Salt Water Aquariums

[zjharva]

I am thinking of setting up a marine aquarium. It will probably be a **** reef (about 7-12 gallons for me). Anyone know anything about these set-ups, and tips or warnings about them.

Any answers are appreciated!

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(my best attempt at making a fish! )

[revo madnesss]

nice fish but i belive it is dont like this ><>
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[TRXREVOrusty]

there is already a freshwater thread thats why

[zjharva]

Yeah I already do freshwater, but wanted to get some input since I am interested in going into salt water, and they are apparently very different.

[supa_jato]

from what i know, you have to be able to devote a lot of time to maintenance. some of the fish are expensive and can't live aith ech other or with their own. do some searching around online about them before you start buying stuff. i'm gonna stick to freshwater but good luck

[clp]

I am thinking of setting up a marine aquarium. It will probably be a **** reef (about 7-12 gallons for me). Anyone know anything about these set-ups, and tips or warnings about them.

when you mean reef system, tell me what you are wanting to put in it..

live corals, anenome, clownfish, coral shrimp, etc..

or, just fish, and NO invertebrates?

it makes a BIG diffrence as far as lighting and protien skimmers, filtration & water flow..

temperature is critical on marine fish, and a small tank responds more to changes than a big one.. Water quality is supreme.. Ph, salinity, tempature, hardness (Gh) as well as standard ammonia & nitrate/nitrite levels have to be monitored..

generally, the filtration requirements in a marine setup are TWICE or more than a freshwater setup.... I've done a 30 long marine, fish only, with a undergravel filter and 2 powerheads, .....the powerheads would turn the water over 300 times per hour..

I also did it with a undergravel filter, 1 smaller powerhead, and a penguin hang on the back filter....

also did with just a hang on the back power filter..

had a 55 set up for years as fish only, ran undergravel with 4 powerheads on it...

also ran a wet dry filter,

also ran wet/dry filter, protien skimmer, and undergravel with 2 powerheads..

water changes still need to be maintained, I'd pull mine down to 1/2 and change water, even with all other water quality good..

why? marine water has trace elements that the fish use, and are depleted, also some gets absorbed in corals..

it's a complex subject, so when you give more specifics, I can suggest more..

remember, if you do invertebrates (anemone's and such) you can't just net them out of the tank like a fish... they will cause a tank to go south quick when they die, and need to be watched... protien skimmers help a lot in this situation.. also with inverts, you cant have copper in your tank, and this is one of the most helpful things to use to prevent disease..

[Slasher]

No kidding.

That's why I decided to go with fresh water.

It doesn't quite have the thrill and bragging right as saying you have a salt water aquarium with all sorts of exotic tropical fish and a coral reef.
However, there are still all kinds of things you can add to a freshwater tank and make it look superb.

I've come across a plethora of decorations and fish in researching my recent purchase. The only thing I hate (but you'd have to do the same with salt water) is the waiting. I really badly want to put a bottom feeder and a betta in my water, but I can't for a while.

Check out YouTube. You'd be surprised how many people film their aquariums.

[31794ty]

Salt water aquariums are very expensive to up keep. My dad had a 100gallon salt water tank and it took him all day to clean it.

[clp]

I've had all kinds of cool fish in saltwater (marine) tanks...

some real laid back fish, sebae clown fish, percula clowns, yellow tangs,

blue tangs, tomato clowns....

and I've had agressive fish, red spotted grouper (blaze orange with small blue spots, color like UF Gators) if I put it in with tame fish, the color would fade a little.. if I put it in with semi agressive fish, color would come back up..

I've had real agressive fish, undulate trigger, I could not keep any thing else in the tank with it..

the ones I really enjoyed were the lion fish, I had red voliatian & black Voliatian... just be really careful when you put your hand in the tank for anything, as there fins are poisionous..

I never had any, but thought that the sharks were cool, as they always were swimming, the feeding of the lion fish were cool as well, they would swallow smaller fish whole, you could tell when they were stuffed, their bellies woud pooch out just like a puppy, and they would be LAZY for 3 days.. I hept them a little hungry, as they were more active that way.. I had other fish in with the lions, just had to make sure that they were bigger than the lion, becuase if he could think he could swallow it, he would try..

never really got into what is a true reef setup as it took a LOT of light, (metal halide $$$) and a ton (2X more than fish setup) of powerheads to circulate the water, for this.. they were neat to see, but I did not want expense of setting up and having invertebrates, and headaches when they die & foul the whole tank and cost you $$$$..you would have to feed the inverts a liquid food, and the fish soething else, flake, krill, prawns, or live fish (gulpies) depending on what you would have

general rule of thumb for marine (fish) setups.. get the biggest aquarium you can swing..you'll need powerheads to circulate the water anyway, so if you put a undergravel filter in, it will keep the water clearer..
filtration, well this is the life of the aquarium.. I've tried all kinds of things, and I keep coming back to undergravel, for a few reasons..

I enjoyed it, and it teaches PATIENCE..

[Slasher]

Oops. Evidently I missed, until now, his post indicating he already has fresh water tanks.

[zjharva]

I've had all kinds of cool fish in saltwater (marine) tanks...

some real laid back fish, sebae clown fish, percula clowns, yellow tangs,

blue tangs, tomato clowns....

and I've had agressive fish, red spotted grouper (blaze orange with small blue spots, color like UF Gators) if I put it in with tame fish, the color would fade a little.. if I put it in with semi agressive fish, color would come back up..

I've had real agressive fish, undulate trigger, I could not keep any thing else in the tank with it..

the ones I really enjoyed were the lion fish, I had red voliatian & black Voliatian... just be really careful when you put your hand in the tank for anything, as there fins are poisionous..

I never had any, but thought that the sharks were cool, as they always were swimming, the feeding of the lion fish were cool as well, they would swallow smaller fish whole, you could tell when they were stuffed, their bellies woud pooch out just like a puppy, and they would be LAZY for 3 days.. I hept them a little hungry, as they were more active that way.. I had other fish in with the lions, just had to make sure that they were bigger than the lion, becuase if he could think he could swallow it, he would try..

never really got into what is a true reef setup as it took a LOT of light, (metal halide $$$) and a ton (2X more than fish setup) of powerheads to circulate the water, for this.. they were neat to see, but I did not want expense of setting up and having invertebrates, and headaches when they die & foul the whole tank and cost you $$$$..you would have to feed the inverts a liquid food, and the fish soething else, flake, krill, prawns, or live fish (gulpies) depending on what you would have

general rule of thumb for marine (fish) setups.. get the biggest aquarium you can swing..you'll need powerheads to circulate the water anyway, so if you put a undergravel filter in, it will keep the water clearer..
filtration, well this is the life of the aquarium.. I've tried all kinds of things, and I keep coming back to undergravel, for a few reasons..

I enjoyed it, and it teaches PATIENCE..

Thanks that helped a lot! I am going to try it I guess, but not have very many fish. I was thinking mostly corals and little critters, but I've always had the question of where you point the powerheads?

[clp]

you'll want good water flow inside the tank, more like a cross current effect.. on a fish setup, I turn the powerheads toward the center of the tank, 1 powerhead is at a differnt height than the other.. i've seen it done as well to hide the powerhead behind some "live rock" and have the outflow coming out in tubing..

live corals require food, and LIGHT.. we are talking bright light, the standard bulbs won't cut it.. you can't run any copper in the tank with corals or invertebrates.. so no products like COPPERSAFE...

start slow, and concentrate on 1 thing first.. if you are doing corals, get them established, and thriving before inserting fish into the setup..

a coral tank with vivid colors is beautiful.. water changes and trace elements are more critical for inverts than fish, and there real important for fish..

with any invertebrates in the system, I'd want a protien skimmer..

I'd suggest picking up a book or 2 on the type of environment that you want to setup..

I would ask questions about amount of light & length it needs to be on per day..

and of course, like everything else, cleanlyness...

for live coral, before I put any in, I'd want to make sure that my water was cycled through the amonia/nitrate cycle.. you'll want to think of coral just like a fish.. while it does not swim, it is a living element in the tank, therefore, light, temp, salinity, water quality, all apply to it, it just does not swim..

[zjharva]

is this tank's lighting sufficient?: http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewIt...s~vendor~.html
That is the one i was thinking of asking for.

[clp]

not really my area of expertise, I'm a fish guy.. I do know that it was more than I wanted to tackle when I researched it years back..some things have changed, as far as gotten more effecient, etc..

I'd want to ask questions to a local dealer becuase you may need some help from time to time.. mail order is great for a price, but the customer support is not there.. you can't go in and look at it, or ask questions, and see how it is setup, and see the competitors models..

this kind of service you can't get over the internet, or from a ups truck..

you're going to have to get some other supplies locally for it, I assume?

here is a link to there dealers..http://www.jbjlighting.com/dealers_usa.html

you can also see if there are dealers for competing brands in your area, the specs should be similar, and you can ask about it.. aquariums are no diffrent than rc's in a way, they are a hobby.. I ask my traxxas dealer questions..

I don't buy fish there though..the converse is also true..
(and just for grunts& giggles, I traded something from another hobby for the e revo.. I bought the 2.5 revo local though..)

that's about all the help I can provide..maybe you can seek out a forum on reef systems, and get a LOT better answers than on a RC forum..

Good luck..