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As it seems my past experience in Marine was tested earlier this year and I just want to make sure I am going to do this the right way.

I have a 29g aquarium that was previously freshwatre that I am going to bleach out and clean with the utmost care. once it is clean I am going to invest in some marine sand and some "instant ocean" salt as well as a hydrometer ot like device. after having the water running for a week i will get arround 20 pounds of Live rock and let that sit in the tank. Ideally I want to stock it with a couple clown fish if possible, but i know they can show agression to each other. so i will limit myself to one clown. I dont really know if the fish is compatable but i would love to keep a lion fish in the tank. if not it will be a clown fish a goby of some sort and a damsel of some sort. I am going to be looking at my LFS for the fish to see whats in my price range and what I can aspire for in the near future. The filtration and lighting will be from a Marineland all in one hood/light/filter its "rated" for marine and works great. My only concern is if i wanted to go with some corals/anemones in the future would I need to switch the lighting to acintic (sp?) or 50/50 bulbs? right now they have pant/aquarium bulbs that have a pinkish tone.

I have done Marine in the past, but it has been ages and I just want to make sure I am doing this correctly.

Thanks,
-Brandon

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

You could probably do two clowns. I believe clowns tend to be matriarchal hierarchies with the most dominant specimen being the female. You eventually get a "pair" (or at least a male and a female) if you leave two little immature clownfish together for a while. Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites, and the most dominant individual will change from a male to a female.

Lionfish will swallow clowns whole on sight.

Can't answer the lighting issue, since I don't know much about corals. I expect it will depend on the species of coral that you plan to keep whether the lighting will be good or not.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

As long as the water is the correct temperature and salinity I don't see why you couldn't add the LR after 24 hours. That should be long enough for the water to de-gas and the temperature to adjust. Getting the LR in there asap will help progress the cycling of the tank, which takes about a month.

You may be able to fit a dwarf lionfish in there, but it will eat anything that will fit into it's mouth including inverts. A clownfish pair will work fine in that size tank with a goby. I haven't kept damsels, excluding clownfish, before but have heard they become really aggressive as they get bigger so maybe something else in it's place will work better. A cleanup crew would also be a good idea, like blue leg hermits and astrea snails.

You may need a powerhead for more flow in the tank, depending on the turnover rate of the filter. As for the lighting concern it isn't as easy as switching the bulb to 50/50, it has to do with the amount of power put out. With anemones you will need a lot of light and will likely have to replace the previous light. I also am not too familiar with keeping different kinds of corals, but there are some that require less light and may work in your case.

What does that mean, Bob? "Till the cows come home." Where have the cows been?

whats the idea of the tank, FOWLR or reef?

all in one hoods are alittle iffy but if you like it.

if your not going with corals than a 50/50 is more than fine to turn the lr nice coloration. if your going with soft corals u might want to get a power compact unit with a 10K and blue actinic strip.


for fish, two clownfish are fine in a 29. it is hit or miss really with clownfish but 9/10 u will get two that will get along and eventually the dominate one will be female.

the lionfish would be a bad idea. volitians will grow too large and dwarf lionfishes will still need about 55 gallons and they are often difficult to get to feed.

gobies are nice, yellow clown gobies are good with clownfish and really dont take that much room.

damsels are questionable. often aggressive and will get large well some of them. yellow tailed blue damsels are generally peaceful if there ever was a term.

firefishes are also ok with clowns. they tend to hide alittle so good rockwork is a must.


the problem with anemones is that they can often can be very needy and if it dies...well so does ur tank. they will like power compacts and regular feedings.


you can always start with 50/50 and then around 4-8 months once ur tank is established switch the lighting to get corals or something. switching to power compacts or metal halide isnt that big of a deal. rather expensive but not hard.

I agree with all of the above, but there are a few things I'd like to add...

If you can find and afford it, get live sand. It's basically the natural substrate from the bottom of the ocean that's (usually) been cleaned and is colonized with beneficial bacteria. Live sand, along with (about 40-50lbs of) live rock will really help speed your cycle along. An LFS here used to sell live sand for $1.50/lb, but your local prices will likely be different.

Another thing - if you can find (and afford) one, get a refractometer instead of a hydrometer. Hydrometers tend to be inaccurate and can change their readings as they become worn (depending on the type). Cheap-ish refractometers are usually okay (mine was $45), but if you want to get really picky and go all out, you can spend up to a couple hundred bucks on a really nice one. I'd suggest spending $50-75 on a decent one. If you can't afford that, at least go with a large high quality glass floating hydrometer. I know fish aren't too picky about salinity (at least not as picky as corals), but a stable ratio of salt will definitely be beneficial to them.

Definitely add more flow to the tank... either a HOB or canister filter, or a powerhead or something. You'll definitely need much more light before you'll be able to keep any corals alive. Normal fluorescent bulbs don't do much at all, even if you've got a few of 'em... go for some higher output bulbs (PC, T-5, MH, VHO, etc) if you want corals or anemones.

Btw, if I were to do a 29g FOWLR in your tank, I'd go with a pair of clowns, some sort of goby or blenny (scooter blennies are fun when your tank is well-established and you have enough pods to keep 'em fed), some random fun inverts (shrimp would be fun), and a good cleanup crew (assorted small snails (different species eat different kinds of algae, so get different kinds), small hermit crabs (blue leg, zebra, etc are good, scarlets tend to be aggressive toward snails), and maybe a few other little critters.

Good luck, and keep us updated on it!

Thanks for all the info guys. I have been a little out of pocket and out of time for a while and i am sory for neglecting to respond. It might end up being a while before i can set up my SW tank, but thanks for all of the ideas! I am going to be shopping arround on ebay, aquabid and etc to see if i can find some good quality stuff at a lower price. If not I have seen listings for established SW tanks in my local PennySaver so I might just go with one of those.

I am also considering starting a nano with just a little LR and maybe and inverto or two. the tank would probably be 15g but I am still not sure.

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