A little help PLEASE!

[as1720]

OK so this is my first time setting up a tank with water in it. (im used to putting snkaes in tanks)

Here is what i have.

Bak Pak 2 protien skimmer and Bio Filter in one....Do these work well?

100 watt water heater... Is this enough for a 29 gal tank?

And a normal hood light...Should i keep it on or off while cycling the water?

I have 50 lbs of live sand...IS that enough too much?

The big filter to the left was in the shed figured maybe it would work for moving around the water....Yes no?

There is also another little pump on the left hand side doesnt have too much pressure... is it really needed?

Also i added the salt to the water about a week ago should i take it out and start over its just been sitting doing nothing?

I plan on getting 30 lbs of live rock.

Here is a picture of our set up so far. We had a set back from Crushed coral and under gravel filter. Started putting stuff in befor i started reading.

We want to put two clown fish and anamnese sp? for the clown in there. And a baby tang which when it outgrows the tank has a home.

What lights do i need for the anamnese? Its a only a 29 gal tank.

I want to keep this tank simple.

 

[roscoe]

I would recommend mesh modding a maxi-jet 1200 for your bak-pak skimmer. It doubles the power of that skimmer. I am using the same skimmer on my 40b and It fills the collection cup every day and a half of some dark smelly skimmate. Also I see you have a power filter on that tank I would take that off and just use your HOB skimmer. If you want you are more than welcome to come over and see how I have mines set-up. I also live in Tacoma well it is actully Spannaway but Tacoma address. Just PM me for my number and address if you want to come by.

Sarang

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Welcome to the hobby and good job on looking for info.

To start with, anemones are strictly an advanced species that requires a lot of equipment to keep alive. Hold off on that one for now. Today's hobby utilizes live rock to keep the tank filtered and stable. You might want to save for some and shop around. Don't worry about having to modify equipment unless someone is offering to do it for you as a favor. Wait till the tank has cycled before you put much fish in there. Do some internet searching for cycling a new marine aquarium. I will add more in a bit as get more time.

 

[as1720]

Thanks,

I was was using the other filter to move around the water, not as an actual filter. I am trying to put to use what i have. lol Will it work or should i go go buy another power head?

Ware would i get this mesh modding a maxi-jet 1200??? What is it what does it do?

Yes i know about all the cycling and all that i will wait till it is complete to put fish in there. lol

As for the live rock just got to get the cash to go get it! lol Next pay check.

Should i take the old water out though??

Welcome to the hobby and good job on looking for info.

To start with, anemones are strictly an advanced species that requires a lot of equipment to keep alive. Hold off on that one for now. Today's hobby utilizes live rock to keep the tank filtered and stable. You might want to save for some and shop around. Don't worry about having to modify equipment unless someone is offering to do it for you as a favor. Wait till the tank has cycled before you put much fish in there. Do some internet searching for cycling a new marine aquarium. I will add more in a bit as get more time.

 

[roscoe]

I did'nt mesh modd the maxi-jet myself. I had Mark (skimmerwhisper) do it for me, cost me $10 bucks(looks pretty easy to do I just did'nt have the tools to do it at the time). He has a thread on how to do it somewhere here just do a search on maxi jet mods. You can get a mod kit at Barrier Reef in Renton.

 

[Reeferdude]

Welcome to the hobby ditto's. Read as much as possible. Learn as much as possible and be very cautious when considering inhabitants for your tank. It's real easy to get caught up in the notion of having beautiful reefs and glowing corals/fish etc after seeing some of the tanks out there, resist it and go slow. Taking your time will ensure success.

I too would remove that filter. Just go with the bak pak. I would add a powerhead at the surface (read up on why the "surface".LOL). I would get either a PC light fixture or a T5 with no less than about 150watts. Make sure your water temp is steady, 76-78 give or take and after you put in your live rock let it mature before you put anything else in there. Personally, I would not introduce anything other than a few crabs and some snails (not even a fish) until I had good coralline growth, feather-dusters growing and other life springing from the rock, and have gone through all the cycles a new set up goes through.

This maturation process IMO will take up to 6 months to a year. Sounds long I know, but I'm a little more patient than most and took nearly 2 years before I put anything of importance in my current tank but patience and educating yourself are the two most important thing you can do/have. More important than any skimmer, light or any other piece of technology you can purchase.

After your tank matures and you learn about your system, how it functions and how it can sustain life you can slowly introduce/acclimate certain corals, fish, inverts suited for your system without any problems. Later you'll most likely upgrade to a bigger tank, better lighting, etc but for now take it real slow because the last thing you want is to inadvertently kill a bunch of fish, corals, inverts etc, become discouraged from a lack of success and waste all that time and money.

Good luck and as you progress keep asking questions. There's a lot of great info here and very helpful fellow reefers to help you along the way.

 

[ReefferMan]

Welcome to the great world of saltwater! It can be very rewarding or dissapointing.

Sand! you will be fine with 50LBs... nice deep sand bed!
HOB filter? Give it to your fresh water friends.
Skimmer? your back pack will work just fine! just read up on how to tune it properly.
Powerheads? Get like 3 more! 1200 maxijets...No Rio's!!!! they blow up! and kill everything!
You need to turn that water quite a bit. Point the flaps up toward the surface as to have a nice gas exchange.

Rock? 30Lbs would be wonderfull! Try and find somone who is selling there cured rock, or somone who has had a setup going for a while that wants to sell stuff. You will do well on the livestock for sale or free forum, theres alwayse people willing to sell stuff for cheep. If you find some fully cured LR you will be off to a real good start and will be able to get some live stock in there sooner.

Be sure to test the water....do weekly water changes! no Nitrites.......

Start with the water that you have it should be fine....

Are you useing RODI water?

Best of luck to ya

reefferman

 

[as1720]

The HOB filter doesnt have the filters in it i was just using it to curculate the water around.

i was planning on buying some live rcok that has the purple coraline on it.

I ended up using tap i didnt know about it being bad. im going to try to go out and buy some water but i dont think i will be able to.

Welcome to the great world of saltwater! It can be very rewarding or dissapointing.

Sand! you will be fine with 50LBs... nice deep sand bed!
HOB filter? Give it to your fresh water friends.
Skimmer? your back pack will work just fine! just read up on how to tune it properly.
Powerheads? Get like 3 more! 1200 maxijets...No Rio's!!!! they blow up! and kill everything!
You need to turn that water quite a bit. Point the flaps up toward the surface as to have a nice gas exchange.

Rock? 30Lbs would be wonderfull! Try and find somone who is selling there cured rock, or somone who has had a setup going for a while that wants to sell stuff. You will do well on the livestock for sale or free forum, theres alwayse people willing to sell stuff for cheep. If you find some fully cured LR you will be off to a real good start and will be able to get some live stock in there sooner.

Be sure to test the water....do weekly water changes! no Nitrites.......

Start with the water that you have it should be fine....

Are you useing RODI water?

Best of luck to ya

reefferman