Well, I dove in today....

[dshurett]

Well i finally broke down and did something I always wanted to do today.....I bought my first saltwater tank. I am sure many of you may chuckle at the minature size of my setup, but it was the most I could afford to go for at the moment. My local pet store was running a special 10Gal starter kit for 225. I really like the guy that works in the pet store and I have spoken to him on a number of occasions, so i decided to take a chance. This kit included the following, please forgive my ignorance as I describe what i have.
1 10 Gallon tank - Cheapie...but it doesnt seem to leak
1 Small bag of crushed shells
1 Box of salt...enough to treat 10 Gallons
15lbs of Live Rock - I picked it out...
1 Bio-type Filter
1 Tank Heater
1 Specific Gravity Salinity(sp?) tester
1 Hood/light kit with a 50/50 bulb
I also purchased some chemicals for pH and essential elements. I currently have no fish in the tank or anything else moving around...that i know of...
I realize that this is a very minimal setup and that with the small amount of water in this tank, keeping the balance may be difficult. But again, with no experience I didn't want to blow 1000+ dollars on something that would be 50ish gallons.
I would like to have in the tank the following
1-2 damsels
1 clown
1 anemonie
1 featherduster (maybe)
1 piece of live coral (again maybe)
and maybe 1 or 2 bottom crawlers
Please tell me what you think about what I have so far (be gentle), what I may need in the future, and what I should avoid. The biggest question I have so far is concerning the "cycle" that I have read and heard several times but am still not real clear on exactly what is meant by this.
TIA
[ September 24, 2001: Message edited by: dshurett ]

 

[jamos6]

hey i dont know about $1000 but i just bought a used 75 gal tank with stand, the lights, the filters, powerheads, 75lbs of live rock, 75lbs of cc and it had 3 fish in it all for $375.
Another thing when I bought my 1st saltwater tank 55gals. i bought it from a chain store and it was $100 with the hood so i had to buy a filter and skimmer and cc and live rock, but i would say look in the classified ads where u live and see whats in there. You also dont have to do everything at 1 time. JUST my 2 cents.

 

[jamos6]

And cycle is what a new tank does
the amonia goes up the the nitrites then the nitrates and slowly they go down this could take anywhere from 1 week to 2 months mine took @ a month.
you can put a damsel or 2 to help with the bioload but i have freshwater tanks also and i usaully use black mollies cause the are cheapier to replace and do really well in the saltwater because they are brackish fish.

 

[@knight]

jw trojan and jamos6 are right, the tank will be more unstable and volitile, but can be done. dhop around online for SW equipment and you can save a bundle. damsels are good to cycle with, but can be hard to catch after you no longer want them. The RAW cocktail shrimp is a good idea and works very well. your cycle in a small tank as such can happen very quickly.

 

[npaladen]

dshurett,
I know exactly how you feel. I got into this hobby (obsession) the exact same way you did. I had always had a freshwater tank and in a moment of blind pasion dove in and started a 10 gal salt. Everything you have sounds fine, except you may need more light, you did ont say what you had, to keep any sort of anenome or coral you might want.
All I can say is keep vigilant, my 10 gal would change water parameters quite rapidly if I was not careful, even things like keeping the light on too long for a day or two could do things to the tank. But you are off to a great start just by posting here. My advice. . .learn all you can. Read the posts here, read at least one book, and more than one is helpful. The more you know the easier it will be on you, and yes, the larger tanks are easier. After I switched to my 5 things have gone much easier on me, and I would assume that when I upgrade again it will get even easier. And some day when I no longer have to pay for college that might happen . Oh, and be sure not to get any fish that will outgrow the tank, that was why I had to get my 50 originally, O leatned too late to research everything.
Other than that, enjoy the tank, and enjoy the experisnce. You are creating your own small world,and it is something you will get hooked on.
HTH

 

[dshurett]

Thanks for all the great responses. I find out last night after I posted that my LR most have been REALLY fresh and that I did the swap over fast enough because....I have what I believe is a tiny crab running around in my tank. I can see a tiny shell moving around on one of my rocks and i can see a little antennae or leg sticking out every once in a while....its so cool...and my 3 year old is in a fishy-trance

 

[andymi]

Live rock is cured only when it smells like the ocean. If it has a bad smell almost like sulfur it is not cured yet. Just be careful in this hobby as to what you buy, always research first. I bought a 150 gallon tank for what you spent on a 10. Granted I had to build my own stand and such, but even still i only have around $800 in equipment and stand right now and the tank is much bigger. Too many LFS' out there will take your money and deplete your checkbook if you are not careful.
-Andy

 

[flydan]

Hey,
I would try for a FOWLR first. (Fish Only With Live Rock) If you try and put an anemone in that type of up you will kill it. After you are done with the cycle you can get the clown fish and a few clean-up type critters like snails and hermit crabs. As far as a cool critter to have running around, shrimp are awesome to watch. Something like a cleaner shrimp or peppermint shrimp. Just make sure your water is stable first.
Good luck with your new hobby! When you're ready to upgrade you can always use the 10gal as a hospital tank or a sump.
Dan'l

 

[dshurett]

Afternoon update....I just got back from the LFS and they only had one really ugly damsel...so i drove a little further into town and found a bigger store. I was able to pay and arm and a leg for a yellow(acutally orange) tailed damsel. I am attempting to introduce this fish into the tank as I write this. I also picked up one of those large test kits. The only thing i have tested so far was pH as it was what i was most concerned with at the moment considering this was new water. I am currently running at 8.2 which according to the directions was just perfect. Well its almost time to let my fish start running around its new home. I will keep you updated and keep the advice flowing.
TIA

 

[von_rahvin]

i just bought my third tank like 4 months ago, it is a 135 that i got with stand for 400. the newspaper is the way to get stuff at good prices