New to Saltwater, setting up 29g sumpless reef

C5Chad

C5Chad

Member
Hey everyone, like the title says, I'm new to building saltwater tanks. I have a 29g tank I have had freshwater fish in before for a couple years, but now am starting to build a saltwater reef tank out of it. So far I have my salt water levels right at 1.024, my water temperature is at 78 degrees. I have put in a bag of live sand and roughly 40lbs maybe a bit more of a mix of live rock and base rock. Because of space and cost I am going with a sumpless setup, which to me is making me much more paranoid about making sure water levels and equipment I have for my tank is perfect before I begin adding fish and corals.

I am just curious as to what you all think if Im so far going about this the right way so far or not and if you have any suggestions on what may be better for my corals and fish I will eventually add soon.

I have a:
Marineland Emperor 280 Bio-Wheel
Top Fin 150w aquarium heater
1 Hydor Koralia 425 circulation pump (located at opposite side of tank from filter about 2/3's up from bottom of tank angled down slightly)
AquaticLife 30" T5 Marine HO dual lamp fixture
Live Sand
Mix of Live and base rock roughly 40lbs or slightly more

I will be going to get my water tested at my local fish store next week to see if my water is ready to start adding fish and corals. My tank has been cycling (think i got that term right) for about 2 weeks now.

To build a thriving and successful reef tank with several fish...Do you guys think I should change anything or buy anymore equipment before fish and corals? Protein skimmer, another circulation pump? If so what is a very popular well tested skimmer that wont be loud and annoying to hear running constantly?

IMG_1742.jpg


This is a photo of my tank as it sits currently. I asked the fish store about the brown algae looking stuff that has developed on my base rock and some on top of my sand. They told me I could just mix the sand around and I dont have to worry about cleaning it off of my rock because it will eventually die off. Is this true? Or should I do something more about it?

Im sure I will have plenty of questions....I hope you all being more experienced than me will be able to give me some insight in what I should do, add, or change in my tank.

Id love to hear what some good fun fish would be to keep in my tank as well as corals. I hope to have maybe 4-5 fish if possible. For sure a couple clowns. Thank you all for any input you all can give me
 
Hang on the back protein skimmer is something I would start saving for. A good one can be kind of pricey but well worth it. In my humble opinion, 29 gallons is not very big for a pair of clowns but I am sure others have done it. I think they will just beat up anything you put in there. I would peruse around in the nano section of this forum under Special Interest Groups.
Lastly , buy test kits and do not rely on your lfs to test your water. Generally they use very cheap test kits that are not accurate because they usually don't charge for this service or it is only a couple of dollars. It's just not worth it for the lfs to use good test kits because the service is always free or to cheap to justify buying good ones.
The brown stuff is probably a diatom bloom but hard to tell. If it just blows right off the rock, then its a diatom bloom which is perfectly normal and will disappear as quickly as it appeared. It is the the first step in algae growth. Perfectly normal.
 
I started with the same setup. Never had a protien skimmer just have to do water changes a little more often. I did 10% about every 10 days. It does look like it is just diatom bloom it will go away. I do agree with getting your own yest kits. Try and stay away from the API never was happen with them. Get red sea or salifert they are easier to read and more accurate in my opinion.
 
Thank you very much guys for the replies. I will look around for a good test kit to test my water with instead. Still torn on whether or not I should go with a protein skimmer or not.

Would one clown be okay in my 29gallon? Only ask because my daughter is obsessed with the idea of having a "Nemo" fish in the tank
 
C5Chad said:
Thank you very much guys for the replies. I will look around for a good test kit to test my water with instead. Still torn on whether or not I should go with a protein skimmer or not.

Would one clown be okay in my 29gallon? Only ask because my daughter is obsessed with the idea of having a "Nemo" fish in the tank
Click to expand...
I've heard salifert it's a good test kit. I personally use red sea. When it comes to test kits it is all about personal opinion, but those are good test kits.

I think you should invest in a skimmer. Some people go months or years without a skimmer. It is recommended to use a skimmer, but eventually you will have have problems if you continue to not run a skimmer
 
I just went to the store and bought a test kit. Here are my levels based on my test results:

pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10.0ppm (This was the API master test kit which says other test kits for nitrate which give readings 4.4 times less than API's)

I know I need to raise my pH up to around 8.2-8.4pH. What do you guys think of my Nitrate readings? Should I do something for it? Is my tank ready to begin putting fish and corals in? Its been set up with live rock and everything for 2 weeks now.

Still deciding on a skimmer. I want to find the best and also quietest HOB skimmer for my tank
 
The brown stiff are diatoms. If you want more fish after the clowns limit it to two or three more. No damsels except maybe for one chromis. A royal gramma is nice too.
 
Ive also bought 4 small hermit crabs to help clean up some of that brown algae. Diatom bloom I believe it is called because it does in fact blow right off the rock when you wave your hand or anything around it. The hermit crabs have already eaten half of it all up
 
In my opinion, for a tank that size you can skip the skimmer provided you do regular water changes. I also think its large enough for two clowns.
 
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