having to downsize :(

[darklcd]

Good day all

Well as you might have guessed by the title I have decied to down size from my 55 in my basement that no one can see and that I haven't been keeping up too well to a 25 or 30 gal in my living room where I can keep it going and have it in plain view.

I am just not sure what to do with it lol. I never really got into the coarl end of the hobby and don't know much about them. I plan on using my current filter a fluval 303, my skimmer thats a ocean systems good to 100 gal and my power head that I have in my 55 now. will this be ok I wasn't sure if you can "over skim" the water and have too much water flow or filtration.

The only good thing I can see is that with a small tank my costs will stay down and I might be able to do something with it and finally get a true reef in my house.

I am just wondering if there is anyone in here that has something along the same size or if anyone can help me out and giv eme some advice.

any thoughts on fish, corals , limitations or advice on a project like this would really be a huge help.

thanks

 

[Scooterman]

Only thing I can say would be try one of those nice cubes like a 24g aqua-pod or one of some sorts, they are nice, all packed with the stuff you need other than salt water & LR's!
Maybe you can sell off most of what you got & start new.

 

[spanko]

I have a 29 gallon Oceanic Bio-cube and am quite happy with it. I have upgraded the stock lighting that was 72 watts upgraded to 144 watts. This has allowed me to get into some of the more light demanding corals. The stock lights were good for the softies and LPS but I wanted to get into some SPS.
Here' a recent pic.

I have 5 fish, 2 clowns, 1 blue assessor, 1 yellow watchman goby and 1 lawnmower blenny.

 

[darklcd]

the only reason I am going with the 30 gal is cuse it free lol and the wife has a hard enough time with it now let alone buying another tank lol. that 29 looks really good what kind of fish do you have in it?

 

[moortim]

I went from a 55 to a 10 for a year. My 10 gallon was a lot of fun, i just had a pair of percula clowns, a peppermint shrimp, and some soft corals. Very easy to take care of, very cheap and does not act as the centerpiece in the room like a big tank.
After a year I have been able to set back up my 55 but I kind of miss having the 10 around.
As for filtration your setup sounds fine, I have a skimmer on my 55 that is rated way bigger but I think it is good to have a strong skimmer. How much flow will your powerhead provide?

 

[darklcd]

my power head will do 900 gph alone with my skimmer and my fluval I think that puts everything up to about 1400 gph total

 

[spanko]

Fish right now are 2 tank raised occy's, 1 blue assessor, 1 lawnmower blenny, and 1 yellow watchman goby. 1 cleaner and 1 peppermint shrimp, a pom-pom crab, asst'd snails and hermits. I am looking to start a biotope of a reef flat. If you are interested here is a link.
http://michiganreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53701&highlight=spanko

Not trying to high jack your thread darklcd, just to give you some options. Hope that is okay.

 

[achu]

welcome to the world of nano reefs!

Welcome to nano-reefing! I've had nano's for the past 8 years or so. I started with a 6 gallon reef-only w/ a cpr bakpak and chaeto in the flow many years. Now I'm upgrading to a 29.

I LOVE that my water changes consists of one 3 gallon jug of salt water. (my 6 gallon water change was only a 1 gallon jug of water!)

My 20L worked perfectly and has/had 195W PC with 3 NO actinic t5s, a CPR bak pak and a hang on the side fuge with chaeto. (I'm literally halfway between two tanks right now I have everything from softies, lps & easy sps, 2 occelaris clowns, 2-3 rose anenome (they split every 6-7 months or so), 1 emerald crab, 1 brittle star. I have found that my nano seems to work better bare bottom. My fuge has sand and lots of critters though.

The 29 that I am setting up right now will have the same livestock as my 20L. I have upgraded the lighting to 380W hombby lights (250W DE HQI, 2-65W Actinic PC and 2-blue moon LEDs all in one cute fixture!) I think that I should be able to keep all the SPS that I want with those lights!

You're going to love the nanos! They are much less money, less maintenance for the same amount of fun!

Best of luck!

achu

 

[MarineTeng]

downsizing isn't that bad, i had to take down my 30 gallon to move to college, now i have a 20 long, i sold a bunch of my coral but my 20L is still quite crowded, and i have a pair of banggai cardinals in it, it's really nice no sump or anything so it's quite simple just a skimmer a couple of maxi 1200s and a heater

 

[darklcd]

i have a fluval 304 would itbe a good idea to get rid of it all together and just running power heads in the tank along wiht my skimmer?