My first marine setup

new setup on page 2

Hi im new to saltwater and i joined 3 reef to possibly get some advice.
Ive read previous forums and you guys really know a lot.
So being a newbie, assume i know nothing because i really dont. I have done quite a bit of research and kinda grasp the basics but i still have a serious lack of understanding.

Im planning on setting up a 30 gallon acrylic rectangular aquarium and stocking it with a pair of clownfish, a few domino damselfish, a dwarf fuzzy or dwarf zebra lionfish, and hopefully a peacock mantis shrimp. I have seen a setup much like this work so i really hope that it could work for me.

I also hope to also keep a few easy corals like frogspawn, leather, mushroom and polyps. Hopefully the clownfish could host the frogspawn or leather corals so they dont swim hopelessly against the acrylic. how easy are these corals and what procedures do they require to remain healthy?

Finally, what equipment should i get? is a protein skimmer necessary? What filter system would you recommend for the described setup?

 

First I would leave the damsels out. You will need live rock for one and you don't need a protein skimmer if you stay up on your water changes. Also, are you going to run a sump? What kind of lighting are you at? All the corals you mentioned are easy to keep as well. You will need a test kit at least for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH as well as a way to test for specific gravity (SG). I don't know anything about lionfish, are they reef safe?

 

so far i plan to use somewhat low lighting and have corals that can live with moderate lighting and waterflow. peacock mantis shrimp dont do well with intense light and i really dont want to risk giving shell rot to such a beautiful animal.

why do the damsels have to go? i love how they dart arround the tank. ive heard that they are very territorial which is why i would most likely add them last.

Yes dwarf lionfish are reef safe or so i think.

Another question i have is if your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH and other thing tested for come up somewhere where they aren't supposed to be (too high or too low) how do i equalize it. Additives???? there are so many out there! are there any favorites of yours???
thanks for your reply

 

Im placing the tank on the top shelf of a two shelved cabinet with about 3-4 feet of room in between. since i have this room what form of filtration would you recommend?

 

The damsels, especially dominos are very aggressive and will end up bullying your clowns most likely to death! With the dwarf lionfish you have some real risks with him easting the other fish! They say "dwarf" but they can actually reach about 6 inches in leagth and they can open their mouths quite large! Large enough to eat a small to medium clownfish and definately large enough to eat damsels! where ever you sae this similar set up, the lionfish was probably still small, but once it grows, I wouldn't risk it! keep the clowns, remove the damsels and lionfish and replace them with more peacful fish. There are lots of choices out there. Another fish that you could keep more than one of that are open swimmers that are in teh damsel family but are actually peacful are blue/green Chromis. These are great active and pretty fish. And instead of the lionfish try a red firefish and a royal gramma, and maybe even add a yellow clown goby. these are all reef same and peacefull towards eachother! The mantis shrimp will most likely eat everything in the tank. A mantis needs tank of it's own. the setup you are describing may possibly work BUT for a much much more experienced keeper.
If you aren't planning to keep too many corals, then dosing you really don't have to worry about at all. additives are really just needed when you have very sensitive corals and a lot of them!
The main test kit you will need is more Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate and pH. Ammonia and Nitrite show up when the tank is cycking. If you are getting any reading at all in these levels the tank is not ready for fish yes and just let the tank be to finish teh cycle on its own. Use live rock or half base rock and half live rock, that will be cheaper to purchase. Live rock is a MUST in any saltwater tank, reef or not in my opinion. Nitrate is removed through water changes, a skimmer or macro algea. the best filtration for a saltwater tank is a sump/ refugium combo. You can get a skimmer if you want but there really isnt a NEED for it for a tank your size. Just keep up on water changes.
the corals you mentioned are super easy, low maintanence, tolerant corals. good choiced. there are lots more out there that are easy like them to keep! torch corals, hammer corals, plate corals, trumpet and candy cane corals, star polyps, anthelia, snowflake polyps, zoanthids, button corals. leathers such as devils hands, toadstools, colts, kenya trees. There are even other things that look great within the corals that dont need light at all! Like coco worms and larger feather dusters. All these corals mentioned so fine with moderate lighting, and moderate to low flow, and are easy to keep. Even if you end up getting better higher lighting there are even a few easier sps corasl you can keep like monti caps, monti digitata, poccillopora and birdsnests.
good luck with your new tank!

 

A gallon of SW weights 8.34 lbs. Thirty gallons of water going be very very heavy, add rock weight and it might be too much for a shelf.

The link below is a great read for someone new to the hobby.
http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hobby/whats-important-successful-tank-108699.html

Welcome to 3reef.

 

I completely agree. Unless the shelf is made out of 2x4s with a vertical support, it probably would not have the structural integrity necessary to hold the 300lb+.

That being said, if you can reinforce it with a vertically oriented piece of wood, secured into the sides then you'd be ok. Even a 1x4 secured across the length will likely give you what you need.

A 1x4 oriented vertically has twice the structural integrity of a 2x4 oriented horizontally.

 

I wouldn't get all of those fish, here's what I think would work in terms of livestock: Pair of clownfish, lionfish, and something else. Damselfish will probably get eaten or harass everything. Look up tobies, they are great but they will eat your inverts. Those corals should get medium flow and moderate lighting, they are very easy to keep. Protein skimmer is not necessarily needed either, if you want the mantis shrimp you'll probably keep it in the sump, if you get a sump I would make it have: carbon, refugium, and some other filtration(I'm not the best with this part of the tank).
HTH;D Welcome to 3reef too!;D

 

Thankyou guy soo much!
im so happy i joined 3reef!

you say i can have montipora!.thats exciiting! montipora loook soo coool! im wondering still on what filtration has worked best for you guys.

ya i agree with the structural concerns. i have a 70 gallon african cichlid aquarium that is flourishing at practically at the ground level. it about 5 inches off the ground but that doesn't matter since my beds practically lower (platform bed). but that thing is nearly impossible to move :-/ . So say i get rid of the damsels lion and mantis shrimp... what are the coolest possible animals (possibly inverts?) that i could care for.

what is the cheapest but still effective filtration method.

on my cichlid tank i have a canister filter and a ton of wires everywhere, thank god i only have to change the filter media once a month, and i wonder if this is the best bet?

thankyou for al of your replies

 

also... im wondering about the growth rate of the dwarf lionfish and clownfish because if one is considerably faster then i might have to buy full sized clownfish.
which is much more costly.

thnx

could i also house a dwarf angler?????
they look awesome and seem to be pretty small. thanks guys