Going to start first tank help with list ?

[twintrades]

I have a 29 gal with a 1 bulb t-8 hood And a good intank heater.

going to puchace Items form drsfosterandsmith local store

Taam SEIO Prop Super Flow Pump powerhead $16
Visi-Jet Protein Skimmer $36
45 lbs Figi standerd live rock $145
40 lbs Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand unless homedepot has sand !! $40

Anyone want to help with ideas or cheaper stuff ?

[Ston3]

What are your plans? Fowlr or reef? You probably need to upgrade lights later if you want a reef tank.

Ideally, you want your circulation to be 15-20x your 29g in gph ie about 435-600 gph. I'm not sure about the quality of that skimmer, but you can never overskim. Read reviews and ask questions before investing in that just in case.

If you were looking to save some extra cash, you could buy 25 lbs of base rock then seed it with 20 lbs LR. Try craigslist as well for great deals. Just make sure the rock is truly live (still in water with heat and circulation). Also inspect for any problem algaes or unwanted hitchhikers. The latter is harder to inspect for. You may also get some good live sand from people on craigslist.

In any event, don't use home depot sand. You need aragonite sand which contains buffering properties which will help stabilize you pH.

It is also important to use Ro/di water only. It is much more pure than tap water and will help you avoid problems with algae, corals, and livestock. Sure it costs much more than tap, but I and everyone else here has come to find that sw is a very, very expensive and addictive hobby.

Good luck

ps oh and make sure you read up on fishless cycling.

[Chiefsurfer]

^Agree with just about everything there. I think for $36 that skimmer won't be worth a penny in terms of quality. There are tons of those cheap skimmers, and MANY here have learned through trial and error, that they are worth about $3 because it does just about as much as an airstone would.

Also agree, that single bulb will not be enough for a reef, but should be fine for Fish Only tank.

Also, 45 lbs is great, but to save yourself a few bucks, I think that anywhere near 35 lbs would be FINE for that tank, and unless you are doing a Deep Sand Bed, you should only need about half that sand.

[davidtsx]

Don't go cheap on a skimmer... Get the best one you can afford.

[BennyFrank]

I made the mistake of buying that visijet when I was first starting out. It is CRAP. I then upgraded to the Seaclone 100, which was also crap but worked way better. Don't skimp on the skim!

[Alurra]

I just wanted to second or third or maybe even forth, if i counted correctly. DO NOT purchase that visi jet! It is the single most useless piece of equipment I have EVER in my life encountered. I did that, mistake #1 when first setting up my tank (2 weeks ago). I now am running a Bak Pak 2, which is not by any means top of the line, but it works wonderfully for my application. Take the time to read some reviews on your intended purchases to be sure you are getting what you think you are.

I use Foster and Smith A LOT. Don't have a store locally so buy all my stuff online and I know from experience they don't usually sell 'shoddy' equipment, but that Visi Jet. Wow, I can't even begin to explain to you just how bad that thing really and truly is. LOL

Good luck.

[IslandCrow]

In any event, don't use home depot sand. You need aragonite sand which contains buffering properties which will help stabilize you pH.

Although hardware store sand's place in the reef aquarium can certainly be debated, aragonite sand does not have any buffering capability, and will not help stabilize your PH. In order to do this, your PH would have to be below 7.0, which means you have much more serious problems than what type of sand you're using. This is a very common myth in the hobby, but simply isn't true.

For the OP, a couple places you don't want to go too cheap are in your choice of protein skimmer and powerheads. Now, if you can fabricate your own protein skimmer, there's always that, but there are quite a few "nano" skimmers out there that really aren't worth their weight in acrylic. With a tank your size, you're probably better off going with no skimmer at all than something cheap. This can certainly be done with smaller tanks. You just have to be very anal about your waterchange schedule. For powerheads, you preferrably want one of the newer design powerheads that use propellars vs. impellars. They're more efficient and give you more diverse waterflow. A couple examples are the Hydor Koralias (though I'm not sure I want to recommend these anymore after 2 of my powerheads developing grounding issues) and Tunze streams. Many other companies are also jumping on the bandwagon, so you have quite a few choices.

[Ston3]

Originally Posted by IslandCrow

Although hardware store sand's place in the reef aquarium can certainly be debated, aragonite sand does not have any buffering capability, and will not help stabilize your PH. In order to do this, your PH would have to be below 7.0, which means you have much more serious problems than what type of sand you're using. This is a very common myth in the hobby, but simply isn't true.

For the OP, a couple places you don't want to go too cheap are in your choice of protein skimmer and powerheads. Now, if you can fabricate your own protein skimmer, there's always that, but there are quite a few "nano" skimmers out there that really aren't worth their weight in acrylic. With a tank your size, you're probably better off going with no skimmer at all than something cheap. This can certainly be done with smaller tanks. You just have to be very anal about your waterchange schedule. For powerheads, you preferrably want one of the newer design powerheads that use propellars vs. impellars. They're more efficient and give you more diverse waterflow. A couple examples are the Hydor Koralias (though I'm not sure I want to recommend these anymore after 2 of my powerheads developing grounding issues) and Tunze streams. Many other companies are also jumping on the bandwagon, so you have quite a few choices.

Hm everything I read said it was true. Do you have any articles to support? Not calling you a liar or anything, just want to read and inform myself.

[travis32]

I agree with everysaid. also, Craigslist was a huge benefit for me. I think I've saved probably close to $600 + using it.

I posted wanted adds for live rock, power heads, anything that I didn't already have for my tank. And I found the tank on craigslist.

Here's a sample of what I got using strictly craigslist:

55g gallon tank, Acrylic 14g Sump, Overflow box, Power compact Corallife 65w lighting, and ~ 80 lbs of crushed coral, pump for the sump, all hoses for overflow and sump, 1 X powerhead = $450.00 - Retail for this I would guess around $800.

~ 80 lbs of live rock, power head, some hardy corals (didn't ask for but they were attached to the rock.), good sized power head, Extra pump for ATO, etc. = $150 - Retail for this ~ $600 (depending on source) LFS sells live rock for $4.89 / lb.

BakPak 2 Protein skimmer (from craigslist)= $50.00, 16lbs of live rock = $40, Retail for around = $270 - $350

Net savings of almost: $1,000.

Items I bought new:
250w Heater: $40
New bulbs for light: $100
25lbs live sand: $40
Hydrometer, Power strip, Master Test kit, buckets, salt, and other misc. supplies: $150.00
New ATO: $60.

If it wasn't for Craigslist I would not be where I currently am.

[IslandCrow]

Hm everything I read said it was true. Do you have any articles to support? Not calling you a liar or anything, just want to read and inform myself.

I'll see if I can find an article that talks to this specifically, but you can ask any chemist or geologist as well. I'll explain a little more about why I say this, though. Oolitic or aragonite sand is composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It's the CO3 portion of this that many attribute to having a buffering effect on your water's PH. This could only happen if the carbonate enters solution, however. In order to break down this molecular bond, you need an acidic solution. . .i.e. PH below 7.0. In other words, you need to get the sand to dissolve, and it's simply not going to do this in normal seawater.

On a slightly different subject, I did find a tiny bit of trivia in a quick search of a few of the articles in the Reef Chemistry forum. It seems the addition of aragonite sand can actually cause a drop in PH. Now, it's not very significant (and I'm guessing temporary) and certainly not a reason not to use aragonite sand, but I did find it somewhat ironic:

2. If the water contains excess calcium and carbonate, then it is possible for precipitation of calcium carbonate to begin, and it can continue until saturation is reached. In other words, if either (or both) calcium or alkalinity are very high in a reef aquarium, then precipitation of calcium carbonate can reduce both. Again, magnesium tends to alter this relationship. This effect can be demonstrated by adding fresh calcium carbonate sand to seawater. A clear drop in pH occurs as calcium carbonate is precipitated onto the fresh surface. It might also be possible to detect drops in calcium and alkalinity, but the process usually stops (due to interference by magnesium) before these parameters drop enough to be detected with a hobby test kit.

[IslandCrow]

OK, found an article (sometimes just takes the right keywords in Google). The article is kind of long, but just do a word search for "sand". I believe it's the second occurrence where it starts talking about the buffering myth. As you'll see, it's technically somewhat true, but really a rather ridiculous claim that many companies are still using to sell their sand. Personally, I hate being lied to by these companies, so I try to dispel the myth wherever I can.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/7/chemistry

[twintrades]

What light would be good for some corals ? I would like to keep the t-8 set up i have if possible. And as for night lighting would led lights work for corals and other's ??

[Chiefsurfer]

29 gallon 36" tank? I would think you would need 4-6 bulbs for the t8's you have, or you can get a 2nd t8, and maybe 2 t5HO's along with it.

[Ston3]

Interesting islandcrow. Thanks for the info!

[twintrades]

So the one t-8 i have is way to weak?? is there a way to supplument it with out buying a whole new hood ??