Saltwater Plan... 29 Gallon! (Long Read)

[INeedHelpLol]

Hello Reef2Reef! I've been mainly lurking for a while, reading things offline/without an account mainly until recently. Such an informative forum with super knowledgeable people. Anyways...


My current tanks are a 20 gallon FW planted, and a 29 gallon FW neolamprologus multifasciatus colony. I really want to convert the 29 into a saltwater aquarium/mixed reef (LPS and softies), and have been doing a lot of reading on this forum and elsewhere.
My current 29 is running on an Eheim Canister filter (most likely will keep it... plenty of space and I'd rather not discard it lol), and a heater (I think a Finnex Titanium Heater) connected to the Inkbird controller, at 78 degrees F.

Now, the supplies I'll need (keep in mind, im on like an 800 dollar budget at the moment)
Light: Planning to get the SMARTFARM LED. 95 Watts, built in timer and adjustable. Believe I read some par test results on here, I think it puts out somehwere between 2-300 par? I'll have to recheck. -
Substrate: Currently have in mind the Ocean Direct live sand (original grade) but I might end up purchasing some actual live sand from a place like arcreef, liverocknreef or kpaquatics. Just because of the "live" aspect, I'd like as much biodiversity from the start as I can within the budget.

Rock: I'd LOVE to get live rock (biodiversity, color, natural, and I find the hitchhikers COOL!) from places like KP aquatics... BUT they're way more expensive than I'd like so I'll probably end up getting rock from my LFS or 40lbs of the CaribSea Base Rock on Amazon (currently 83 dollars!)

Salt: I'm probably gonna go with IO Reef Crystals, but I know TropicMarin Pro Reef is probably a "better choice", and comes out cleaner but I'm not planning on storing saltwater (pretty limited on space), and I'm not planning on anything crazy in demands, so I guess IO RC will do.
160 gal bucket for 40 dollars!
RODI: I'm in NYC, and our tap water has pretty low TDS, AFAIK so I'll go with the AquaticLife TwistIn 4-STAGE RODI... 75GPD, 95 dollars-
ATO: I'm gonna go with the Tunze Osmolator 3155...

Bac-in-a-Bottle: For live nitrifying bacteria, I'm probably gonna go with the FritzZyme Turbo Start 900...
OR the Instant Ocean BIO-Spira (did some reading, the bacteria in this bottle contains patented and patent-pending strains, Dr. Tim being the patent-holder, so I thought "Hey, it's cheaper than Dr. Tims one and only, so...")

Test Kits: To start off, I'll go with the tried and true Salifert tests for Ammonia, Nitrate, and Hanna for Alkalinity, as well as an Amazon Salinity Checker. I'll add on as I need 'em.

Buckets: I'll get the 6-pack of Home Depot's 5-gal Homer Buckets... 45 bucks. (One for water change IN, one for water change OUT, one for QT IN, QT OUT, uh, and the other 2 I'll find a use for lol)

Meds: Some meds I'll like to keep on hand include: API General Cure, Seachem Focus, Ruby Reef Rally Pro, Copper Power, METROPLEX.

QT: I might convert my current 20 gallon planted into a fish QT. For inverts, coral, etc... I really don't have space to add in more tanks so I was planning to add coral before starting the 76 day fallow period of my DT... while my first fish are in QT.
Just in case, though, I'll add in an Aquaclear 50 HOB.
Also put in an Ammonia Badge by Seachem.

Misc: Flipper Nano Glass Scrubber, Flipper DeapSea Magnifying Glass, Fish Food, Bottle of Pods by AlgaeBarn during fallow...

WHAT I NEED TO PLAN STILL, and it'll be greatly appreciated if y'all could help me out here -

Powerheads: What's a good combo of powerheads (fixed flow, variable, etc) that's preferably under 100 TOTAL that'll provide great flow for softies (xenia, GSP, mushrooms, zoas, sinularia) and LPS (duncan, candycane, hammers, torch), and even a Bubble Tip Anemone? I'm planning on getting a pair of clowns for this tank.

ROCK AND SUBSTRATE: What are your favorite substrates? Live sand, dry sand, mix of the two? What kind of rock? Dry, sterile? Dry live rock? Live rock? Let me know down below... I'd like some rocks and substrate that preferably adds to the biodiversity without breaking the bank... SO far I've seen Ocean Direct, but is it legit? hmm...


In terms of QT... As stated above I might turn my 20 into the fish QT. I most likely won't have a coral/invert QT so I might have to either
A: Risk the tank and add coral without QT, after a dip of course, into a tank with fish...
or
B: Stock up on the corals, add some clean up crew, add pods, before the 76 day countdown begins so I can add in fish after QT into a tank that doesn't have encrusted ich or velvet tomonts waiting to wreak havoc...
How should this work? I'm only planning to really keep 2 clowns, a yellow watchman goby or some other type, pistol shrimp and a royal gramma, sixline wrasse, or a dottyback. 4-5 fish max, and a shrimp.
Important Question: Since the stocking I have planned isn't a whole ton of fish, would it be okay to put them all into the same quarantine tank (20 gallons) (which if you think about it, the 29 gallon aquarium would probably amount to 20-25 gallons if you take into consideration the displacement from sand, rocks, etc) and then slowly add them into the DT after the 76 day fallow period is done, at a rate of maybe 1-2 fish every week or every other week? AND THEN, after all my fish are added, I can then convert the fish QT into a coral/invert QT after sterilizing it?
Solid Idea?


Enough writing from me now, hopefully it's not too much haha.

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R!

Your plan seems pretty well thought out and I didn't see any glaring omissions.

Everything else equal, I prefer live rock and a medium grade sand. not small enough to blow around easily but not too big for bottom dwellers. I used Carib-Sea Special Grade sand last time and it's just about right for my tank. I also used Carib-Sea Life Rock. I'm really not happy with it but I always used live rock in the past so not really a good judge of its quality versus the competition.

 

[INeedHelpLol]

Welcome to R2R!

Your plan seems pretty well thought out and I didn't see any glaring omissions.

Everything else equal, I prefer live rock and a medium grade sand. not small enough to blow around easily but not too big for bottom dwellers. I used Carib-Sea Special Grade sand last time and it's just about right for my tank. I also used Carib-Sea Life Rock. I'm really not happy with it but I always used live rock in the past so not really a good judge of its quality versus the competition.

Thanks for your input! Much appreciated. I'm really torn between purchasing dry rock or live rock... If only the latter weren't so expensive!

What powerheads/wavemakers would you recommend? I had the plan to buy two sicce voyager nano 2000s, or the voyager 2 stream pumps if i were to go with a non-variable, single flow pump. Though the wavemakers that ramp up and down, have different modes, etc... are pretty coool though idk what to look at...

 

[Woodyman]

Thanks for your input! Much appreciated. I'm really torn between purchasing dry rock or live rock... If only the latter weren't so expensive!

What powerheads/wavemakers would you recommend? I had the plan to buy two sicce voyager nano 2000s, or the voyager 2 stream pumps if i were to go with a non-variable, single flow pump. Though the wavemakers that ramp up and down, have different modes, etc... are pretty coool though idk what to look at...

Lots of good powerheads for various budgets.

I know you mentioned under 100, so for that I'd say checkout Jebao.

If your ok to spend more tunz, MPs, etc are good choices as well.

BRS just did an informative video on powerheads and flow yesterday.

 

[Bribo12]

This is all well thought up! To add a few things if you’re gonna qt coral you’ll need a light strong enough for it for that tank too.

Also bubble tips imo are overrated. Captive clowns (99%) have no clue what it is and rarely will it host them. Just type in getting my clowns to host my anemone on this forum lol. Unless you find the bubble tip attractive(which they are) I wouldn’t get one. They also are fairly sensitive, have a mind of their own, get large and can split rapidly. In a 29g that doesn’t leave a ton of room for other corals. Sorry rant over lol

id probably qt like 2 fish at a time, just so you aren’t overloading your main system by adding all 4-5 fish at once. Do like the 2 clowns and then the other 2 fish you want.

i have an mp10 in my 20 but the Nero is a nice PH. A little pricier than your budget but a great powerhead. I’ve had horrible luck with jebaos so I won’t comment on that.

 

[adittam]

Welcome!

Before you start the build, have you considered getting a 40 breeder from Petco for your display tank instead of the 29 you already have? Buying a new 40 breeder won’t change your overall budget much, and if you have the space for it, it’ll give you a lot more options for fish and a nicer footprint for aquascaping and corals.

 

[INeedHelpLol]

Lots of good powerheads for various budgets.

I know you mentioned under 100, so for that I'd say checkout Jebao.

If your ok to spend more tunz, MPs, etc are good choices as well.

BRS just did an informative video on powerheads and flow yesterday.

Great! I'll do some more searching, I'm in no rush so it's all good!

 

[INeedHelpLol]

This is all well thought up! To add a few things if you’re gonna qt coral you’ll need a light strong enough for it for that tank too.

Also bubble tips imo are overrated. Captive clowns (99%) have no clue what it is and rarely will it host them. Just type in getting my clowns to host my anemone on this forum lol. Unless you find the bubble tip attractive(which they are) I wouldn’t get one. They also are fairly sensitive, have a mind of their own, get large and can split rapidly. In a 29g that doesn’t leave a ton of room for other corals. Sorry rant over lol

id probably qt like 2 fish at a time, just so you aren’t overloading your main system by adding all 4-5 fish at once. Do like the 2 clowns and then the other 2 fish you want.

i have an mp10 in my 20 but the Nero is a nice PH. A little pricier than your budget but a great powerhead. I’ve had horrible luck with jebaos so I won’t comment on that.

Super insightful! I'll keep these in mind. Probably wont go with a Bta lol.

 

[INeedHelpLol]

Welcome!

Before you start the build, have you considered getting a 40 breeder from Petco for your display tank instead of the 29 you already have? Buying a new 40 breeder won’t change your overall budget much, and if you have the space for it, it’ll give you a lot more options for fish and a nicer footprint for aquascaping and corals.

Very true! I love the footprint of the 40b, but the tank is going to be in a specific area and any wider than 12 inches will block part of the door way unfortunately

 

[adittam]

Very true! I love the footprint of the 40b, but the tank is going to be in a specific area and any wider than 12 inches will block part of the door way unfortunately

What about a standard 55 then? Just spitballing...a 29 will still be very nice, but I started my first reef tank in a 46g bowfront and decided I needed to upgrade to an 80g lagoon about 6 months later (feel free to check out my 2 build threads in my signature for details on how to do this semi-affordably!)

 

[adittam]

What about a standard 55 then? Just spitballing...a 29 will still be very nice, but I started my first reef tank in a 46g bowfront and decided I needed to upgrade to an 80g lagoon about 6 months later (feel free to check out my 2 build threads in my signature for details on how to do this semi-affordably!)

Ooooooo...or a 33 long!

Standard Glass Rectangle Aquariums - All Glass Aquarium | Aqueon

Aqueon Standard Glass Rectangle Aquarium is made with care to ensure this all glass aquarium can stand up to almost any application.

www.aqueon.com

 

[INeedHelpLol]

What about a standard 55 then? Just spitballing...a 29 will still be very nice, but I started my first reef tank in a 46g bowfront and decided I needed to upgrade to an 80g lagoon about 6 months later (feel free to check out my 2 build threads in my signature for details on how to do this semi-affordably!)

Man, id absolutely love the extra length of the 55 or 33, but the area the tank is gonna have to be in, is right next to the TV... any longer and the tank will cover the televison... very hard to explain unfortunately the 29 is the longest a tank i can fit atm without making the apartment look very... odd, to say the least. (im in NYC, and lets just say housing space isn't optimal here hahaha)

 

[McCarrick]

Updates on how this process is going?

 

[INeedHelpLol]

Hello! unfortunately it's been delayed a bit. I've been working on selling off my current FW inhabitants to locals; I'd rather do that and make back some of the money I spent than give the fish to an LFS and receive a ridiculous fraction of the value, if I'm completely honest. I will for sure update y'all when things begin to change! so excited...