New Tank build beginner 29

[codyreef29]

I'm starting a 29 gallon:

So far

I've got a tank regular old 29 gallon
Bought a skimmer at my local fish store on sale regular $116.99 on sale for $38.00

I'm selling my old car 1973 nova and using some of that money to build this.

I'm going with led lights and simple mechanical filtration.

 

[BubbaBoBobBrain]

Not to sound negative but you probably arent gonna be happy with that skimmer unless you only have a few fish. What are you using for a filter system? If you haven't gotten that far yet I would recommend not using a canister filter. I would recommend using a wet/dry system or a sump with an overflow. Eshopps has a package deal that comes with everything but a return pump. It's a great little system for pretty cheap money. Check it out on www.thatpetplace.com. For your tank it would cost around $182 and probably like $40 for the pump. Its a little more than a canister filter would cost, but in the long run it will be way less work and you wouldnt have to buy filter pads and stuff every month for filter changes. Plus you could get a small insump skimmer that would do a much better job than the seaclone. Good luck with the build, hope I helped with anything.

 

[KingsFan]

Good luck Codyreef! This hobby takes a lot of patience (and money). These guys at RC are the best. They will help you along the way, there's alot of experience here! Good luck and GO SLOW!

 

[BubbaBoBobBrain]

Good luck and GO SLOW!

I couldnt agree more!!! Take your time to research everything, twice lol. And try not to cut corners, they will almost always come back to bite you in the @$$.

 

[codyreef29]

Thanks for the info and welcome I was going to go with a Marineland emperor 400/ (Idea) fuge mod it. I've been looking and hopefully by next month i'll have this tank starting it's cycle. I'm getting all the equipment minus lights this month. I'm going with skimmer emperor 400 three 500 gph powerheads from aqeuon making 2200 gph of flow, I have a 200watt heater i'll use. The lights i want to use are two 18-24 inch reef capable lights from marineland which will be the most expensive thing i have to buy which will be after my tank cycles. So it's gonna go something like this filters and powerheads, live sand live rock and water, Fish,snails hermits and one light, and finally light number 2 and corals. Should be done around Christmas.

 

[BubbaBoBobBrain]

Soumds pretty good. What type of marineland lighting are you gonna get? If you are going to get the marineland reef led light just know that they are not that great at all. If you are gonna get led lighting I would recommend the ecoxotic panorama light. The panorama is an awesome led light. I was at a conference with some professional reefers last weekend and the reef tech guy could nit say enough good things about the new panorama light. He said in his opinion that was the best led light on the market. So if you are going with led, please keep this in mind as you will not be dissapointed.

 

[codyreef29]

Update

Update

I ordered the emperor 400 should be here soon.

To answer ones question: Two 24-36 inch Marineland led reef i'm guessing the two of these fixtures should work good enough. 23 1 watt leds each making a GRAND total of 46 watts of led power which i'm guessing would be comparable to 250 watt MH. Just loving the no heat and low electrical cost.

One question:

Am i ok without a FUGE ?

Marineland emperor 400
seaclone 100 HOB skimmer
(3) 500 gph Aqeoun powerheads
40 Lbs live sand coarse
50 Lbs live rock

 

[JohnnyRI]

What tyoe of corals do you plan on keeping?

 

[codyreef29]

I'm going mixed i'm going to cycle get some fish and when time for coral im going to pick about 5 medium sized corals 2 nice sps's for the top, then 2 lps's for middle, two medium sized softys like a acan and something else. Then i'm gonna put about 10 little frags sam thing sps top lps mid sodtie bottom. I'm limited to about a $1000 that i budgeted out. about 250 in corals that will grow out in a year and start looking nice. about 150 on fish a couple clowns, a wrasse, couple midas blenny, and a small hippo tang( inch or so).

I'm really kinda needing a water test kit and a dosage plan that's to be in play with feeding the fish and water changes after shes cycled and corals start to grow. I might end up tossing the whole dosing and just use a reef salt from instant ocean and if the corals look like they need alk and calc i'll start a dosing routine.