new 30 gallon tank please help!!!

[playa0069u]

Hey guys, just wanted to say thank you. I am new here and all so... here goes. My girlfriend and I are starting a saltwater tank. I am very experienced in fresh, but have no experience in salt. I have been doing TONS of research on it and here is what I got. It will either be a 29 tall or a 30 long (hopefully 30 long because of the lighting right???) a penguin 160 or 170 power filter, a 55 watt compact flourescent light (1blue 1 white deal) i think it is like 30 inches or so. live sand mixed with aragonite? sand I think, old dried out bunch of base rock with 3 or 4 pounds of live rock, i was also told to take a piece of live rock and smash it. then sprinkle it onto the dead stuff to help seed it faster. Is this nessesary? either 2 maxijet? or something lol 400 power heads or more likely 1 900. 2 percula or false percula clown fish, 1 watchman goby, either red or blue legged hermits, astrea snails, cerith snails, another kind of snail i cant remember, a starfish of some sort brittle? ... umm hmm i was thinking of breaking up some live rock or addding some crushed coral in a corner so the goby can burrow with the shrimp. nessesary? and are air stones nessesary? and a few shrimp. Eventually some mushroom corals and stuff but not for a while. I really do not want to get a protein skimmer, I have a 55 gallon tank on the floor of my room and would love to set it up but i think i would have to have a much larger filter and i dont think i could get away without using a skimmer. does this sound ok? how often am I going to be doing water changes? Thank you sooo much.

[harmanrk]

Join the chat room, and I will try to answer some of your questions.

[harmanrk]

Double Post

[WtksBlondie104]

Welcome to the best website for aquarists ever! I'm somewhat new here still, but they have helped me learn quickly.

I just wanted to comment about the live rock. I believe you that the rule of thumb is 1 pound of live rock per gallon. That is easy though. I have 75 pounds of live rock in my 75 gallon tank, made out of just 9 rocks. But more than 4 pounds you will need, I am most certain.

Make sure you wait until the full cycle of the nitrate cycle is completed before you add fish. Don't let a fish store tell you to buy Bio-Spira, and add fish a few days later! I killed a whole batch of fish that way my fisrt few weeks doing saltwater fish.

Will add more tips later. Good luck!

[dsfdbutterfly]

I haven't answered a question for a while but you are asking several questions and I don't know if anyone has been able to help you out yet. Now as with anyone's opinion that is all this is.

To start off with the rock, you can take lace rock and add a few pounds of live rock and allow all the rock to eventually become live. This method is good if you have patience and are short on cash. Most of us don't have the patience and just buy what live rock we need. Smashing a piece and spreading it I don't see as "necessary". Never heard of it actually but what the theory may be is that you are spreading the bacteria better over what is the dead rock. I don't know that this will encourage growth any quicker than if you set up your tank paramiters correctly.

Lighting can be accomplish effectively in either tank and cost should not be any more for either. People here are much better in that department than me though so I'm not going to delve into that subject.

If your not going reef (which to me it sounds more like you are leaning more towards a tank that is fish only with live rock) then a skimmer isn't mandatory in either system (55 or 30). However, in saltwater tanks they have become the rule of thumb and will save you headaches in the long run. You should plan on setting up your 30 with one too. There are many options out there and used is always something to keep in mind. Ur power filter for the saltwater tank is not a bad option especially if you are staying with the fish only side of things. My advise will be to stay dilligent about maintance and your cleaning schedule. They can become bacteria factories and crash a tank quicker than anything if forgotten about. Most people just end up running small things like carbon through them and use them mostly for flow.

Again this is only my opinion but I prefer not to mix hermits with snails. They usually tend to go after the snails for the shells (even when you provide shells for them to trade out for). In my reef tank I've gone only with snails and in my fish only tank I only have hermits (that way I get both). I know lots of people mix but I just hate to have to replace my snails or have to worry if they are going to become lunch for one of my nasty hermits.

I've wrote another book now so hope this helps and welcome to CR. Please continue to ask away. Do your research first and then jump!!

Angie