anyone into salt water aquariums?

[JeepcoMJ]

just wondering if anyone else keeps a saltwater aquarium...i've currently got a 37 gallon breeder tank set up with an emperor 400 tank and prizm backpack protein skimmer.

 

base is crushed coral with cultured sand below it, and there is around 25 lbs of live rock in the tank

 

currently I have many small hermit crabs,

mated pair of percula clowns

two pajama cardinals

two brittle star fish

one serpent star fish

one blue chromis damsel

one white yellow-crested chromis damsel

one black yellow-tail chromis damsel

one firfish

one lawnmower blenny

one long-spine sea urchin

and somehow have successfully tank-bred 11 pink bubble-tip anemone

 

quite the nice tank, but i wanted to upgrade tank size and came across a large quantity of live rock for a great deal so it's ending up here (my sister is buying more than she can use for less than half the cost of the quantity she needed, from a fish store).

 

anyways, it's another hobby of mine...just wanted to know if anyone else was into it?

[maddzz1]

I had one a while back it was great, and i have been considering starting another one. I had some carpet anemone, a puffer fish, some damsels ( some blue and yellow and some domino), a lyon fish. One time I got a rock and had a snake/eel thing in it. I had to bring it back before it killed my fish. My tank was a 37gal tall. Now you have motivated me to try and get this going again.

[HOrnbrod]

just wondering if anyone else keeps a saltwater aquarium...i've currently got a 37 gallon breeder tank set up with an emperor 400 tank and prizm backpack protein skimmer.

 

base is crushed coral with cultured sand below it, and there is around 25 lbs of live rock in the tank

 

currently I have many small hermit crabs,

mated pair of percula clowns

two pajama cardinals

two brittle star fish

one serpent star fish

one blue chromis damsel

one white yellow-crested chromis damsel

one black yellow-tail chromis damsel

one firfish

one lawnmower blenny

one long-spine sea urchin

and somehow have successfully tank-bred 11 pink bubble-tip anemone

 

quite the nice tank, but i wanted to upgrade tank size and came across a large quantity of live rock for a great deal so it's ending up here (my sister is buying more than she can use for less than half the cost of the quantity she needed, from a fish store).

 

anyways, it's another hobby of mine...just wanted to know if anyone else was into it?

 

Yeah, I used to be into salt water aquariums bigtime when I lived in Guam and the Marshall Islands and caught all the stuff I had in the tank snorkeling the reefs. That seems like a lot of fish and invertebrates for a 37-gal tank. :eek: My favorite display was my sea anemones with their troops of clownfish. I used to feed put damsels and sergeant majors in the tank and watch how the clowns would lure them into the tentacles of the anemones then feed off the carnage.

 

One thing I learned is that you can over populate a salt water tank with no problems if you run a VORTEX diatom filter a couple of hours bi-weekly or so. Those filters are worth their weight in gold.

 

Right now all I have is a fresh water tank stocked with local species from the lake out back; bass, crappie, bream, channel cats, even a small striper. I have a pet bass that is like a dog; eats Alpo fed by hand. :cheers:

[SuperWade2]

46 Gal Bow Front, bout 75-80 lbs of Premium Fiji Live Rock, 25-30lbs or so crushed base (don't remember really what it was).

 

I have a Remora Pro Skimmer and some type of Bio Wheel (can't remeber which and I'm too lazy to go downstairs too look). I'm considering moving to a small fuge/sump tank under my base and do the plumbing to get some of that stuff down below.

 

I only have medium lighting 2x96W Compact Florecent, Coralife Lunar Aqualight, so have only a few medium light mushrooms and easy stuff. I don't have the $400-$500 to get the MH or T5 lighting for the bright corals.

 

I've had the tank up and going 3.5 years...

 

(2) Occelaris Clownfish

Flame Angel <-My personal fave and highest $$$ fish

6 Line Wrasse

Diamond Goby

Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber

(2) Peppermint Shrimp

Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

Quite a bit of Hairy Mushroom (probably too much)

Toadstool Leather

Green Ricordia

A few other Brownish Polyps

 

A bunch of Crabs/Snails,Hitch-Hiker Starfish, etc...

 

I acutally don't have any recent pics...here is one from last Nov before some of the additions (and subtractions)

 

[maddzz1]

Wade, whats that cool white fish with the pink/purple fins?

[SuperWade2]

Wade, whats that cool white fish with the pink/purple fins?

 

Purple Firefish, but he didn't make it... I think my Flame Angel (the Orange/Red/Black) was beating him up and he jumped out of the tank one evening.

 

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-purplefirefish.htm

[SuperWade2]

just wondering if anyone else keeps a saltwater aquarium...i've currently got a 37 gallon breeder tank set up with an emperor 400 tank and prizm backpack protein skimmer.

 

base is crushed coral with cultured sand below it, and there is around 25 lbs of live rock in the tank

 

currently I have many small hermit crabs,

mated pair of percula clowns

two pajama cardinals

two brittle star fish

one serpent star fish

one blue chromis damsel

one white yellow-crested chromis damsel

one black yellow-tail chromis damsel

one firfish

one lawnmower blenny

one long-spine sea urchin

and somehow have successfully tank-bred 11 pink bubble-tip anemone

 

quite the nice tank, but i wanted to upgrade tank size and came across a large quantity of live rock for a great deal so it's ending up here (my sister is buying more than she can use for less than half the cost of the quantity she needed, from a fish store).

 

anyways, it's another hobby of mine...just wanted to know if anyone else was into it?

 

Pat, you get your livestock local?

 

I've got almost all my stuff online and had it shipped with pretty good results. Really the only thing I have in my tank that is from a local shop is one of my clowns. Everything else, including all my inverts, live rock, fish, etc, were all done online...

 

Saltwaterfish.com and LiveAquaria.Com for everything.

[JeepcoMJ]

my stuff is all local, and my tank is NOWHERE near as nice as that one.

 

at the moment, I'm concentrated on fish and minorly on inverts.

 

as for quantity of fish in there, nothing I have is very big (less than 1.5 inches per fish) and at one half inch per fish per gallon (general rule of thumb) i'm far under my quota. also, one thing I've found is that with excellant water quality, inverts do not get bothered much (for the most part...this varies with species) by "overpopulation" within reason.

 

I'm upgrading to a 50 gallon soon as I find a decent deal on one...i just don't have the $$$ for something brand new right now.

[69CamaroSS]

Dude...aquatic aquarium creaturs HATE me. i can't even take care of a non salt-water 10 gallon tank with 3 crabs in it. they died 4 days after we got them. then the fish we had before that did'nt last long either...i gave up :headpop:

[gixxerman600]

i have a 75gal. freshwater now some day ill have a salt water setup

[maddzz1]

Wade, whats that cool white fish with the pink/purple fins?

 

Purple Firefish, but he didn't make it... I think my Flame Angel (the Orange/Red/Black) was beating him up and he jumped out of the tank one evening.

 

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-purplefirefish.htm

 

Sounds like a rough neighborhood in there.

[TNT]

Wade, whats that cool white fish with the pink/purple fins?

 

Purple Firefish, but he didn't make it... I think my Flame Angel (the Orange/Red/Black) was beating him up and he jumped out of the tank one evening.

 

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-purplefirefish.htm

 

Sounds like a rough neighborhood in there.

 

I had a 24"x20"x36" 60 gallonbottom drilled tank with a hand made protein skimmer 20gal hand made trickle filter, 250 GPH pump and with about 10 fish and 7 inverts.

 

I sold it 6 years ago. I plan on building about a 150-200 gallon tank after my daughter finishes college. I'll build my own filtration again.

 

It will be a few years until I get it.

[TNT]

I had a 24"x20"x36" 60 gallon bottom drilled tank with a hand made protein skimmer 20gal hand made trickle filter, 250 GPH pump and with about 10 fish and 7 inverts.

 

I sold it 6 years ago. I plan on building about a 150-200 gallon tank after my daughter finishes college. I'll build my own filtration again.

 

It will be a few years until I get it.

[SuperWade2]

Wade, whats that cool white fish with the pink/purple fins?

 

Purple Firefish, but he didn't make it... I think my Flame Angel (the Orange/Red/Black) was beating him up and he jumped out of the tank one evening.

 

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-purplefirefish.htm

 

Sounds like a rough neighborhood in there.

 

They are known to be "jumpers"... I don't have a hood over the top of my tank, but have the plastic grid thing that you sometimes see covering light fixtures. That keeps most of the jumpers in, but sometimes one REALLY wants out...

 

Sw2

[jared]

i have a 6 gallon tank with a single clown crushed coral substrate and a litle live rock.

 

it used to be a 35 gallon tank with a skimmer and about 8 fish 2 clowns, yellow tang, coral beauty, flame angel, and a few others i don't remember. and at least 30 pounds of live rock with a few inverts

 

the guy at the fish store we always went to told us to use this product to kill algae and it killed all the fish in 2 hours execpt the 2 clowns, so we quickly changed them to the quarentine tank and kept them in there efver since, after about 6 months the one clown died but the other one i have had almost 7 years now

[jared]

and my clown has made a trip to and from michigan to new jersey with no problems what so ever

[mjdoa]

Never have had the guts to try salt.

Have 4 now,2@55's,1@75,1@120 gal.

All have African cichlids,all mbunas.

Someday I'll work up the nerve to try saltwater.

[JeepcoMJ]

I find saltwater easier than fresh water.

 

the first few months is the worst...you CANNOT add fish for the first month or so until chemicals start to settle, and even then you can't get much more than a damsel or two to jump-start the eco-system that's what gets most people; the wait.

 

if you're patient, you can do one safely and not lose out on $$$

 

best thing I've found, when starting a new tank, is to pull live rock and some base out of the old tank and add it to the tank that's being started...it cuts the start time in half. we did this for my sister and she has a 40 gallon cube tank with fully functional ecosystem within a month of beginning the tank.

[jared]

I find saltwater easier than fresh water.

 

the first few months is the worst...you CANNOT add fish for the first month or so until chemicals start to settle, and even then you can't get much more than a damsel or two to jump-start the eco-system that's what gets most people; the wait.

 

if you're patient, you can do one safely and not lose out on $$$

 

best thing I've found, when starting a new tank, is to pull live rock and some base out of the old tank and add it to the tank that's being started...it cuts the start time in half. we did this for my sister and she has a 40 gallon cube tank with fully functional ecosystem within a month of beginning the tank.

 

x2 that is the best way to start a new tank just reuse some stuff from another tank. but the wait is the worst you have a nice tank all lit up but bare bones. it really gets too you, but if you put fish in too soon they die and that can be costly

[HOrnbrod]

Just stick some black mollies in there as sacrifice fish. They are cheap, and if they live, start adding the real fish. :cheers:

[jtdesigns]

OK everybody but SWII :needpics:

 

I think those tanks are pretty BA.... Would a blacklight bring out more colors and not hurt the fishys?

[jared]

OK everybody but SWII :needpics:

 

I think those tanks are pretty BA.... Would a blacklight bring out more colors and not hurt the fishys?

 

i just got home after 2 weeks, i really need to clean mine before i get pics

[ORCA]

25ish gallon freshwater tank. First tank ever and I'm slowly learning how to work it and create better looking landscapes. Right now it's pretty amateurish as I just moved from California and had to abandon all my old plants :cry:

 

 

 

 

I've got 4 cichlids, a mini turtle (don't know species, got him on the asain black market in the bay area), 1 pleco, and a large oscar who controls the tank. His name is Joanie (had a second named chachi but he passed away...)

 

I would love to start a salt water tank but they seem expensive and complicated :redX: Any tips or good websites to read up on beginner"s stuff for a salt water?

 

Oh and because my dog got jealous here's a picture of her (Luna, pit bull husky):

 

Side Note: For any of you photographers out there, what is the best way to take pictures of your tank? I realize if I wait till night time it will be more stunning, but I'm having trouble adjusting the camera settings to achieve a nice photograph.

 

Oh and I think ya'll need to take some pictures of your tank and post them up soon!

[mjdoa]

Orca,I'm going to seem like a jerk here,so bear with me.

So you know,I have had aquariums for 20 odd years.

First,find a fish forum.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/ is an awesome forum,

I've been a member for 3 or 4 years.Join it.

Second,either get that turtle out of there or at least go

get him a raft to bask on.He needs to be able to get put of the

water.Your pet store sells basking platforms.

Your choice of fish is gonna give you problems.

I see 2 Lake Malawi cichlids.

1.The yellow with black markings.Metriaclima lombardoi.(Kenyi

is it's common name.

Will grow to about 6",is highly agressive.

2.The yellow one.Labidochromis caeruleus.(Electric yellow)

About 4".mild mannered.

The oscar is a South American cichlid.He'll get about 12"

If the others don't kill themselves off,he'll eat them all.

What are the others?

The Africans like hard,alkaline water,the SA's like soft acid water.

If you plan to continue,you need a bigger tank too.

I don't mean to rain on your parade,just trying to

get you going in the right direction.

BTW,tank looks good.It's a fun hobby,have at it.

As far as photographing fish.It is tough.Dark room.

I usually use a bright light,shine in the side of the tank,

no flash,it'll glare off the glass,no other lights on in the room.

Aim on an angle to the glass,that'll help the glare issue.

Camera needs to be set on a fast shutter speed,I try to

keep it up to at least 1/250 sec.Or you'll get blur.

Use as big an aperture as you can to start.

Tripod is a must.Pull up a chair and have patience.

Go over to Cichlidforum,those guys are great,they'll

help you a lot.Also have a photo section with lots of tips.

I'm tlud over there,but don't spend as much time as I should.

We've gotten off onto other stuff lately.Have about a dozen corn and rat snakes,chameleons,Bearded dragons,plated lizards,uromastyx,

half a dozen turtles,a leopard tortoise,house looks like a freakin zoo. :eek: So the fish are kinda taking a back seat.

 

Btw,I have 4 tanks right now,2@ 55's,1@ 75,1@ 120.

All African Lake Malawi mbunas.

I'll try to throw up some pics as I get time.

Good luck to you.

[JeepcoMJ]

i was gonna say Orca...you definitely need a bigger tank. that quantity should be a 40 gallon, which would allow you ZERO more fish with the size your current ones will grow.

 

I used to keep cichlids, but I like to have many small fish, in a small environment, rather than a few fish in a HUGE friggin tank.

 

I'll get some pics of mine up soon...the anemones have bred twice now (this is very uncommon) and I now have 12 anemones in the tank, ranging from barely visible to the size of a quarter (the original anemones died off during transport during a move from my apartment)