New 29 Gallon Stocking Ideas

[JE1994]

Hello everyone,

I'm not 100% new to marine tanks as I kept a 2.5 gallon pico several years ago. But decided to get back into it with a 29 gallon tank, with live rock from LFS, live sand, and a 40 Gallon HOB filter. No sump. Will be replacing the filter media on the marineland biowheel filter probably with activated carbon and any other suggestions. It also has a 1050 GPH powerhead. A 165 watt full spectrum light on the way.

I'm curious about a potential stocking list as well as floor, too much or too little for beginner corals mostly zoa's to start 2-3 months down the road. Other compatible beginner corals would be great too.

As for my stocking list I am thinking of the following:

Initially:
2 Black Ocellaris Clownfish
2 Peppermint Shrimp
4-5 snails or hermits?

Down the road:
1 Watchman Goby
1 Banggai Cardinalfish
1 Urchin or Brittlestar
1 BTA Anemone (maybe)

Any advice would be great. Thank you!

 

[shakacuz]

firstly; welcome aboard the r2r board! hello from PA!

secondly; stock list seems fine. do you plan on upgrading your filtration down the road?

 

[TX_REEF]

Welcome! your stocking list is excellent. wait at least 6 months, and ideally a year before adding the nem to ensure your system is stable enough to keep it happy. I used to have a very happy 29 gallon reef tank in college, check it out if interested. You'll definitely want to add more snails/cleanup crew as the system (and algae, detritus) grows. Thank you for not trying to stuff a tang in a 29 gallon too! Finally, I'd recommend a sump if possible, it will help you in more ways than you can imagine.

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome back to reefing!

I am not an expert, so others may offer better advice, but one small suggestion I would offer is it may be best to add your clownfish last. With small tanks especially, it's a good idea to add the most timid fish first (for example, your watchman goby) to allow them to feel comfortable in the tank, and find their prefered hiding places. It's possible that if you add the clownfish first, they will see your whole tank as their territory and defend it against any future "intruders" you add.

That said, you'll likely be just fine doing it the other way, probably 90% of new tanks start with a clownfish, but just something you may want to consider.

Good luck with your build!

 

[JE1994]

Beautiful reef tank. I was honestly hoping to avoid a sump as that is a bit intimidating to me but am open to it and the stand is designed for another tank to be below it already as is. Are there ways to add a sump without drilling the tank?

 

[shakacuz]

Beautiful reef tank. I was honestly hoping to avoid a sump as that is a bit intimidating to me but am open to it and the stand is designed for another tank to be below it already as is. Are there ways to add a sump without drilling the tank?

there are some hang on back overflow boxes that work fine. i believe CPR aquatics, eshopps, blue ocean, and aquamaxx make HOB OF boxes

 

[TX_REEF]

Beautiful reef tank. I was honestly hoping to avoid a sump as that is a bit intimidating to me but am open to it and the stand is designed for another tank to be below it already as is. Are there ways to add a sump without drilling the tank?

yes, you can use a HOB overflow for the sump. However, drilling a tank is super easy, quick and cheap! Happy to offer advice on how to do that if you decide to go that route.

 

[JE1994]

It definitely looks like it would be the better way to go looking at the costs of a traditional sump on amazon versus a HOB one. Will just have to convince my wife that she doesn't get the decorate the bottom shelf of the stand.
Looks like a 10 gallon sump could cause problems though going with one that small?

 

[TX_REEF]

10 gallons is perfect, that's exactly what I had in the old video I shared above! How about adding a shelf above or next to the tank she can decorate instead?

 

[shakacuz]

Beautiful reef tank. I was honestly hoping to avoid a sump as that is a bit intimidating to me but am open to it and the stand is designed for another tank to be below it already as is. Are there ways to add a sump without drilling the tank?

do not be alarmed by the markup price of pre-made sumps. you can make your own at a fraction of the cost... look at fiji cube diy sump kits. also, for a 29g tank, a 10g sump is sufficient. i have a 20g long sump for my 40B. no issues with water rising in the sump.

 

[Fish Fan]

do not be alarmed by the markup price of pre-made sumps. you can make your own at a fraction of the cost... look at fiji cube diy sump kits. also, for a 29g tank, a 10g sump is sufficient. i have a 20g long sump for my 40B. no issues with water rising in the sump.

Premade sumps can get expensive in a hurry for sure. Consider something like this kit and a 10 gallon tank, and you're on your way:

FijiCube 10 Gallon Sump Baffle Kit

And I'm not sure where you're located, but I know someone selling a sump pretty cheap ;-)

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/for-sale-diy-glass-sump.1029714/

 

[JE1994]

Hello again everyone. Just an update on how things are coming along.
Doubled the live rock and the LFS got me setup with a cultured 5 gallon canister filter filled solely with media balls. Also decided to swap the Cardinal for a Royal Gramma instead that loves that one rock to the left of the tank.

Couple more questions though. With the addition of the cycled, established canister filter they had running on site would this mean that the tank is now established enough for an anemone in around a month when we plan on going back or should I continue to wait until at least the six month mark?

When we do go back I'm planning on getting 2 peppermint shrimp and 2 pom pom crabs if they have them as well as the following corals.
Duncan Coral
Acans
Zoanthids
Toadstool
Green Star Polyps
Pulsing Xenia
Mushrooms

As for my last question, does anyone know what this is? It was a hitch hiker on the original live rock and some have said it might be a coral frag already growing on its own?

Thank you all in advance!

 

[CrimsonTide]

This doesn't look too unfamiliar to my tank. I have a Tidal 55 filter on mine instead of a canister.

You can stock any of those corals theoretically in the tank........ but you are still going to go through some sort if ugly stage. It will probably be less with live rock and the media already in there but that rock still looks fairly clean so it will still get worse. Also your sand is new to that tank so it will probably also get some sort of algae on it sooner or later.

I would say you can easily get most things on that list I might wait on the acans though. The soft corals won't mind parameter swings much and the duncans are really hardy.

I currently have all of those things except the xenia in my 29 gallon doing fine.

Also I wouldn't get a nem until your tank is a few months old and you know you don't have any more ugly stages coming. They really don't like crazy swings. I have a rock flower nem in mine. They're much more forgiving than bubble tips. Bubble tips need stability so I would try your hand at soft corals then move into the nems and acans in a couple of months.

Also I have Two clowns and a royal gramma in my tank as well. They royal gramma hid a lot the first year or so and now it's out all the time. It only goes to its cave to sleep at night.