29 gallon bow front

[M0oN]

I'm new to the salt water world, been keeping discus and figure I'd upgrade to somthing more spectacular.

I have a 29 gallon bow front aquarium and so far a lighting system that includes a 65 watt daylight 10000k, a 65 watt actinic and two moon lights. I'm interested in starting a soft coral tank and I have a lot of questions...

What would be a good sized refugium for this tank? Are any refugiums better then others? If so what is the best buy?

What is a good protein skimmer for this tank setup?

What would you recommend for substrate in both the refugium and the tank and about how much in each?

Exactly what are the steps to setting up this tank from start to finish? I've been told blue damsel's are good to cycle the tank with what else would be a good idea for a beginner to add to the tank and in what order and time seperations?

Any other information is appreciated as well and I really appreciate anyone taking their time to answer these questions. If anyone has any links to helpful articles, posts or just tidbits of personal experience I would love to hear about them.

As you can tell I'm extremely new to this side of the hobby and I don't plan on actually starting the tank for quite some time, but I need to get started somewhere...

 

[pr0teus]

i've learned a lot from this board and its fine members. a lot of people refer new reefers to this link,

http://www.reefs.org/library/newbieguide.htm

it's got all sorts of topics about starting up a new tank like cycling, lighting, etc etc. check it out, there's a ton of information there.

moving onto your protein skimmer question, if you like hang-on-tank (hot) skimmers, a lot of folks like the CPR BakPak or AquaC Remora. i have both and i think the remora works a little better than the bakpak. i run a remora on my 29 and it works great.

as far as substrate, i've used aragonite and crushed coral. i didnt like the crushed coral b/c in my tank it seemed to "trap" a lot of dirt & waste from the fish. i like the aragonite much better. it's a white sand that is really fine, about the size of sugar granules.

but hey, check out that newbie guide... it helped me out a lot.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi M0oN and welcome to Reefs.Org...

I have a 29 gallon bow front aquarium and so far a lighting system that includes a 65 watt daylight 10000k, a 65 watt actinic and two moon lights. I'm interested in starting a soft coral tank and I have a lot of questions...

Sounds good so far. A good book will be worth it's weight in gold at this stage. Check my sig for links...

What would be a good sized refugium for this tank? Are any refugiums better then others? If so what is the best buy?

I think the general consensus with refugiums is that bigger is better. Will this tank have a sump? If not, you'd have to get one of those little hang-on ones (CPR makes a few models).

What is a good protein skimmer for this tank setup?

If you're not going to have a sump IMO the AquaC Remora is a good choice. If you're going to have a sump there's a lot of good choices...

What would you recommend for substrate in both the refugium and the tank and about how much in each?

There's different schools of thought on this. I prefer no sand, or just a thin layer for aesthetics. I also think a 1"-2" bed is fine. Some like DSBs, but IMO they're optional. IMO it's best to avoid very coarse substrates or rock rubble unless you vacuum the detritus out of them regularly.

Exactly what are the steps to setting up this tank from start to finish? I've been told blue damsel's are good to cycle the tank with what else would be a good idea for a beginner to add to the tank and in what order and time seperations?

Please don't cycle your tank with live fish. IMO this is an outdated and totally unnecessary technique. Look into a good book as it will cover some of this stuff in greater detail than we can really do here.

As with many things in this hobby, there's more than one way to setup the tank that will work. Basically, you need to fill the tank, add rock, get lots of circulation going and fire up the skimmer. Some prefer to cure rock in a separate container. Either way, you have to cure the rock before you can do anything else. Some like to add a piece of table shrimp to encourage the nitrogen cycle. Personally, I haven't found this necessary - IMO the die-off on the LR is plenty of fuel to get things started. Regardless of the details, my advice is to get your system up and running and wait at least a month before adding livestock, regardless of your test kit numbers.

As you can tell I'm extremely new to this side of the hobby and I don't plan on actually starting the tank for quite some time, but I need to get started somewhere...

Perfect opportunity to get yourself a good book and do some reading! It will really pay off down-the-road and save you a lot of money and frustration...

 

[Jolieve]

Also, it should be mentioned that if you're not sure what's in your tapwater, don't use it. Buy an RO/DI unit and use the water from that in your tank. It will really be the best purchase you make for this tank next to your skimmer. I also like the remora for this size tank.

I know that your freshwater tanks probably look great with tapwater, but saltwater critters are from a different ecosystem. Different foods feed pest algae in the saltwater environment and many of those foods are present in unfiltered tap water.

Good luck, you're off to a great start!
J.