My new 29g SW tank

pkennedy0219

Hey everybody, just wanted to let everybody see my new 29g setup. Currently I am running an emperor 400 filter, bak pak skim filter, and soon i will be adding some power heads (still cant decide which ones). eventually I want to go reef so I have a 10g that i am going to use for my sump/refug. I want to get power heads that will be good enough for the reef tank when i decide to make that move (roughly 6-8 months from now), I still have to let the tank mature due to it being new and me not knowing nearly enough for that endeavor. But i digress, if anyone knows what powerheads i should go with, or i am even open to a closed looped system, for flow let me know your opinion I would love to hear it.

well these is some pics of my tank my tank and fish

my fire fish coming out of his bolt hole

shot of my tank, it isn't full because i had to crop it

picture of one of my puffers, puffdaddy 8)

more to come

Stock currently: 2 blue green chromis, 1 firefish, 2 gsp (still very tiny and my be relocating soon).
22 lbs of live rock, and 30 lbs of Caribbean live sand

princesuhaib

Hey its looking very nice,what is your salanity level? and do you have that GSP in your saltwater tank? how did you acclimate him in? Did you just throw them in the tank just like that?
I suggest the Hydor Koralia for your pumps.

pkennedy0219

Thanks, yea the GSP's are in my saltwater tank. I acclimated them by slowly raising them from fresh to full marine (1.019 ~ 1.020) over the course of a couple of months. They are very very very happy in full marine. Their bellies are snow white and their green coloration is coming through even more so. The little guy in the picture, puffdaddy, he was just about an inch when i got him and now he is closer to 1.5" and the bigger started at 1.5" and is now around 2". evidently they go through huge growth spurts when they hit full marine, which i think has been the case over the past month. I keep mine with other fish because i believe they follow the guidance of mahat magandi (they are pacifists), well not to inverts but fish they could care less about

In fact i wanted to test this and i put a molly in the tank with them when they were still in their brackish phase and they would not touch him, he actually bullied them around. I love my GSP's but i am weary about starting a reef tank with them, but i really dont want to give them up. We'll see i guess.

Pasfur

Just a couple of observations. You have a quality setup, but need to actually eliminate some equipment. So, lets talk filtration.

The basics of any marine setup are a 4'' sand bed, live rock, and a protein skimmer. Any additional filtration, such as your Emperor, will NOT improve water quality. It will actually lessen water quality by inputting Nitrates into the water, and removing carbonates from your buffer system, making it more difficult to maintain stable alkalinity and calcium levels. Additionally, as water flows threw the filter pads and over the biowheels, phosphates are introduced into the aquarium, further complicating the situation.

You need to remove the Emperor completely from your system. Again, it is not helping you in any way. It is only hurting the quality of the water in your aquarium. The Emperor is a wonderful freshwater filter, but has no place on a marine aquarium which utilizes natural methods of filtration. This means YOU.

Next, at some point you need to look at the biomedia inside your CPR skimmer. This biomedia causes the same negative effects that I have explained above, although to a lesser degree. Because all water flows through the skimmer chamber first, the biomedia is less harmful and is actually beneficial in fish only WITHOUT live rock systems, but in your system this does not apply. After you increase the amount of live rock you have in this aquarium by another 10 to 15 pounds, and after you remove the emperor, I would remove the biomedia from the CPR as well. I suggest removing 25% per week for 4 weeks, just to be safe and ensure your live rock and sand are well established.

Next we need to talk salinity. You stated that full marine is 1.019 to 1.020. This is just not correct. There is not a coral reef in the world with a salinity under 1.023 to 1.024. The fish we keep come from reefs and have evolved to these natural salinity levels. I understand that many LFS will keep their displays at 1.019 for the purpose of reducing parasitical risks, but this is not a long term solution to keeping fish healthy. Utilizing lower salinities over the long haul is still being studied by the experts and should not be attempted at home until we have a better understanding of how the metabolism, growth, and development of the fish are hindered at these salinity levels. You want to raise your salinity slowly to 1.023. If you are concerned about disease preventative measures, then add a UV Sterlizer.

I am, of course, assuming that you plan to remove the GSP from this reef. They are going to cause infinite troubles in a reef environment.

Othere than these issues, your tank looks great!

Kellsindell

Looking good. I personally keep my tank at 1.026 which is ocean water salinity and puffer fish will eat corals, inverts and fish. Seeing it being a spotted puffer it's not going to get too big so the fish won't be an issue, but it will eat corals and snails (I have prior exp).

Firefighter337

not all sea water is created equal. Ocean water salinity varies. Average is 1.025.

a quick reference to wiki and plenty of other sources inform this.

Firefighter337

tank is going to look good by the way.

Kellsindell

I'm well aware that it varies from 32-37ppm but for evaporation's sake (especially if you don't have an ATO) then 35ppm is the safest... which is 1.026

Firefighter337

My post did not call you out nor anyone else.

Your post stated ocean water is 1.026. This is an educational forum. I did research for MY knowledge. I came back with MY findings. I also found out that 1.025 is just an average, and varies according to depth, temperature, and other things.

Sorry if I offended you in any way, shape or form. But I did nothing wrong here.

onefish2fish

stable is what counts, 1.025-26 is where i suggest for a reef. and i agree with pasfur about removing the filter