New Tank

[zombiefetus]

I'm excited. I'm getting a 30gallon tank for my GSP (I was originally going to get a 55gallon, but I looked over my lease and I can't keep anything over 30gallon. rawr. stupid apartments.). He's in a 10gallon right now (I know, I know, but it's all I had, and it was an emergency, I HAD to bring him home). I've never had anything larger than a 10gallon, so I'm a bit nervous. I've also never had a planted tank, which I plan on doing. I have a few questions though.
*What kind of filter is best? (I was looking into Aquaclear 300)
*Is sand or gravel better?
*How do I go about cleaning the sand? I've only used gravel, but personally I like the look of sand better. I usually clean the tank using a gravel vacuum siphon thing.... So what do I do with sand?

Any other advice is greatly appreciated.

Also, a little off topic, but I'll be turning my 12gallon (which is home to my beloved betta) and my 10gallon into tanks used to house puffer food. I figure I'll keep clams and snails in with my betta. Then keep crabs in my other tank. Does anyone have any experience with breeding freshwater crabs (I'm not sure of the exact species), is there an FAQ anywhere?

[Myaj]

An AquaClear 300 is perfect for a 30 gallon tank (though they've renamed them, just look for the one with 300gph).

As far as sand or gravel.. well, its up to you. Personally I like "very fine gravel" that is almost, but not quite sand. It doesn't compact the way sand does and still looks like sand. Since its a GSP that will be going high brackish-full marine, I would probably go with aragonite sand myself, just a 1/2" layer. Any deeper than that and you have to worry about stirring it weekly and dead spots and all that fun stuff. You can just vaccuum it like regular gravel if its the more coarse stuff, the sugar fine will need a bit more finessing (swirl the gravel vac over the top to swirl up the gunk).

Not sure about the crabs at all.. very interested though. I don't know if they can breed fast enough to be worth it unless you mean to use it just as a quarentine tank before feeding them (good idea).

And most landlords don't have a clue how big a tank really is. If they ask, just say 30 gallons, hehe. Though a 55 is hard to pass off as 30 gallons.. you could probably do it with a 40 tall or something like that. I have a 24x24x24" tank, doesn't look big and no one believes me when I tell them its 60 gallons!

[Pufferpunk]

And most landlords don't have a clue how big a tank really is. If they ask, just say 30 gallons, hehe. Though a 55 is hard to pass off as 30 gallons.. you could probably do it with a 40 tall or something like that. I have a 24x24x24" tank, doesn't look big and no one believes me when I tell them its 60 gallons!

LOL, how true! I had a boss that had her landlord convinced her pig was some kind of weird dog species.

[zombiefetus]

lol! That's amazing pufferpunk!

And thanks for the info Myaj.
I'm going to attempt to breed crabs. It'll be an adventure once I get started I'll post what happens.

I just purchased 3 plants for my aquarium (from e-bay). yay.
a Marimo Ball
a bag of java moss
and a large java fern

I'm going to toss them into my freshwater tank and then once my tank is cycled I'll throw them in there and slowly add salt. It'll take a while, but I don't want my plants to die. Will I need a Co2 diffuser?

[Myaj]

No, none of those are plants that will really need CO2. Very slow growers. Its the high light, high nutrient needing plants that need the CO2 added.

You can throw them in the tank now, as its cycling. If anything they'll speed up the process and it won't hurt them. The salt will, eventually, since GSP's need to go to higher end brackish water. Most people just take them full marine so they get the benefit of skimmers and live rock.

[zombiefetus]

Yeah, I figure once the brackish water gets too high for them I'll put them back in the freshwater tank. Or in my crab tank, which will also be brackish (who knew. Fiddler crabs are brackish, well, some species, lol)

Once my my GSP is in full marine water can I add corals? (I don't know much about saltwater, lol, I'm still learning.)

[Pufferpunk]

You can start with some of the bad-tasting ones, like mushrooms, leathers & xenia.

[zombiefetus]

hm. I think I may try that later on. I've always liked the look of corals.

[Nick]

Those plants won't last nearly to full marine(well, maybe the moss ball) so you'll have to expect them to die somewhere down the line if you ever want corals.

[zombiefetus]

yeah, I plan to take them out when they start to die and move them to a different tank, untill then I'll let my puffer enjoy them.

[jake_vdb]

An AquaClear 300 is perfect for a 30 gallon tank (though they've renamed them, just look for the one with 300gph).

FYI, The old Aquaclear name is the GPH rating, the new name is max recommended tank size. IE:
Aquaclear 300 is now Aquaclear 70
Aquaclear 500 is now Aquaclear 110

Aquaclear 70 should be great for a 30 gallon tank, but expect to replace it with live rock and a protein skimmer when you reach full marine sg.

One other note: I wouldn't run the activated carbon, I usually replace it with a second sponge. I've also found that the larger aquaclears can easily house twice the ceramic bio barrels (without affecting the water flow). Probably not necessary, but I like to do it.

[Pufferpunk]

Instead of the 2nd sponge, I add a 1" layer of filter floss to "polish" the water crystal clear.

[zombiefetus]

Yeah, I looked it up online earlier and called the LFS to see if they carried them (they do) I'll be picking up everything on wednesday.
Here's my shopping list:
Tank
Cover + light bulbs
Filter + sponges
Heater
Thermometer
Bio-Spira (if I can find any)
Drift wood (as most of the pants I ordered need something to attach to.) I heard Drift wood rots quickly in brackish water, will it be okay or should I use something else?
Then I have a list of some more plants to get, along with some snails and crabs.

Am I forgetting anything? (I have a very sturdy desk to use as a stand for now)

:edit: I have some filter floss, maybe I'll try that.

[jake_vdb]

Don't buy any driftwood for a brackish tank. I would suggest rock instead. Lace rock or Texas holey rock both help to buffer the water.

Make sure you get marine salt mix, and a hydrometer/refractometer that will read low sg.

[zombiefetus]

Already have a big box of Instant Ocean and a refractometer ^-^

Would plants be able to cling to rock? Or is there something else I can get for them?