New-To-Me Tank Advice

[mbender04]

I don't know much about saltwater tanks but I recently inherited/took over a 29 gal. tank that my mother had and I really want it to be something great. I know basics about water parameters and have tested it and they (somehow) all came out good outside of the fact that the salinity was pretty high. It was really filthy when I took it though. It's been up and running for about two years now but she has really let it go. The majority of everying (including the one snail she has) was coated with green hairy algae and detritus. I did a water change and siphoned the sand. She had a really thick sand bed in there so I took out the majority of that mostly because I wanted something more manageable for right now. The filter is clean and running properly as is the skimmer. She only has three fish (small damsels) which I am considering relocating them to a local fish store if they'll have them. She also has poor lighting which I am going sometime this week to upgrade just not sure to what yet.

Pretty much I am just in need of some advice or guidance to help me on my way to making this tank something beautiful. Anything that could make it easier or maybe things I should look out for. I will be doing a lot of research before putting anything new into the tank. I have had freshwater tanks and I know better.

Thank You.

[robalv]

I think the first thing you would want to decide on is what you want to put in your tank fish only with live rock aka..(FOWLR) LPS corals,SPS corals, aka..(MIXED REEF) plan your
desired display and that will lead you in the direction you MUST follow. Investigate what you want and after that investigate again...lol this will save you money in the long run
if you cant afford it now save and don't settle for anything less, you will end up buying it anyway. my.02 you are on the right track asking questions the elders here are very helpful a great bunch of guys and gals to help us all on our way to a beautiful aquatic display...

[ballardjr2000]

were to start.... i guess go through this web site great info on tanks setups do and don'ts there are so many ways to do this and its what you want to keep, type of lighting, reef tank, fish only tank, etc etc.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/

[ballardjr2000]

I think the first thing you would want to decide on is what you want to put in your tank fish only with live rock aka..(FOWLR) LPS corals,SPS corals, aka..(MIXED REEF) plan your
desired display and that will lead you in the direction you MUST follow. Investigate what you want and after that investigate again...lol this will save you money in the long run
if you cant afford it now save and don't settle for anything less, you will end up buying it anyway. my.02 you are on the right track asking questions the elders here are very helpful a great buch of guys and gals to help us all on our way to a beautiful aquatic display...

u beat me to it rob lol darn me and my looking on the net lol

[mbender04]

Thank you. I'm pretty sure for now I want simplicity. I may add a very few hardy corals (i.e. mushrooms, zoas and so on) , a few inverts and a few small, peaceful fish but all in the appropriate time of course. There is actually what I think is a Kenya tree, not sure, in there that can seemingly take just about anything. It actually came attached to a piece of LR and has grown and reproduced from there. I was thinking of getting a compact fluorescent light would that do well?

[robalv]

I would stay away from CF they seem to be the thing of the past, some may disagree I believe you get a better PAR rating with T5 lighting and bulb replacement is less with the T5. that will be a good start if you go with at least 4 bulbs you will be ahead I think.

[mbender04]

Awesome. Thank you.

[ballardjr2000]

Yeah i run T5's and am going to add som metal halides on top of that.