[troy]

I am getting back into fish and my first time into salt water. I need to make "finding nemo" so it shouldn't be to complicated. I have a 29 gallon tank and hood. I wanted to know what you all thought are good "economical" choices for filtration, sand, coral, etc.
Any help would be great. Thanks!:

[gramesy777]

what kind of hood do you have? Lighting?

[gramesy777]

for sand I would buy the live sand they sell at Petsmart....they dont have saltwater fish but they have good prices on salt supplies.
You also should definitely think about getting live rock...not a must but helps with biological filtration and gives a base for corals.
Your gunna need good lighting if you want to do any corals or anemones...especially if you want "finding nemo".
for mechanical filtration its a toss up for a 29 gallon. Ive heard bad things about biowheels for saltwater although they are great in freshwater. Protein skimmers arent really neccesary for a 29 gallon but it would help if you want to invest. Prism makes a fairly good cheap protein skimmer.

[gramesy777]

I would also get two small heaters that are fit for a 29 gallon....if one fails the other will help until you can replace the other.

[gramesy777]

anybody else wanna back me up here lol

[pogodzib]

For lighting to keep an anemone, you'll need at least 2x65w PC lights, with more powerful lighting prefered. For filtration and tank stability, you should invest in getting aragonite sand which generally costs around $0.60-$1/Lb and some LR. Sand thickness is personal preference, but generally for a 29gal tank, people use a shallow sand bed. You should aim for 1-2Lbs/Gal for your Live Rock. Adding the LS and LR together will probably cost around $150, which may seem high, but it is well worth the cost. For additional filtration, a protein skimmer is much more valuable on a reef tank than any other type of mechanical filtration. One of the most economical choice for a decent hang-on tank skimmer would be a Coralife Super Skimmer needle wheel skimmer. Most skimmers that cost less are junk.

[Jeremy0322]

"Finding Nemo" may be a bit difficult with a tank that size. You are not going to be able to add a blue or a yellow tang in that tank, so that cuts out your Dori and the other fish from the dentists office.

[pogodzib]

I was going to pass on the fish stocking issue for now, until Jeremy mentioned it. The clownfish and a BTA anemone is relatively easy in a small tank, but certain fish from the movie are either tough to keep or need a large tank. Tangs need plenty of free tank length for swimming and moorish idols are very tough to keep alive in virtually any tank.