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![]() | Starting a Fish Only Tank |
Gerber77![]() Fingerling Posts: 44 Votes: 0 Registered: 02-Feb-2005 ![]() ![]() | I have been keeping fish since I was twelve and with the money I get on my 16 B-day I want to start a SW tank. I have a 40 Gallon Tank with an undergravel filter and a power filter. I want to know if I NEED a protein skimmer. I think with the two filters the water quality will be good. I go to my LFS and I love all the vibrant colors of the fish and have always wanted a saltwater. A few questions I have are: 1. how many water changes I do? 2.How much does it cost to maintain? 3. what are the best starter fish for your money? 4. should I keep fake anemones if I have clown fish? 5. What other decor should I get? Also can my FW light be used for a FISH ONLY tank. Another question I have is should I keep the light on all the time. Any info would be great. Thank you |
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terranova![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Fish Master Posts: 1984 Kudos: 1889 Votes: 229 Registered: 09-Jul-2003 ![]() ![]() | Welcome to the dark side. ![]() Okay...I'll try to help a little bit. ![]() So this will be FO, not FOWLR? FOWLR would be better; the LR is a great natural biological filter. You need a protein skimmer if you want LR IMO. Keeps the water decontaminated and much nicer for shishies. ![]() I would change the flouros that you have now to SW bulbs...it also depends on what kind of color you want your tank to have. Personally, I like the actinic blue look. ![]() Do you have a substrate picked out? I'd go with a white aragonite ba ![]() Cost to maintain? Thats hard to say... Depends on if you get RO water and what salt brand you use (I recommend aquamedic btw). The amount of maint will depend on how stocked your tank is. If you want to have clownfish you do not necessarily need anenomes. Being a pretty hardy damsel they are readily adaptable and compatible to whatever decor you give them. Starter fish... Do you mean cyclers or just beginners fish in general? [link=http://www.liveaquaria.com]http://www.liveaquaria.com" style="COLOR: #3c4e82[/link] LiveAquaria has a beginners marine fish in their saltwater section. Good things for beginners are usually damsels, as you stated you're interested in already. The clowns should do fine for you; regular damsels on the other hand, start out small and cute, kind of like the danio. But they can grow up to be nasty buggers, and will NOT be easy to net out when you decide you dont want them anymore. Many blennies, gobies, firefish, grammas, etc. are all relatively hardy, but can be jumpers so make sure your tank is well covered. You will need a hydrometer or a refractometer to test the salinity/specific gravity. The most important thing to remember, is that in marine tanks, only bad things happen quickly. You need to have patience, you need to be willing to spend some serious cash ![]() ![]() Hope this helped you out at least a little. ![]() I HIGHLY recommend diving into some books, favorites of mine are Reef Inverts by Calfo/Fenner, and the Pocket Guide to Marine fishes. ![]() Research research research! I cant stress this enough. ![]() ![]() Good luck. ![]() -Ferret [hr width='40%'] Mountain, I want to bathe with you in the sea I want to live like this forever, Until the sky falls down on me… -Formerly known as the Ferretfish ![]() |
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Week End![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Big Fish Posts: 414 Kudos: 436 Votes: 1 Registered: 16-May-2004 ![]() ![]() | You don't "need" a skimmer in a Fish only tank, but this is directly related the amount of water changes you need to do. Having a skimmer may redues your water changes to like half...or third..or can be more. Again that will be depended on your stocking level and the quality+size of your skimmer. But definitely having a skimmer reduces water changes. With no skimmer probably once a week of water change (can be more) is required....just like FW...again..related to your type of livestock. Cost to maintain a FO (fish only) will be close to a FW except with the extra of salt mixes. Lighting is not a concern for a FO, can be the same system as you use in your FW. And generally give about 10 hrs of light every day is enough for a FO. Best starter fish include small damsels and clown fishes. Don't bother about fake anemone if you don't want to keep real ones, clown fishes do just as fine without one. Other decor...your choice. |
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ACIDRAIN![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Moderator Posts: 3162 Kudos: 1381 Votes: 416 Registered: 14-Jan-2002 ![]() ![]() ![]() | Ok, lets break down these questions; An UGF is not a good filter for a SW tank. The problem is, that any build up of detritus will cause an ammonia spike in the biological filter. In a SW tank, this can be highly detrimental to your fish. As the cycle takes 3-5 times as long to complete as in FW. So, even a small mini-cycle, can cause devistation. SW fish are much more sensitive to ammonia and nitrites than are FW. A power filter will work, especially if it has bio wheels on it. You will find that you wont change the filter pads rarely if any. As SW fish, do not have the hard excriment like most FW fish do. And those that do, it is broken up quickly, by the critters that live in the substrate. Gravel vacuming is rarely done on SW tanks. As the substrate is loaded with living organisms, that break down all the detritus into smaller pieces or even other forms. The bio wheels will work in the same way as the bio-balls, or wet/dry filters do. A wet/dry will work the best though, but can be out of your spending range. I want to know if I NEED a protein skimmer Simple answer; NO. Better answer; YES. The thing is, with a protein skimmer, you will not need to do as many water changes. The reason is, the protein skimmer removes many "things" out of the water, that contribute to the nitrogen cycle. For this reason, you will not have a need to do as many water changes. This is good for you, for a couple of reasons. It will in the end cost you less to keep a SW tank up and running. As you will not need to do as many water changes, you will not need to purchase as much salt for water changes. So, you will enjoy your tank more, with less maintanence to do. And, there is no media to repace in the protein skimmer. So nothing to buy for its use. 1. how many water changes I do? This depends on how stocked your tank is. The higher, or the larger the stock, the more you will do them. In SW, it is usually best to check your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels, at least weekly. This will tell you when there is a need to change the water. It is very important to know all three of these, as many things can occur in a SW tank, that can cause any number of these to rise quickly. In a SW tank, they can not only rise quickly, but very fast, and can cause trouble in as little as a day or two. The smaller the tank, the easier it is to get into trouble. 2.How much does it cost to maintain? To start up, it costs much more than a FW tank. The biggest expense being in equiptment and salt for the water. As for maintaining it, your only cost is water and salt, and time. Once your tank is established and running, its cost is no more than for any FW tank. Yes you have to buy salt, but you don't have to buy filters. So the cost evens out. 3. what are the best starter fish for your money?This question depends on your area you live in, as well as what types of fish you plan on keeping. It really cannot be answered in the way it is phrased. You need to list some fish you are looking at, and then we can help you decide which fish will go together, as well as how they will fair in your tank. 4. should I keep fake anemones if I have clown fish? I have never seen a clown take to a fake anemone. The reason for them to go into an anemone, is for the protection they feel from the stinging cells of the anemone, and they know other fish will not go in after them. If they don't feel this security, then I don't think they will bother with the fake stuff. And, you will need more light for an anemone to live well. As well, you will need added care for these creatures, as in feeding and such. 5. What other decor should I get? Decore depends on your likings. I would suggest you do LR. As it looks more natural, and it also helps in the biological filters. Not only with the ammonia and nitrites, but the elimination of nitrates as well. The more LR you have, the less often you will have to do water changes as well. Also can my FW light be used for a FISH ONLY tank. YES. The fish do not require any higher lighting. But, a suggestion is, you use lighting that is rated close to the sun, or just a little off, like 6500K-10,000K. And, you might also want to add an Actinic light to the fixture. Both of these will help to bring out the colors in the fish better. But they are not required for the life and health of the fish. Another question I have is should I keep the light on all the time. NO. There is not reason for this. 12 hours per day, give or take a little, is plenty. More than this, will cause a high algal growth, and I don't think you will be happy with that. If you will be keeping fish that eat algae mostly, you can purchase dried algae at any lfs. As it will be rare that your algae in the tank, will be suficient with the needs the fish require. HTH.... There is always a bigger fish... |
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