Ready to do it right!

OK, I have had my 30 gal up and running for over a year now. A friend of mine gave me the tank because he set up a 90 gal tank.

As if sits now:
Crushed Coral
Under Gravel Filter
Skilter 250
96w coralife pc lights :-/

Remember this tank was given to me. ;D

I was wanting to set up a larger tank, but now I am re-thinking this. I like a tank that is filled with corals, not just scattered about the tank. I can't afford to do that with a 120g. I have decided that I want to do my 30 gallon up Right! 8)

Is there an easy way to replace the CC and the UGF? I have 3 fish and about 5 different corals and about 30 lbs of live rock to deal with. Can I just place the livestock in buckets and remove the CC & UFG? Will the tank go into a mini cycle without the CC?

I just ordered a Coralife Super Skimmer and have a 20g tank that I want to make a sump/fuge out of, but we will get into that later. Then comes the lighting upgrade.8)


TIA,
Rick

 

Sound like your on the right path. You can put your livestock in buckets just make sure you keep the temp right and keep them aerated. They should be fine for an hour while you remove the sand. The coralife is a good skimmer for that size tank and if you don't go crazy with high light corals 96W PC will do just fine over a 30g. That tank is fairly shallow anyway.
Good Luck

 

I would like to get some clams too. Is there a minumum light requirement for them? I was thinking of a 175 or 150 watt MH retro along with my coralife fixture with antics.

 

MH isn't nessary for a tank that size. In fact since the tank is 36" wide the MH would have a hard time covering that much spread. If you want to keep clam in a 30G I would suggest T-5HO light. It would probably be easier to setup with your existing lighting too.

 

Are t-5 simular to VHO's?

Anyone know of some good online suppliers?

 

Check out the sponsors. I personally shop at Premium Aquatics for most of my stuff. Reef Geek is real good too.

 

How about this for my 30 gallon tank?


http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CU-USA01121&Category_Code=Current-T5

Does anyone else have this fixture?

 

That would be more than enough. The thing is with a standard 30G it is like what 12-14" tall. If you put a 4" sandbed in it nothing is more than 10" from the light. Even PCs can manage that. What corals do you have so far and what are you planning to get?

 

18 inches tall.

Right now I have a couple leathers, some zoos, some mushrooms & a long tentacle anemone. I have read that some people keep SPS with t5's. I might want to give them a try.

 

You could go with a current sunpod HQI they throw a good amount of light in a wide partern. I use one on a 26G bow front. more than enough light