Question on small salt water tank...

[Aussiedogs]

My husband and I currently have a 120 gallon tank so we're not really new at this, but we are unsure on a couple questions...

1. The tanks that are sold at like Petco(we normally never buy anything from them) that sell everything for a tank in the box does it have enough filters, skimmer (we don't know if we would need one for such a small tank 29 gallon), etc., etc. to run a successful salt water tank.

2. In such a small tank how many fish do you think we could have.

3. Again, in such a small tank do you think it would be a problem if we had coral and a rose bubble anemone.

Any help would be great! Thank you all!

 

[blind1993]

ok
1. tanks under 30g do not need skimmers but are a good plus. and small tanks will need more freq maint. also do not get that one from pet co. get a bio cube or tank like that. i was going to get that tank intill the own person who works at the store said it was crap.\

2. since u have a 120 u can get a hippo tang and wait for it to grow and u can not have alot of fishes i say the rule of 1in per 2 g for saltwater.

3. we need sizes to determine if they can live together.

 

[DonW]

ok
1. tanks under 30g do not need skimmers but are a good plus. and small tanks will need more freq maint. also do not get that one from pet co. get a bio cube or tank like that. i was going to get that tank intill the own person who works at the store said it was crap.\

2. since u have a 120 u can get a hippo tang and wait for it to grow and u can not have alot of fishes i say the rule of 1in per 2 g for saltwater.

3. we need sizes to determine if they can live together.

HU! Small tanks more than any need anything you can get your hands on to keep them stable especially if they have fish in them. Nutrients can become overwelming to a small tank much quicker than a large one.
Hippo tangs not even babies belong in a tank that small its not about size. Can it be done? Yes.
You can definately keep anemone along with corals, just use common sense when it come to size. Also remember that both require good water quality so all the more reason to have much more skimmer than you may think you need.

Don

 

[Reefergeorge]

Are you keeping the 120?
Is the 120 reef or fish only? and what is the purpose for getting the smaller tank? I only ask because I have my 90 as a fowlr, and a 12 nano for some corals with no fish. It seems to work well for me.

 

[Krish]

I agree with Don...The smaller the tank, the more you will need to keep things stable and nutrients to a minimum which is why they say the bigger the tank, the more stable it is. You will notice with the smaller the tank, the more frequently you will need to do a water change compared to a similar tank on a larger scale. I'd definately look into a skimmer and not the ones Petco sells. Usually all they sell is Seaclone skimmers which is one of the worse skimmers out there. I'd look maybe into an aquac remora depending on what size tank you decide to buy. Also, if this is one of the all-inone tanks that have a bio-wheel, you will want to ditch it and not use the bio-wheel as they are nitrate factories and corals don't do so well with any traces of nitrates generally speaking.

Just a few thoughts...Good luck with your decision

 

[Aussiedogs]

Thank you!

You have all made this very easy for us! I think that we will just make room(what little we have) and set up our 120 gallon again. It use to be a reef, but I think we will just do a fish only.

 

[blind1993]

good choice on fish only i tried reef and it ristricted so many cool fish like the butterflys. and all the cool starfish except the linkia.

 

[returnofsid]

I agree that with a small tank, a skimmer is even more important than with a larger tank. Small tanks make it more difficult to keep water parameters steady and a quality skimmer will make that much easier.

 

[blind1993]

small tanks are good to have corals only with a pair of clowns. but nothing more really or some gobys.