anybody have a sick salt water tank setup? im thinking about getting a tank and need some ideas of a unique tank that would look sick in my house.
he lives in florida now but get in touch with bobby laduke…he was the local fish molester.
was. Until that incident with a piranha
NO AS FUNNY AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN. NVM
Ive had several… what do you want to know? (there’s a LOT to learn)
We have a fresh water tank at the moment…
I’d love to sometime in the future do a Salt water tank, figured we’d get used to keeping up on a bigger (60 gallon) fresh water tank, get in the habbit of water changes, checking water conditions etc before we spent the coin on going saltwater.
Salt water reuqires a lot of time to maintain and the fish are bank. You might want to try fresh water first. There are some very nice looking freshwater fish that are lower maintainence. Also i have a compete 125 gal setup to sell if your interested
My sister has a 130gal tank, that bigs not for me… I’m just looking for something smaller and that will go with my decor in my house.
Fuck your tank spardy
I’m gonna drop kick the hood of your BMW.
DONT
Before going saltwater, you need to make a lot of decisions. Planning will save you a ton of time, money and heartbreak. Here are some things to consider…
Size- Larger tanks are more stable and easier to keep healthy. The smaller the volume of water, the more impact seemingly small changes will have. Remember, nothing good happens fast in a saltwater tank.
Filtration- Don’t skimp here. Do your research, buy the largest/best skimmer you can physically fit. I suggest something rated for at least 2x your display volume
Tank selection- Go with something “reef-ready” with the overflow box already installed. Don’t depend on those chinky siphon tube overflow boxes if you want to keep your floors dry. If you are going to have sand, and I recommend it highly as it is one of the best natural aids in natural filtration, I’d stay away from an acrylic tank and stick with glass. The scratch protection is worth it IMHO.
Fish only or Reef?- Decide this early and stick with it. Your lighting will need to be tailored to what is being kept in the tank for the tank to do well.
Stocking- don’t over stock the tank. When in doubt, leave it out. Research every species before placing it into the system and know what you’re getting into.
Quarantine- All new arrivals to your tank should go through a quarantine period before making it into your main display. Yes, this means you need another tank that is already set up and cycled, capable of sustaining the fish in a stress free environment for at least 3-4 weeks.
When planning your tank, realize the for every $1.00 you spend on the tank itself, you’ll likely spend another $10-$15 setting it up and stocking it for a complete setup. Live rock, sand, lighting and various support equipment is expensive and then there’s the livestock to buy still… You’ll need plenty of snails, possibly some crabs, maybe a shrimp or two, and fish as well as possibly corals if you decide to go that route
Also, be ready for the tank to sit lifeless for about a month before adding fish. Regardless of what the guy at the fish store says, don’t cycle the tank with some cheap starter fish like a damsel. Fill it up with saltwater, throw in a raw table shrimp for a day and let it sit for 2 weeks. Do a 50% water change, and then let it sit for another week and do one more 50% water change before adding fish. This will ensure that there is a sufficient amount of nitrifying bacteria present to prevent the formation of toxic ammonia in the water column from the fish’s waste.
I could add a TON more to this, but I’ll let you think this over and ask any questions you may have. I’m willing to talk you through it though, so ask away.
Another EXCELLENT resource is www.reefcentral.com GO THERE AND READ, READ, READ
And here’s a shameless plug for myself. Here’s some pictures from back in my reef keeping days 
When I first glanced over one of those pictures I thought I was looking at blue waffle
We have a 60 gallon freshwater, and like what YOTA was saying about small changes affectting smaller tanks more, even with a 60 gallon this is true…
While the fresh water fish we have are not extremely picky, they still like a certain type of enviroment, and it can be seen over time. Fish become a lot more active and playful it seems when the tank are in the “right” conditions for them… and its amazing how 1 little change can affect the entire tank…
Like I said were using this is our learning experiance, its been a lot of fun, and a little bit of work, trial and error and reading to finally have a tank thats active, staying clear, clean and healthy looking.
Compared to our goldfish tank that gets about a quarter of the attention :rofl Goldfish will deff outlive us in case of nuclear disaster…
Also while Yota did mention paying attention to species… Really pay attention to species. How aggressive the fish are, or what region the fish come from…
For example we have Convicts (Cichlids) and theres South American cichlids, and african cichilds… While they look similar, and their both cichlids, if you put both african and south american in the tank, they will tear eachother up…
You dont want passive fish with aggressive fish, though we have tried a few semi-aggresive with our passive fish after doing some reading and so far have not had any issues in ~4 months. Pay attention to how many you have, how big they will get, dont think short term think long term. Some like certain types of plant life etc etc…
I was amazed at how complicated it can get, but its fun once you get into it.
you found Nemo?
I hate those references… ughhh
That was actually a fairly expensive mis-bar captive bred clownfish. He was the male to my mated pair and had great personality. The female was black with white stripes and mean as shit. She actually would draw blood when she bit, and she would constantly chase my hand whenever I was working in the tank.
always wanted to buy a tank and fill it up with seahorses… I see them for sale online.
/PJB
It is tricky but you can actually mix and match fish. I actually have a 7-8" texas red cichlid that I bought when it was only about 1/2". I was able to keep that fish and a fuco cichlid in my 60 gallon that housed my tropical fish.(they were too small for the large tank at the time) Those fish were fine with the tropical semiagressive tank mates even when they grew to a large size. A year later we moved and I gave away a bunch of cichlids, but kept some only to have them fight like crazy and I had to bring all but 6 to Davie Jones to find new homes.
Anyway back to topic I would still say try freshwater first. If your still into it after a year sell the setup and go saltwater.
check this out. I know the seller, hes real chill
http://www.roflwagens.com/showthread.php?8661-90-gallon-reef-ready-saltwater-set-up
rofl