Some Newbie Questions

I have looked at the BioCubes, but for some reason the shape isn't as appealing to me. I think they are a very cool setup, just not necessarily what I want. Part of the reason I have enjoyed the aquarium hobby in the past with FW was starting from nothing and building something up, hardware and livestock included. I have a little bit of confusion in some of the other posts. It may just be me overthinking the wording or something but I was under the impression that live rock was part of the cycling process. Is this incorrect, and am I supposed to wait to add the live rock?

 

I too am new and did a budget build. As other have said and i got the same advice, you do not need to buy all live rock. There are many places online that sell dry rock for a much cheaper price (EX. reefcleaners, marcorocks- i got mine from here, bulkreefsupply, live aquaria, saltwaterfish). Then after you have the ammount of dry rock that you want you can go pick out a cpl of pieces of live rock from your LFS to put in with your dry rock. I also have the Odyssea t5 4bulb lights and they have worked perfectly fine for me and i am happy with them. For power heads you can get Koralia Evo's for a pretty good price on Amazon. You probably wont need a skimmer right away, but if you dont have a sump you can get a HOB skimmer when it is needed. A refractometer i have been told is much better to use, i currently use a hydrometer so i guess its personal choice. Hope some of this helps, i have gotten alot of this advice here on 3reef and im passing it on. Cant wait to see your setup

 

"Cant wait to see your setup"

Me too, Im in that ancy phase looking at all the cool stuff, telling my self to be patient and keep researching/shopping so I do it right. Maybe dumb question but did you add live rock at the start and cycle the tank with it?

 

Update! Just found a guy with a 29g and stand for $80. Going from the pictures I will be going by to look at it and probably buy tonight. Pardon the excitement, but its the first step.

Any recommends on places for base rock, looking at Marco's but wondering if anyone else is a good source for comparable price.

 

I added my 40lbs of sand first (wish i hadnt) then 3 lbs of live rock and then 25lbs of dry rock and they rest of the live rock after. I also bought a fish the LFS told me that i should so it would help the cycle. I killed it :-(. After much reading and other peoples advice i wish that i had put the rock on the bottom of the tank and then added the sand so they rocks couldnt shift. Right now its not a problem but im sure one day it will be.

 

You could buy a 2 bulb t5ho and it would be enough for a 29 but corals wont grow as quickly, and you wont need a protein skimmer on a 29 i would start with one on a 45 but keep up on 15 -20 % water changes every other week and clean out the filter pads every other week..

 

Just got the tank & stand home! Little bit of a bonus its a 30 not 29. 6 more inches of horiz. swim space for the fish, little more room to aquascape and I don't have to worry about using a 24" light on a 30" tank.

 

Photo's ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Every one is saying it, look at used stuff its a great way to buy a older model that will still do aigret job for u