Saltwater Setup

[blainep]

Ok, somebodys gotta be the first to step into the marine area, might as well be me.

I've always heard saltwater aquariums were alot of work. Is this true ?

Is there a fairly simple way to startup and maintain a saltwater aquarium ?

Any takers for this one ?

[thegrandpoohbah]

Bigger is better. A small nano tank is easy and fairly cheap to set up but will be hard to maintain. There is very little room for error when dealing with a small tank. I did a 12G FOWLR for a while and if I had time and money to do it again, I would get as big a tank as I could afford.

[Melody]

I don't know a whole lot of people who do marine, hence the lack of representation in this section...lol....but that will change as I market it properly.

I have heard varying opinions on the difficulty involved with marine tanks. I stay away from it because I'd worry so much about it that it wouldn't be fun...lol. I do think every fish-keeper should give it a whirl if they can and I suspect I will one of these days. The marine snails have tempted me lately - I'd love to branch into those :snail: .

If you decide to try it, I'd love to read about your experiences. :)

[blainep]

Looks like more research required, here Google Google.

[Shelley]

Expensive!:twitcy:

We have had a 30 gallon up and running for a month now. The tank itself is the cheap part. Then you add..

live rock, 1-1/2 lbs per gallon @ 10$ a lb, there goes a car payment
live sand, 25 lb bag 45$
salt big bucket 50$

Then you find out you need high-powered lights.. sigh.. $250 hey but it also has 2 little kewlio blue led moon-lights

Then you need a skimmer.. nother $100 or so
then ya gotta have current, 1200 maxi-jet submersible powerhead
more current 900 maxi-jet
more current 400 maxi-jet
now you have lot of current.. might as well get a wave maker power bar

speaking of powerbars.. gotta have a groovy one with 3 timers that turn on the sunshine bulbs for few hours, then the actenic ones a while, and of course the moon glo's for nighttime.

Oh then all the test kits you need for marine tanks.

Now, after it runs for a month and has gone thru the nasty brown diatom algae syndrom.. you still cant add fish! Gotta let the tank stablilze so Im told.:notworthy:

So far we have a dozen or so hermit crabs and two turbo ( turban) snails. Heres some pics of my new family. Im gonna name them and declare them as dependants on next years tax return.:nah:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/Picture010.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/Picture034.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/Picture077.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/Picture032.jpg

[CACAdmin]

Wow! Nice setup Shelley. Great pics!

Now, after it runs for a month and has gone thru the nasty brown diatom algae syndrom.. you still cant add fish! Gotta let the tank stablilze so Im told.:notworthy:
That's OK... you need time to save up the money to buy them anyways. ;) Remeber to keeps us updated.

Heres some pics of my new family. Im gonna name them and declare them as dependants on next years tax return.:nah:

Hmmm! Now there's an idea! ...LOL

[thegrandpoohbah]

Hehe... they cost about the same as a dependant would. Maybe you'll get away with it!

[Soggybottom]

Looking good!

You forgot to count to filter and heater :)

At least, that looks like a fluval intake and outake. Where are the powerheads, hidden?

[Melody]

Looking good Shell! Oh stop primping, I mean the tank, your gorgeousness :rofl: .

Seriously though, great information. Always nice to hear from someone who has done it recently so you don't forget the details. Thanks for taking the time to post your experience and I second the motion on hearing more as things go along.

If anyone does do a tank start to finish, some pic's in the DIY section would also be of great use to the membership.:)

Those snailiens look tres cool - no more posting those Shelley, I'm tempted enough :twitcy: .

[Shelley]

Looking good!

You forgot to count to filter and heater :)

At least, that looks like a fluval intake and outake. Where are the powerheads, hidden?
:twitcy: After a while you stop counting how much you spend.. it helps keep peace in the household! The powerheads were added after the picture was taken. The Fluval will be coming out next week. I have a big aquaclear ordered. Nitrates are a big problem in saltwater. I have to clean sponges in the fluval once a week, the sponges are nitrate factorys.. and its such a hassle breaking it down, and with the ribbed hoses it shoots just a gob of gunk back in the tank. An aquaclear will be much easer. The filter isnt being used as a biological filter, just keeps the water clear. The live rock and live sand are actually the biological filter.

Mel.. its so damn hard not buying marine snails.. they come in so many kewl colors and stripes.

I just added 3 fish! :wideeyed: Cover your eyes Mel.:wideeyed: ..3 Calico Mollys. It takes a full day of slowly acclimating them, but they do sooo well in saltwater. I have a big order of frags coming in a week from Monday, so more pictures then!

[Melody]

Ah Mollies - they have such great little personalities. All will adapt, but I believe its Velifera that see the most marine conditions, some never see salt in the wild and definitly not in captivity. They are highly adaptable though, humans haven't ruined that yet, so I'm sure you'll do great with them in there. I have lots of wild-types coming in to tempt you with later - think hubby will let us fill it with snails and Mollies? ;)

[Shelley]

LOL he wants :clownfish: and:seahorse: and:tropicalfish: and all he ends up getting is :icon_snail: :FishQuestion: . Poor Babyboo. Now I must go and make it up to him!:D

[Melody]

ROFL Now that's a woman who thinks like I do. He's happy and if Mama ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy. He's a smart guy - has it down to a science...lol.

[mixixe]

I started a nanoreef tank about 1.5 months ago and i followed the instructions from www.nano-reef.com (http://www.nano-reef.com) For best method they say... you need live rock, live sand, heater and a powerhead for movement, thats it! They even encourage using only that for the bigger tanks. Thats exactly what i'm using but my tank is only 4.5 gallons. I had my diatom bloom already and my one snail has done a good job eating it all up. I dont' have much in it yet other than a snail and some crabs. So far so good. But maybe this works best for a super nano tank. I might add an aquaclear refugium too. I might convert my 33 g to a marine tank soon... so lol we'll see how much that racks up!

[Shelley]

So far everything we have added.... well almost everything.... is doing awesome. I filled it up so much my sweetness offered to get me another tank:yes: after he twisted my arm.. I agreed. So new tank has been ordered.. this time were going with a plumbed tank and a 33 gallon sump that we will split into a refugium. Parts are all piled here in the "doom room" and we will start building a stand for it tomorrow.

Heres a pic of the tank today
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/frags032.jpg

Firefish, we have 7 of these guys and they all live in the same hole in a piece of rock. I haveno idea how they all fit in there,, but they zip in there one after another every night

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/frags036-2.jpg

florida citrus zoo

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/frags012-1.jpg

and for Ms. Melody.. a lil koi swordtail fry that showed up last week ;)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/Carrida/frags040.jpg
excuse his poo.. he has no manners...:no:

Ok Im off to find this West Coast Aquarium person.. they have zoo frags.. and I have to figure out how to gently persuade them to ship me some to Victoria.. specially if that one is a PPE!!! :)

[CACAdmin]

Tank looks fantastic. And now you're on to project #2... a bigger tank!:laugh: (:Think: gee, that sounds familiar, somehow).

If you can, why don't you post pics of the various stages of setting up the new tank. It would be really helpful for someone else who wants to dive into a SW setup.:yes:

[Melody]

and for Ms. Melody.. a lil koi swordtail fry that showed up last week

What a little darling - looks like he has some nice red on him. I will expect him in my next order. He needs diapering ;) .

[mixixe]

Those are some nice zoos!!! have you been addictively ordering from fragfactory like me?

I've gotten two new clients to pay off my marine habit! Your tank is looking great :) Makes me want a bigger one. HOw do you find the sun coral?

[Shelley]

LOL Mel.. he is a nice one. I only found 3 fry this time. 2 are solid. He is currently being potty trained.:wideeyed:

Mixxie.. I owe my soul to Frag Factory:notworthy: and WestJet. The sun coral is awesome! Its not as hard to feed as I thought it would be.I have 2. I feed the whole tank Reef Chili a few times a week.. and spot feed the sun coral mysis shrimp every 2-3 days. I bought a really cool feeder thing at J&L. I just took the tip off of the end shrimps fit in no problems. http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/food.php?product_ID=FD-KSSQ21

[mixixe]

Mike sometimes gives me free frags. I love him!

[mixixe]

The next thing I want in my tank are sun corals! But alas, I hardly have any room left. I think it's time for a new tank already :confused:

I better start applying for night shifts at tim hortons ...

[Shelley]

Mike sometimes gives me free frags. I love him!

Spread that love this a way :yes: I have already fragged a few of the ones I got from him. My poor little red and purple zoo has been fragged 3 times. I love swapping frags. A few from Mike I have been disapointed in cause the pics he uses do not always represent the tru colors.. What ones have you gotten from him? Lets plan a summer zoo swap once the weather gets warm enough to ship Canadpost overnight?

[mixixe]

sure! your zoos must be doing well. I dont think mine have grown enough to swap yet. but when they get bigger I will certainly share! I want to upgrade on lighting a bit but i think I will start another larger tank so i can go all out on lighting. It's hard to light a 5 gallon tank properly. The list of items i've ordered from frag factory are...

Mushrooms:
-red and blue striped shrooms
-orange ricorida

zoos/palys:
-pinky purple zoos
-yellow centered frilly zoos...
-deep red zoos
-button polyps
-peacock paly
-red raspberry paly
-orange yellow cloves
-nuclear paly
-radioactive orange zoos

I agree, not everything looks the same as the pictures... some things look nicer, some things just dont look the same at all. For the price you are really taking a risk. But i think it makes up for it that the items that dont look the same as the pictures are still beautiful and hard to find color morphs.I still haven't seen any zoos close to the colors that you can find on that site in any store.. though my little 5 g tank has cost..seriously an arm and a leg...

[Shelley]

I have got from him

Mushrooms
-red and blue striped shrooms
-orange ricorida
Multi Ricordia

zoos/palys:
-deep red zoos
-peach paly
-red paly
-red raspberry paly
-orange yellow cloves
-lemmony zoo
-radioactive orange zoos
Pumpkin patch zoo
citrus zoo
canary yellow paly
luster pink paly
some acans and favias
baby blue zoo
apple of my eye zoo

Isnt that radioactive orange zoo just awesome? Maybe its my lights.. I have 20K Geissman bulbs and the are really blue.. but it just glows!

How do you like that nuclear one? Its on my want list.

[mixixe]

LOL we are crazy aren't we??? I can't believe your list is as long as mine. I'm glad i'm not the only one who spends their pay check there. Mike must love us too! I"m always on there looking for stuff too. I want some of the new mushrooms that have come in. Esp these ones
http://www.fragfactory.ca/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=416

Neway.. i love the nuclear paly! I'm not sure if i'ts really a nuclear paly or not though as it was a freebie, but its really bright green, if you check my thread in the photo section you can see it. It may look better under your light b/c i'm only use CF. Lately, it has turned gray, i dunno why, but the color is starting to come back again.

The radioactive orange one is amazin! My orange yellow cloves aren't as nice as the pics. I wonder how those blue cloves really look in person. BTW, how are those lemony zoos?

[Shelley]

my orange yellow cloves look amazing under MH lights. If you dont like the cloves I will trade you outta them. The lemmony under PC lights looked like yellow on green. Since I switched lights its a little closer to his picture.. but nothing near as blue as he shows. In my tank picture on the sand in the middle front is a frag I took of it. Its a pretty yellow middle and mine is starting to turn kinda bluish.

[mixixe]

hmm..i think MH is def the way to go... im going to consider doing 70 watt MH like my friend over his little tank lol... it's not causing anyproblems. but i'll let him test it out first. take some close up shots of your frags! I'll come back on tomorrow! Nice to know another FF addict.

[Shelley]

Gotta watch out for heat using MH.. especially on a small tank. I will take some pics of the zoo's tomorrow. Nighty nite:SLEEP:

[Shelley]

ok I took some pics of the zoo's. They are in the photo section. Cheers, Shelley