A few salt water questions

[tadpole]

Ok i am planing on a saltwater tank, its going to be simple just a clown fish (no anemone) and 3 other small fish for a 29 gal tank. I am planing on getting live sand as the substrate and have live rock in it. Ok my questiongs now

1. Can i use a emperor 280 for this 29 gal tank?

2. what other fish can i get besides the clown can i get that will be a good starter fish and small enough for my tank.

3. how many lbs of live rock should i get, like a lb per gal?

4. How much live sand???

5. What do i need to get as a cleaning clue?

6. How much lighting should i get, and should i get a moon light?

Any other tips/suggestions will be appriciated,
thanks
Tadpole

 

[S.Reef]

Okay, yes you can use the Emperor 280. Personally I would only run chemical filtration and skip the bio wheel. The reason being is you will be using live rock and sand as the main biological filtration. For a 29 gallon tank I would buy about 30lbs of live rock, and 20-30lbs of live sand. As a general rule, use a half pound to two pounds per gallon. For lighting get a double fluorescent bulb fixture, with preferably 1 Actinic bulb and 1 10000K bulb. You didnt mention it, but I recommend a protein skimmer. Fish you might want to keep with the clown are small gobies, cardinalfish, other damselfish, hawkfish, dottybacks, and some of the smaller pygmy angelfish. Finally you may want to add a clean up crew to the tank. (Containing brittle stars, sand sifting stars, hermit crabs, snails)

Sam Reef
______________________
90 Gallon FOWLR Marine System
20 Gallon Reef
10 Gallon Reef
20 Gallon Freshwater Planted Aquarium

 

[1979camaro]

s.reef pretty well sums it up...just remember to go slow and be patient when cycling and adding your stock

 

[supahtim]

don't forget about test kits. Salifert is an amazing brand.

for a protein skimmer, the bakpak is a good one and so is the Remora.

for lighting...a double florescent might not be enough depending on the corals you want. most LPS and SPS corals (and even some soft corals) require Metal Halide, VHO (very high output), and PC (power compact) florescent bulbs. those can get pricey...but if you want to stick with the basic leathers and polyps, florescent bulbs would be alright. on my 29g, i have 2 175w MH bulbs (10,000k) and 2 55w PC bulbs (actinic). but i have SPS and LPS corals...

as for the clownfish...why only one? it's awesome having a pair and then having them mate.

for live sand, i suggest Southdown (if it's accessible, if not then any sand with aragonite will do) and seed it with some live sand or even rock. make the sand bed at least 2". that way you can get things that burrow in the sand (like nassarius snails or sand sifting gobies) and it'll be cool watching them come out when it's feeding time.

moonlights are only neccesary if you want to view your tank at night when everything is sleeping...so save your money and get something else that's cool. lol

Tim

 

[fait15]

Well,i have a 29g SW tank.I have 30 pounds of live sand and about 16 pounds of live rock.I personaly woulkd not start withy a clown,mine died 3 days after i got it in the tank when i first started,but then again i may have thrown it in too soon. These guys would know more though,im still new to SW,only had mine for about 1 1/2 month now.

 

[wayne]

My initial advice is to go and do a lot of reading upfront so you can work out what you need and what will work and what won't. Once you have an idea of what is involved you'll be in a better position to go and make your purchases, and what you can get ill depend on your local market.
For your questions..
1., yes as a water pump and place for charcoal and phosphate remover.
2. Numerous - go research
3. pound a gallon is a good starting estimate. Depends on quality shape and how much water flow you have

 

[wayne]

What happened there...?
4. None to lots. Depends on your filtration choice - go research
5 I've gone for trochus and blue leg hermits. Not too many in a 30
6 As mch 10000K light as you can afford, or rather need. What do you want to keep. Moonlight -No, not top of my list