my first reef, (need suggestions)

[mooosic]

I have a 30g long and decided to make it a reef tank, its my first dive into sw. Its already filled up and been cycling for about 3 days now at 1.022. I need to know what some good fish would be for a 30g reef? I want to get about 2" of sand and 40lb of live rock. For a filter i have a brand new Skilter 250. Any suggestions?

[not_sponsored]

Clowns, firefish, gobies, blennies chromis. Look into getting a skimmer, not sure what a skilter 250 is. Sounds good as far as sand and rock go. Maybe raise the salinity a little to 1.025. Wait till the cycle finishes BEFORE you add fish (at least a couple more weeks)

[mooosic]

http://www.aquariumconnection.com/getDetail.php?ID=648712

thats the filter i have

[mooosic]

The fish i was looking into getting was....
Ocallaris clown
starfish
firefish (indio pacific)
scooter blenny (after the tank has cycled long enough)
and a featther duster

[not_sponsored]

I'd hold off on the scooter blenny until you get a refuge. The other fish sound good. I have no idea how that filter/skimmer performs, maybe someone else can chime in.

[pdash]

Your filter is pretty worthless "EDIT: (i take that back it does have a skimmer attached but if i were you i would rather just buy a larger skimmer also make sure that u diligently clean any mechanical filtration you employ or it does more harm than good)". Buy a skimmer instead, and get on amazon and purchase some books on reef keeping, knowledge is paramount to successfully keeping reef tanks.

[mooosic]

I just have that filter cause it was free

[coralreefer2110]

I know the temptation is great (we have all been there!!) but I second the idea on getting some good books and going slow with the fish additions. Also if you are going to keep anything in the way of coral you should definitely consider the lights you go with. Welcome!!

[mooosic]

Two 60w MH for the lights

[fambrough]

A great investment for you would be Bob Fenner's book, "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist."

Your tank size is at the larger end of what we call nano tanks. Maybe you knew that already. :) Anyway, I would look in the nano forum for various set ups.

At this stage, my most valuable suggestion to you would be to decide on a reef keeping methodology. It will dictate your equipment and livestock choices all the way down the line. You can work backwards to this point by starting at the end: ask yourself, what animals do I want to keep in this tank? Especially when you answer that question as it relates to corals, you will need to make some solid decisions about equipment. for example, if you intend to keep what we generally call small polyps stoney corals (SPS) them you will need special lighting, and ways to keep particular water parameters stable and flow high. It gets more complicated the more you dig into it.

To answer one of your specific questions, you will need better filtration. For a small, sumpless system, consider one of the hang on tank skimmers.

Good luck. :)

[fambrough]

For got to add: you should post in the New To Hobby forum. The guys that moderate that area are fantastic about giving careful, well reasoned, experienced advice. Do a lot of reading in that forum, too.

[CleveYank]

fambrough is putting you in the right direction.

With a gentle bioload with the rock and sand (some don't use the sand anymore but I do). And a nice hang on the back protein skimmer rated for at least 50 to 60 + gallons would be a better move than the skilter. If it was new. Clean it back up all pretty and new and put it back in the box and sell it NIB. Then I would seek out a nano class or small footprint hang on back skimmer with the aforementioned output. The nano reef aholics that fambrough mentioned will get you on best skimmer size vs budget vs output you would want for your tank. And a small ehiem ecco classic canister filter would be nice to load granular ferric oxide and some high activated carbon in once or twice a month to knock down yellow color and phosphates to prevent algae blooms.

Last advice is take slow and deliberate steps. Patience is not a virtue with reef tanks...it's almost the law. Good Luck and welcome to the only addiction that will not get you arrested or in therapy. I think.

[AquaReeferMan]

Sounds like youre off to a good start. I would also bump up your salinty. I run my tank at 1.026. You will want to replace the skilter. It has a good concept but it fails in performance. Once you get your sand and LR in the tank I would wait at least a month before adding any fish. You can prolong your cycle by adding unscented ammonia found at any grocery store.

Once your cycle is well and complete try adding a pair of clowns. Every time you add a fish you should be watching over your water parameters to make sure your bacteria is keeping up. Slowly add your fish over a couple of months. Once they are all in and you have the maintenance down slowly start adding corals.

You could get away using a Coralife Super Skimmer 65 on that sized tank. Just remember to cut the outlet tubing if you go with that one. For some reason they make the drain tube too long and it hits the bottom of the bubble tray. This causes the skimmer to overflow. For lighting you could also get with using a New Nova Extreme Pro HO T5 fixture.

Skimmer
http://www.aquatichouse.com/Protein%20Skimmers_files/coralifesuperskimmer.asp
Lights
http://www.current-usa.com/nova_extreme_pro