101 Tips to Beginning and Maintaining a Saltwater Aquarium
- Thread starter lion_crazz
- Start date
fishwanabe
Member
Lion, you ROCK!!!
lucky?
Member
great thread, I bet you could find 100 exp saltwater people and all could come up with similar thoughts. I, Personally like #49 the easier you can make your tank(s) the better - more work makes the hobby less fun. I like taking care of my tanks and fish but when anyone can make it less time consuming I would think the system will flourish more!
trippkid
Active Member
Very nice, and very informative. I have a question for you, wasn't really touched on. What are your thoughts on people using "play sand" and lava rock in their systems? I do not, but have heard some that do, just wondering what you think about these things, it may be helpful to some, maybe not.
Matt
Matt
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by trippkid
Very nice, and very informative. I have a question for you, wasn't really touched on. What are your thoughts on people using "play sand" and lava rock in their systems? I do not, but have heard some that do, just wondering what you think about these things, it may be helpful to some, maybe not.
Matt
Thanks for all the kind words, guys.
Hey Matt, thanks for the question. I did add a bit about base rock and lava rock above, but to answer your question, I do not believe in using lava rock because it will not react to denitrification in the aquarium and will serve no purpose other than aesthetics. Also, it is a little too smooth, making it a bit ineffective in saltwater as well.
As far as play sand is concerned, I really do not care for it, but it can be used. The reason I do not like it is because it does not have the buffering capacity that aragonite sand has. It is still usable in a saltwater aquarium, though.
Keep the comments and questions coming!
Very nice, and very informative. I have a question for you, wasn't really touched on. What are your thoughts on people using "play sand" and lava rock in their systems? I do not, but have heard some that do, just wondering what you think about these things, it may be helpful to some, maybe not.
Matt
Thanks for all the kind words, guys.
Hey Matt, thanks for the question. I did add a bit about base rock and lava rock above, but to answer your question, I do not believe in using lava rock because it will not react to denitrification in the aquarium and will serve no purpose other than aesthetics. Also, it is a little too smooth, making it a bit ineffective in saltwater as well.
As far as play sand is concerned, I really do not care for it, but it can be used. The reason I do not like it is because it does not have the buffering capacity that aragonite sand has. It is still usable in a saltwater aquarium, though.
Keep the comments and questions coming!
sepulatian
Moderator
Very nice lion_crazz!
dinki
Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
46.OWN A BATTERY-POWERED AIR PUMP. You will never be able to predict when your house’s power will go out. Having a battery-powered air pump will be able to help you keep your tank alive while there is no power in your home. If you live in an area where the power goes out a lot (once a month or more), a small generator for your tank would be a good idea. You could run your main return pump and your heater on this so that your tank is okay during a power outage.
Fantastic list. I do have a question about one of them though. In full disclosure, I am a newbie. How would you go about using the battery powered air pump? What specifically will it do for my tank in a power outtage?
46.OWN A BATTERY-POWERED AIR PUMP. You will never be able to predict when your house’s power will go out. Having a battery-powered air pump will be able to help you keep your tank alive while there is no power in your home. If you live in an area where the power goes out a lot (once a month or more), a small generator for your tank would be a good idea. You could run your main return pump and your heater on this so that your tank is okay during a power outage.
Fantastic list. I do have a question about one of them though. In full disclosure, I am a newbie. How would you go about using the battery powered air pump? What specifically will it do for my tank in a power outtage?
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by dinki
Fantastic list. I do have a question about one of them though. In full disclosure, I am a newbie. How would you go about using the battery powered air pump? What specifically will it do for my tank in a power outtage?
It will provide air/oxygen to the water so that your oxygen levels do not go down and the water does not go stagnant.
Buy two of them (depending on the size of the tank, and put them in the back of the tank, behind the live rock. You do not want air bubbles being lodged in the fish's gills, but it is very important to provide air flow so that the fish do not die due to lack of O2.
Fantastic list. I do have a question about one of them though. In full disclosure, I am a newbie. How would you go about using the battery powered air pump? What specifically will it do for my tank in a power outtage?
It will provide air/oxygen to the water so that your oxygen levels do not go down and the water does not go stagnant.
Buy two of them (depending on the size of the tank, and put them in the back of the tank, behind the live rock. You do not want air bubbles being lodged in the fish's gills, but it is very important to provide air flow so that the fish do not die due to lack of O2.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by m0nk
I didn't see anything specific to choosing a salt, but I think beginners might want to know that if you choose synthetic that you can't switch to a natural salt and visa versa....well, at least not mixing the salt types in the same tank water... if that made sense.
No, I am not sure what you mean..
I didn't see anything specific to choosing a salt, but I think beginners might want to know that if you choose synthetic that you can't switch to a natural salt and visa versa....well, at least not mixing the salt types in the same tank water... if that made sense.
No, I am not sure what you mean..
m0nk
Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
No, I am not sure what you mean..
Well, I knew a guy who was going to the local college here for marine biology that gave me advice when I was starting out in the hobby and he said you can't mix salts that are fully synthetic like Reef Crystals with salts that are mostly natural like Oceanic or Red Sea. I've also talked to a couple people since that have had tanks crash because of trying to make the switch between one to the other. I figured it was common knowledge so I never really looked into it further.
No, I am not sure what you mean..
Well, I knew a guy who was going to the local college here for marine biology that gave me advice when I was starting out in the hobby and he said you can't mix salts that are fully synthetic like Reef Crystals with salts that are mostly natural like Oceanic or Red Sea. I've also talked to a couple people since that have had tanks crash because of trying to make the switch between one to the other. I figured it was common knowledge so I never really looked into it further.
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by m0nk
Well, I knew a guy who was going to the local college here for marine biology that gave me advice when I was starting out in the hobby and he said you can't mix salts that are fully synthetic like Reef Crystals with salts that are mostly natural like Oceanic or Red Sea. I've also talked to a couple people since that have had tanks crash because of trying to make the switch between one to the other. I figured it was common knowledge so I never really looked into it further.
Hm, I will have to look into that and possibly add a little bit about it (with credit to you). Thanks for the addition!
Well, I knew a guy who was going to the local college here for marine biology that gave me advice when I was starting out in the hobby and he said you can't mix salts that are fully synthetic like Reef Crystals with salts that are mostly natural like Oceanic or Red Sea. I've also talked to a couple people since that have had tanks crash because of trying to make the switch between one to the other. I figured it was common knowledge so I never really looked into it further.
Hm, I will have to look into that and possibly add a little bit about it (with credit to you). Thanks for the addition!
m0nk
Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Hm, I will have to look into that and possibly add a little bit about it (with credit to you). Thanks for the addition!
I just hope that it actually turns out to be good data, guess I should have looked into it more before assuming it was valid.
Hm, I will have to look into that and possibly add a little bit about it (with credit to you). Thanks for the addition!
I just hope that it actually turns out to be good data, guess I should have looked into it more before assuming it was valid.
A
azul1994
Guest
Great Information!
