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anyone keep a saltwater tank?
    #3740967 -

hey guys

i know the issue of aquariums have come up before in this forum, just wondering if anyone has any experience keeping a saltwater tank...especially a nano reef tank.

i'm thinking about starting a nano reef tank...20 gallons. if anyone has any comments or suggestions, please let me know. here are the specs of the nano tank i plan to get:

- 20 gallon bowfront acrylic tank (kitted out with the light, filter, pump, etc)
- 10 lbs of live sand (anyone use tahitian black? looks pretty cool)
- some live rock
- 1 3 striped damsel
- 1 percula clownfish
- 1 firefish gobi OR a mandarin gobi
- cleaning crew consisting of: emerald crabs, scarlet hermit crabs, turbo snails, coral banded shrimp and... (anyone got any suggestions?)

inverts
- condi anemone
- 1 yellow gordonian
- 1 pistol shrimp or sexy shrimp
- 1 blue linkia starfish
- feather dusters

coral
- 1 green bubble coral
- 1 frogspawn coral
- 1 yellow polyps
- teal mushroom coral
- a few zoos

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3741031 -

I don't know any precise information but my Dad keeps a nano reef tank like your describing (mostly corals) and he swears by the whole living rock thing.. I seem to remember he used to have a carbon scrubber (not positive on that) and a skimmer attached but recently he just took them off and the tank is completly self sufficient when it comes to filtering.

They are extremely cool and I could stare at his for ages. Good luck, they take alot of work but are definatly worth the effort.


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"You can either believe you can do something, or believe you can't.... either way your right"


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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Slite]
    #3741318 -

You might want to rethink getting those coral banded shrimp and get some other variety instead...
I know a lot of the websites say they are good cleaners, but they are also known for eating anemone and others things you don't want eaten...

I'd def. go for live rock, and maybe upgrade to a 55 gal. Things can get so much cooler with a bigger tank, and cleaning isn't really an issue. My dad has a 250 gal tank with live rock and 10 fish and anemones out the ass, and he only cleans twice a year, and thats just to make things look good.


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..... of course everything you just read was a lie... I just like taking the credit for other peoples masterful work...
Donate to the FSRCanada

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: budslide]
    #3741338 -

Wow!  I had bought a whole bunch of equipment for a freshwater tank a while back but eventually moved away and lost interest (in no small part because of the maintenance that would have been involved).  This type of balanced saltwater tank sounds really cool though - best selling point is its relative self-sufficiency!

Don't really have anything of merit to add though, save my own personal thoughts :grin:
Good luck boO!


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┼ ··∙   long live the shroomery  ∙·· ┼
...╬π╥ ╥π╬...

Edited by geokills (02/06/05 03:54 PM)

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: budslide]
    #3741366 -

thanks for the info.

if i could get a 55 gallon tank then i would :frown: the bigger the better in regards to upkeeping a large saltwater tank opposed to a small one like i want. unfortunately, we don't have the space for a large tank...

i'm really looking into getting a jbj 24 gallon nano cube...
http://www.jbjlighting.com/sys_24g_nanocube.html

though, it seems difficult finding a dealer that sells them here in Europe urgh!

geokills: you should really take a look at nano reefs! I've been doing research now for the past couple of weeks and i can't stop reading about the different inverts, corals, fish you can put in a small reef tank. i seriously can't wait to start one..but i have a feeling since the saltwater market is quite small (there's only 1 store in the whole country that has the reputation of carrying the most marinelife) it'll be quite an expensive hobby. :frown:

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3741479 -

I think I am about to buy one myself. I need a new hobby.


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Use the Fucking Reply To Feature You Lazy Pieces of Shit!

afoaf said:
Jim, if you were in my city, I would let you fuck my wife.

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Jim]
    #3741488 -

I really like that 24 gallon cube. Anyone have a good link to an online merchant? I can not find any.


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Use the Fucking Reply To Feature You Lazy Pieces of Shit!

afoaf said:
Jim, if you were in my city, I would let you fuck my wife.

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Jim]
    #3741513 -

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-23885.html

and there are loads of ebay auctions for the 12 and 24 gallon jbj nano cubes. shame that htey're 110v and not 220...otherwise i'd just buy one from ebay and beg the seller to ship it to me despite ridiculous shipping rates :frown:

if you do get one, tell me how it goes..would like to know how other nano tank enthusiasts are doing with their tank! :grin:

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3741524 -

I am a little weary about ordering from ebay. I think I will try and find a retailer near where I live.

Ever think of just getting a power converter?


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Use the Fucking Reply To Feature You Lazy Pieces of Shit!

afoaf said:
Jim, if you were in my city, I would let you fuck my wife.

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Jim]
    #3741585 -

I have a 30 Gallon Saltwater tank.  I started it last summer, I have around 20lbs of livesand, 35lbs of live rock, 130watt power compact lights, hang on back filter, and also a powerhead for water movement.  A Oscellaris Clown, xooanthids, big hawaiian feather duster, tons of inverts.  I really like it, especially since it is starting to balance out nicely and TONS of new lifeforms are popping out of nowhere.  Little starfish are emerging, baby snails, hundreds of little feather dusters, button polyps.  I'm nowhere near an expert on the subject though seeing as I haven't had it very long but it seems to be thriving so far.  I do need to put a refugium on the back though to balance out the nitrate levels better because I have a little bit of an algae problem, but I'm working on it.  Have you checked out Nanoreef.com?  That site is amazing, it's like this site is to shrooms  but for Nanoreefs.  Huge community just like here, TONS of information, and pictures :smile:


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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Anjaba]
    #3741607 -

wow, your tank sounds cool! do you have any photos of your full setup?

i've checked out nano-reef.com and it seems to be a nice large database of information. i've signed up for the forums as well just now. a lot of the pictures in the gallery are giving me inspiration on how to "design" the reef itself...helped me pick out the inverts and corals i listed above as well. thinking i should dump the damsel for another fish...they're too agressive and might cause trouble with the clown...

as for a power converter...not worth it...pain in the ass :frown: i'll go to the fishstore here and see what tanks they offer...but the convenience of having something like the jbj nano cube would be great.

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3744351 -

I don't have any recent pictures because my Dad is in Egypt with the digital, all I have are ones from about a month after setup. If you want to see those I'll post them, but they are VERY bland.

Also, don't get a Mandarin Goby. It will end up starving to death because such a small tank will not be able to sustain its food supply (pods). Do a search at Nanoreef for it and you will bring up A LOT of info on them, and why not to get them for small tanks.


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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3744402 -

Bigger the tank, the harder it is to get it going, but the smaller the tank, the more likely it will crash. If you're going to keep a small tank, you're going to need to keep very close tabs on it. One nitrate spike and BAM there it goes.

The damselfish: they will get very territorial and aggressive. You will also never be able to remove them from the tank if the need should arise. They are the assholes of the saltwater community. They only thing they are good for is cycling the tank before you add any rocks, and then removing them once it starts kicking into gear.

Starfish: any clams etc. that come in on live rock will be eaten indefinitely. Personally, I'd ditch the starfish and hope for (or buy) filter feeders.

Also, make sure not to mix atlantic and pacific anemones. It's been awhile since I kept salt, but one of them releases small amounts of a toxin at nighttime (I believe atlantic). There's the potential to kill other inverts.

As far as getting the tank cycled, I'd highly recommend live bacteria. It allows you to skip a few stages in the cycling process. The live sand and live rock is :thumbup:, but your filter and the water has to have a substantial amount of bacteria for the nitrogen cycle. Also, with live bacteria, you're less likely to experience algae blooms and bacteria blooms in the early stages. Two months will be cut down to 3-5 weeks depending upon how you do it.

You may know this already, but start slow. Adding everything at once is a surefire way of having a tank crash, especially saltwater.

And please, whatever you do, try your best to stay away from flake food. You can hatch brine shrimp, a very simple process, for the filter feeders and buy frozen foods. Live foods can harbor disease and parasites, but that's entirely up to you. Bloodworms are great, and frozen brine shrimp (adult) are excellent as well.

HTH,
s2

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3745423 -

boO, check out Keltainen P?rssi and huuto.net, and also akvaariolehti for used tanks.


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"All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy." -Paracelsius

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Adden]
    #3745699 -

thanks s2dope lots of good information. i read yesterday about the damsels and their aggressiveness...hrm i tossed it out of the list i made today of possible things to put into the aquarium. here's a new updated list...got any comments on it?

Corals
- Fungia repanda - plate coral purple, short tentacle (easy)
- tubipora musica - pipe organ coral, white (moderate)
- Clavularia sp. - clove polyp (easy)
- zoanthus sp. - colony (button) polyps in green, orange, red (easy)
- undescribed zoanthid - colony (button) polyps in yellow (easy)
- Favites spp. - brain coral, favites (easy)
- Platygyra sp. - brain worm platygyra (easy)
- Physogyra sp. - bubble coral pearl (easy)
- Euphyllia paradivisa - frogspawn (moderate)
- Plerogyra sp. bubble coral (easy)
- Actinodiscus sp. - blue mushroom (easy)

Fish
- Amphiprion percula - true percula clownfish (easy)
- Amphiprion ocellaris - ocellaris clownfish (easy)
- Nemateleotris magnifica - Firefish gobi (easy)

Inverts
- Condylactis gigantea - florida condi anemone (moderate)
- Heteractis sebae - white sebase anemone (moderate)
- yellow cucumber (easy)
- Echunaster sp. - orange sea star (easy)
- Linckia sp. - linckia sea star, orange (easy)
- Tridacna maxima - blue maxima clam (moderate)
- Afpheus bellulus - pistol shrimp tiger (easy)
- Thor amboinensis - sexy shrimp (easy)
- Bispira brunnea - feather dusters

Cleaning Crew
- Paguristes cadenati - Scarlet hermit crab (10-15)
- Cilbanarius tricolor - Blueleg hermit crab (10-15)
- Astrea tecta - Turbo/Astrea snail (20)
- Nassarius sp. - Nassarius snail (4)
- Lysmata wurdemanni - peppermint shrimp (1-2)
- Mithrax sculptus - Emerald crab (1-2)

Not all of the items will be included in the tank, but these are just things i'm thinking of. we will be gradually building everything up as your suggestion, to make sure everything goes smooth. also, seems like we've upped the size of the tank from 24 to possibly 40 gallons.

ummikko: kiitos! i've phoned up a store in vantaa which is the largest store containing marine life and thankfully the prices aren't so scandalous haven't checked huuto.net though...but i know a person who's selling an 85 and 120 litre tank..might look into it...though looking for a new tank preferably.

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3745796 -

I never got into salt enough to know species and corals etc, just general information which is 99% accurate from what I posted above (two pet stores for 5+ years). Can't help you out anymore, so good luck on your endeavor. :smile:

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: boO]
    #3745803 -

Do not get the Maxima clam unless you are going to be running Metal Halides.  Also, anemones require a lot of light as well, but people seem to get away with keeping them as long as they have a bunch of watts pumping out of their flourescents.  Mind you though, an anemone under a flourescent will never be as healthy as if you had MH.

Glad you removed the Mandarin, beautiful fish, hate to see it suffer like so many do..

I love my Oscellaris, he eats right outta my hand :smile:


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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Anjaba]
    #3745813 -

I only shop freshwater and african cichlids every once in awhile if something kicks the bucket.. and the last time I was working at a pet store it was hard as hell to get clownfish. They're almost nowhere to be found.

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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Adden]
    #3745846 -

??! are you serious?? They breed like crazy in captivity, you don't even have to find 2 of the opposite sex because one of them automatically changes sex when the 2 fish live together in the tank. I have 2 pet stores that stock Saltwater, and they get TONS of tank breed clowns, they are like $8... You guys are in Europe?, so I guess it's different over there.


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Re: anyone keep a saltwater tank? [Re: Anjaba]
    #3745858 -

I'm in US, I know they change sexes too and it's easy to breed them.. before my salt tank crashed when I was a child, had a pair that had eggs.

Last tomato clown I saw was $30 and was small, and I haven't seen 'nemo clowns' at all. AT ALL.

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