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29 gallon stocking


Twantyniner

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Hello everyone. I am relatively new to this site and nanos in general. I have a question about a build I have started. It is a 29 gallon tank that measures 12.5"L x 30.25"W x 18.75"H, not a bio-cube. I also do not want to use a sump. I use/have an ro/di unit . I do not have the filtration yet but have been thinking of getting the Tunze comline streamfilter 3613 and adding polyfilter pad with chemi pure elite and perhaps phosban inside. I am also hoping to find a heater that fits inside (they say 8'' max length and 75w max). I will be using a Tunze osmolator because it connects directly to the comline streamfilter. I am also debating the use of a Tunze DOC skimmer 9004. For lighting I already have a current USA orbit marine 24'' and I am thinking about buying another. I am getting a jebao rw-4 for movement and I have about 22 lbs (dry) of BRS reefsaver rock that I have been soaking to leach out phosphate. I also have instant oceans reef crystals salt. Any feedback on my proposed set up is greatly appreciated. Budget is essential and I live at an apartment that will not allow a larger tank. Now for my stocking questions. I am thinking of a captive bred maroon clownfish for this set up. I think I am overly excited about the selection of fish and want to know if the following would work with a maroon in this size of tank, 6 line wrasse and an orchid dottyback ( captive bred) . As for corals, no sps or overly demanding specimens. Any suggestions on a coral that would work for the tank and would possibly host the clown would be greatly appreciated. I realize a RBTA may not work in this tank. I look forward to any assistance!

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hmm it seems in trying to find fish that would be ok with a maroon, I overlooked the orchid and wrasse being together. After doing some reading it does seem like others have issues with them together. I definitely do not want to chance that. Seems I may be back at the drawing board.

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Maroons have always been fine for me as long as they aren't with other clowns. Some definitely get aggressive but if you get a small captive bred one, your chances of having a peaceful fish are pretty good. At the very least, you'll likely have a peaceful fish for several years.

 

BTA's are totally fine in this size tank, just make sure you plan appropriately for them as they can move and mess up other coral. Clowns hosting coral unless it's a toadstool don't typically end well. Additionally, captive clowns are often impossible to get to host anything, or they'll host something arbitrary like a powerhead, so keep your expectations reasonable with captive ones.

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No experience with the maroons, but I have two snowflake ocellaris in my 36g and they're doing great, very peaceful and active. If you would consider a less aggressive breed of clownfish you may have more luck with compatibility.

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Yeah I am starting to see how a maroon really dominates the stock list of a 30 gallon tank. Fortunately, I am just today filling my tank and have a while to wait for the cycle to start and finish so I have time to choose my fish


I like the idea of a BTA. However, my aquascaping is pretty unique and I doubt a bta would appreciate it with the very few number of large crevices I have.

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  • 2 weeks later...

well, right in the middle of cycling the tank. tossed in some Dr. Tim's one and only a few days ago. Running two Koralia 3's for now. I bought and I am waiting on a jebao rw-4, new heater and a bunch of stuff to arrive. decided against the Tunze comline filter and skimmer, they take up a huge bit of tank. Right now i am running a Fluval C3 powerfilter for mechanical and chemical. added about 5 lbs of live rock to help get my dry rock going. Also I am thinking of ordering a reef octopus OTP1000. Though, it does terrify me that it might overflow onto my floor someday. Hopefully after I have livestock and it is broken in that won't happen. I am half flirting with the idea of getting a single lightning maroon clown and no other fish. Also some rough and tough corals when the tank is aged a tad. Who knows though, I change my stock list daily.

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I got my Jebao rw-4 in today. Boy has technology changed since I last had a tank over 6 years ago. This tiny lil sucker seems to move more water than my two old koralia 3's did. i do think I may add another though. Having a wave that pushes only one way seems like I would get detritus build up on the far end of my tank. Any other wave maker users out there experience this?

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I got my Jebao rw-4 in today. Boy has technology changed since I last had a tank over 6 years ago. This tiny lil sucker seems to move more water than my two old koralia 3's did. i do think I may add another though. Having a wave that pushes only one way seems like I would get detritus build up on the far end of my tank. Any other wave maker users out there experience this?

 

Play with the frequency of the pump. At least in a rectangle tank, I can get very good back and forward movement with only 1 pump. Once I found a resonating frequency for the tank length, I had to turn my RW almost all the way down in my 90. At a more chaotic frequency, I had it at about 75%.

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wow yeah now that I have it dialed in well, I see that a second would be nuts in this size of tank.

On a side note, my cycle is now well under way with a high nitrite and ammonia is starting to fall off nicely. I have read in a lot of places that a 50% water change after a cycle and before life is added, is an excellent way to ensure low nitrate build up, does anyone else do this after a cycle?

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Today I noticed small bits of white stuff floating all around my tank. Upon closer inspection it seems like my Jebao rw4 is putting this into my water. I took it out of the tank and started to run some luke warm water on it to clean it when I noticed some gel like material oozing out of where the power cord is connected to the pump.It starts out as clear but turns white when it is in water for some time. I suspect it is the epoxy they use to seal the unit. Looks like I am going to be replacing this thing. My tank is mid cycle and I don't think it is wise to do a large water change right now so I am running chemi pure elite and used a fish net to get out all the white junk. I will do a large water change when the cycle is done. I do not think this stuff is dangerous as a couple hitchhikers I have seem fine and I doubt they would use a dangerous material to seal these pumps. Total bummer but it looks like a vortech is in my future.

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Sorry I have no advice on the powerheads or the white gel. But I just wanted to say those rocks look amazing. That's a really good looking scape.

 

I have 2 hydor nano 425's in my 29g and they seem to keep good flow around the whole tank. But my rocks are probably half the height you have. But I'm not too familiar with all the other powerheads out there.

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Love that rock scape, looks very cool! I have the same tank, and have 2 RW-4s running, both at the lowest setting, one slaved to the other (Love this function). I think I may have a bit more flow than needed, but that's ok, I feel comfortable that there isn't much dead space in the tank!

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Thanks for all the compliments I really appreciate it! i cheaped out and bought 2 rw-4s lol. For now I have them both set to the e mode while there is no life in it. I tell ya these pumps are really powerful. I put some aquarium sealant around where the powercord connects to the pump so hopefully they don't pull any shenanigans. My nitrites are still just under infinite and my tank is in its ugly brown phase. I started to test my water and I am pretty shocked at the values. Using instant ocean reef crystals and nothing else my values are 1350 mg 520 calcium, ph 8.1 and kh 12 at 1.025 salinity. I also put in a neotherm 100 watt heater. That thing has been keeping a constant 78 without an issue. I raised it to 82 to help the cycle along. I ended up removing the 4-5lbs of live rock that was in there. Right after the ammonia went to zero vermetid snails popped up all over those rocks. No sign of them on the other rocks so hopefully none of them transferred.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Twantyniner

Ok a few questions that have nothing to do with stocking yet again. So my tank has cycled, have a clean up crew that are knocking out some green algae that popped up. My issue right now is my nitrate is pretty high for an unstocked tank using ro/di water. it is currently at nearly 20 ppm. I started the cycle with dry rock. For the ammonia I added live rock, fed the tank tiny amounts of food twice, like probably 5 small flakes combined. I saw the normal progression from high ammonia then added Dr. Tim's and saw nitrite then nitrate. I did a 50% water change when it was all said and done and added a clean up crew. The tank went through the normal brown algae, now some green. My big worry is the high nitrate even with the large water change and no food input it is 20 ppm. I change my filter polyfilterpad weekly and chemi-pure elite every two weeks. I am thinking of completely taking off the filter and instead getting a protein skimmer and only using the filter when the water needs to be polished. I do not want to remove the sand because it also hides some fiberglass rods. What do you guys think about this plan?

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