29 gallon reef to be

[Moonstream]

I have a 29 gallon tank, soon to be a reef. Here is the plan, tell me what you think:

specs
65 watt lighting
glass top
1 power head
1 HOB filter
2" sand bed

Cleanup crew
2-3 turbo snails
1 small bristle star
1 blood shrimp
1 skunk cleaner
1 larger hermit

fish
1 royal gramma
1 firefish
1 pygmy angel
1 false perc. clown

corals
1 green polyp
1 yellow polyp
2 button polyps
2 red shrooms
1 spotted shroom
All corals are in groups/ colonys

[Curve50880]

I would get some more snails for the cleanup crew. Maybe some ceriths. Also I dont think you need the glass top. It might hinder gas exchange. Not sure tho.

[camocustom]

Glass tops suck on 29..my old reef was an all glass 29 g. it got really hot in there too...couldnt keep it that low stayed at about 83-84

[Moonstream]

Yeah, I will likely only use the heater in the winter, as room temp. is warm enough to keep temps at 75-80F, mostly on the upper end of that scale. So I know the firefish is a jumper, so is it oky to have no top? Also is the 65 watts okay for those corals. Are there any others that could live under that?

[camocustom]

The Lighting works out to about 2.24 watts/gallon its bare minimum but they should do fine. As for the fire fish, definitely a jumper, and definitely needs a top, how about not getting a firefish? there is so much more out there than them! CHeck out my new thread here

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1145141

[Moonstream]

Thanks. I will be finishing the aqua-scape today with much more LR. I will also be getting the light. Well I guess no firefish. I may put it in my future 10 gallon tank.

[Moonstream]

I think instead for fish, I will do
1 cherbub angel
1 yellow clown gobie
1 ocellaris clowns
2 neon gobies

[Moonstream]

Actullay, no neon gobies, instead 1 royal gramma.

[Moonstream]

Okay, just got the lighting and rock. I got about, oh, 20 pounds. I will guess at having 29-30 ponds LR in there. So now I am waiting for the cycle to end and am waiting to get the livestock! Tell me what you think about this revised list

specs
65 watt lighting
2 power heads
2" sand bed
29-30 pound LR

Cleanup crew
1 turbo snail
8 bumble bee snails
1 blood shrimp
1 skunk cleaner
4 dwarf hermits

fish
1 ocellaris clowns
1 royal gramma
1 dwarf angel (not sure on kind yet)

corals

yellow polyp
blue stripe shroom
ricorea shroom
bubble coral
colts coral
orange spotted colony poylp

[chkit]

i wouldn't use glass top, it's gonna heat up the tank. unless you have a chiller.

[Slakker]

If you're set on a firefish, you could look at using eggcrate to cover the tank.

Clowns are jumpers, too...so an eggcrate top isn't a bad thing to look at...it fits just about flush into the rim on AGA tanks, allows gas exchange and evaporation, but protects against jumpers.

[Moonstream]

Okay. Well I need to test the tank, but I think it is nearing the end of the cycle. Right now there is a all glass top, but I plan to make a canopy and holder for the light. I was thinking of putting a canopy with an acrylic strip on it in. Or maybe a ready made canopy on top of a glass top, but have the front/ door part open.
Also, what should be the first fish in the tank, I was thinking add the Clean up crew, then add the gramma, then the clowns, then the angel. If I get the canopy then I wil get the firefish, and add him right after the clean up crew. Or I will put one small dwarf hermit and a firefish in at first.

[Purple Penguins]

not sure if Im reading this right.. but you got the rock yesterday? and today you say its almost done cycling?

[NanoReefWanabe]

my clowns have never tried jumpimg...my chromis on the other hand..

list looks good but i think i would get more light...

[Slakker]

The glass tops themselves will trap in heat. If you build a canopy, toss the glass. If not, toss the glass. Use eggcrate.

[sixspeed]

I would scrap getting the bumblebee snails, i would suggest 5-10 nassarius snails for your sand bed, and a mix of astrea and turbo or ceriths. The bumblebee snails will not help any algae problems you may have, because they are carnivores and only eat detritus.

[Moonstream]

I got new rock yesterday. I had sevaral peices already, and just finished with the rest. The tank was already cycling. I will need to get glass to put the light on, and the top is the eisiest way. I would keep the front part open all the time. Still not okay. Also, i have fallen in love with snow flake eels, I know they are to big for my tank, but I may keep one for a small time, untill it out grows my tank. I did write a post on this earlier, and will be following through.
Here is my revised list

Cleanup crew
1 turbo snail
8 bumble bee snails
1 blood shrimp and 1 skunk cleaner (will the eel eat them?)
4 dwarf hermits

fish
1 ocellaris clowns
1 royal gramma
1 dwarf angel (not sure on kind yet)
1 SFE

[Slakker]

The eel is just plain too much bio-load...even at a small size. They leave a lot of scrap food laying around and eat a lot, and so they create a good amount of waste, which in turn breaks down and causes your tank parameters to go nuts.

[Moonstream]

oh, so maybe no eel. is there any eels that could go in my 29? Also, are their nems that could go into my 29?

[Moonstream]

Any one?

[Springmo]

An eel of any size is going to pose a threat to those fish and the snowflake is the smallest usually seen in the trade. The Golden Dwarf Moray is smaller but quite expensive. I've seen SFE housed with pygmy angels before but your tank is far too small. If you wanted to keep a small eel as your only fish (and no shrimp), that might work for a while. I would also advise against any kind of anemone because they need a lot of light and are often short lived.

[Moonstream]

Okay, revised listing


specs

65 watt lighting
2 power heads
2" sand bed
29-30 pound LR

cleanup crew
2 turbo snails
5 small snails
2 pepermint shrimps
2 skunk cleaners
3 dwarf hermits

fish
2 ocellaris clowns
1 royal gramma
2 green chromis
maybe one or 2 more small fish

corals

yellow polyp
blue stripe shroom
ricorea shroom
bubble coral
colts coral
orange spotted colony poylp

[Moonstream]

Oh and about 20 small strands of maco algae on the LR. I also foud sevaral dead corals on the LR!

[Slakker]

Anemones are only short lived in captivity...something like 60% of all captive anenomes don't make it past a year (poor shipping, lack of understanding of their needs by stores and hobbyists, impulse buys...it's sad, really). It is widely accepted that they live for several hundred years in the wild.
That said, a 29 is far too small to house any of the clownfish hosts long term...they can all grow to upwards of 2 feet in diameter. Not to mention that it may be tough to keep the parameters stable enough in a 29 to provide an anemone with the pristine and stable conditions they require.

There are several corals that clownfish will sometimes adopt as a host in our captive systems (in addition to silly things like mag floats and powerheads). A few to look into are Pulsing Xenia, any of the Euphyllia species, some species of Leather coral (I believe Sarcophyton sp. is a common one), and I want to say I've heard of clowns hosting Colt corals.
However, if your Ocellaris decide to host a coral, be mindful of the health of the coral, as sometimes a pair of clowns can get rough and love corals to death.

Anyways...sorry about droning on in that short novel...I can't wait to start seeing pictures of your tanks. I wish I had taken the time to plan out what I really wanted when I started, rather than just jumping on a decent deal that came my way.

[Moonstream]

okay, well this tank started on a rocky note, but has come along quite nicely! Does the fish stocking sound okay? Will post pics as soon as I can. I will make a revised list of the fish stock as well, and will be asking my friend about her SFE in her 29 gallon cube.