Stocking Questions

Rcpilot

Rcpilot

Reef enthusiast
I just picked up an Oceanic 30 tall tank. It came with stand, light and HOB filter for $50. I'm tickled. It measures 24" wide and 24" tall and 12" deep front too back.

I filled it with fresh water and plugged in the HOB filter just to get it pumping. I'm going on vacation this weekend and had planned to just let it pump while I'm away.

I'm building a wet/dry for it and plan to use a skimmer.

I need help with lighting and stocking.

It has a standard top with light, but I'm thinking this will not be sufficient light. Recommendations? Would like to use this top and put a good light in it--if possible.

I want to have some anenomes and a clown fish. I'd like a yellow tail tang. And I'd like to have a shrimp.

I'm primarily interested in having a nice live rock display with just a few fish and maybe some sand worms if I can figure out a way to get a deep bed of sand in the bottom. I don't necessarily want to have the entire bottom covered with sand to house the sand worms, but am not at all opposed to this. Say the bottom was filled 8-10" with fine sand and then stack the live rock against the back and sides?

Could I build a small 12x12 plexiglass or glass partition and fill it with sand? That way the entire bottom wouldn't have to be filled with sand for the worms? Or would it just be easier/better to dump in 100 pounds of sand and cover the entire bottom? I'm a DIY person and could fab a box to fill with sand for the worms, but not sure if this is the right way to go. Will the worms find their way to the deep sand and take root?

Lighting?
Sand?
Worms?
Live rock?
Fish?

Any help or recommendations appreciated.
 
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I really dont think that you would need 100 pounds or 8-10 inches of sand. It just wouldnt look right, i woukd say 4-5inches is the highest you would need to go.

As far as lighting would go, if what you have is not enough, I would strongly reccommend looking at the Lights that Hawks has for sale in the classifieds. I have the same light and it is just the width you would need. and its a screamin price. just thought id let you know it was for sale unless you have not seen it.
 
With lighting it's tough, because you almost need to plan for the future. You can always up grade of course. If you want an anenome then you need strong lighting. The other thing with the anenome is your tank should be established for about a year before you add it. You can probably go ahead with the clown they will do fine with out the host. But also be sure that you don't add say a flower pot coral or something like that because then the clown will start rubbing on it instead and corals don't like that.
 
I don't think it will be possible to use the top that you have and put new lights in it. Good lights usually come already set up, and if you decide to build your own, they probably won't fit in your existing top, or they will get too hot for your existing top. You are better off just buying some good lights. You need to decide if you want metal halides, T5s or power compacts. With halides, you can keep anything you want, but they are expensive and run really hot. T5s you can keep pretty much everything, and they are less expensive and run cooler. PCs would probably be my last choice of the three.

I would not put a tang in a 30 gallon tank. It will outgrow it really fast. Most tangs need at least 100 gallons to be healthy.

And I agree with Redline, you don't need to go as deep as 8 to 10 inches for the sand. Just a few inches will be fine for the worms you're trying to keep. Even if you do built a plexiglass barrier, the sand will be all over the place in no time anyways.

Most people stack their live rock up against the back wall of the tank, just try to leave some caves and crevices so water still circulates back there.
 
Aquarium Lighting for Reef Aquariums: Outer Orbit Pro Series HQI/T-5/LED Lights

Since you want anemones,and your tank is 24 inches long,This is the light I would go with.Your choice of 250 or 150 watt MH.Its hard to get enough light on a 24 inch long tank.
I agree too that you shouldnt try a tang.They need a lot of swimming space or they'll stress.I'd go with a pair of clowns,maybe a sixline wrasse and a couple of shrimp.
You also dont need an 8 to 10 inch sand bed.Inch to inch and a half will work for the worms.Plus you might as well go ahead and cover the entire bottom.Once you put your power heads in,your sand is going to have a mind of its own for a while.
And for rock,If you can,go with fully cured from your LFS.It will cut down on your cycling time,and you'll have more cool hitch hikers that survive.
 
Rcpilot said:
I just picked up an Oceanic 30 tall tank. It came with stand, light and HOB filter for $50. I'm tickled. It measures 24" wide and 24" tall and 12" deep front too back.

I filled it with fresh water and plugged in the HOB filter just to get it pumping. I'm going on vacation this weekend and had planned to just let it pump while I'm away.

I'm building a wet/dry for it and plan to use a skimmer.

I need help with lighting and stocking.

It has a standard top with light, but I'm thinking this will not be sufficient light. Recommendations? Would like to use this top and put a good light in it--if possible.If this is the regular strip light with plastic top then most lighting that you get will not work.Consider running the new lights over a open tank or eggcrate.

I want to have some anenomes and a clown fish. I'd like a yellow tail tang. And I'd like to have a shrimp.For anemones stick with T5 or Metal Halides but be aware MH run very hot and can cause the DT to run hot.Not trying to bash you but,me thinks the tank is too small for a Tang.

I'm primarily interested in having a nice live rock display with just a few fish and maybe some sand worms if I can figure out a way to get a deep bed of sand in the bottom. I don't necessarily want to have the entire bottom covered with sand to house the sand worms, but am not at all opposed to this. Say the bottom was filled 8-10" with fine sand and then stack the live rock against the back and sides?8''-10'' of sand is way to much.If you don't have a true understanding of DSB/plenum then stick with a regular 2-3'' bed.There maybe some writing in the ""Helpful Articles'' about it.From what I understand,you don't want to disturb the deeper part of the sand.

Could I build a small 12x12 plexiglass or glass partition and fill it with sand? That way the entire bottom wouldn't have to be filled with sand for the worms? Or would it just be easier/better to dump in 100 pounds of sand and cover the entire bottom? I'm a DIY person and could fab a box to fill with sand for the worms, but not sure if this is the right way to go. Will the worms find their way to the deep sand and take root?Same applies as above

Lighting?T5 would be my choice
Sand? IMO,2-3'' is fine
Worms? I'm not understanding what you mean....do you mean fauna(copepods)?
Live rock?1-2lbs.
Fish?I would stick with fish that do well in smallish tanks.....clownfish(Black percs and Maroons being my favorite),gobies,blennies,dottybacks aka pseudochromis.There are alot of choices.

Any help or recommendations appreciated.
Click to expand...

Check the bold face.
I hope this help some....best of luck
 
To clarify, for live rock, I think Freak meant 1 to 2 lbs. of rock per gallon... So in your tank aim for at least 30 to 60 lbs. of live rock.
 
You guys dont know what your talking about. I wouldnt waste all this money on MH, T5, VHO or PC's. A couple of 100W flood lights from walmart will work just fine.
 
Thanks for all the help so far.

I have no problem foregoing the Tang until I upgrade to a much larger tank.

I do understand the theory behind a DSB, but thats not why I was asking about it. Maybe I'm not using the right name for the fish I'm after. It looks like a little eel. They are about 1/4" diameter at most and they live in the sand. They just stick their heads out and look around. When it's feeding time, they come out further and grab floating food from the current in the tank. Then they duck back under the sand and disappear. Thats why I was asking about a bed of sand that is 8-10" deep. Again, the LFS told me they grow to about 14" long and need minumum 6--8" of sand to be happy. If they will survive in 2-3" of sand, then there's no reason for me to dump in 8--10" of sand. I'm not at all interested in trying to use a DSB as a nitrate filter--not at this stage of the hobby. Maybe later. Or, I'd just get a refugium to handle the nitrates.

I am not the type of person to rush when it comes to establishing a tank. I have the patience to wait a year before adding the anenomes.

My plan, from what I've read, was between 35-50 pounds of live rock, so it seams I was on target there.

Yote,
Those lights look like the ticket. LFS recommended 4 watts of light per gallon. But then they told me that was for a 12" deep tank. And since my tank is 24" deep, I'll have problems getting enough light. My gut tells me to go with the 250watt setup.

Is it possible to put TOO MUCH light on a tank? Does it harm the fish? Anenomes? Corals? Or do they just adapt and grow faster?

I'm really likeing the idea of having little gobies and bottom dwelling fishies. I was only planning on 1 clown, but 2 would be okay. I can do that.

How about a shrimp? I really like the little red and white striped shrimp. I think they are called candycane shrimp? Red and white segments of color on the body and main pincher arms.

Thanks for the help. I can put up picks in my photobucket album if you all want to see the progression. Not much to look at right now, but I'll get there eventually.
 
It would be pretty hard to have too much light on a tank. I have seen some tanks that have around 20 watts per gallon and everything in it was doing fine.
 
I've been looking at lights on ebay.

I've seen some MH lights in sizes from 70w all the way up to 1500w. I've specifically had my eye on some 175w and 250w lights.

But, I'm confused about the K ratings. Some of them say 10,000K and some are 14,000K and others are even 20,000K. I know that this is a standard for light intensity, but not sure what I need in this tank.

Do you get the brightest one? The 20,000K? Or is that too intense and I should get a 10,000K or 14,000K?

I'm sorry I'm asking all these newbie questions. I've tried doing searches and am not finding the answers to my questions. I am a forum moderator at another site that has to do with radio control toys -- so I know all about the "stupid and repetative" newb questions. They come up over and over again -- weekly or monthly. My standard reply is, "Go do a search first and then ask questions if your still confused." It's not always well received, but the site is huge and literally 99.99% of the newb questions have already been asked and answered 100 times.

I really appreiciate the patience and expert answers that you all have shown me. I'm starting to like this place. :bowdown:
 
Personally, I like cleaner shrimp. They help keep your fish clean and parasite/ick free. Plus if you stick your hand in the water after you have them trained they will crawl on your hands and clean you too. They are a lot of fun to watch, but that's just me. : ) It's so tough making these decisions. Good Luck.
 
cmon rcpilot..ask any question..thats what this site is for..always go for the brigther ones 20.k if they are affordable, you cant go wrong with a lot of ligth, in the future, if you want anemones, or clams , some corals, they need a lot of ligth...
 
The K rating has more to do with the color that the bulb puts out. I can't remember how it goes exactly right now (hopefully someone else will chime in here), but they get more blue colored on one end of the scale, and it's just a matter of personal preference of how you want your tank to look which kind of bulb you pick. I run 10 Ks on my tank and I like the look of them, coupled with the actinics.
 

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