New to saltwater my setup thus far

[Wisehart]

I setup a 80 gallon bow front tank about 2 months ago now and so far it has done pretty good. This is a whole new level when compared to freshwater, but I am loving it. Soon as I figure how to add pictures i will. Thanks for your interest

 

[Wisehart]

 

[Wisehart]

https://flic.kr/p/vk6w3L

 

[Kristin1234]

Very nice!! Love your bi color Angel!!

 

[Wisehart]

Thanks. Are all of my pictures showing up or just the one? Not sure I've got this down ha ha

 

[pegasus]

Your pics are showing up. Yes, you're off to a good start. One thing to keep in mind, the chocolate chip sea star loves to eat mushrooms and ricordeas. Just thought I'd let you know in case you decided to add any of those later on...

 

[Wisehart]

Awesome thank you so much. Not sure if it is my phone just not showing the pictures or what. I will definitely keep that mind. So far I have had no trouble out of the starfish. I read some will eat each other.

 

[Wisehart]

 

[deejeff0442]

Dont read into having to have all kinds of equipment. The only proven thing imo to keep a healthy tank is time time and more time for the tank to mature.water changes alot of rock and flow.simple.just dont add fish too fast.let the system grow with the stock.i had a 90 gallon running over 10 yrs with just rock and powerheads.a rubbermaid tote underneath with just rock rubble.i had less problems with that tank then with all the other ones with reactors.scrubbers.skimmers ect.

 

[Wisehart]

Thanks for the information. I have a 20 gallon under this 80 gallon and as soon as I can afford a overflow box i will be putting the heaters and protein skimmer in there. I believe I have around 100 lbs of live rock and a canister filter. Do you believe I need anything else?

 

[deejeff0442]

I dont.the canisters work fine just alot of cleaning.imo they aint worth it.you really cant clean the whole thing out.it holds alot of good bacteria and critters.but if you dont clean it you get rot and nitrates.it will work for now though.i use canisters on quarantine tanks.i put the filters in my display sump to grow bacteria .that way i can just put the canister together with good filters loaded with bacteria and the quarantine tank is good to go instantly.this way i dont have to always have a quarantine tank running in case i see another fish i want

 

[Wisehart]

I had that canister for fresh water for years and clean it as good as possible and ran it to clear the water as I started up this saltwater tank. So what you are saying is i am better off without it? It wouldn't bother me to remove it as I've already had it for years and have got my money worth from it.

 

[deejeff0442]

Once the rock in the tank matures and grows good bacteria in it you wont need the canister.it dont take long as long as you dont dump 5 more fish in at one time.once you get the sump going i would put a couple pads from the canister in the sump.would be smart to keep a small tank around for new fish to quarantine. Sooner or later ich will get you and if you dont have somewhere to put the fish its a disaster

 

[pegasus]

Do you have a sand bed, also? If you have a couple of inches (or more) of sand, it and the rocks should provide enough biological filtration so you won't need the canister filter. Maintenance-free filtration is best...

 

[Wisehart]

I may be able to fit a 10 gallon next to my 20 gallon I plan for a sump. I believe my rock has plenty of good bacteria on it. I also have 3 fish 2 star fish a crab and a anemone.

 

[Wisehart]

Yes i

Do you have a sand bed, also? If you have a couple of inches (or more) of sand, it and the rocks should provide enough biological filtration so you won't need the canister filter. Maintenance-free filtration is best...

Yes I have about a inch and a half of fine live sand. Which my scooter loves

 

[pegasus]

Yes I have about a inch and a half of fine live sand. Which my scooter loves

Cool. Scooters (actually, Dragonets) will graze the rocks for pods, but the majority of their time is spent on the sand bed. A healthy sand bed equals a healthy tank... as well as a healthy Scooter.

 

[Wisehart]

I have been in freshwater for approximately 25 years and I have always went by a rule ano more than a inch of fish per gallon of water. Is this the same for saltwater? It seems they would need more. I do not plan on anymore fish as of now just curious.

 

[Kristin1234]

It is different with salt water. Just depends on the size of the fish you are looking at and how big will it get and how much waste will it produce.

 

[Wisehart]

Thank you everyone for the wisdom. Here is a picture of today.