Equipment recommendations for starting a 29 gallon tank

Rugops · Feb 12, 2023

Hi!
So, I have been keeping freshwater for some time now and I have become bored of it and have decided to decommission it (if you are interested you can pm for more details). I am very familiar with cycling (I have experience with brackish tanks) and what not and have planned what I want to do. However, I am very unfamiliar with the equipment on the market right now and I just want to know what would be suitable for a 29 gallon reef tank (will possibly have softies and lps). The budget is around $300. I can go a little over.

Throw out your recommendations.

CoastalTownLayabout · Feb 12, 2023

Assuming you are going with a stock 29g tank, not an AOI, you could look at getting a Seachem Tidal HOB filter, probably the 35. Very handy to have the surface skimming function.

You get what you pay for with lighting. Personally I wouldn’t skimp on this as a quality light fixture will be upgradable to bigger and better systems if you decide to progress in the hobby.

Rugops · Feb 12, 2023

CoastalTownLayabout said:
Assuming you are going with a stock 29g tank, not an AOI, you could look at getting a Seachem Tidal HOB filter, probably the 35. Very handy to have the surface skimming function.

You get what you pay for with lighting. Personally I wouldn’t skimp on this as a quality light fixture will be upgradable to bigger and better systems if you decide to progress in the hobby.

I was actually concerned with lighting. My lfs uses coral life leds and I was a little curious with them. I also am curious about these light fixtures. I was thinking ai primes but I kinda don't know if I want to go that route just yet. I need to figure stuff out.

How about:

-Pumps
-Canister filters
-Sumps?
-Dosing

CoastalTownLayabout · Feb 12, 2023

AI Prime is a solid option and will grow with you.

In terms of your other equipment questions I’m unsure how you would stay under budget without buying second hand or low quality gear.

Rugops · Feb 12, 2023

CoastalTownLayabout said:
AI Prime is a solid option and will grow with you.

In terms of your other equipment questions I’m unsure how you would stay under budget without buying second hand or low quality gear.

where I live there are a lot of reefers. I might look into second hand.

legionofdoon · Feb 12, 2023

The tidals are solid for freshwater but without a protein skimmer I personally think you will be doing a lot of water changes. Also I would go with a 75 or 110 tidal not the 35. I use two 110s on a 75 freshwater tank. See my reply to your other thread.

Rugops · Feb 12, 2023

legionofdoon said:
The tidals are solid for freshwater but without a protein skimmer I personally think you will be doing a lot of water changes. Also I would go with a 75 or 110 tidal not the 35. I use two 110s on a 75 freshwater tank. See my reply to your other thread.

Would a protein skimmer work on a tank so small?

Schulks · Feb 12, 2023

The marketplace here is a great place to buy used. In the last couple months I purchased like 5 items here. A Kessil A80 an H80 and spectral controller, an 18w pentair UV, an iSeaLive Waterbox Filter roller and have had really good luck. Most of it has been in great condition and nearly half price. I think the community is good here or I'm just really good at picking who to buy from ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for the protein skimmer, most people say not to because small protein skimmers don't work well. I am setting up a 25 gallon with one so I'll give you my opinion in a few months lol

legionofdoon · Feb 12, 2023

Rugops said:
Would a protein skimmer work on a tank so small?

Absolutely. Just need one of the right size. I oversized mine but you can get by with smaller. Even air driven ones work better than nothing

legionofdoon · Feb 12, 2023

Schulks said:
The marketplace here is a great place to buy used. In the last couple months I purchased like 5 items here. A Kessil A80 an H80 and spectral controller, an 18w pentair UV, an iSeaLive Waterbox Filter roller and have had really good luck. Most of it has been in great condition and nearly half price. I think the community is good here or I'm just really good at picking who to buy from ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for the protein skimmer, most people say not to because small protein skimmers don't work well. I am setting up a 25 gallon with one so I'll give you my opinion in a few months lol

Who says small protein skimmers don't work? You can get by with just water changes but protein skimmers do work on smaller tanks. I had a Skilter at one time and it pulled some nastiness but I eventually had to go bigger.

Rugops · Feb 12, 2023

legionofdoon said:
Absolutely. Just need one of the right size. I oversized mine but you can get by with smaller. Even air driven ones work better than nothing

Could you recommend one? You know, I have heard that some build their own.

legionofdoon · Feb 12, 2023

In fact you can make a decent protein skimmer from a air stone and a bottle of your choice. It's old as dirt tech but still works if you are looking to save money

legionofdoon · Feb 13, 2023

There are a ton of small protein skimmers. I've used pro clear and a SCA 302 on smaller tanks. The pro clear was like 20 years ago though.

legionofdoon · Feb 13, 2023

Currently I use a lifereef but that would probably be way to big for 29 gallons.

Schulks · Feb 13, 2023

@legionofdoon
People say they are just really finicky and annoying to use. I haven't used a skimmer yet myself.

I am going to use the Icecap k1-50 on my Fiji Cube 22.4g build here soon. It says for 40-80 gallon aquarium but you're saying that shouldn't be a bad thing?

Rugops I think the Icecap k1 protein skimmers look good. I got it as a recommendation from someone else here.
The k1-50 has a big footprint though 4"x3.5". My aquarium has wide back chamber so it works. The Icecap k1-nano would fit most AIO's

Rugops · Feb 13, 2023

Schulks said:
@legionofdoon
People say they are just really finicky and annoying to use. I haven't used a skimmer yet myself.

I am going to use the Icecap k1-50 on my Fiji Cube 22.4g build here soon. It says for 40-80 gallon aquarium but you're saying that shouldn't be a bad thing?

Rugops I think the Icecap k1 protein skimmers look good. I got it as a recommendation from someone else here.
The k1-50 has a big footprint though 4"x3.5". My aquarium has wide back chamber so it works. The Icecap k1-nano would fit most AIO's

I will look into it.

TangerineSpeedo · Feb 13, 2023

Lighting... the Current USA ones are cheap right now because I think they went out of business or sold out to saltwater.com. They are fine for lower par stuff like LPS but you will need two probably. But I would also look into getting some used AI 26's They have a good quality light and you can upgrade the pucks later if you want.
As far as Nano skimmers go, I have had really good luck with Eshopps Nano skimmers, I have three of them on different tanks. Do Not get the fluval one, they are cheap and inconsistent.
Since this is your first salt water tank and you are only going to use a HOB filter, I would strongly recommend buying live rock from the ocean and not try to start this using dry rock.

Rugops · Feb 13, 2023

TangerineSpeedo said:
Lighting... the Current USA ones are cheap right now because I think they went out of business or sold out to saltwater.com. They are fine for lower par stuff like LPS but you will need two probably. But I would also look into getting some used AI 26's They have a good quality light and you can upgrade the pucks later if you want.
As far as Nano skimmers go, I have had really good luck with Eshopps Nano skimmers, I have three of them on different tanks. Do Not get the fluval one, they are cheap and inconsistent.
Since this is your first salt water tank and you are only going to use a HOB filter, I would strongly recommend buying live rock from the ocean and not try to start this using dry rock.

I would get a skimmer, just need to learn how to set it up.

TangerineSpeedo · Feb 13, 2023

Rugops said:
I would get a skimmer, just need to learn how to set it up.

The Eshopps is easy.. It has a magnet on the side. you just raise and lower the skimmer until you get the skimmate you want. Usually a dark tea color.