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I currently have a 29 gallon hexagon freshwater tank that has been running for over 4 years now. However, its occupants have diminished over that time and I am about to restock it. Though, I would love to make it a Nemo tank for my two little girls. Would this be possible in this size/shape tank? and if so, how much (approx.) would I end up spending to make the changeover. Thanks for any help and suggestions.

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Depends what you mean by a nemo tank mate.
I reckon you'll be able to put a pair of perculas in there with a modest clean up crew and plenty of Live Rock.
Prices depend on where you are to be honest.
You wont need to upgrade your lighting if you just want a pair of clownfish and live rock. You may want to change the tubes to a spectrum more suited to marine fish though.
Sposed to be roughly 1 pound of live rock per 1 gallon of water, however in your case i'd find one nice tall peice that will go right to the top of the water, or build a tower of some sort. Live rock is £5 per pound here for decent fiji/indonesian stuff.
Sand, i would use live sand but thats only because thats what i started with.
If you want Corals its a whole different ball game im afraid. You'll then be looking at PC/T5/MH (power compact/metal halides) which start to take the total up.
There are some silimar threads further down this page to this. You will also need a circulation pump (posh powehead) for flow.
Hope this helps a bit.
James

honestly, to make a nemo tank you should just buy a salt water set as you filter is probably not suited for marine, you need to up your lighting and etc. there are many small 20-30 gallon tank sets for marine that will come with all the stuff you need and etc. but it all depends on what you want. follow mez's advice, but make sure you filter is marine compatible and als make sure you all lots of live rock and sand and think about some inverts for clean up and if you do corals or anemones you need to find some small and slow growers and learn how to propagate and frag the corals so you can keep them at a decent size as that tank isnt very large...two clown fish may be a bit cramped in there, but a blue tang would be too crowded in any tank that size, not to mention it is not very wide or allows for much side to side movement. you should read up on marine and see what exacctly you want then come back to us and tell us so we can help.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I really was just trying to "recycle" a tank I already had....But if buying a new setup is what I need to do to do it the right way then I will. So are 2 Clownfish too much for an even standard shaped 30 gallon? Or is it more to do with the height of the 29 gallon hex? Thanks again everyone, I always know where to go for these answers. Even if it isnt what I wanted to hear..lol

I honestly dont know any filters that are unsuitable for marines. Just clean them out. Not needed,though. As i mentioned your live rock will be your main source of filtration.
Contrary to Bran I would certainly not get any anemones, this would shove the price for lighting up tenfold, and you should never introduce a nem into a new/not mature setup.
I honestly do not reccomend you buy a new setup. If you can afford it, great, but it is certainly possible to re-cycle your tank.
First job is to strip it down and clean it, let it air dry.
Go and buy a refractometer, and some salt water, (leave room for rock displacement) and sand. Live sand is prefferable here. You will need a batch of test kits. Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite are the most valuble ones.
Then your live rock. add about 25-30lbs, depending on the shape of it (the fish still need to be able to swim).
There you have it. That is technically a saltwater aquarium. You have your lighting already for your rock, and if you just want the pair of clownfish there's nothing else you really need other than food/cleanup crew (if chosen).
IMO 2 clowns would be fine in that tank you have, and it would be a waste if you bought a new one.
James

I appologize for what i said, because it isnt the way i meant it to be conveyed. I wasnt suggestin anemones or corals for your tank right away. I also suggested that you read up on it alot before you invest into it... also for a nemo tank i thought you were referring to the whole cast of the movie ie dori and the others... the two clowns are pretty much the only stock you could keep in there and the blue tang would need a larg set up from what i have read. what i was saying is not much can be kept in a tank liek yours due to lack of surface area for gas exchange. also as far as filters go some are marine safe and others are not. but if you keep up on matinenece of your filter you should be fine, just dont allow build up, corrosion etc... live rock will be your main biological filtration source, but mechanical filtration is with the filter as well as the filter will allow for a higher oxygen concentration in the water. also make sure if you add invertebrates to the tank to use water from a reverse osmosis device to rid the water of nasties and copper... this will help you keep your tank nice and safe. I still suggest you get a salt water aquarium book and put it by your bed and read it instead of your thriller novel before you go to sleep. you need to learn as much as you can now before you start to prevent tragedy and keep your future pets alive.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Which filters are not marine safe?
I know about the whole "nitrate factory" thing, but what are we talking about specifically?

So Mez what kind of clean up crew would you suggest for this situation? 2 clowfish is all I plan to have other than the clean up crew, sorry if I misspoke and led you to think I was also putting a Blue Tang in there as well. Im gonna clean out the tank tomorrow and give it time to dry out. Then, at some point in the next week or two ill go pick out some live rock and sand...and also get a test kit.

Nassarius Snails, x5?
Turbo Snails x5?
See, i personally wouldnt go with any hermit crabs, nassarius snails do almost exactly the same job and dont mug things for their shells.
I'd also look at getting a cleaner shrimp a bit further down the line, they look good and will pick up and bits of uneaten food.
Glad you decided to go marine with this tank.
James

yea me too, and my little girls are going to love it Just so you know, you have now become my designated support team on this....i'll probably need advice the whole way.....so thanks in advance.

most tetra whisper, aquatech, and a few other brands aren't marine safe, and will/might degrade wuth marine water. There are certain types of plastic that are marine safe and toehrs may or may not degrade along with other factors of cleaning, however like i said, some filters that may not be marine safe may in fact be used if they are matinenced once a week. most people only maintenece their filters every other week or once a month or every other month etc depending on bio load and water conditions.

turbo snails are great and i know many people who use them for thier tank clean up crew, and like mez said hermits will try to steal shells, etc... a brittle star may also be used as i believe they sift the sand as well as forrage for food, but they are not as common (at least in my area they arent)

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I wouldnt but a brittle star in that tank, maybe a zebra serpent but thats it..
Personally i think the whole degrading plastic thing is a load of nonesense.
What about filter holders? suckers? heater holders? Aquarium sealent? if what you say is true (hey it may be true, but i doubt it makes a difference) all this should be taken into consideration.
What marine systems do you run out of interest brandeeno and what's your experience with this plastic/degrading situation?
Glad we can be of help nick.
James

i currently done run one, but in the past i have had small 5-10 gallon marineland eclipses. I didnt have much degrading despite the cheap plasti manufacturing, but from a nautical point of view, i know that plastic degrades alot in marine water. we have to change out bilges (small pumps that maintain a certain amount of water in the boats for balast and etc) every other year due to plastic degradation.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

hmmm... I ran an Emperor 400 on my reef tank for over 10 years, and three other Emporor 400s on my shark tank for over 6 years. And well, all those filters are still in use, but now on FW tanks. I also used to use a Tetra Whisper on a nano tank, that ran for about 5 or so years. Sold the filter with that tank years ago. Never had any problems with any of them though.

And I have never read or even heard of them not being marine safe. I'm sorry brandeeno, but I must disagree as well. If you can, please show me a link that states these facts. As for maintaining these filters, well I actually only changed out the filter cartiges about once every 8 months or so. As they never got fully loaded. I mostly used the filters for their surface water movement on tank that I did not have pre-drilled for a sump. And the biowheels made good use for biological bacterial growth too.

These pumps you are talking about with work, do they run constantly? Are they ever dry docked? As in dry while not in use? Maybe the degridation is due to these things. As in the drying salts in the porous parts of the pumps breaking them up at a minute amount over the course of a couple of years.

I mean think about it, sure there are different kinds of plastic, but there is plastic components in all SW tanks. In one form or another. The tubing for the over-flow. Many of the over-flows that are for non-drilled tanks. The return pumps from the sumps. The walls of the over-flow area. The power heads used for increased water movement. The SW specific designed wave machines are plastic. And heck, acrylic is plastic, so in many and most cases these days, the actual tanks are made of plastic. The tops of the heaters are plastic. And I am sure there are many more things if we think about it.

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There is always a bigger fish...

I agree that alot of different things used in salt water aquriums are plastic, but there are diiferent grades and types of plastics. some plastics are not made to be in the highly corrosive salt water and others can tolerate it. it kind of similar to drift wood, some diftwoods can last longer than others in water. and while you amy have had a whisper in your tank taht does not account for new filters. as filter prices drop or remain constant, then the quality tends to drop as well. I have a whisper and an aquatech that had a degraded impeller in a freshwater tank. with regualr maintenece according to the instructions (ie take apart, use brushes to remove debris, rinse, replace) you may not have the same experience, but a tank running for 2 years non stop (except three minor accross the room moves) degraded a brand new filter, then think of what alot of salt water could/would do... also now adays alot of filters do not put out enough flow and etc for salt water aquariums. you need this flow for constant oxygen...as with the drylocked thing some of the bilges were and some were not. they still corroded and needed to be replaced everycouple of years. and also that was not a for work thing it is a hobbyist thing for our boats...

Nick, it seems your thread became a bickering ground over this filter thing, but my main purpose in telling you this was to make sure you had a filter capable of properly caring for yur tank. I recommend any of the marineland, emperor, penguin, fluval, eheim, etc filters... higher end tends to mean more quality, and the more quality means the less money you need to spend in a few years trying to replace the filter you bought. I have had to replace my whispers or aquatech filters every two years since i started... and i have a marineland penguin and a marinland all in one that have lasted doeble the time of the other two even with neglect... also they put out more current and allow for more oxygen concetration in the water... but whatever you have will probably due at least for a shor while. if you decide to not use you filter and buy a better one, make sure to give it a thorough cleaning prior to storing so that it does not degrade due to debris left on it... and store it in a cool dry place...

acid rain, I have no links sorry as i dont remmebr where i got this information, but i remember a book or something along with some friends and a reliable LFS manager telling me this.

sorry if this doesnt make sense, but if someone can provide me with a good piece of proof i might be able to understand why this may be happening with my filters/pumps and/or why all filters are marine safe.

also alot of powerheads or water pumps state plainly "DO NOT USE WITH SALT WATER." ever wonder why? next time you go to the hardware store and look at a powerhead or fountain pump, look at the warranty... they are usually all voided if used in salt water... does that help at all?

and please excuse me if i sounded rude at all, it was not intended nor would i want anyone to think that was my intent. this is mearly a dispute to find out whom has the correct scientific facts and i would also like to help uncover the truth.

I might call up the tetra whisper hotline tomorrow and ask if their filters are intended for/are marine safe and if they say yes then i will stop this charade... and profusley appologize to all of you!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

also alot of powerheads or water pumps state plainly "DO NOT USE WITH SALT WATER."

I don't disagree with this statement, as it is true. Not sure about the powerheads, but the pumps yes. And the reason is that they have metalic parts that can/do come in contact with the water. And they are made of highly corrosive metals. Thus, they rust out in about a year or much less. I can remember many years ago, when I had my first few SW tanks, I had to replace sump pumps every year or two. Just for this reason. Back then they did not make them specific for SW, or the ones they did were rediculously priced. So it was cheaper just to replace them every year or so. You will also find some pumps that are safe to use submerged in FW, but must be used non-submerged if using for SW. And again, you will find this clearly stated on the box. This is due to the construction of the pump and the metalic parts, and wher the pump has these corrosive metals placed. But I recomend not using these for SW at all. Because we all know, and myself from past experience, that salt gets everywhere and on everything associated with the tank, and eventually the pump will fail due to the rusting outside parts.

But, as you stated, these items specifically state this on the box. I went to the LFS yesterday and looked on most all the HOB and canister filter boxes in stock, all different brands, and I did not find this statement on any of them. I also asked one of the most highly reputable LFS owners in all of Cincinnati about it, and he agreed with me. That many years ago some of the filters with more metalic parts would not work for SW. But today, they all would work just fine. This is the reason I was asking you for a link. Becuase if I can see the recomendation to not use one with SW, I would like to pass it on to others as well. But if not, I don't want to give out wrong information then.

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There is always a bigger fish...

And Nick, I think that tank would be fine for a pair of clowns. And get yourself some really great lighting over it, and the anemonee will show its love as well. And you can then also place some very colorful corals in there too. A small 50-75 watt MH would work wonders on that tank. And if done right, could have a nice appearance as well. Make a drop down from the cieling, or just find a way to make a shepherds hook over the tank, and then make a drop down light from it. A single lamp would also make the water look neat, as it will give you ripple or wave effects from the surface to within the tank. Little ripples of light moving all around the tank. Its a very cool effect you can't see with flourescents.

This is how my 39 gal nano set up is. Of which I need to get setup again But it has a 100 watt MH on it.

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There is always a bigger fish...

acidrain, i appologize for my possible false statment, if what you say is true then many people could find easier and cheaper ways to build SW tanks as many novices as well as myself (with minimal marine tank experience) who though that most filteres needed to be marine safe, but if i can find the link or wherever it was that i read that information i would love to follow up with it to give it to you, but for now i sincerely appologize.

Nick, as acidrain explains a few corals and an anemone would be nice and you need the light/current for them to properly feed, but i would refrain until you get your tank fully set up and running smoothly before adding corals or anemones as these demand a bit more care.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

thanks everyone, Im glad to see everyone trying to offer me the best advice possible...this is why I continue to support this site with my membership. As for the filter, i'll use what I have for now, and when/if it fails, I will replace it. I guess theres really no sense in buying a new one when I have a perfectly good one already. The corals and anemone do sound nice, but I will take that advice of holding off until the tank is well established. I have not emptied the tank yet as i am waiting for a freind get his tank ready for him to be moved to his new home. Thanks again everyone.

If keeping costs down is your thing - keep everything the same and just add a skimmer and external fiter. Live rock is great but not essential for the fish only system (that you suggested originally) - coral rock would do the job for half the price.