Simple filtration Setup

[tigga]

Hey I have a 29 gallon tank and was wondering if 20lbs of live rock and live sand seedings on 2" deep bomix sand for biological filtration and activated carbon in a aquaclear 70 compartment for chemical filtration will be enough. I dont plan on a skimmer.

Thanks

 

[drummereef]

I would just get an aragonite meant for saltwater aquariums, imo. The live rock will be ok, but I would just do an inch of sand. Caribsea makes good dry sand products. The rock will help seed the sandbed just fine.

 

[returnofsid]

Live sand and Live rock are great filtration methods but really should be combined with a skimmer to remove excess proteins. Without a skimmer, plan on doing lots more water changes to make up the difference. Adding another 10-15 pounds of live rock would be beneficial as well. Without a skimmer, you're going to have to keep your fish population very light. Also, don't plan on being able to keep any SPS or many LPS in your tank. Soft corals will do well in the nutrient rich water you're going to end up with because of no skimming.

 

[tigga]

I'm going for a FOWLR setup for now and might stay that way from couple of years. I just plan on keep couple of clownfish and damsels along with cleaning inverts. I hear alot of people can get away with skimmerless 29g tanks with monthly water changes. I guess it all depends on how the tank runs for the first several weeks.

 

[frederickk]

If you do regular water changes everything should be fine.

 

[tigga]

Thanks for all your responses.

I heard that I can get away with tap water conditioned with Seachem Prime if I were to only have fish and live rock. Is this true? I know RO/DI is the best but then again it is quite a hassle to make water plus waste it too along with buying the expensive unit initially.