snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
If you have come to this article and expect to have a world class aquarium on a college student budget, well, I’m sorry to say that it most likely will not happen unless you buy a little at a time over quite a span of years. However, there are many things that are absolutely essential for the health and well-being of your livestock.
This article will only concentrate on a Fish Only With Live Rock (FOWLR) aquarium. A small aquarium, such as a 30g is a great start for many people. It’s relatively inexpensive and it will provide a wider array of choices for fish. Also, the length of the tank is 36” and it’s easier to find a decent lighting system in the future if you are ready to get into living corals.
Since lighting is not necessarily important in a FOWLR tank, you can use your standard lighting that came with your 30g kit. However, put your lights on a timer and do not leave them on for more than 8 hours a day. The kit that you buy in a pet store should come with the stand, tank, filter, heater and canopy/hood with a light. Go ahead and purchase one can of black Krylon paint. I will explain this later. This is a great start for a beginner saltwater aquarist.
Before you begin, read and research. The more you do so, the more money you can save in the long run. You will make more errors buying the wrong kind of fish and end up killing fish that were not suitable for the environment that you put it in. So, be well aware that different fish need different size tanks.
Some fish such as wrasses and some gobies that can fit in smaller tanks enjoy a sandbed, and therefore 30 pounds of dry aragonite should be added to the list of things to buy. Also, buy 20 pounds of dry base rock and 5 pounds of live rock. In a FOWLR tank, live rock is not as a necessity as it is in a reef tank. The only reason to purchase live rock in this type of tank is to get some non-photosynthetic feeders and mainly bacteria to help process waste. I.E. The Nitrogen Cycle.
So, now that you have everything home and you are itching to put your system in place… but wait! Remember that can of spray paint from earlier? Spray paint the back of the aquarium completely and let it dry the full 15 minutes before you put it on the stand. By spray painting the back of the aquarium, you will let the colors of your fish “pop” out more.
Put your heater in the tank and set it for 78F. Put your filter on the tank, put your base rock in the tank and then add the dry aragonite sand around the base rock at the bottom. Then add your store bought saltwater to the tank and then add your live rock. Turn on the filter and get everything going. It’s going to be about 3 to 5 days before the water clears from the sand. Turning off your filter will not make the sand settle any faster.
This is a great time to start researching good husbandry skills, aquarium maintenance and your stock list. It’s also a great time to start saving up for a powerhead or two to keep detritus from building up on the sandbed and to provide oxygen in the tank. Another great purchase is a protein skimmer. Keep in mind that the more a protein skimmer costs, the better, in general, it is. Protein skimmers remove built up waste in the water column between water changes.
Buying RO/DI water from a water store, Wal-Mart, or live fish store is sometimes better than buying your own RO unit to top off your aquarium with.
Here are a few other pieces of equipment that you will be interested in keeping on hand:
[list type=decimal]
[*]
Powerhead for mixing saltwater for water changes.
[*]
6 foot of vinyl tubing
[*]
5g bucket
[*]
3x 5g utility containers
Turkey baster
API basic liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH
Flake food
[/list type=decimal]
Owning and maintaining a saltwater aquarium does not have to be very expensive by any means. There are many people out there with successful aquariums who do not have all of the latest gadgets and gizmo’s who have just as successful aquariums that do. The one main piece of advice that I can give is to do your research beforehand and know what you are getting yourself into.
If you would like to read more of my articles and threads, please visit this link: Snake's Methods.
This article will only concentrate on a Fish Only With Live Rock (FOWLR) aquarium. A small aquarium, such as a 30g is a great start for many people. It’s relatively inexpensive and it will provide a wider array of choices for fish. Also, the length of the tank is 36” and it’s easier to find a decent lighting system in the future if you are ready to get into living corals.
Since lighting is not necessarily important in a FOWLR tank, you can use your standard lighting that came with your 30g kit. However, put your lights on a timer and do not leave them on for more than 8 hours a day. The kit that you buy in a pet store should come with the stand, tank, filter, heater and canopy/hood with a light. Go ahead and purchase one can of black Krylon paint. I will explain this later. This is a great start for a beginner saltwater aquarist.
Before you begin, read and research. The more you do so, the more money you can save in the long run. You will make more errors buying the wrong kind of fish and end up killing fish that were not suitable for the environment that you put it in. So, be well aware that different fish need different size tanks.
Some fish such as wrasses and some gobies that can fit in smaller tanks enjoy a sandbed, and therefore 30 pounds of dry aragonite should be added to the list of things to buy. Also, buy 20 pounds of dry base rock and 5 pounds of live rock. In a FOWLR tank, live rock is not as a necessity as it is in a reef tank. The only reason to purchase live rock in this type of tank is to get some non-photosynthetic feeders and mainly bacteria to help process waste. I.E. The Nitrogen Cycle.
So, now that you have everything home and you are itching to put your system in place… but wait! Remember that can of spray paint from earlier? Spray paint the back of the aquarium completely and let it dry the full 15 minutes before you put it on the stand. By spray painting the back of the aquarium, you will let the colors of your fish “pop” out more.
Put your heater in the tank and set it for 78F. Put your filter on the tank, put your base rock in the tank and then add the dry aragonite sand around the base rock at the bottom. Then add your store bought saltwater to the tank and then add your live rock. Turn on the filter and get everything going. It’s going to be about 3 to 5 days before the water clears from the sand. Turning off your filter will not make the sand settle any faster.
This is a great time to start researching good husbandry skills, aquarium maintenance and your stock list. It’s also a great time to start saving up for a powerhead or two to keep detritus from building up on the sandbed and to provide oxygen in the tank. Another great purchase is a protein skimmer. Keep in mind that the more a protein skimmer costs, the better, in general, it is. Protein skimmers remove built up waste in the water column between water changes.
Buying RO/DI water from a water store, Wal-Mart, or live fish store is sometimes better than buying your own RO unit to top off your aquarium with.
Here are a few other pieces of equipment that you will be interested in keeping on hand:
[list type=decimal]
[*]
Powerhead for mixing saltwater for water changes.
[*]
6 foot of vinyl tubing
[*]
5g bucket
[*]
3x 5g utility containers
Turkey baster
API basic liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH
Flake food
[/list type=decimal]
Owning and maintaining a saltwater aquarium does not have to be very expensive by any means. There are many people out there with successful aquariums who do not have all of the latest gadgets and gizmo’s who have just as successful aquariums that do. The one main piece of advice that I can give is to do your research beforehand and know what you are getting yourself into.
If you would like to read more of my articles and threads, please visit this link: Snake's Methods.
