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this summer my dad said i can try salt water and i need alot of info. i also need to know when the book says they need alot of swimming room but alot of hiding space also what does that mean? i wanted to make a 300 gallon sw tank with this set up:
rocks in the middle and open swimming area along the sides.
also i want thinking of getting a nurse shark b/c my lfs is selling it. i guess once i get it set up i am planning on adding the
shark,remora,marine betta, cleaning wrasse, blue tang, sargent mayjor, powder blue tang, and maybe a angel fish.
this of course is my dream sw tank. i haven't really b4 thought about sw and dont know much about equpiptment and set ups. i need alot of basic info.

fyi, dont get a cleaner wrasse, they usually dont survive longer than a month in home aquariums, they r best left in the wild.

o i thought that they would do good cleaning other fishes. i saw these blue cleaner gobies???? do they do better.

Well...300 gallons is a pretty big tank.

IMO, there are really only two important things to setting up a SW tank. Well, maybe three. Patience, $$$, and research/planning. Sounds like you know what you want to keep already, but you're going to need to research a lot...

First off, the tank is going to need to be plumbed with some sort of RR overflow system, with a 'fuge. You're going to need a very good protein skimmer, and depending on whether or not this tank will be FOWLR or Reef, some good lighting.

MH will let you keep almost anything you want.

In a tank that size, for good water circulation I'd suggest the 8 way Oceans Motions unit. That might not cut it though, as I'm using just the 4 way on my 72 gallon. You want to make sure you have no dead areas.

Substrate should be an aragonite based sand; you can get away with white playground sand from your local Home Depot usually. Just make sure it's not silicate based. You're going to need several 50 lb bags of it.

The general rule for marine tanks is 1-2 lbs of LR per gallon. I'm assuming that is how you're going to cycle your tank...? As for the design of the rockwork, that's basically up to you...

I'm not sure on the compatibility of everything you listed above, but be aware that this tank is going to take awhile to stock. And nurse sharks get way too big for a tank that size. Have you thought about your clean up crew?

Make sure you have some good quality test kits, and you know where all your levels should be. The difference between FW and SW tanks isn't really the hardy-ness (shhh ) of the fish, but rather it's more difficult to maintain proper water chemisty, since more params need to be monitored.

Normally, your levels should look something like this...
Temperature- 78*F-82*F
Salinity- 34-36ppm
SG- 1.023ish
pH- 8.2-8.3
Alkalinity- 6-11dKH
Ammonia- zero
NitrIte- zero
NitrAte- <20mg/L
Phosphate- <0.05mg/L
Calcium- 375-475mg/L
Dissolved Oxygen- >6.90mg/L

I think that kinda starts you off with some of the basics...I recommend heading to your local library or Amazon.com and just start reading.

Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenner's books are all great reads, I highly suggest them. Little pricey, but worth it.

If you can be a little more specific with how you want your tank set up, it might be a little easier to help you further.

HTH...I'm sick in bed so this was kinda disorganized.

GL

-Ferret

Last edited by Ferretfish at 11-Feb-2005 18:02

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

when you have got a shark in your list, basically ANY other fish except those that are too big to get eaten, are not possible to be kept together.(unless you do not mind they get eaten some day). A 300 gal is enough for a shark like Bamboo shark which grows to 1 m. Other bigger sharks like Wobbegong and Nurse, 300 is still too little, need a 1000 gal

clearner wrasse isn't that hard to be kept, I have 2 in separate tanks and they eat better than my clown fish, from dry food to forzen and my hand they all happy to have a bite. I thought they were hard and impossible to keep but that proved me wrong.

ok i need a list of the stuff i need to get,look up, buy. i am still clue less on how to make a tank set up both in the tank and the outside stuff. but for the inside would rocks in the middle and open swimming area be good on the out side. ps ferret i am going to your store to get the stuff. do i get a discount?
also one more thing. for my fish list. if i don't get a shark can i still get remora,claning wrase,marine betta,blue tang,powder blue tang, and a ffew others. and if do i need to put shrimps,snails,starfish?i really dont want to but i will if they are nessesary.

Last edited by bettachris at 13-Feb-2005 17:48

Okay I'll do my best here...

*may need to call on her other SW gods*

I'll help you out some, as will others here I'm sure, but I'm telling you, RESEARCH!!! I've recieved loads of help from the people here, but I still had to do a lot of outside research.

ok i need a list of the stuff i need to get,look up, buy. i am still clue less on how to make a tank set up both in the tank and the outside stuff. but for the inside would rocks in the middle and open swimming area be good on the out side. ps ferret i am going to your store to get the stuff. do i get a discount?

STUFF TO LOOK UP/BUY:

Well I guess lets start with the obvious...you're gunna need a RR tank. RR means it's gunna have overflows, so that you can have a refugium. The fuge can be a home for beneficial natural foods, like pods, and increases water volume dramatically. It'll help keep your water quality more stable.

Stand/Hood...self explanatory I think.

Lids- depending on your lighting set up, you may or may not need glass canopies.

Lights- determined by what you want to keep...corals or no? I'll let someone else talk more about lights, b/c I'm not too good with them.

Salt- pick a brand...any brand, but my vote is Oceanic

Filtration- you're gunna need a good skimmer...this will be determined by how much money you're willing to spend. Don't skimp on the skimmer...you will only regret it later.

Powerheads- like I already mentioned, and Oceans Motions unit, though pricey, works really nicely. You can check out Tunge (sp?) too if you'd like, or individual powerheads, which are a pain in the you know where IMO.

SW mixing container- Here is a place where you may actually want regular powerheads. Get a big rubbermaid tub, upwards of at least 50 gallons prolly, for premixing SW and doing water changes.

Heaters- Grab a couple of your preferred brand (Tronic is mine since Ebo was bought by Eheim) of maybe 200/250+ watts or so for in the sump/main display/container, wherever.

Accurate thermometer- a must have

Accurate test kits- Tetra, Salifert, or you could try that new one that Marc was talking about a couple weeks ago, Pentair I think. Something like that. You're gunna need pH, ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, calcium, and phosphate at a bare minimum...SW gods, anything else?

Power strips- gunna be lotssss of outlets hooked up to this baby

Timers- to keep the lighting accurate and steady

Umm...*thinks*

Oh okay...RO/DI unit, which I have a thread on in...Marine Set up I think? Maybe I'll find that link later.

A chiller...depending on several factors.

Hydrometer, though a refractometer would be more ideal. More pricey, but more accurate. You need to maintain accurate SG or salinity levels for your tank to thrive.

Hmm...substrate. A couple 50lb bags of white playground sand which is aragonite (not silicate) based from your local hardware store will do quite nicely.

Okay...emmm...I'm prolly forgetting somethings b/c I'm sick and braindead...but I guess that'll get you started for awhile...

And no, you will not get a discount.

Honestly? I suggest looking into other places...my store has a great FW selection, but we are horrid with SW. I honestly don't recommend us, and don't buy any of the stuff for my reef (to be ) there, unless it's an absolute emergency. Like most family owned stores, our prices are kind of high, and we don't have a good SW selection at all. You could try Aquarium Adventure out by the Roosevelt Field mall; they are pricey but have good quality items. Open the phone book and call around to see what you can find.

It kills me to lead you away from my store, but I don't think you'll be satisfied. Sorry.

This is a big step...I can't stress enough, RESEARCH. Please!

HTH a bit.

-Ferret

Last edited by ferretfish at 13-Feb-2005 18:03

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

i went to aqaurium advencure but they work on commichion and they pressure people to much.]:| i had heard of the over flow tank but need some more detail.

Umm...what more detail do you want?

There's not much to say. You want a ReefReady tank...with built in overflows...what part don't you get?





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I want to be what you always needed, Then I hope you'll see the heart in me"[/font]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

i had heard of the over flow tank but need some more detail.

Well if you are specifically asking of an overflow, then there are basically two kinds, built in and hangon the back. Of course this is dependent on the tank you get. An important thing to consider with purchasing a hangon overflow is the max flow rate as you will want to get one with a higher flow rate than then the pump you use to return the water to the tank (if you are using a sump/refugium), as this will prevent your pump drying your sump.

If you are referring to the tank that your overflow goes into, then you are probably referring to a sump/refugium, where there is plenty of information on sites as WetWebmedia.

John