New salt tank want advice

richbrad08

richbrad08

New Member
Hi guys well let me say i am new here but not new to fish. I converted my 36 gallon tank into saltwater and flush the rest...i am just kidding i wouldn't do that. I gave most of the fish away and put the ones i knew would be alright in the ciclid tank a the ciclids are well mannered. Well i have a few questions because i am new to saltwater and i want the right answer or best advice.
I bought http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2753226
for my tank. Here is my question. i read about live sand, could i add 10 pounds of live sand to my 30lbs of araganite sand. Will the live sand help to coloniza the aragnite sand.
I have about 20 pounds of lace rock which i believe to be alive because the rocks have green and brown stuff on them. When i bought them they were just gray. Can this help the tank out? I also bought 64 pounds of live rock on ----. I have 5 pounds of live rock in my tank as of right now.
Can my master freshwater test kit be used for saltwater?
i want to make my own fish food. can someone help me out?
Basically i want all the helpful advice you guys can give.
21 inches high, 15 inches wide and 30 inches long those are the tank dimensions. with a 40 gallon aqua filter and a bio wheel power filter 200 filters 55 gallons. have bio beads in one of the filters that been in the previous tank for about 6 months. the only fish in there is my green spotted puffer and he is loving the salt the the freshwater. i heard there more high end brackish.
thks for the help..
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by richbrad08
http:///forum/post/3273492
Hi guys well let me say i am new here but not new to fish. I converted my 36 gallon tank into saltwater and flush the rest...i am just kidding i wouldn't do that. I gave most of the fish away and put the ones i knew would be alright in the ciclid tank a the ciclids are well mannered. Well i have a few questions because i am new to saltwater and i want the right answer or best advice.
I bought http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2753226
for my tank. Here is my question. i read about live sand, could i add 10 pounds of live sand to my 30lbs of araganite sand. Will the live sand help to coloniza the aragnite sand.
I have about 20 pounds of lace rock which i believe to be alive because the rocks have green and brown stuff on them. When i bought them they were just gray. Can this help the tank out? I also bought 64 pounds of live rock on ----. I have 5 pounds of live rock in my tank as of right now.
Can my master freshwater test kit be used for saltwater?
i want to make my own fish food. can someone help me out?
Basically i want all the helpful advice you guys can give.
21 inches high, 15 inches wide and 30 inches long those are the tank dimensions. with a 40 gallon aqua filter and a bio wheel power filter 200 filters 55 gallons. have bio beads in one of the filters that been in the previous tank for about 6 months. the only fish in there is my green spotted puffer and he is loving the salt the the freshwater. i heard there more high end brackish.
thks for the help..

Welcome to the site.
Yes you can seed your dead sand with the live sand. What makes a rock “live” are the tiny critters that live in it. Algae that grows on the rock does not make it live rock. However, live rock will seed dead rock.
Are you saying you are cycling your tank with a puffer?
You have to get saltwater test kits.
The Cichlids are not well mannered, whatever fish you put in there are doomed. Those have got to be the meanest freshwater fish on the planet, they are colorful and very pretty but evil. My .02
A good saltwater aquarium book should also be your very next purchase.
How are you going to put 64 pounds of rock in a 36g tank added to the 5 pounds you already have in there? You have to leave room for water and fish.
 
richbrad08

richbrad08

New Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3273528

Welcome to the site.
Yes you can seed your dead sand with the live sand. What makes a rock “live” are the tiny critters that live in it. Algae that grows on the rock does not make it live rock. However, live rock will seed dead rock.
Are you saying you are cycling your tank with a puffer?
You have to get saltwater test kits.
The Cichlids are not well mannered, whatever fish you put in there are doomed. Those have got to be the meanest freshwater fish on the planet, they are colorful and very pretty but evil. My .02
A good saltwater aquarium book should also be your very next purchase.
How are you going to put 64 pounds of rock in a 36g tank added to the 5 pounds you already have in there? You have to leave room for water and fish.

Basically i am cycling my tank with a puffer but hoping the live rock will help. The only fish i put in the ciclid tank were 4 baby ciclids because i was waiting for them to get bigger. they seem to be doing just fine. i put my golden dojos in there and again there fine. the last fish was my golden goruima and they wont even touch him. IDKY but my ciclics are only aggressive to it own kind lol.
I dont plan on adding all the rock. just enough to get a reef tank in the future. i have 20lbs of rock and it not coveing that much.
Should i add cromis first? or get clown-fish?? the place where i am getting them are tank bred. actually all his fish are tank bred.
sry for speeling just woke up
 
D

denniscoy420

Guest
I would not get a cromis u end up tried of them in 3 months and u cant catch them easyly
I would go witha 6- line wrasse or a cleaner wrasse to start then add the clown fish so forth and so on
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

To start with …I never cycle a tank with any kind of fish. If you are in such a rush, use raw shrimp, it will cause a real good ammonia spike to get the cycle rolling.
As for the rock: If you want a reef, then make sure you have some large overhangs, a cave and make sure everything is very stable. That will give you the most variety of coral to choose from. Overhangs and a cave allow for those bright colored coral that are non-photosynthetic, like sun coral and the Red chili.
Cichlids: LOL…when I kept freshwater fish I loved the saltwater ones because of the beautiful colors. A co-worker said I should get cichlids because they were very brightly colored and not have the hassle of saltwater. Those fish were so dang mean, the only other fish I ever had that ornery were Oscars. After a month I gave up keeping them or I should say keeping the survivors. All they did was nip each other’s fins and fight and chase each other till they died. Nothing could survive in the tank with them, not even their own kind.
Everyone always told me how hard saltwater was to keep, how expensive and how mean the fish were. None of those people ever had a saltwater tank and were afraid to try. I finally took the plunge, and to be honest I think it’s easier than freshwater.
Critters help maintain the tank, no more total break downs with fish in the buckets while I scrub the algae off of my decorations ( I had this huge sunken ship), vacuum the gravel and replace the plants. With saltwater I only change out some of the water and never have to vacuum a sand bed, my fish stay right in the tank. The algae eaters keep the tank nice, mag floats are fantastic and nothing beats the beauty of a saltwater reef. With proper care, and making sure to maintain my water quality my expensive critters last for years.
So I think you’re going to be delighted you decided to go with a reef. There isn’t any reason to wait, there are lots of easy to care for corals. If you only have the fish lights go for the non-photosynthetic ones. Just be sure to do your homework so you know what the coral likes to feed on and how much water flow it needs.
 
richbrad08

richbrad08

New Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3273892

To start with …I never cycle a tank with any kind of fish. If you are in such a rush, use raw shrimp, it will cause a real good ammonia spike to get the cycle rolling.
As for the rock: If you want a reef, then make sure you have some large overhangs, a cave and make sure everything is very stable. That will give you the most variety of coral to choose from. Overhangs and a cave allow for those bright colored coral that are non-photosynthetic, like sun coral and the Red chili.
Cichlids: LOL…when I kept freshwater fish I loved the saltwater ones because of the beautiful colors. A co-worker said I should get cichlids because they were very brightly colored and not have the hassle of saltwater. Those fish were so dang mean, the only other fish I ever had that ornery were Oscars. After a month I gave up keeping them or I should say keeping the survivors. All they did was nip each other’s fins and fight and chase each other till they died. Nothing could survive in the tank with them, not even their own kind.
Everyone always told me how hard saltwater was to keep, how expensive and how mean the fish were. None of those people ever had a saltwater tank and were afraid to try. I finally took the plunge, and to be honest I think it’s easier than freshwater.
Critters help maintain the tank, no more total break downs with fish in the buckets while I scrub the algae off of my decorations ( I had this huge sunken ship), vacuum the gravel and replace the plants. With saltwater I only change out some of the water and never have to vacuum a sand bed, my fish stay right in the tank. The algae eaters keep the tank nice, mag floats are fantastic and nothing beats the beauty of a saltwater reef. With proper care, and making sure to maintain my water quality my expensive critters last for years.
So I think you’re going to be delighted you decided to go with a reef. There isn’t any reason to wait, there are lots of easy to care for corals. If you only have the fish lights go for the non-photosynthetic ones. Just be sure to do your homework so you know what the coral likes to feed on and how much water flow it needs.

The thing with ciclids u have to over crowd them with alot of there own kind. This will stop the fighting. I am not in a hurry because i know what can happen if you rush, the outcome aint worth it.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Very few of the fish we have available are tank bred. Clowns, some dottybacks, a few gobies & blennies---that's about it. The vast majority of fish available to hobbiests are wild caught and have never been successfully bred in captivity. It is possible to stock a tank with tank-bred fish; but you are very limited. I've never seen tank-bred chromis on the market.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
My advice to anyone starting an aquarium, Fw or marine, is to simply get the plant life started and thriving as the very first thing. then do the rest. In marine tanks that means macro algaes.
The algae growing on the holey rock are a step in the right direction. I fear it is not enough plant life to completely balance out the tank. But I could be wrong.
you can make your own food by using stuff from the sea food store and perhaps some veggies blended together then frozen in a thin sheet. Some even use 1/4 square plastic grids (egg crate) for make "cubes".
api fw kits do work in marine usually with different color charts. ammonia, nitrItes, nitrates, and pH are examples. NitrItes doesn't even use a different color chart. In marine tanks you would need the high range test kit to read pH values above the 7.6 upper limit of the pH kit.
I cycle my tanks with FW mollies but that wouldn't last long with a puffer in there.
my .02
 
richbrad08

richbrad08

New Member
i bought a 75 watt light that the highest i could go for my 36. i change my order of live rock only to 32 lbs. so i will have around 45-50 in the tank. I also bought a reef master and a saltwater master kit for about 20.00 each. I also bought an additional puffer because the puffer i had would NOT EAT crab, shrimp, or anything. i had 2 ghost shrimp he wouldent eat them lol. i think the other one should him what to eat because he eats it now. my LFS here the Reef Showroom, he said all his species are tank breed he dont believe in buying wild caught. i dont think he has cromis idk i have to go see.
 
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