new 30gal tank

[Reefer769]

hey,

i just got a new 30gal tank from my LFS, and when i first saw it i just had to have it haha. first of all i was wondering how thick should a layer of sand, or crushed croral be on a 30gal tank? also since i finally upgraded my tank, what kind of anemone would be good for this size tank(im planning on getting a couple clown fish)?. i was also wondering about coral, what kinds of coral would fit nicely in this tank, and how many watts would these corals need. heres a pic of the new tank: Thanks!

[Poseidon]

Not sure the exact dimensions of your tank, but click here to get an idea of what kind of light you will need to keep an Anemone alive and well. I have tried to keep them under PC and had no luck, so instead of you spending 35-50 dollars and watching it wither away, save your money and get a REALLY good light, a really good skimmer and maybe have a canopy built to hold this fixture, or you can get a "bell" type and hang it from the ceiling instead.

2 things are required in this hobby PATIENCE and MONEY (unfortunately).

[Leddy]

what is that like blue sand on the bottom? or a leveling mat? maybe its just the picture. I'm just being curious. anyway, those 30gal. oceanics are nice. good choice.

leddy

[corey0613]

hey i really like the look of those tanks, i saw one the other day in the LFS. what are the exact dimensions? im thinking about a possible new project!!!!!!!!

[Reefer769]

okay first off, the blue stuff, is just a mat, there is no water in the tank yet, and im planning on getting sand but not blue, and the dimensions are...21"H,
18"D, and 20"W. and thanks for the comments, ill post some pics on this thread when i get some water in it . thanks guys

[Reefland]

Don't put ANY water in it until you get the skimmer for it and the lighting. I would also find a HOT overflow box and use that old 10 gallon as a sump for your new 30. ;)

Scott Z.

[Reefer769]

hey, i think im just gunna go with the red sea prism for my 30, i mean just the regular aquac is $160, and if i got the pro it would be well over $200, and i just dont have the money. Maybe if i get some money soon, and my dad agrees to buy the aquac remora(not the pro) then ill get it. on ebay it comes with a maxi jet powerhead, all for $163.95/Good deal?

[corey0613]

that is a good deal on the aqua c. i purchased the surface skimmer with mine and the thing works great. i had run a skimmerless 25 gal for about 6 months before i got the aqua c and would never set up a tank again without a good skimmer in place. my corals have grown much faster and look so much more "lively" since i added the skimmer. i would definately go with the MJ1200 powerhead as the rio's have gotten some bad reviews.

corey

[Ninong]

If you use crushed coral, I would make it 1/2" deep. If you use sand, I would make it 3" deep. Personally, I would prefer sand.

Your lighting choices are extremely limited because of the size of the tank. There are a lot of nice 24" combo fixtures with metal halide and fluorescent lamps but none in the 18" size, which is all you can fit over your tank. Of course, you could always build a custom canopy to fit the 20.5" exterior dimension of your tank (it's supposed to measure 20.5"L x 18.5"W x 21.5"H according to Oceanic). There are some 14" long PC fluorescents that would fit in there along with one metal halide lamp to give you a nice lighting scheme.

As far as ready-made fixtures are concerned, Giesemann makes a very nice Nova-II fixture for either 150w or 250w HQI DE metal halide lamps and Sunlight Supply and PFO make some that are less expensive. If you want to avoid heating problems, go with a 150w HQI DE fixture.

[Reefer769]

Hey!


Ive decided to go wth the sand for the base. i was sopposed to pick up my CPR Bak Pak today, but the shipment got delayed, so i was pretty upset about that. im going to go pick up the skimmer, the sand, the salt, and the live rock tommarow, and when i get it all set-up and running for a couple of days ill post some pics on this thread.

hopefully the tank wont have to go through a "cycle period", i will have 20lbs of live rock in the 30gal along with a couple bags of live sand on the bottom. so im crossing my fingersXX.

Oh and i also had one question: if everyone says "tap water" is so bad, then what other water is good? will the tap water still be bad even if you add the right amount of drops to dechlorify it? and what water do you use then if its not tap water? will i have to go out and buy 30 gallons of bottled water?? haha

[Poseidon]

Oh and i also had one question: if everyone says "tap water" is so bad, then what other water is good? will the tap water still be bad even if you add the right amount of drops to dechlorify it? and what water do you use then if its not tap water? will i have to go out and buy 30 gallons of bottled water?? haha

YES. When I filled my 135 I went out and bought 100 gallons of RO water from the grocery store. I had 4 5 gallon bottles and a 32 gallon trash can out in the car. Filled up the bottles, dumped the water into the can. Filled up the bottles, came home, dumped it all in the tank. REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT....

[Rp Marine]

this is my hood for a 20gal. i think it has the same hood i think it is about 20.
i put 4x13w kit from ahsupply but i think i'm goin to take it out and put 2x55watt kit. this is very ez to diy. save u a lot of money

remove all botting and smooth any indention. smooth surface




this is how i did it. i think you can put 2x55 watt kit in it. it will look the same but take the whole space with no gap. so what u think would this help you?

[Reefer769]

yea thanks a lot thats what ive been looking for, thanks guys. and again im gunna have to spend MORE money on bottled water...NOOO

[VicSkimmr]

yea thanks a lot thats what ive been looking for, thanks guys. and again im gunna have to spend MORE money on bottled water...NOOO

nah, don't spend it on bottled water, that stuff isn't nearly as good as Reverse Osmosis water. go to your local fish store and ask what kind they use, they'll usually give R/O water away for free, and if not, then for a small amount, around .30 cents a gallon. much cheaper, and much much better than bottled water

[Ninong]

Hi VicSkimmr, welcome to Reefland!

Here is what Poseidon wrote:

When I filled my 135 I went out and bought 100 gallons of RO water from the grocery store. I had 4 5 gallon bottles and a 32 gallon trash can out in the car. Filled up the bottles, dumped the water into the can. Filled up the bottles, came home, dumped it all in the tank. REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT....

He's talking about R.O. water. You can buy it at serve-yourself machines in many supermarkets, especially Wal-Mart, for 25 cents/gallon. You simply fill up your own containers over and over again. Or you can buy it in their little 1-gal containers that look like milk jugs.

[VicSkimmr]

Hi VicSkimmr, welcome to Reefland!

Here is what Poseidon wrote:
He's talking about R.O. water. You can buy it at serve-yourself machines in many supermarkets, especially Wal-Mart, for 25 cents/gallon. You simply fill up your own containers over and over again. Or you can buy it in their little 1-gal containers that look like milk jugs.

hmm, i've never seen R/O water in wal-mart, but then again i haven't checked in a while, i should look again, thanks.

[Ninong]

hmm, i've never seen R/O water in wal-mart, but then again i haven't checked in a while, i should look again, thanks.

In Wal-Mart Supercenters it's a dispensing machine located up against the front wall of the store in front of the cash registers. It's sold as "drinking water" but it's reverse osmosis water with the additional step of being run through a UV filter just prior to coming out of the spigot.

[Reefer769]

and with this water, do i still need to de-chlorify it? or is it already?

[Poseidon]

Nope it is already... After passing thru the Ro process, and then All the Carbon and such. I have never added a Dechlorifier to it.

[Reefer769]

so tap water is bad even if i add a dechlorifier?