Saltwater setup help

I am new to saltwater and by new I mean I haven't setup the tank yet. I want to make sure I have all the parts first. The parts I have are as follows:
Instant Ocean SeaClone 100 Protein Skimmer with pump
coralife fluorescent light (65 Watt 6700k)
30 Gallon glass tank with lid
Marineland Visi-therm 200 Watt Heater

I want to setup a ocellaris percula tank with a rose bubble tip anemone. The list of what I Believe I still need are as follows:
2x ocellaris percula
1x Rose bubble tip anemone
60 Lb of live rock
30-60 lb live sand

I am not sure If I am missing anything or I could be done better if I am please tell me. I always have people telling me there are much more beautiful clownfish but I really love watching ocellaris swimming in a RBTA.

I really don't want to spend $360 on live rock but I want my tank to be setup as best I can. What can I do to lower the cost? I know there is a guy in lynwwod who seels it for $3 a pound but $180 is still more then I want to pay. I will but if I don't have to then I would perfer not paying that much.



Also I am running the Instant Ocean SeaClone 100 Protein Skimmer with pump on the tank with just water in it to practice making the foam but the is no foam going into the collection cup and adjusting the air intake isn't seeming like it is changing anything. What should I do?

30 gal tank, you will only need 30-40 lbs of rock
You wont need that much sand either.
You can also decide if you want a deep sand bed, bare bottom tank or a thin layer of sand.

An anemone is going to need better lighting. A T5 unit would be better than PC unit. You will want a couple power heads to keep water flowing.

If it is going to be a while before you set this tank up, I will have live rock available at a reasonable price.

Are you running the seaclone right now in saltwater? or fresh water? It wont foam freshwater and if it is fresh made saltwater, it may not foam either for a while. Is it a new skimmer? I'm not really familiar with that model.

here is a little info on the skimmer. Some mods you can make
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Just over 2w per gallon may not be enough for an RBTA (mine has 3w per gallon and he isn't doing as well as he could.)
You will need power heads for the nem.

As for live rock I would pick up a bunch of dry rock cheap and add 10-20lbs of live rock then wait a couple of months.

Personally I love clown/nem only tanks but they are so much better when you add intresting inverts (shrimp, crabs, stars, ect.) so I would highly recommend this.

Other than that you should be good to go. Can't wait for pics.

I have a boat load of power heads laying around because I always know I will end up using them. so I could put 2-3 on the tank.

It is running on fresh I was suspecting that was the problem but I wasn't sure thanks for the help.

It will be a little while before I set it up with everything but I was thinking of selling my Angelfish (the current tank residents) to blue sierra because I can't fin a buyer for them and with the money from that plus some cash I would buy a 20-30 pound bag of live sand and 30 gallons of saltwater to start the cycling.

How much light do I need and where can I find one? I want to keep the starting budget low so I have more to fix any problems that come up if they do.

I have been reading the karensroanemones.net thing and have been learning alot. I really love lots of live and if I can do that and have a healthy tank it is a total win win

Well if you want to save money and not have to fix things later, do not skimp on lighting or the skimmer!

I would recommend current nova extreme pro or something equivalent in light output. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
This light will be plenty for the anemone and any coral you want to keep.

Depending on what size the powerheads are you might use two or three. I have a 34 gal tank and use two powerheads each at 1000gph.

Both on the left side. One is down behind the rock in the back.

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Ok I have a 3-5 300gph and 3-4 500 gph and 1 600gph

I have heard alot of people really liking the seaclone skimmers but as I said I am new and not sure what is true online

Use the 600 and a 500. The sea clone is an entry level skimmer. Not the best construction and well it's a HOB. As far a HOBs go its decent but the only HOB skimmer I like is the Redsea prism pro but that is way over kill. As far as longevity is concerned its not the best. Maby 5 years, so it's decent if you plan on upgrading.

I am watching Craigslist to find a better skimmer but until then I will use the seaclone but I would prefer not to spend $300 on light... I probably can get $50 out of the light with that and some cash like $150 what could I get that will work?

What size is your tank...dimensions

30 gallons

30x12x19

Okay... I have a 36" 250w MH/T5 lighting unit that I would possibly part with, but its too long for your tank. Not much, 3" on each side.

How much for the MH/T5 fixture because I may be interested in using in conjunction with another one on my 220.

At blue sierra they have a $300 led light for reefs they said would work for mine... I will find out more about it when I get home on wensday

How can you spend this much on a 30g I spent $310 on my 50B reef tank with live stock. You don't need a $300 for a 30g there are much cheaper options then a that. Like for only 100 more you could by lilfishie's Redsea max. And have a perfect all in one reef tank.

But I can't find anything for less then that that gives 6 watts per gallon.

I would love the redsea but transpiration costs would be pretty high and I don't have the cash on me yet I still have to save more but im buying piece by piece so I can cycle the tank for 2-3 months before I would add livestock other then live rock and sand

6 watts is way over kill 3-4 is plenty
1= live rock
2= soft corals
3= LPS/ anemones
4= SPS

This is not too bad of a unit
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how often do you replace metal halide bulbs? What's the pros and cons compared to fluorescent?

when I cycle with live rock and sand only do I need a light? Do I do water changes?

fluorescent lighting is not enough light for most coral.
And certainly not enough for an anemone. You have read up on anemones so you know they are dependent on the algae that lives in them and the light requirements to keep that algae alive. T-5 lighting is mid range. Does well for most coral, even some sps if kept high in the tank and anemones. 250w & 400w MH's put out enough light to keep any coral in its covered area.
a 30" 2 x PC unit will probably only put out 96w
a 30" 4 x 54w t5 unit will put out about 216w
a 250w mh w/2 54w t5's = 358w

MH's should be replaced every 9 months. T5s about every 12-15 months. They say they last longer, but they do need to be replaced sooner.

During a cycle it is good to have some kind of lighting on it. And yes, you can do small water changes during the cycle. Some will say no, you wont get a cycle if you do that, but that's not true. Your bacteria grows in the rocks, not in the water. If you are starting with live rock from an existing system, you will probably not have a cycle to speak of. Possibly a low ammonia level to start if there was any die off from a transfer from one system to yours, but nothing more.

I was thinking I could set it up with live sand and live rock with the 65 watt light and let it run while I save for a 90-120 watt light. If I reme er you are supposed to run a system for 3-6 months before you add anything.

THAT WOULD WORK JUST FINE.

Today I finally had time so I cleaned to tank and put in 20 lb of CaribSea Ocean Direct live sand and filled the tank with saltwater... it has been 4 hours but my water is still so cloudy I can't see through it.

I have been told to only put in an inch of live sand or less because more causes phosphate and nitrate problems but other people have said atleast 3+ because any less causes problems.... I am sure both are right in some way but what would you recomend for a novice?

I just started a salt tank myself, i have a 36g bowfront with a 29g sump. (Sump was a 1 year+ established tank so my cycling is pretty quick) All i have for lighting atm is some crappy florescents though. Did you consider DIY leds fish addict?

I have a 46bowfront. I started with live rocks from an established tank, so cycling was a breeze for me. i also just used 20lbs of the same stuff you are using. I am guessing since i am also a novice at this, that we should start with a shallow sandbed. and don't worry about the cloudiness. It will go away the next day. I had an external HOB filtration and tank was clear the next day.

@ lorrie --- i saw a pic you had posted in this discussion. Is there no sand at the back of your tank? I saw u had one pump on the bottom.

Didn't even know about them until just now but I will look into them. That sounds a lot better then the lights I have been looking at

dondud wrote:

@ lorrie --- i saw a pic you had posted in this discussion. Is there no sand at the back of your tank? I saw u had one pump on the bottom.

Yeah, there is sand back there. Just a little shallow because of the powerhead...and from the diamond goby moving it around.

Where is a good place to find info on how to build a DIY led reef light and where do you get parts? I have been trying to look but I can't find any good step by step instructions.

This is exactly what I wanted thank you

10 pounds of fiji live rock
a snail
2 hermit crabs
2 female silver mollies

the stuff that came on the live rock:
a stomata (spelt wrong I think)
A bristle worm
a whole bunch of purple coralline algae
apisto anemones (I plan to kill once they are big enough to kill)
bubble algae ( I think I got it all... I hope I got it all...)

and to make it just all THAT much more fun my coralife light bulb seperated from the base and the fixture broke I am looking for good LEDs and I don't want to spend more then $250 I want them to be able to handle almost everything short of SPS

got ~50 pounds of live rock from gobluecichlids and ~6 pounds of rubble for a 10 gallon refugium
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The rock is some of the most ALIVE live rock I have found

I agree completely about the lighting. Not enough and your anenome will slowly die. I have a 30 gallon with 150 watt LED and that's almost overkill. My Rose Bubble Tip stays at the bottom of my tank with tentacles close, which is how I like it since I have other corals that it will sting.

If you're like many of us, your anenome will be your first purchase (of many). I've found softies will do ok even with PC, T5's, or VHO's. If you eventually graduate to SPS's, many go with Metal Halides.

>when I cycle with live rock and sand only do I need a light? Do I do water changes?
You don't need a light to cycle live rock, just TIME.. I'd do water changes every couple weeks until ammonia and nitrites get to zero.