hey guys ....this is my first time being on this form i just got a 30 gl tank set up for salt water..the tank came with everything i needed except fish, coral, live rock and and crushed coral ...tell me how to get started..and what fish i would be able to get ...this is just my first time starting a salt water tank, but i hope to move to a 60gl + next year! thanks
My 30 Gl Tank! What Do You Think?
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Step 1, leak test
Step 2, do you want fish only or a reef with corals?
And
to the forums and the salty side of life. Hopefully you wont have to sell kidneys when your addiction gets too great
Step 2, do you want fish only or a reef with corals?
And
to the forums and the salty side of life. Hopefully you wont have to sell kidneys when your addiction gets too great hey welcome to the place where u will find out it costs a bomb to have salt water but i says its worth it
Well if its a reef u have to have less fish due to the inverts using more of the oxygen up. But i could say smalll fish eg dward angle, schooling fish and other 30gal minimum fish id say you could keep 6-8... not sure tbh depends wot u want and like how many corals etc.
Well if its a reef u have to have less fish due to the inverts using more of the oxygen up. But i could say smalll fish eg dward angle, schooling fish and other 30gal minimum fish id say you could keep 6-8... not sure tbh depends wot u want and like how many corals etc.
Common 30 gallon fish include dwarf angels, clownfish, fairy wrasses (and other small wrasse), gobies, blennies, cardinals, and a few others. A 30g is right on the limit of what is considered a "nano" tank. Do you have lights for the tank at all? The first step is to get some LR curing/cycling in there and it does need some light to survive. You can get away with regular flourescent lighting when there's only LR and fish in there. When you want to keep corals you'll need more high-powered lighting. Corals should only go in after at least a month so if you dont have good lighting yet you have some time to decide.
What you will need at this point though are powerheads, LR, sand, and at least in a couple months a heater. You will want a total of 20x turnover in the tank in powerheads so 600GPH total. Probably best accomplished in your case by two ~300GPH powerheads. Seio and Tunze are by far the best quality pumps and use the least amount of energy. Maxijets are very cheap, reliable, yet consume a lot of energy. Longterm over the course of a year or two it pays in electrical savings to get the higher-priced pumps. Powerheads are necessary to deliver Oxygen to bacteria on live rock, fish, and most importantly corals. Because saltwater is so saturated with ionic minerals it carries less O2 than fresh so more water movement to facilitate diffusion is very necessary. If, heaven forbid, your power ever goes out for more than a couple hours it is of utmost importance to get water flow back first. Lights, heaters, and other accessories are nowhere near as necessary as sufficient flow
So once you have your powerheads purchased and selected, go to your LFS and buy some aragonite based sand (20lbs will probably be more than you'll need) and around 30lbs of LRNot all LFS' sell refractometers and if yours doesnt or sells it at an outrageous price, check online. Most hardware goods can be found near warehouse cost online and you can save LOTS of $$ that way.
Anyway, the procedure once you get all those items is to bring them home to where you allready have mixed salt water of proper specific gravity ready in buckets or rubbermaid bins waiting. Stack the LR on the bottom glass into an aquascape you like the looks of. If needed, secure rocks to each other with super glue gel. Then pour sand in around the base of the rocks to create your sand bed. Its important that the rocks rest on the glass so that they do not settle and topple your rockwork on your priceless corals. Once the sand is laid (~1-2" deep) pour in some water slowly over the rocks to fill up the tank. Turn your powerheads and lights on and wait.
The water will be VERY cloudy initially and will settle in a few hours to one day. There will be some dieoff on the rock that will fuel a mini cycle. Ammonia and/or nitrites should be present within a day or two and USUALLY within a week they will drop back to zero and nitrates will rise to 20-30ppm. At this point brown diatom algae will begin to bloom and you add cleanup crew to munch on them. Once the crew is well acclimated, consider your first fish or two. And then once the tank is a month old, consider your first corals
What you will need at this point though are powerheads, LR, sand, and at least in a couple months a heater
. You will want a total of 20x turnover in the tank in powerheads so 600GPH total. Probably best accomplished in your case by two ~300GPH powerheads. Seio and Tunze are by far the best quality pumps and use the least amount of energy. Maxijets are very cheap, reliable, yet consume a lot of energy. Longterm over the course of a year or two it pays in electrical savings to get the higher-priced pumps. Powerheads are necessary to deliver Oxygen to bacteria on live rock, fish, and most importantly corals. Because saltwater is so saturated with ionic minerals it carries less O2 than fresh so more water movement to facilitate diffusion is very necessary. If, heaven forbid, your power ever goes out for more than a couple hours it is of utmost importance to get water flow back first. Lights, heaters, and other accessories are nowhere near as necessary as sufficient flow So once you have your powerheads purchased and selected, go to your LFS and buy some aragonite based sand (20lbs will probably be more than you'll need) and around 30lbs of LRNot all LFS' sell refractometers and if yours doesnt or sells it at an outrageous price, check online
. Most hardware goods can be found near warehouse cost online and you can save LOTS of $$ that way.Anyway, the procedure once you get all those items is to bring them home to where you allready have mixed salt water of proper specific gravity ready in buckets or rubbermaid bins waiting. Stack the LR on the bottom glass into an aquascape you like the looks of. If needed, secure rocks to each other with super glue gel. Then pour sand in around the base of the rocks to create your sand bed. Its important that the rocks rest on the glass so that they do not settle and topple your rockwork on your priceless corals. Once the sand is laid (~1-2" deep) pour in some water slowly over the rocks to fill up the tank. Turn your powerheads and lights on and wait.
The water will be VERY cloudy initially and will settle in a few hours to one day. There will be some dieoff on the rock that will fuel a mini cycle. Ammonia and/or nitrites should be present within a day or two and USUALLY within a week they will drop back to zero and nitrates will rise to 20-30ppm. At this point brown diatom algae will begin to bloom and you add cleanup crew to munch on them. Once the crew is well acclimated, consider your first fish or two. And then once the tank is a month old, consider your first corals
hey ..thanks for replying guys...ah i was hopen to get most of the fish that you guys listed off
the power head,fliter,skimmer all that stuff was used for a 100 gl tank, the guy i got it off had it on his 100 gl tank and siad that i would have alot more filtration and what not with stuff for a bigger tank in my 30 gl tank. is that true??
thanks
i was wondering if i could get 1 angle fish, or butterflie fish or tang or trigger fish??
are there any of these fish that i could for my tank??
i am hoping to get 2 clown fish and maybe one other samll fish, but i was hoping to be able to get one of thoes fish i listed up top
thanks!
the power head,fliter,skimmer all that stuff was used for a 100 gl tank, the guy i got it off had it on his 100 gl tank and siad that i would have alot more filtration and what not with stuff for a bigger tank in my 30 gl tank. is that true??
thanks
i was wondering if i could get 1 angle fish, or butterflie fish or tang or trigger fish??
are there any of these fish that i could for my tank??
i am hoping to get 2 clown fish and maybe one other samll fish, but i was hoping to be able to get one of thoes fish i listed up top
thanks!
Skimmers are USUALLY not necessary on a 30gallon tank. Some people use them, but I wouldnt if it were my tank. Do you have model numbers, manufacturers, or pics for all the hardware you have? Might help us see if its suitable
One of the more popular stocking options for a 30g that I've seen includes 1 dwarf angel (bi-color, coral beauty, or flame seem most common), 2 clowns, 1 fairy wrasse, and maybe 1 firefish. Thats pretty heavily stocked but do-able. Those are also pretty active fish (dont like to hide in rocks too much). Tangs, fullsize angels, and butterfly fish are not suited for either a tank that small or a tank with corals (buttefly fish eat polyps in the wild). Tangs and fullsize angels get WAY too big.
One of the more popular stocking options for a 30g that I've seen includes 1 dwarf angel (bi-color, coral beauty, or flame seem most common), 2 clowns, 1 fairy wrasse, and maybe 1 firefish. Thats pretty heavily stocked but do-able. Those are also pretty active fish (dont like to hide in rocks too much). Tangs, fullsize angels, and butterfly fish are not suited for either a tank that small or a tank with corals (buttefly fish eat polyps in the wild). Tangs and fullsize angels get WAY too big.
hey guys a quick little update on my tank! everything was set up and cycled, got lots of live sand for the bottom...as for the LR well for about 3 or more weeks there was not one single piece of LR for sale in newfoundland (we ran out of it) 
...but i found out that a shipment was comming in lats thursday so i prity much wated for the LR to get to the fish store, so that i clould get first pick! 
i got 2 vey nice pieces and they came to about 5 pounds or rock..i wanted to get more but it is soooo expensive for me to get here..so i have to build it up over time..but i'am planning on getting about 10 more pounds this week because i just got payed !!
more updates to come soon!
...but i found out that a shipment was comming in lats thursday so i prity much wated for the LR to get to the fish store, so that i clould get first pick! i got 2 vey nice pieces and they came to about 5 pounds or rock..i wanted to get more but it is soooo expensive for me to get here..so i have to build it up over time..but i'am planning on getting about 10 more pounds this week because i just got payed !! more updates to come soon!
what lights are you running on the tank! Anemomes need high lighing, but also shouldnt go in a just cycled tank as the levels and life in there are very low. The mushrooms should be fine though. But you will need about 30lbs of LR though for enough filtration. Order it online its alot cheaper! 5kilos for 50 quid on 1st for aquatics! free delivery too!
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
we're just setting up a 30g tank, might be somethign of use to you in the link in my sig, asked loads of beginner questions in there. our stocking's gonna be 1 dwarf angel and about 5 other small fish plus plenty of clean up crew.
i am not comptly shour what kind of lighting i have but when i baugh the Anemone, i also asked what kind of ligh would be best so i got a new one when i got it also...my tank has been running now for months!! so it's well cycled!!
as for the live rock there is a new fish stor opening close to me and he is having WAY lower prices then all the other places so i already have 17 more pounds of live rock ordered form him!!
as for the live rock there is a new fish stor opening close to me and he is having WAY lower prices then all the other places so i already have 17 more pounds of live rock ordered form him!!
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