advice on equipment

[Erik]

Hey I am new to the salt water aquarium scene and i would like some advice on what i need to get equipment wise. I have a 30 gallon tank thats been established for a while but the nem i recently added isnt doing too great whch made me realized im gonna need to improve my water quality. I have a very basic aqua clear filter a heater and ia96 watt UV light. What equipment is essential to keeping my tank happy and healthy? I have heard protien skimmers are good but i would love some more adive on what exactly to purchase next. thanks a lot

[Original Fin]

We can certainly help you with equipment, but you should be prepared for the likelihood that this particular anemone may not make it if your tank wasn't already up to snuff when you acclimated it.

You've probably heard this by now, but nems are one of the more difficult marine creatures to keep. They do best in well established tanks, (IMO 1 year or more) and they require very high quality water, intense lighting, and they also need to be target fed.

I assume that your tank does not have an overflow to a sump currently? So your first decision should be driven by whether or not you have the space for an overflow box and a small sump tank under the display in the cabinet. That would be best, because then you will have a place for a decent (in sump style) skimmer. Look for one rated at least 2x your system volume.

If you can't do a sump, then you'll have to get a hang on the back style skimmer. I'm not a fan if these myself as they take up space, they look ugly, but most importantly, HOB skimmers are not nearly as effective as in sump skimmers because they do not skim off of the surface where most of the oils and surfactants end up.
If you do have to go that route, I'd try the Aqua C Remora, because you can get an optional prefilter/surface skimmer with it. I'm sure it doesn't work nearly as well as an overflow box, but it should be much better than a typical HOB. I think you're looking at about $300 or so there. Get the skimmer and you won't need the power filters anymore.

Next is lighting. I'm thinking you are probably mistaken about your current lighting. UV lighting for marine aquaria would normally be in a self contained, sealed unit, in which a utility pump forces water around the sealed bulb assembly for the purpose of irradiating nuisance algae, bacteria and other micro organisms. UV light is very dangerous. You would never want an exposed UV lighting source anywhere in your home as it even brief exposure can cause permanent damage to your eyes.
I'm guessing what you have is actinic lighting, which is higher up enough on the E/M scale than UV, so it's not going to harm your retinas with casual exposure. Actinic is a very deep blue/purple light that causes bright colors to fluoresce.
You said your light is 96 watts, right? That is what you would typically see on power compact fluorescent lighting that would fit a tank of that size. If that's the case, it won't be sufficient for keeping anemones. You'd be much better off with a 4 bulb T5 HO fluorescent fixture running 2 10k bulbs, and 2 actinic bulbs. Looking at a couple hundred bucks for that.

The abov are the easy fixes. What's not quite as quick and easy is all on you and your ability to learn and apply the different techniques for achieving consistently high quality reef water conditions, and that unfortunately isn't something we can cover in this thread. For most beginners, the learning curve for the basics can take a year or more to master, an that's because there is no one specific recipe for doing it right. It requires a lot of reading, a lot of forum time, and a certain amount of trial and error. Different people will give you different advice, and sometimes I will be conflicting advice.

One thing I found very helpful was joining a local reef club and finding someone to sort of take you under their wing.

Anyway, read all the sticky threads here and you will be well on your way. If anything doesn't seem to jive, hit us up with whatever questions you may have.

Good luck!







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[Reefing Madness]

Same answers that you got here.
some advice needed please concerning my new anenome

[Erik]

Alright great thanks for your advice I definatley have some reasearch to do. Sorry about the redundancy of my posts but i really wanna make sure im doing the rite stuff on the 1st try because money is definatley an issue. I aprreciate all the help Im getting from this site's sweet community. You'll probaply be hearing from me soon I apologize for my noob status but everyone's gotta start somewhere haha thanks again

[Original Fin]

No worries...we've all been there!


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[Reefing Madness]

No worries...we've all been there!


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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chrisfont23]

I posted this a while back:

I have gotten a few PMs about my 29 g setup, so here's the rundown in case anyone w/ a Nano is looking to do something similar:

- Skimmer: Aquatic Life Internal Mini 115 I am selling this skimmer since I am upgrading to an Aquamaxx HOB-1 this week. PM me if interested. If you do go with a Aquamaxx HOB-1, just a caution that they are difficult to find. Marine Depot has been out of stock on them for like 73 years now and I finally found one on Amazon.

- Lighting: Coralife Lunar T5 (30 inch)

- PowerHeads: 1 Vortech MP10

- Fuge: The one thing I am most proud of! This was a DIY I made out of a HOB AquaClear 70 filter, silicone and a 3 lamp LED clip on light from Home Depot. Again, happy to help - just PM me if interested. About $60 to make.

- ATO: JBJ ATO

- RO/DI Unit: OCEAN WAVE FIVE STAGE 75 GPD RO/DI

- Chiller: Fan Any clip on will do. Or that snazzy one in the link.

[Erik]

Hey chris. I am interested in purchasing your Skimmer: Aquatic Life Internal Mini 115. How would this happen though? sorry am new to the site. I tihnk its exactly what i need for my tank. Are they hard to find in LFS? Oh and everytime i mentioned my light people said its not good for my tank but my LFS said its good for coral and what not. But from what I gather LFS are not well liked on this site haha. I do trust this store though becuase i have been going there for years but they are a buisness after all. thanks