New tank setup help needed

[pskorf]

I would like help on converting my daughters(11 year old) hexagon tank over to a salt water tank. believe it is a 29 gallon ??? but measures 18 wide by about 25 inches deep.
this is the basic tank.do not want to go with a sump.
loking at keeping a few fish in it maybe clown fish or suggestions please.
also going with a fair amount (60% + ) towards top with live rock(rock will be basic building rock that will have a few pieces of live rock added to cure it all).
i do not want all live rock as i am going to take my time building the way i want and not worry about the live part of it.

so light.been seeing some 150 MH and 250 MH some sit on tank and some clamp on and have fan on it.so looking for suggestions in light department.

skimmer need something quiet as it will be in daughter bed room.9 inches of rim to hang on

i know salt is a new expierence.will be using DO water from store for water changes (till i get filters when we go with big one on main floor).

I have freshwater expierence with freshwater tanks and BIG time into TRUE koi ponds.

so i need a list of things to succeed.I will spend extra to have right equipment(learned hard way over years spend extra for better stuff).
been doing some reading but was mostly for larger tank set up (decided to hold that off awhile).

so please help me set up her tank the right way.

[pskorf]

also anyone close to me to help be a mentor is the best i could hope for even larger tank size people.

also on equipment,i have a habit of being oversized on my ponds and tanks so no problem trying to skimp on that.

[fullmonti]

I got a 30gal for my first tank. Started with 5 small fish. No problem till they started growing, then started having problems with corals, too many fish.

So first thing I would suggest is only get 2 or 3 fish unless they are very small gobies. Clowns & gobies are good because they dont need as much swimming room as some more active fish.

Next get best skimmer you can afford, since this will be your main/only filter, probably hang on back type rated in the 50-150gal range, they tend to over rate them. One that draws water off the surface is good. reef octopus hb 800s is very nice but might be to big to fit you hex. There are as many opinions about skimmers as there are reefers so I'm sure you'll get more on skimmers.

That clamp on 150 MH with fan is probably a good choice for you. It would let you keep a pretty wide range of corals when your ready for them.

Keep doing research & asking questions! Good luck

[pskorf]

thank you full monti

the skimmer is where i need most help.i want to make sure it is pretty much "let it do its job"being in daughters room makes it not much time i will be watching it and adjusting and such.
no problem spending the extra dollars to have this set up right.

i have learned over the years in ponding is there is alot of foolish equipment i have bought to get by and basically wasted since it is no longer in use today.so hence why i came here to get people advice on setting this up right.

[Weetabix]

Nano Remora skimmers are an option.
I've heard good things about Octopus HOB skimmers, but haven't used them.
For rock, you can get mostly dead base rock from somewhere like BulkReefSupply and then just put a little bit of Live Rock on the top to "seed" it.
As the earlier poster said, don't overdo it in the fish dept. and add them slowly and gradually.

[pskorf]

biggest concern is are the skimmers quiet and fit on the 9 inch rim

[fullmonti]

thought of few more things to think about. One of the things that Must be done every or several times a day is fresh water replenishment. There are many kinds of auto top off ATO systems, usually go in sump, or you can add it manually which is what i do. You will need a refractometer to check salinity no mater. I have been looking into using a dosing pump to add small amount of fresh water several times a day.

Few other needed things, timer for lights ect, test kit/kits for nutrients, PH ect, check some web sites, lots of dif test kits & monitors. Stuff to do water changes, pump, hose, buckets ect. Need to do a 10% water change weekly. If you don't have out side source you need RODI water filter to make fresh water too. Aquacave Premiumaquadics Drs foster & smith some good dry goods sites & Liveaquaria is good for live stock.

ON live stock there is a lot more inverts in salt water, & they don't put as much bioload on the system. You might look into more inverts less fish, cleaner shrimp, hermit crabs, snails ect. They also clean up some of the left overs from the fish & are very interesting to watch.

[pskorf]

on the bak-pak2 reef ready2R+ protein skimmer.still need the bubbler reducer? also can a guy push some cheato in there

[pskorf]

can the legs on a nova extreme pro move in so it would fit on a 18 inch tank? also is the legs less then 9 inches wide on the 20 inch model?

[Tadashi]

If you do not mind weekly water changes you can go skimmerless. I have my 14-gal at the office and do a 1 gal WC a week (only takes me about 5 min). However, you will also have to keep the bioload small to avoid any issues. 2 fish would be good to start with.

I think the air stone skimmers are pretty quiet. The Remora AquaC HOB is noisey (although mods exist to quiet it down a little). My CPR 2R is not too bad. After awhile you get used to the noise as white noise. Just do not keep the tank next to the bed.

You can also have the ATO dump into a HOB backpack in their return reservoirs.

Another thought is to put in an acrylic overflow inside the hex where you can use some intake skimmers, add ATO, hide heater and other equipment.

[Tadashi]

On the CPR 2R the bubbles go away over time. I have had mine a month and the bubbles are nearly gone.

[pskorf]

well water changes are never a problem for me.main koi pond gets 5-10 % daily during show season.
put still feel a skimmer is needed.i am big on filtration.but i know filters are a no no on salt.

i can do the top off manually and make it part of her chores also.

[Tadashi]

You can have filters on salt but they have to be cleaned often to avoid become nitrate factories. In my 14-gal I have a mechanical media sponge that gets cleaned weekly. I am amazed at the crap I pull out of it each time. So it acts as a nutrient export also.

I would just have a backup ATO device in case you would like to go on a week long trip.