I have an old 29 gallon tank im going to convert to salt water

Question

i have a 60 gallon whisper power filter, heater and an old hood. im going to be getting rid of the hood for now. im going to be getting a 30" Orbit 2x65W SunPaq w/Lunar Lights/Fan and some knid of power head what i need to know is do i need a skimmer because i heard for a reef tank this is not good and also will i be able to get almost any kind of coral with this lighting. will this setup be okay

Answer 1

if you want to do a reef tank, you HAVE to have a protein skimmer, it's not an option, and with those lights, you're lookin at abotu 4 watts per gallon, so you can get most corals, and you can get some sea anemones, but not everything, only way to have no limit to what you can buy is to get a metal halide, oh...and the only option to not getting a skimmer is to get a refiguim, but other then the stuff i named, you look pretty much ready to get started on your tank, and don't forget the live rock ofcourse!!

Answer 2

29 gallons for a salt water fish tank is to small, you need to get bigger, but if you are going to do this, hopfully its more long and shallow rather then narrow and deep.  

Answer 3

A skimmer is definitely a good idea. Some people successfully run their tanks without a filter at all, just a skimmer and lots of live rock. I'm not sure I would recommend that approach for a beginner, but a skimmer would still be a good investment. Especially in a relatively small tank, any water pollution could cause major problems. As for light, you should be okay with moderate- to high-light corals.

Answer 4

to the best of my knowledge that light is a PC (power compact) florescent light.. not even close to keeping any coral you want

if it's a 4+ bulb T5 with individual reflectors of a metal halide light.. then you might could..

but on the subject of skimmer, they are not a must ut DEFINATELY benifitial to ALL tanks.. especially reefs as they need higher water quality...

a skimmer is definately not a necissecity. i have a 10 and 29 gallon reef withough skimmers.. and the one tank i DO have a skimmer on has more algea than all others combined

and a skimmer and fuge do NOT do the same things and aren't interchangable