Need Opinions on Tank Setup

[mvit]

Hello All,
I have had a small 20g salt tank for over 4 years now. It started as FO then
turned to fowlr. I had my share of snags along the way but recently upsized to 29g. I finally have a good stable tank.
I want to add some corals and need some sugestions. I want to do it right and realize going slow is key to sucess. Also I have spent days and nights reading up on various topics. My questions are (and I am sure these will spawn debates!) :

1. What is better for filtration on atank this size (29g)
Just a Skimmer
Sump/Fuge and Skimmer
Power filter(weekly media changes) and Skimmer
Other?

2. What are some of the easier corals to start with?
I have 65wx2 PC 1 actinic 1 daylight
Is this enough light even?

I realize I will have to seperate the starfish to a seperate tank as I found out he is not "reefsafe"

I would love to hear any ideas especially from those of you with smaller tanks
Thanks,
Mark

 

[Krish]

Filtration wise, I like the idea of a skimmer and live rock with the help of weekly water changes. You don't necessarily need a sump but the extra water volume will always help. I like to use carbon as well, but not necessarily in a powerfilter. In any event, there are many ways to go about things in this hobby though so you can use a number of different techniques and still have success. My recommendation is only my personal preference which has never done me wrong yet

 

[Bainic]

As Krish states "there are many ways to go about things in this hobby" , most of the time it is personal preference, the space that you are limited to, your budget, etc. Personally, I like using a sump with a skimmer, as Mr. Calfo has said a couple times " the solution to pollution is dilution", the more water volume that you have the greater range of error that you have for your parameters. A skimmer helps filter out alot of stuff that you can't see in your water column, once you've used a skimmer and have seen the "gunk" that it pulls out you'll never not use one again. Good luck in finding what works best for you and your inhabitants!!

 

[ronj]

i would go with just a skimmer(Bakpak or Aqua-c Remora).. there is no need for a power filter at all, except for running carbon(Phosphate reactors are perfect for that..they run about $30 plus the cost of a Maxi jet400 -$12 and you only have to run them when you want to run carbon).. the filters inside of a Powerfilter just collect nitrates if you don't change them every 2-3 days.. also, with that lighting setup , you can definitely keep mushrooms and maybe a few polyp corals...i would start with mushrooms.. they are very easy to take care of and will start to spread rapidly