New to salt water tanks

Libby_54 · Jan 26, 2016

I just got a 29 gallon tank, from craigslist.

It has one live rock in it (I will be adding more), there is a 15 Watt full light spectrum, one Clarkii clownfish and a snail. The salinity is sitting at about 1.021 and 1.022. I got the water tested today and she said it was great.

I wasn't sure if I needed to buy a protein skimmer and powerhead at the moment. After added the corals and anemone I know I will need to change up my lighting for the tank as well...

I want to add more live rock, anemone and corals to the tank...I just need input as far as what would be safe to add to the tank without putting the little clownfish in danger. Eventually want to add different fish to the tank as well.. not sure what fish would get along best in the smaller size tank.

Any input helps! Thank you!

CodyRVA · Jan 26, 2016

My advice is to add some more rock, invest in a skimmer (Reef Octopus HOB models are excellent), maybe add a bacteria booster like BioSpira to boost the beneficial bacteria in the system and let the tank sit for a few months to stabilize and mature. Educate yourself on water chemistry, (youtube/forums are great resources), and monitor your system. Don't add fish or coral until you understand your system and you have it balanced and in a stable state. You will very likely have algae outbreaks, your chemistry will swing, your salinity will be off, etc. Better to learn slowly over time than rush it. While your system matures, you can use that time to research reef safe nano fish, acceptable corals for your tank volume, etc. If you're not patient it's not only unfair to the livestock, but you'll waste a pile of money in the process. Patience is a must.