Betta Fish Forum banner

Anybody else here saltwater?(:

4K views 55 replies 16 participants last post by  kfryman 
#1 ·
A month and a half back I started a nano saltwater tank after 5+ months of researching. Lucky for me, our 70 gallon tank used to be saltwater so I had most of the equipment! What I had in mind was not really fish, but I'm really, really interested in soft corals that do fine in low-moderate lighting, such as some zoanthids and mushrooms. Since I wanted to keep corals instead of fish, I had this image of creating an explosion of colors in a small amount of space, even though the smaller the tank, the harder it is to care for. Well, I've had a lot of free time lately, and I know I could keep all the parameters in check, along with salinity.

My setup is 3.5 gallon (told you, really nano, but I got this!) with 3 lbs of LR and 2 lbs of base rock. I have 3 Red Leg Cortez hermits and 3 Nassarius snails. As I said, I wouldn't be able to keep any fish in this small, at least I think not, so I'm doing coral/inverts only. On my LR I found 3 hidden cup corals, a handful of featherdusters, and some tunicates. I am waiting for my tank to be at least 3 months old before I stick any coral in there, just to be safe. Therefor, I'm still on the hunt for the perfect lighting! Oh and fun fact, I'm also getting a 30g in the summer for my birthday! And hopefully I'm going to set up a 10 gallon sump under that.
As for lighting, this is where I have a few questions. I was thinking of getting the Tom Deco 13W, since many people have had good experience growing Mushrooms and zoas, even my LFS.
Soo yep! Saltwater thread woop woop!
 
See less See more
#2 ·
So I take it everyone here is a freshie? xD Bump
 
#6 · (Edited)
will those support coral life? The second one is only 3W, can mushrooms tolerate that? Thats awesome if they do, are you saying I buy it with the other light, or these alone? :D

Please post photos, though! I am still fascinated by saltwater, especially nanos!
Hahah its just live rock with some snails and hermits, but I'll find my camera if you still wanna see it. Not much of a sight, but if you wanna see it you can have it:D

Hoping to get some clown gobies, and a firefish.
And I find that clown gobies have adorable personalities! They watch you as much as you watch them... hah! And watch out though if you get a firefish, they're jumpers, so you just oughtta keep an eye on them during WC and such:)
 
#4 ·
I actually really did want a saltwater tank up until recently. I was desperate for a pair of clowns, a six-line wrasse and a purple firefish, but then I went to the Great Barrier Reef. I like freshwater tanks because I think the tanks often look prettier than the real environments, but when I saw how gorgeous the reef was I knew any tank I created would be disappointing in comparison.

Please post photos, though! I am still fascinated by saltwater, especially nanos!
 
#5 ·
I just got a 35 gallon full set up tank for Free on tuesday.
I mean FULL Set up, even some fish.
I am currently trying to stock it though.
Currently has 1 domino damsel (trying to get rid of it too aggressive for my taste)
2 yellowtail blue damsels (luckily they are peaceful), and 1 hermit crab. I bought and added 1 turbo snail and 1 turban snail.

Hoping to get some clown gobies, and a firefish.
 
#7 ·
my dad moved from 75 to a 20(or what it a 30? between the two), he has a mystery wrasse, picasso clownfish, hippo tang, and a banana wrasse. he is trying to re-home the hippo soon, and the picasso pair (the male) passed away, so where thinking about just getting another normal clownfish.
 
#8 ·
I loove picaso's:D But I also love clarkii's. They have the cutest lump on their forhead and a lovely yellow color :p My sister thinks they're awkward, so I might just get an occellaris when I get my 30 g. I'm planning on having a pair, but anemone's are really finnicky, so we'll see what they'll host:p Apparently they'll host heaters, powerheads, xenia, all kinds of things... they are weird fish o.o
 
#10 ·
Salt water fish are beautiful.
The ones at my LFS seem kinda weird, they swim sideways and backwards and on an angle. Is that normal? :s they say all their fish are captive bred.
I wouldn't get salt water fish unless I was positive they were captive bred. So many reefs are poisoned and killed in an attempt to catch the beautiful fish. I agree with Bomba, many salt water set ups are just, lacking.
 
#11 ·
Here is my current fish stocking idea

Green Chomis – x4 – 3’’

Green clown goby – 1.5’ -

Strawberry dottyback(maybe) – 3’’

Hi-fin re-banded goby – 2’’

Firefish goby – 3’’

Yellowbluedamsel X2 – 3’'
Total - 27.5’’

As for the inverts.
I have 1 hermit crab, 1 turbo and 1 turban.
I am looking at getting a few more hermits and or an emerald crab. I am checking the aggression and safety level on all of them.
Havent decided is any more snails will be safe or wise for the amount in the tank.

I would love coral, but can't afford them, or the proper lights for them at this point.
 
#15 ·
Here is my current fish stocking idea

Green Chomis – x4 – 3’’

Green clown goby – 1.5’ -

Strawberry dottyback(maybe) – 3’’

Hi-fin re-banded goby – 2’’

Firefish goby – 3’’

Yellowbluedamsel X2 – 3’'
Total - 27.5’’

As for the inverts.
I have 1 hermit crab, 1 turbo and 1 turban.
I am looking at getting a few more hermits and or an emerald crab. I am checking the aggression and safety level on all of them.
Havent decided is any more snails will be safe or wise for the amount in the tank.

I would love coral, but can't afford them, or the proper lights for them at this point.
The Damsle and Chromis will kill each other. They are very mean lil suckers. And in that community of our small tank, the saying goes, " There can be only One"
 
#12 ·
Amphibianite--those sound like good stocking plans to me! And IMO the more cleanup crew the merrier, but snails do poop a lot so that might hold you back with your stocking plans. Emerald Crabs are awesome--they eat nuisance algae such as bubble algae, and in some cases, hair algae; both of which most Clean up Crews (CUC) ignore. I think the Emerald would be a really nice investment in case either of those pop up.

Coral is expensive, but I know thats the route I'm heading for. Still on the hunt for the perfect lights, as I don't want to spend more than 60$ on them. I'm only 13 and I'm paying for all of it! xD Countless hours on the comp. have been spent...
 
#13 ·
I would love to one day venture into saltwater as well -- I've actually toyed with the idea of my 30-gallon cube eventually going saltwater. Waiting until I have more money and stability in my life first though.

I'm dabbling in the research right now, but not hitting it real hard since this is years off. I still look at the saltwater section of stores when I'm there though, haha. Currently there are two fish that I would like to ultimately have in a marine tank: Lawnmower Blenny, and a Lionfish (can't go more specific yet on the latter). Of course not together. I'll probably build the tank around them though when I'm figuring out what I want to do.

And, of course, shrimp if at all possible. Shrimp entertain me more than they probably should, haha.
 
#14 ·
Lawnmower blennies are the bomb! They have, handsdown, the best personality out there. My brother gives me the weirdest looks when I call them funny, but they are! Haha he doesn't understand...

And I have been thinking about this for a looong time, and since I had over half the equipment all I had to buy were live rock, livestock (CUC), and a hydrometer. I am very fortunate for having everything I needed on hand! However, its gonna be very tough for vacations with coral. Because of that, I may wait until after summer to start the coral tank. But then again, my dads friend who breeds clowns may be able to watch my tank. He has a lot of experience.

Shrimp are adorable! Trust me, anything can entertain me. A friggin snail can entertain me, so shrimp are soo cute to me! Even though everybody says saltwater is a lot harder, it is definitely not much difference then freshwater-- start out with fish only with live rock tank, and when you're more experienced venture into corals! Same with FW-Start with fish only, then venture into live plants!
 
#16 ·
Haha, I saw a Lawnmower Blenny at Petco and was watching him for the longest time, and he wasn't even doing much. I thought he was so cool though! I decided right then and there that, no matter what, one day I would find a way to have one, hence building a tank up around the blenny. What I've read of them though only confirms that I want one.

I know the Lionfish are a lot more complicated, in a way, than other fish -- at least in the sense that they are legitimately dangerous -- but they're just so cool that I figured, if I'm going to venture into it anyways, I want to have one. Believe me though, proper caution will be used.

Yea, having the equipment beforehand is a major bonus. I, literally, only have a tank at the moment which, if at all possible, might turn into a sorority first. Aside from that though: nada. If I were you I'd definitely see if he could watch the tank during vacations -- a logical/rational argument is that way you have more time to focus on it when you are home compared to when you go back to school.

I likely have AD(H)D, so, yea, I'm in the same boat...I used to think snails were boring though (though only in aquariums, go figure) until I saw how fast they could actually move when they got going. Now? I'm contemplating getting Sharkfin a mystery snail tankmate, if not soon then eventually, haha.

It seems to me that saltwater's just like anything else: just do the research ahead of time, have some idea going into it, don't cut corners where you really shouldn't, and have some patience when doing things and you'll do a lot better. Sure, there's more involved, but I think the fact that it's a little more work and a bit more foreign to people accounts for a lot of why it seems so daunting. But, as we all know, and as I can more than attest to working at PetSmart, people don't do their homework beforehand in a lot of things they do when it comes to pets and probably especially aquariums.
 
#17 ·
Reefing - Really? From all the research I have done says both the yellow tail blue Damsel, and the green chromis are very peacefull with other fish, and great community. I know most damsels are mean S.O.B.s. Yet everything I have found says that the YTBDs are peaceful and make good community fish. Same the the green/blue chromis.
If you have personal experience with this, and will gladly differ to you, as I am new to this part of the hobby.

So if that is the case maybe I will change it to add two new yellowtail blues in instead.

I personally am not doing anything besides some inverts till I get rid of the Domino Damsel that came with this tank. (the YTBDs came with it as well)
 
#18 ·
Reefing - Really? From all the research I have done says both the yellow tail blue Damsel, and the green chromis are very peacefull with other fish, and great community. I know most damsels are mean S.O.B.s. Yet everything I have found says that the YTBDs are peaceful and make good community fish. Same the the green/blue chromis.
If you have personal experience with this, and will gladly differ to you, as I am new to this part of the hobby.

So if that is the case maybe I will change it to add two new yellowtail blues in instead.

I personally am not doing anything besides some inverts till I get rid of the Domino Damsel that came with this tank. (the YTBDs came with it as well)
All that research is wrong. Gets alot of people into trouble when it comes to those fish. Presonally, yes. I have tried that schooling fish a few times. Yellow Tail Damsels, and then Chromis, everytime, miserable failures, all ending in deaths, all but one. They will school together....In a 1000g tank, or the ocean, as that is where they are basing their info.
But, I'm just one person, with one opinion.
 
#19 ·
Hey I rather be safe than sorry. SO thank you for your help Reefing. I really do appreciate someone who has experience in a subject giving me advice.
Because I have the YTBDs already I will just pick up a few more of those.
 
#20 ·
I had a salt tank at one time. The fish are beautiful, but there are no salt water fish that will breed in captivity. They are harvested from the worlds reefs. Usually they are caught by putting cyanide in the water and putting all the fish to sleep. The ones that don't die right away are put into bags for shipment. You may notice a lot of salt water fish die within the first few weeks, it is due to the poison they ingested.

I no longer support this by not buying salt water fish.:evil:
 
#21 ·
Not true. Many saltwater fish breed in captivity. You can search you tube and find tons of clownfish with eggs in tanks. Fish like clownfish, batfish, blennies, seahorses can all be bred in captivity. Even corals and sponges are now raised in captivity. You just gotta know who you're buying from ;)
 
#23 ·
Agreed, a lot of the saltwater fish available are no longer wild species.

Not all of them but a majority are tank / farm raised.
 
#27 ·
Well currently a bunch of rock is in my tank. Not all that exciting to see, honestly xD I am still in the process of perfecting everything, too:p
 
#28 ·
UPDATE: As I went to go take pics, I looked upon my LR and saw... aiptasia. It was nicely covering a portion of it towards the back of the tankDX I ended up chucking the rock, leaving me with basically, this rubble. On another note, I tried snapping pics of my Hidden Cup Coral, but since he's non-photosynthetic (hitch hiker) he's clear.. and small.. and in the shadows! I had noticed that when I first got the rock he would close up in the light, so I repositioned the rocks. I target feed him BBS once a week, just to promote some growth:D

As you tell from my photos, my light setup is currently just a reptile bulb over it. It obviously requires a screw in type bulb, so I can't find a correct LED Bulb for corals even. I was looking at 13W bulbs too. ._____. Mrah.
 

Attachments

#29 ·
Woohoo! I'm so glad someone posted about saltwater tanks. I'm even more excited that people have NANO salt tanks. Today I just stumbled on info about keeping seahorses. At first I was really discouraged as most breeds require require HUGE tanks and set up. I don't have the space or the money for huge tanks. But then I found some info on the Dwarf Seahorse which actually NEED smaller tanks (1 gallon: 2-3 to start, max 12 adults; 2.5 gallon: 4-6 to start, max 12 adults; 5 gallon: 8-12 to start, max 20 adults; 10 gallon: no fewer than 20 adults). I am aware that marine tanks are more expensive and I know the seahorses aren't cheap ($10.50 for 1 Dwarf), but if I were to look into dwarf seahorses more, how would I go about setting up a small marine tank? I'm thinking 5 gallon as they need their tank cycled.
 
#30 ·
Dwarf Seahorse
Light flow for Sea Horses, so your flow would not be higher than 10x your water wolume.
Then, of course everythings else you need for a Marine set-up:
Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhickers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way oyu go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon.Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary.Multiple Powerheads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph powerheads.Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volumeSaltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Tets for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium.Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish.Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need oneRubber kitchen glovesFish netTwo, clean, never used before, 5-gallon bucketsAquarium thermometer, digital being the best.Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock.Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank.Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water.Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tankHeater rated for your size tank.Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike.Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash.Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such)Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed cora. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep.
 
#31 ·
Funny someone brought up dwarf seahorses, because once I divide my ten gallon I'm using my 1.5 for dwarfs. One female one male:) After summer of course. I've got enough on my hands now as it is.

Foisair---where did you find those dwarfs? On liveaquaria they're a whopping $40... o.o
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top