First Venture Into The Salty World - 30L Cube - What Equipment Needed?

[fishprotector]

Hi. We have a 30L cube (Fluval Ebi) and are thinking of breaking down the tropical planted set up and setting up a reef. We have never owned any kind of marine tank before and would like help on what we will need to buy. We have a heater, an internal filter (presume we can use this??) and 24w of good quality T5 lightning.

We would like a reef setup maybe with a Clown fish (or two??) and a Fire Shrimp unless anyone else has any ideas on other fish which may be better suited?

Please help

 

[ALW]

Not many fish will be happy in a 30L tank. Can you go bigger?

 

[fishprotector]

Not at the moment. I will eventually convert my 300l over once the fish come to a natural end. Until then, 30l is what we have to work with. What are the options?

 

[lljdma06]

I'd not do clown fish. They get too big, IMO, though I won't lie, I've seen them kept successfully in 8g systems. You just gotta really be careful about bioload. But honestly, clown fish are kinda lame. Sooooo many fish out there that are way cooler and will do better in a system that size. What you really want are fish that don't claim large territories and who don't swim a lot. Does the tank have a nice, tight lid? If not, you will be very limited as most of the fish I'd suggest for a tank this size (there are very few) are accomplished jumpers and suicidal escape artists. It doesn't matter, you can always plug any gaps with plastic wrap and I mean ANY gaps. I know I do.

That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having an invert only tank. Fire shrimp are cool. I love mine.

You planning on modding the Ebi anymore? I see that you've already made some changes. Change out the bulbs in the t5 lighting. You may want to add a powerhead for more circulation.

Welcome to the salty side!

L

 

[fishprotector]

Thanks for that. I currently have three interpet tropical plant bulbs in it. Apparantly, these are good for marine growth. Is this true? It has a glass lid which does have a small hole on it but I will sort this out so take it that the lid is secure. I was thinking of getting a koralia nano 900 as long as this isnt too powerful?, some live rock and some coral sand. Once it is all set up I would like some coral. Can you add this at a later date or do you need to do it at the start? Can you use freshwater bacteria to cycle the tank or do I need to start again?

What kind of fish would work in this tank than?

What other equipment will I need (testkit?, refractometer?)

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be sure before I get started.

 

[fishprotector]

Been looking at some of the smaller Gobies, Fire Shrimp and Hermet Crabs tonight on the net. Are these all things that you could keep in a 30l together?

Oh and are they all ok with Coral?

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks for that. I currently have three interpet tropical plant bulbs in it. Apparantly, these are good for marine growth. Is this true? It has a glass lid which does have a small hole on it but I will sort this out so take it that the lid is secure. I was thinking of getting a koralia nano 900 as long as this isnt too powerful?, some live rock and some coral sand. Once it is all set up I would like some coral. Can you add this at a later date or do you need to do it at the start? Can you use freshwater bacteria to cycle the tank or do I need to start again?

What kind of fish would work in this tank than?

What other equipment will I need (testkit?, refractometer?)

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be sure before I get started.

I use a Koralia nano 425 in my 8g. A 900 may be too much, but I know that koralias are sometimes notorious for their lack of flow.

Where are you getting your saltwater from?

L

 

[fishprotector]

Is your powerhead 425 LPH or GPH? The 900 I said about was LPH.

I was going to use ro water and add salt. Is this advisable?

 

[lljdma06]

Is your powerhead 425 LPH or GPH? The 900 I said about was LPH.

I was going to use ro water and add salt. Is this advisable?

Mine is gph, so 900 at lph should work well.

Mixing ro with your own salt is a very good way to go about it. Do you have an RO unit? What salt do you plan to use?

L

 

[fishprotector]

No I dont have an ro unit. I was either going to buy it from a lfs or use distilled. For a tank that size, with I guess twice weekly water changes, it should mot cost that much anyway should it? I have heard that Kent marine salt is good. Have you used this one?

I was reading last night about not needing a filter if you have live rock and coral sand. Is this true or is it best to have a filter?

 

[lljdma06]

In my 36g I don't have a filter, I just have LR, sand and power heads. All of my other tanks use a filter, but as a converted refugium.

Not used Kent Marine. I use Red Sea Coral pro which is designed for those using RO/DI water. I've got an RO/DI unit. It's been great. I can make my own water and don't need the lfs when I need to do a water change.

L

 

[fishprotector]

Thanks for that. Just been into my LFS as well and asked a lot of questions. The info I have got is to add aragonite sand, live rock and water (ro with correct ammount of salt tested for S.G.) to the tank and start the cycle. After around one month, the cycle should be complete. Then I can slowly add fish and inverts over the next few weeks / months. They said that a small sandsifter starfish, a fire shrimp and 2-3 Gobies should be ok and possibly a hermet crab. Coral should be added once the tank is mature after 2-3 months. Water change once a week. They sell ro water for 14p/litre.

So it sounds like the initial shopping list would be for:

Aragonite sand
Live rock
Marine salt
RO water
API salt water master test kit
Refractometer
Hydor Korelia powerhead

Does all this sound ok? Anything missed out?

 

[Fortitudo]

I've recently started a SW tank 35L Nano, had been cycling the water with cured LR, crushed coral substrate and a WAVE Skimmer 280 Filter/skimmer in one, 50w heater and after a new LED light unit to replace my 18w Solaris light unit as the heat generated by it is too much! So getting an LED light unit will eliminate that problem for me.
The marine white light displays the right amount of light for coral to grow and UV/Blue light helps it grow but at a slower rate.
My starting list was (After having the tank, filter heater and so on lol!)
RO/DI Water
Salt
Cured Live Rock
Subtrate (Your sand sounds fine)
Master Test kit
Hydrometer
Thermometer (Obviously! )
Spare 25w Heater to pre-heat water for water changes
Powerhead (For flow later when I get some button coral)

I have done well so far cycle complete, I have 2 False Clown Fish and a Scarlet Hermit Crab doing very well. Clowns are such show offs its unreal!
Waiting a month then looking at adding a skunk cleaner shrimp.
I've added a link to see the show off clown fish, they always show off in front of the camera!
http/youtu.be/ei-b-hWF2Ag
Best advice I was given, plan ahead! Know where you want to go with it all before you get it, you're adept at doing research I noticed so keep it up, getting more information is never a bad thing!
If I didn't read about Clown fish and how they determine their pecking order and how they behave, I probably would have had several heart attacks by now!
The larger Clown will put the smaller one in it's place, and to show it's submission it will do this shaking on the spot, if you don't know any better it looks ill!
I'm babbling now, but hope this helps!!

 

[kj23502]

see these clowns? They are Ocellaris.

Even these "smaller" clowns should NOT be kept in a tank of this size. Even 35 liters is too small. Look at that female. Her forehead is at least an inch across (or 2.5cm). She is roughly 5" long.

A sand sifting starfish will starve. Leave it out.

What gobies are you looking at? Some are territorial. I have a 12usg nano cube. I have a fire fish and may add a blue spot jawfish and that's it.

 

[fishprotector]

Cheers for the replies guys. I am still totally undecided about fish and livestock so will take all of those comments onboard and keep researching. Going to a few more lfs this weekend to investigate a little more...