# 29g Marine/reef tank



## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Hello all you Marine enthusiasts out there in BCA land... I have some questions for you!

I have a 29g tank that I am thinking of converting to a marine tank to try out the marine side of things. Like most people, my biggest concern is cost. Due to the insane cost of weddings these days and the fact that we're saving/paying for ours, I have a very low budget. In fact, assume it's a $0 budget, outside of buying some live sand and live rock, within reason of course. I've read about people running a smaller tank like mine with no skimmer and I understand that the live rock does all your filtration/nitrification. I do have a AC50 HOB filter that I was thinking of adding some more live rock to, if it's needed. The lighting that I currently have is a Beamswork LED with a combination 10,000k and Actinic lights.

Is it possible to run a successful marine/reef tank with just heaters, powerhead, live rock, live sand and if needed a HOB filter with extra live rock?

What else will I need and why?

Please excuse my lack of knowledge in operating a marine tank. This will be my first and while I've done some reading on the subject, I know from experience that research and practical experience are very different.

Thanks!


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Congrats on the wedding plans 

That could work for sure, just watch out for accumulation of nitrates and organic compounds between water changes (the main thing skimmers reduce).
My 5 gallons are literally just a heater, live rock, power head, and light. Not too sure about the specs of your light, but most commercial LED fixtures are not able to do much in terms of coral. Perhaps the low light mushrooms and certain polyps would be okay but I would be doubtful of any corals that require higher light.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Thanks!

That's good news. I can always add a skimmer down the road (post-wedding) but for now, I was hoping I could use what I have and get things started. I could even go FOWLR until I can get my hands on a better light.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

How often should I be doing water changes and should I use RO/DI water or is tap water with additives sufficient? I live in Langley if that helps.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

There was a thread I just read about people saying you don't need RO water for salt water in BC. Everything I ever read was to use 1. You will get mixed reviews on this topic Jamie. The library has good Salt water books


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Ya good point Justin... I'm going to have to test my water pretty frequently in the beginning to get a hang of how often to do water changes.

I'm doing some reading on the powerheads and it seems that 2 x Koralia 425gph PH's should be enough. That would give me just slightly under 30x turnover, which is what I'm reading is the "magic number" ... Can anyone else confirm or let me know if this is not enough/too much?


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

I have 2 saltwater tank ( 1 20G Long and 1 34G) and I don't use RO unit in our tank ( I live in cloverdale). I highly recommend measuring TDS in your tab water though. I guess it really depends on what you want to keep. if you want fish only, then you don't need to worry about the light. even for softies like some Zoas and mushroom should be ok with your lighting.. I have a skimmer in 34G and no skimmer in 20G L. As long as you keep weekly water change, I think you will be ok without a skimmer. there are many members here and canreef who run their tank without it. I also suggest you to check out canreef as well as here for more information.. I have only kept saltwater tanks for 6 months but it's really fun


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Ditto^+1

I do not use RO either. It really depends on what the source is for your water supply. A high TDS in your base water will cause algae blooms.

For flow, 30x turnover is enough. Technically, as long as your tank isnt a sand storm, fish are able to swim without too much struggle and the skin isn't being blown off your coral you can as high as flow as you want (and the more the better for flow, at least for reef tanks.).


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Momobobo said:


> Ditto^+1
> 
> I do not use RO either. It really depends on what the source is for your water supply. A high TDS in your base water will cause algae blooms.


Good to know. Is this the case with freshwater tanks+TDS as well? That might explain why I've dealt with more algae since moving from White Rock to Langley. Out of curiosity, if my water has a high TDS then I should invest in RO/DI water? How long does it last? I'd hate to have to drive to the store everytime I want to do a water change or be forced to invest in a RO/DI system.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

I used this one back in the day Jamie. It worked well for a small tank.

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water Filter


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## GaryR (Sep 16, 2012)

Amazon has TDS meters for about $20 -- I ordered one of these a while back and tested my water around 11ppm:

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00KSTZGNE/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1414010862&sr=1&keywords=tds+meter


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

Sidius said:


> Good to know. Is this the case with freshwater tanks+TDS as well? That might explain why I've dealt with more algae since moving from White Rock to Langley. Out of curiosity, if my water has a high TDS then I should invest in RO/DI water? How long does it last? I'd hate to have to drive to the store everytime I want to do a water change or be forced to invest in a RO/DI system.


 you probably won't need RO/DI unit. tap water in MOST (not all) surrey/langley area is around 10~20 PPM. IF you have high TDS then unfortunately, you gotta get RO/DI as it will create algea problem.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

jhj0112 said:


> you probably won't need RO/DI unit. tap water in MOST (not all) surrey/langley area is around 10~20 PPM. IF you have high TDS then unfortunately, you gotta get RO/DI as it will create algea problem.


Ok thanks! what is considered high TDS? I guess what I'm asking is at what point should I think about using RO/DI water instead of tap water?


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

Ideally, it should be zero but I would say higher than 50.. this is just my opinion though..


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

What kind of fish stock/list can a 29g reef tank support and what kind of cleanup crew is recommended? Keep in mind I won't have a skimmer (at least not for a while)

I definitely want some kind of small clown fish or two if they can play nice. I realize I'll likely need to upgrade my lighting one day if I want to keep an anemone.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

lgreen's Ultimate Guide To Nano Fish - Beginners Discussion - Nano-Reef.com Forums

Take a look at the packages to get an idea...it really depends and its up to personal preference and tank specs. Do some digging on the interwebs to find out what you want done by your custodians 

Reef Custodians


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

any thing higher then 5 in my opinion buy an ro any way its the way to go i started using ro water and my groth exploded


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