matthewleach72 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Hello i just started a salt water aquarium..a 29 gallon nano reef is in the process..i am also fairly new to the austin area...right now i have a 29 gallon tank with a 30 gallon otb filter a 175 gph power head a metal halide hood 4 small live rocks live sand and a Ocellaris clown any advice on what i would else i would need for the tank or the best shops in austin or free items no longer needed that i could use would be appreciated.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Welcome! There's Stinky's Fish Mart in Manor. Are you more north or south? Northwest there's River City Aquatics (RCA), my favorite and ARC supporter, and south central is Aqua-Dome (AD). There are also Fish Gallery, Fishy Business, Gallery of Pets and Aqua Tek in north, central Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 First off: welcome! By 'otb' do you mean off the back? The usual nomenclature is HOB or hang on back. You need, in general, 1lb of live rock per gallon of water. We are blessed to have some really good shops here in town; RCA, Aquadome, Fish Gallery are all sponsors and are great shops. Aquatek and Fishy Business are 2 others which are good but not sponsors. As far as free stuff, you should ask for things specifically; powerheads, corals, rock, fish, etc. If you are new to SW, or fish keeping in general, check out the resources tab at the top of the home page. Lots of good info there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 And ask lots of questions! I've been keeping slatwater since '87 and it seems I've got more questions now than when I started (just don't expect everyone to agree!). I also strongly reccommend getting Delbeek and Sprungs "The Reef Aquarium" Vol III. The first two are out of print so if you can find them I would add them to my library but the third volume thoroughly covers filtration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Welcome For a 29g running MH I would suggest an ATO system to prevent fluctuation in your water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10gReef Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 also with MH lighting you might run into heat issues, I would keep good ventilation around the light and not have it in an enclosure. you might consider finding used LED system or consider adding a chiller. I run MH over my 75g and use a chiller. You might also consider Power Compact, PC, lighting depending on what you want to keep and the amount of money you want to spend. I think RChavez had great luck with some sps in smaller tanks running PC lights. Welcome to the club and happy reefing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 +1 on ATO and ventilation. ATO is hands down my favorite thing I've ever purchased for my tank. It has eliminated the largest source of constant attention and worry. With an ATO you can leave your tank for 2-3 days at a time without worry of salinity fluctuations or return pumps burning up. I was manually topping off my 55 gallon 3-4 times a day just to prevent fluctuations and going out of town was a nightmare. I'd have to explain to friends and family who house sit for me how to top off and maintain stability. ATO solved all that and the stability has produced a noticeable improvement in tank health. For an open top metal halide lit tank just find some sort of small clamp on fan to blow across the water surface and that'll help keep the tank cooler via evaporation, which is also where the ATO will come in handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 +2 ATO and Ventilation. You can buy clamp fans from walgreens for 5.99 - 9.99 a piece. I would wrap a rubber band around the clamp once in place, to keep it from moving. I have one aimed at my halide fixture to keep it cool, and I have a paint dryer/floor dryer blowing across the top of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+etannert Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 RChavez never used PCs :-) it was T5s, but he did keep SPS just fine in a 20g with a Wavepoint 4-bulb T5 fixture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 "just fine" is an understatement! He had a calcified forest of colors last time I saw it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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