Opinions on equipment for 29g...

Yeah! I finally got the 29 gallon high from the friend who isn't using it anymore. It came with the tank, a stand, hood (needs light), Aqueon CA30 filter, and no heater.

So, the questions are...

What would be a good heater for this tank if I plan on keeping tropical fish? The lfs around here has limited options..Aqueon Pro, Penn Plaxx and Elite are what I have to choose from.

I know the CA30 is underfiltering gph for the tank so I am thinking of going with an Aquaclear 70 or keeping the CA30 and adding a sponge filter that can be run off of a battery in the event (happens often) we loose power. Would a sponge filter rated for a 30 gallon tank be enough to carry a tank through a 24 hour power outage? I will use media from my other two tanks to cycle this one.

We were going to stock it with neon green tetra or espeI rasbora but I think we may just move our ELB population in there, leaving our 10 gallon for shrimp or a betta and our 15 gallon for our pygmy corys.

I will eventually be getting a versa-top instead of the hood and do want to upgrade the lighting but for now that will stay "stock" except I will get a plant bulb.

I am toying with the idea of going substrate free in this tank. My 5 gallon betta tanks are all bare bottom and I find I prefer that to gravel or sand. Or would the lack of substrate make a big difference in beneficial bacteria in a tank this size?

Thanks for the input...I want to plan this well before I start putting it all together.

 

I run my 30 with the Aquaclear 50, and a disposable box as the backup. I do have an 8 inch airstone which does keep the water moving and cycling.

Can't help you with the heater, I'm researching a replacement for the next winter. My power outrages are a rarity. The tank surge protector hooks up to the generator for long outages. For short term I hook an airstone and a box filter to the battery operated pumps.

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Aqueon Pros are my favorite heaters. I wish I had them in all my heated tanks. I haven't had any problems with them and they turn off when taken out of water/when water lowers for water changes.

The sponge filter sounds like a great idea to me. I've found them to be great, simple filters. In a power outage your fish should make it as long as you have aeration, but having filtration on top of that will help out a lot. I'm not sure about your other questions.

 

Thanks!

I did get a sponge filter rated for a 40 gallon tank this afternoon ($12, figured I couldn't pass it up). The battery backup was $85 (gasp!) so I will look around on that. One of the lfs has some decent coupons out right now so I could pick up the Aqueon Pro and another AC filter at a good savings...

Are the heaters like filters...with more watts being better (for example, getting a 55 gallon heater for a 29g) or will that result in the heater cycling on and off too much?

 

I ended up buying fisherman's bait bubblers for my backup. They each only aerated up to 8 gallons, but at $6 a pop at Walmart multiple ones weren't a budget breaker. It was actually recommended by my local Petco.

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I don't think you should buy too many more watts than you need. I nearly overheated my fish once by putting a big heater in a small tank. :s Water got way too hot too fast on the lowest setting. Going up the next step would be absolutely fine though. For example, I have a 100w in a 10 gallon and it's just fine. Doesn't turn on any more often than a 50w in 10g.

As for the bubblers that sounds great! Doesn't matter how much it says it aerates really, as long as it creates good surface agitation.

 

Okay...I went with the Aqueon Pro 100 watt heater. I picked up a Tetra Whisper 20 Air Pump for the 40 gallon rated sponge filter. I am going to use the Aqueon CA30 hob filter that came with the tank as well so I should be covered for filtration anssurface aggitation. I am going to go with bare bottom for now since I think I have ample surface area for beneficial bacteria with the filters and tank decorations. I will take some media from each of my other established tanks for the cycle. I still will need to upgrade the lighting but I have a great DIY idea for a light strip I saw for $7.99 at Walmart (24 inch light, uses 17 watts but outputs 75 watts, over 900 lumens plant grow bulb in an under cabinet strip I can hang over the tank).

Now, to clean the tank and set it up tomorrow...