook up all that stuff into this. just an extra thought. i dont know much about a refugium except that its a place for tiny things to grow and not get eaten, and to help break down nitrates i think.

thanks for the info so far.

if i bring the lighting down, could i go with a shorter light, like a 30" one, instead of the 36" one, it would be alot cheaper, meaning a faster set up :).
 

what is the deal with a refugium, would it be beneficial for me to make one, i could by a 20g tank, or use a 22g rubbermaid that i already have, and i could hook up all that stuff into this. just an extra thought. i dont know much about a refugium except that its a place for tiny things to grow and not get eaten, and to help break down nitrates i think.

[/B]


that's almost it---the tiny things(copopods) are use to feed fish and coral in the tank.
the macroalgae in the refugium helps break down nitrates
running the light on the refugium at night reduces the pH drop due to reduced photosynthesis in the tank.
it adds 20 gal more water overall to the system
I used a 30 gal plastic bucket--works great:
IMG_4196.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10474816#post10474816 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shrug1013
Welcome!

Yeah Welcome to RC


I have the same set up you are speaking of I have a skimmer but no filter........

40lbs of live rock 30 pounds of sand
Rio Power head 160 GPH
Maxi Jet 1200 299GH
CPC Back Pack Skimmer (I put a Mod on it as well)
JBJ Compact Lighting 2 96W 110K and 2 03 Anitic


My Cleaning Crew

1 Cleaner Shrimp
4 hermit crabs
15 Margarita snail
3 Sand nails (Had ten hermits slowly killing them taking their shells)
10 Bubble bee smails
1 peppermint shrip (Aptasia I hate it)



Frags
fire star polyp
Gorrilla Nipples (Zoo)
Blond (Zoo)
Candy Coral
green mushroom
green Star polyps
Joker Polyps (Zoo)
Green kryptonite (Zoo)
Rare rainbow colored (Zoo)
Hammer head
Frog spawn
Red Mushroom
Purple Mushroom
Two diferent kind os Xenia Palm palm and soemthing else

And two or three frags I dont know the name of.


Two differnt Sea Stars (One Sand Star, one red serpent)


Fish and other Live stock

1 antena golby
1 Bartlett Anthais (Female)
2 Clarky Clowns
1 Purple Tip anemone
1 Claim
 
wow, thats cool p martin, apreaciate all that, especially since its the same tank size im working with.

thanks for the info on the refugium capn.
the thing i dont get is how do the things that grow get into the tank. so you grow copopods for your tank to feed on, but they cant fit in through the pump to get back into the tank right? so do you say, however often scoop a certain amount of sand from the refugium and swap it for sand in the aquarium. Thanks for all the info, very helpful.
 
as to the heat impact of 250w MH - that's what's lighting my 29 gal. It's hanging about 9" above the water with a 3.5" fan blowing across the surface, timed to come on with the lamp. The tank temp has gone up as much as 2 degrees, but usually no more than 1.5 degrees. Those numbers are not a problem.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10475810#post10475810 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bigvisk1
wow, thats cool p martin, apreaciate all that, especially since its the same tank size im working with.

thanks for the info on the refugium capn.
the thing i dont get is how do the things that grow get into the tank. so you grow copopods for your tank to feed on, but they cant fit in through the pump to get back into the tank right? so do you say, however often scoop a certain amount of sand from the refugium and swap it for sand in the aquarium. Thanks for all the info, very helpful.

Sure no problem .......Getting started I had the tank so I went out and bought the Used Compact lights (100.00) I had to replace the bulbs though thats was like(75.00) Then i bought a CPR back pac skimmer (169.00) If you do decide to get a Bak pack skimmer I can then show you how to mod it (Works Great!)

Next I bought the Rock (Spend time looking as this can get costly
I found a Store to sell me figi Rock for $2.99 a pound (Great deal)
I bought 40Lbs (120.00).. then I added 30lbs (1 dollar per pound) of live sand ( I have heard live sand is a waste of money but I used it anyway) .... I then set up my aquascap.


Next I added Water. I live in California so I used Catalina sea water (.20 a /gallon couple bucks) After filling the tank I let it sit there for a week or two and started posting at RC Asking for advise...EVERYONE said to get powerheads(Duh)..... So I got a maxi jet 1200 (299GPH)...... I left that running for about a month. (Cycle)

Then I started adding the cleaning crew
After that every other week I added a new ediditon fish coral ect...

ONCE I got the Xenia though I was told I needed More flow so I bought another power head a Rio 1100 I aimed that against the back wall as that was the place with the least flow.

As for the schedule I run my Atics from 11AM to 11PM
Then I run my day lights from 12pm to 10pm.
I work from 6am to 6pm so I wanted to enjoy my tank when I am home thus the late night schedule!!


I do not have an Ro / DI unit ............ I go to the local Water store they have RO water for .25 a gallon.

If you have any other questions let me know Good luck and once again WELCOME TO RC
 
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