Looking to setup my own tank. Quick question.

I have 5 nieces and nephews that would love for me to get a saltwater tank. I have wanted one for many years but just never decided to take the time to get one. I live in Ohio so I am not in a prime area for one of these and the only place in my area that carries saltwater items is PetCo. I lived on a 200acre farm growing up and had many pets and one thing I learned was not to buy from pet stores, dogs and such that is.

I was surprised at the pet store to find out that the woman who did the saltwater fish/creatures area seemed to know her stuff as she has a 150gallon saltwater tank of her own. So anyways here is what information I received from her and I wanted to see if this was accurate as well as get follow up info.

Tank and partial setup:
PETCO.com - In-Store Circulars

I was also told I need,
Hydrometer, Small Power head, Air Pump, Salt, Live Rock, live sand, Fish.

So my follow up questions are the following,
I heard 1 inch of fish for every 1 gallon. So I could have up to 29inch of fish in this tank.

How much Live rock should I have?

What is the setup process? Should I buy the tank and set it up and leave it for a week? Or should I setup the tank and immediately put the live rock in?

I have found many different answers for this question is the problem.

Lastly what am I missing or what else should I do? I am looking to add only a clown fish and maybe 1 or two more fish to start out with (any ideas on fish that would get along and be more or less easy to start with?). I want to start smaller with this 30 gallon so I can make sure the kids are going to like it and that I am going to be into it. I have always wanted one but like everything in life everything sounds great on paper.

thanks for any help guys. I really appreciate it.

 

1 inch of fish per 5 gallon = saltwater/reef

you want 1 pound+ of Live rock per gallon. 30-40lbs. may be cheaper to order on the internet as base rock then getting it at petco. and buy 1 small piece of LR to seed the base rock. live sand will help to.

buy 1-2 green chromis (non-agressive) damsels, rock, and live sand. put all in tank and cycle for at least 4 weeks.. more time the better before anding anything else..

you can do mainly a fish only with live rock with that 29g setup. you'll have to do weekly water changes though without a skimmer. you'll want to only have 4 or 5 small fish (1"-1.5") in that tank. maybe some mushrooms or non-light needing corals at the top of tank's water line as that stock light isnt ideal for anything else.

you will need test kits or you'll have to keep running up there for water tests. and fyi: test strips are not the best. liquid kits are better..

you'll have to monitor salt(salinity) & nitrates often. for the first 4-5 weeks you'll need to watch for nitrites and ammonia once those spike and decline. your nitrates will raise, as to let you know your cycle is completed. once that happens you'll need to start do small water changes weekly. and can remove damsels and add your real fish... etc.. doing keyowrd searchs on these forums will help you out alot.

 

So I should place my rocks in the tank and leave for a total of 4 weeks before adding any fish?

 

i started mine with live sand, live rock, SuperBac bacteria (can also use dead shrimp), let it do its deal. no lights during cycle. it will take a while so try and be patient

 

you will know when your tank is ready when your parameters stabilize. buy a basic test kit for SALT water. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH

 

you can add 1 or 2 cheap $5 damsels. get green chromis's from petco. others are aggressive and will be almost impossible to get out of the tank down the road with all the rock... they may die so cheap is the way for the begining. after that you can get crabs,snails,other fish etc..

 

I am good with patience but I had read on a number of places 1 week. Stinks that so many places had the wrong amount of time. Still hoping to get this going soon so hopefully I will be able to get everything running soon.

Did the setup that I posted make sense for that size? Will this work for a saltwater?

Also how do you know when the tank is ready after 4 weeks or however long it will take?

 

Nice base tank. Get a refractometer instead of a hydrometer. Hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate. Live sand is a waste of your hard earned cash buy dry sand. Live rock if you can find it is OK. Just buy one piece and use base rock for the rest. 1to 2 lbs of rock per gallon is the recommended amount.

If this is fish only, buy enough sand to cover the bottom about an inch deep approx 1 lb per gallon.
Buy base rock online and throw in a piece of table shrimp to start the cycle.

Fish would be more like 10 to 15 inches for the tank.

Get an alcohol thermometer.

Buy ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits.

An air pump is not necessary unless you want bubbles.

Buy salt mix.

Setup all at once. Put the rock in and make sure it is stable, add your sand, add water and the salt until you get to recommended salinity. Put in the heater and pump and turn them on. Cover the sand with saran wrap or plastic to keep the clouds down.

 

IMO. Depending on the types of fish you want to keep, 29 gallon is very small. You can only keep nano fish.

Additional important items are protein skimmer, test kits, variety of food (flake, live, frozen)

Fish does not stay the same size. They grow. In 29 gallon, I won't recommend more than 5 small fish.

30-40 lbs

1. Mix salt to salinity 1.025 and add live sand and live rocks.
2. Monitor ammonia level daily.
3. Wait until ammonia level is undetectable or less than 0.25 ppm before adding ONE hardy fish.

Side note, I'd strongly recommend to do a little more reading about saltwater aquarium before starting a tank. This is a rewarding hobby ONLY if everything is going well and you should plan ahead for every possible troubles.

 

I do not want to go over 30lbs for the first tank as I want to make sure I will enjoy it. I have reviewing online but so many sites give you wildly different information.

I was told I would not need a protein skimmer at this point wit the size of tank I am getting?

Do I need one?

And I will only be keeping maybe 3 fish in the tank. Probably 2 clown fish and something else small, as this is for my nieces and nephews when they come over.