saltwater aquariums

[Smokey McPot]

Does anyone here have one? let me know if you do. I wanna talk about em

[Krippysmoker]

Sorry man just freshwater......they said the saltwater took a ton of work! lol good luck with your though

[Guinevere]

Negative...........
Take a look on the net for forums having to do with saltwater aquatics. I'm 100% positive you'll find one in a sec. and you can get all your info there.
Good luck, man.

[Krippysmoker]

This pinhead is really getting on my nerves....all I meant was that I did not have a saltwater tank. I did freshwater because it was about 1/4 the work of a saltwater tank. I will however admit that a saltwater tank has beautiful fishs available....freshwater is just so so... Anyway good luck with your tank

[Fengzi]

I had a 75g saltwater tank for about 5 years. It started out as just fish but after a while I couldn't resist and went full blown reef. I had a brown tang, a pair of mated percula clowns,flame angel, cleaner shrimp, crabs, and tons of hard & soft corals. It was my pride and joy and I absolutely loved the thing. It took a lot of work though and shortly after my daughter was born I decided I simply didn't have the time to deal with it anymore. It broke my heart but I had to sell it off. When my daughter's a bit older I might start up a new tank but that's a while off.

There's also the money issue with a saltwater tank. Especially if you want to go reef. Just the lights I had on my tank, similar to pot grow lights, cost over $500.00. When I eventually start up another tank I'm figuring start up costs of around $2k and that's not including fish or anything.

Do you already have a tank Smokey or are you looking to start one. If you do have one I'd love to see some pics.

[unmeg]

Well Smokey,I do not have a saltwater tank,but iI did manage a fish department for few years.I was in charge of roughly 60 saltwater tanks.If you ask me it just as e-z to run a saltwatewr as freshwater.The only real diferrance is cost,dont get me wrong there is a lil more effort to get a saltwter tank up and running(cycled).Once its cycled it is genraly the same as freshwater.Right now I have a 35gal African cichlid tank,cant afford the reef like I want.
p.s.
I started a thread a while ago show us your tanks & no one would post any pics of thier tanks so if you do have one please post pic

[kablam]

I have a reef aquarium. They are a super bitch to set up but like umeg said, once cycled and running they are less work. Still more than a fresh water IMO, but not as bad as ppl make them. I think About.com has a good section on saltwater set-ups if you can filter through all the BS and advertising.

[Smokey McPot]

Im looking to start one. My cousin has one and i love it. He said he spends 10-30 minutes on it each day. His friend gave him a fish that had a disease and he didnt know it so when he put it in his tank it killed like $500 worth of fish and coral. The only reason why i may not get one is only because its soooo expensive. Oh ya and there are aquarium message boards just like this one. Fengzi, tell me a little bit more about your tank and the stuff you had to do on a daily basis to keep the fish healthy. Thanks

[Smokey McPot]

Oh ya if i get a tank it will prob be like a 90 gallon and i want to put a huge reef in it with exotic reef safe fish.

[unmeg]

Hope you have some cash cause it is expesive,I am talking a couple G's

[Fengzi]

Here's a few pics of my tank taken over a several year period.

I had the tank pretty well automated so a lot of the daily tasks like water replacement were taken care of. I probably put 30 or so minutes a day doing things like feeding, cleaning off the front glass, random water quality tests, etc. I'd have to give the skimmer a cleaning every 4-5 days. Every two weeks I'd do a 20% water change which would take an hour or two.

I figured out that all together I was spending about 30hrs a month on the tank. Not an overwhelming amount of time for sure. At least not until my daughter was born. Once she came finding a spare hour to deal witht he tank, not to mention 30, was tough. Even so I probably would have kept it if not for the fact that we moved to a new house and moving one of these things is a seriously fucked thing t have to do.

[unmeg]

I would be proud to call that my tank.Did you use Marshal Island live rock,or maybe Fiji.
Does not matter cause you have a tallent & love for what you did with that reef.
i have seen alot of reef's in my time and yours is one of the healtiest,give youself big pat on back.

[Smokey McPot]

God damn, that is a nice fucken tank! In the second picture, if you zoom in, at the top there is a huge crab. That think is gnarly lookin like a spider.

[Krippysmoker]

That is an absoutely beautiful tank.....I wish that I had the patience and the knowledge to keep a like that. When I got my tank I knew the guy at the aquarium store...he just said that saltwater was a lot more work and he know I was looking for low maintence. My life right now doesnt give me much free time. Im happy with my lil tank...I should post a pic. Nothing compared to yours...lol but I was lucky enough to find actual PLASTIC CANNABIS plants at the fish store. Everyone who looks at it ....stares...cocks their heads and says...oh my god are you growing hydro?????? At this point I would like to smack them but they are young....lol Gonna take a pic now

[unmeg]

Hers my 35g cichlid tank

[Fengzi]

Thanks for the compliments guys. My tank was a lot of work but it really was a labor of love. One really cool thing about reef tanks is that things just appear from out of nowhere. They come in on the live rock and you might not notice them for months. Of course not everything is good but that's a different story.

To answer your question Unmeg, I had a mix of different types of live rock, Figi, Tonga, Marshall, Vanuatu, etc. The tank started out as a fish only tank and I gradually turned it into a reef, adding a piece of rock here and there, upgrading equipment, etc. For anyone thinking about setting up a tank, DON'T DO IT THIS WAY.

If you're going to go reef do it right from the start. The bit by bit approach that I took causes all kinds of problems. It will work but it's never quite perfect. The other advice I'd give in setting up a reef tank is do not try to save money and buy cheap equipment. I learned this the hard way. Reef tanks are expensive and there's no way around it. Sure that $100 protien skimmer looks like it would be as good as the $400 one but it won't be. What will happen is that you'll end up spending $500 in the long run. $100 for the first one and then $400 for the good one when you find the cheap one is a piece of shit. Oh yeah, order you're equipment on-line. Never buy from a local fish/pet store (Sorry Unmeg) I found prices online to be 30-60% cheaper. Marinedepot.com and championlighting.com are two good companies I've worked with.

A great message board for reef tanks is www.reefcentral.com One cool thing they have is the tank of the month. Anyone interested in reef tanks should check these out. They are absolutely gorgeous and put my tank to shame.

[unmeg]

good advice

[Smokey McPot]

Hey Fengzi, what would you recomend, a glass or acrylic tank? I want glass it looks nicer and it doesnt scratch as easily.

[unmeg]

glass holds up better but harder to drill for filtration
acrylic does scractch e-z,I scrachted a 500 gal saltwater tank at my store.Spent the next 2 weeks with kids pointing at me as i buffed it out."look at the funny fish kids,oh he's a big one".
Anyway the tank I have now is the best IMO,it's got a glass front & acrylic everywhere else.

[Fengzi]

Yep, definitely go glass, especially if you're setting up a reef. All that live rock doesn't go well with acrylic. My tank was acrylic (a free hand me down from my parents) and had tons of scratches. You can buff them out but it's a pain, especially when it's got fish inside. If/When I get another tank it will definitely be glass with pre-drilled overflows.

[Smokey McPot]

I went to my local saltwater store and looked at nice all glass aquariums. I found a 65 gallon with a nice stand and canopy all for $318 brand new. I think i will spend somewhere around $1700 just getting the tank started. I cant fucken wait to get it. I plan on gettin blazed and just workin on my fish tank as a newhobby.

[unmeg]

b-4 you buy tank you should realy think bout your fitration.filtration is 10x more important than tank.Is the tank pre drilled or are you stuck with a hanging filter(evan a nice hanging wet/dry not gonna be enogh)what kind of lights are you gonna use flour or HID,s either way you have to have the right lights,dont think you are gonna get away with just cheap flors(blue attinic run ya 45 bucks p lus you need a 50/50 bulb 40 bucks )at the least.not trying to shoot ya down just want to make sure you KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING YOURSELF INTO.I hope you have done lots of homework,qietion for what is the proper salt leval (dissolved salt in water)?
If you have the money to spend make sure you have someone that knows whats up,dont listen to guy selling ya tank.

[Fengzi]

Yep, I agree with unmeg, don't listen to the guy selling you the tank. From what I've seen there are two types. 1-The ones who don't know shit but try to convince you they do. And 2-The ones who do know what they're doing but will still fill your head with shit to make a sale.

If you're going to set up a reef invest in a few good books. The Reef Aquarium Vol. 1 and 2 (Delbeck and Sprung) and Aquarium Corals (Borneman) are good choices. They'll give you a ton of info.

One other thing, I see you mentioned the tank you're interested in having a stand and a canopy. Unless the canopy is custom made for a reef tank it will probably be worthless. Lights for reef tanks put out a ton of heat (think pot grow lights) so you'll need a canopy that allows the lights to be at least 3-4" (more if your using metal halides) over the water and you'll need some ventelation like computer fans. Otherwise you'll have problems keeping your tank cool enough.

[unmeg]

Hey Fengzi,Have you seen the new halogen lights?
as far as hood you are right,salt has a may of working into every crevious and expanding.Most canopy's are pressed wood bad for saly water.
The books Fengzi mentioned are great books & you should pick 1 up cause we are just tapping what you need to know.
I'm sure we all will answer any ?'s you mite have,but what about the ?'s you dont know to ask?

[Smokey McPot]

My cousin who has a tank and knows alot about aquariums works at the store im talking about. He is showin me the kind of stuff to get. Hes not trying to make sales he just trying to get me good equipment. Ill have to check about the canopy. Im not getting metal halides due to the price. Im getting PC florecent which i was told can grow some types of reefs. I got the book Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies which seems to be a good guide. Ill have to check into those other books also.

[unmeg]

Glad to see you have some help & are not just jumping into this.
i have seen lots of people jump in to a reef set up and just be disapointed when the fail.Yea they lihgts will work but try to get 3or 4 tubes,ya know cover the canopy.you dont have to buy them all at once just work them into the design.look forward to hear bout your experiance & good luck McPot..peace

[Smokey McPot]

If i get 4 tubes of CP florecent will i be able to grow alota reef? Some one told me you need metal halides to grow coral.

[unmeg]

yea if you get 4 you will be able to grow plenty,just try to replace bulbs evey 6 months if you can.Are you talking bout compacts or tubes b-4 i make any more suggestions,lol

[unmeg]

zoozanthellae,Do You know anything about this?
If not need to,if so what do you know?

[Smokey McPot]

Im talkin about tubes. Now that i think about it if i buy the 65 gal tank, i will blow alot of money of course so i may only buy like a 30 gallon and that will save me money on some of the equipment i figure. The other thing though is that the smaller the tank, the more frequent the water quality can change. So in other words bigger tanks are better for beginners. Man i need some help figuring all this shit out.

[Lily420]

I have only freshwater...seems only one type of fish wont die DAMN IT!!! Why do these fish keep dying? I clean the fucking tank every other day and have everything that it needs! I even feed my fish food to make them horny! Now we have like 6 babys :D BUT every other fish besides the ones I have die! My poor little guppies...R.I.P little squiky!!!! :(

[somebody someone]

thread of the century

[Smokey McPot]

I dont know why they die. Ive never owened any fish tank but i think i may get a saltwater soon.

[Fengzi]

I had pc (power compacts) flourescents lighting my tank and they did ok. They're two skinny tubes joined at one end. This is what you're talking about, right? There was 4 of them for a total just under 400watts. Soft corals will do fine under pc's and, despite what many folks will say, you can grow hard corals under pc's. They won't grow as big or as colorful, however, and you have to put them pretty high up in the rocks. Since this is going to be your first tank I would't recomend hard corals anyway, they're just too touchy. There are tons of awesome soft corals too so it's not like your tank will be lacking without the hard ones.

As far as tank size goes, the bigger the better. Like you mentioned, the water quality can change more quickly in a smaller tank. Actually, it's not so much a quality issue as it is a stability issue. Salinity, temp, ph, etc, all change more quickly in a smaller tank. The water around a typical tropical coral reef somewhere like Figi is incredibly stable so that's what the corals and fish in those areas like.

Another thing about a bigger tank is that you'll be able to have a heavier bio-load. In other words more fish. Plus you'll have more variety of fish to choose from. Rememember, the ocean is a big place and not all of these fish want to be put in a little tank. Also, some fish never leave a small area and are perfectly happy in a small tank. The problem is that these fish are usually pretty territorial and will beat the shit out of any thing that comes into its territory. So, more space eqauls more territories.

What's your budget for the tank? I think before you mentioning $1700. I'd think you should be ok with this for a 65g. I was doing some calculations on what I'd spend on my next potental tank and I was figuring about $3K but that was for a 150g complete setup for hard corals.

[Fengzi]

I have only freshwater...seems only one type of fish wont die DAMN IT!!! Why do these fish keep dying? I clean the fucking tank every other day and have everything that it needs! I even feed my fish food to make them horny! Now we have like 6 babys :D BUT every other fish besides the ones I have die! My poor little guppies...R.I.P little squiky!!!! :(

So you're saying that you have one type that lives and anything else you put int he tank dies? Could be that the ones that are living are killing the ones that die. Not all fish play well together. Also, you say you clean the tank every other day. Are you using tap water and, if so, do you treat it? Could be all that nice "clean" water is killing your fish.

[unmeg]

yea stay big on tank size,you can allways make your own wet/dry filter.Get A couple different books to compare design's,its realy not that complicated and could be cheaper & better in long run.Between Fengzi & I plus your cousin you should have no trouble with this.


Lily do you have pic? & dont change water so much needs to build up its own enzymes to be healthy tank.really need more info to help ya.peace

[Lily420]

So you're saying that you have one type that lives and anything else you put int he tank dies? Could be that the ones that are living are killing the ones that die. Not all fish play well together. Also, you say you clean the tank every other day. Are you using tap water and, if so, do you treat it? Could be all that nice "clean" water is killing your fish.

naw, these fish r community fish, and i do all that shit! Only one guppie stayed alive for 8 months...then its scales were falling off so i killed it. :(

[Smokey McPot]

I dont plan on putting alota corals in for maybe like the first year. I want to have alot of live rock and different types of live rock combined. For my first few fish i will get more hardy fishes that are better for the begginer. Zoos are considerd soft coral right? I want to put in one of those because they are so nice lookin. I wich i had more money so i could buy like a 100gal tank with kickass equipment and livestock.

[Smokey McPot]

Dude i wish i had an aquarium right now!

[Smokey McPot]

I finaly got a saltwater tank. I bought an all glass 65 gallon aquarium that came with a stand and a canopy made of oak. I also got a Berlin classic protein skimmer and a mag drvie 7 pump. I got all of this for $550 because my cousin got me a 25% discount for verything. Saturday I am going back to get everything else i need to get started.

Does anybody know if a berlin classic protein skimmer is a good skimmer? I didnt get the one that hangs on the side.

Where do i get 65 gallons of purified water. Do i have to buy 65 water jugs?

[NightProwler]

Here's a few pics of my tank taken over a several year period.

when i was in the virgin islands, there were big black spiny sea urchins like that but were like 5 times bigger, and i stepped on one ant it went like 2 inches into my heel. :(

[Fengzi]

when i was in the virgin islands, there were big black spiny sea urchins like that but were like 5 times bigger, and i stepped on one ant it went like 2 inches into my heel. :(
Ouch!!! I put my hand down on one while snorkeling in Thailand and it hurt like hell. Most of them have poisonous spines and if they break off under your skin it really sucks. I got stuck a few times by the one in my tank but never too bad.

[Fengzi]

I finaly got a saltwater tank. I bought an all glass 65 gallon aquarium that came with a stand and a canopy made of oak. I also got a Berlin classic protein skimmer and a mag drvie 7 pump. I got all of this for $550 because my cousin got me a 25% discount for verything. Saturday I am going back to get everything else i need to get started.

Does anybody know if a berlin classic protein skimmer is a good skimmer? I didnt get the one that hangs on the side.

Where do i get 65 gallons of purified water. Do i have to buy 65 water jugs?

Congrats on your purchase Smokey . Now comes the fun part :p

Sounds like pretty good pricing. The Berlin classic is an ok skimmer. This was one of the first skimmers I had. If you have a lot of fish and/or corals you may want to upgrade in the future but this one should do fine for now.

The water issue, always fun ;) First of all go and get one or two of those 30 gallon rubbermaid tubs. You'll find they come in real handy for mixing salt water and all kinds of other stuff. As for the water itself, I wouldn't recomend using tap water. Even if you use dechlorinator it still has a lot of things like silicates and other minerals that you don't really want in a reef tank. So, you've got two choices: buy fresh water or make it yourself. If you want to buy it I'd recomend finding one of those pure water stores and buying five or six 5 gallon jugs. Then just make several trips until you've got your 65 gallons. If it will fit in your budget I'd recommend getting your own ro/di filter. You can pick one up for about $175-$250. Depending on the model they'll filter 20-60 gallons a day and over the course of a few years you'll find it ends up being a lot cheaper than buying water every time you want to do a change.

How are you going to cycle the tank? I hope its not by putting damsels in the tank. It's seriously stressful to the damsels and, especially if you have a reef tank with a lot of live rock, getting the damsels out if you don't want them later is a pain in the ass. Plus, if you're doing a reef with live rock they aren't needed. Once you get the tank up and running just put the live rock in. It may get really funky and you'll need to do a bunch of water changes at first but it will end up cycling your tank really quickly.

I won't bs you, the next few months are going to suck. There's going to be a bunch of work, trial and error, failures and successes. All this without having any cool fish or corals to show for your hard work. Be patient though and hang in there. It will all be worth it and a year from now you're gonna have an awesome tank. Keep us posted on the progress.

[unmeg]

CONGRATS ON YOUR PURCHASE!
I am with Fengzi,go buy as much live rock as you can afford goes for 3.98lb here.Now on the next few months could go either way good or bad.water chages during cycle I dont realy agree on ( maybe 1or 2 next few months)you want the water to basicly filter itself with the live rock.give it a chance to build up enzymes b-4 for you go taken them out with water changes.May i suggest you get good test kit and test the water if the nitrates or nitites start to peak do par. water change,the rubber bucket cool(they have them with nice wheels they work best)salt isnt cheap so dont go crazy on water changes.No offense Fengzi,i just had better luck on my large scale & small scale set ups this way.post some pics

[Fengzi]

I'd say the water change thing depends on whether or not your live rock is cured or uncured. If it's cured when purchased your good without too many water changes. I've seen some uncured stuff, however, that would turn the tank water into sewage if you put 50-60 lbs in. With this stuff you'll need to do the water changes if you want to keep the life in the live rock.

unmeg's right about salt being costly. Do yourself a favor and order one of the big buckets. Always be sure to keep enough salt for at least a 50%(100% is better) water change on hand. You never know when you'll have to do an emergency water change and salt's a bitch to find in the middle of the night.

[Smokey McPot]

Ya im goin all out on the liverock because I am going to be limited to the type of corals i can grow because I am going to use 4-96 Watt Pc flourcent lights. So i figure just load it with LR. Tomorrow (saturday) I am going back to the store with my cousin and getting everything else. Last saturday when i went with my cousin we smoked 3 bowls on the way and drank a few tall boys all day. That was fun. I recomend not going shopping for somthing expensive while stoned.

How long should cycling that tank take? 2-4 weeks?

Should i put all of my LR and LS in when i cycle it? No im not using a damsel to cycle.

[Smokey McPot]

I finally got my tank together (65 gal). I have 70 pouds of live sand, a 20 gal sump, 1 Rio 1400 pump and 1 Rio 1100 pump in the tank, a millenium filter, 2 96 watt lights with 2 96 watt blue actinic lights, a Berlin Classic skimmer and 2 mag drive 7 pumps in the sump. I still need to pick out live rock which is abouT $10 per pound for the good pourus rock (thats VERY expensive considering i want 65 pounds of live rock). Just gotta let the tank cycle now. I want to let it cycle for even longer than it needs to becuase everybody told me that is the way to go.

[doomfreak]

I have Sea-Monkeys if that counts. I love my Sea-Monkeys! They're so easy to take care of, cheap, and cool to watch while you're stoned.

www.seamonkeypalace.tk (http://seamonkeypalace.tk/)

[unmeg]

Damn Smokey 10 bucks a lb.! where do you live & it better be cured for that price.
there is places on line that will ship direct to your door for like 6 bucks a pound.
Yes let it cycle til its done.goes in like 3 stage gets clear after you start bout a week later goes cloudy then when its done it should turn nsclear again.Dont rush it should be lots to watch on live rock while it cycles.longer is better,by the way set up sounds sweet so far.Check out on line rock,10 BUCKS IS TOO HIGH

[Smokey McPot]

Ya its cured but i found out its cheaper by like 3 bucks a pound if you order from the same place instead of walking in and buying. There is cheaper rock there (i dont know the names) but it is heavy and not as nice looking. This expensive shit it light and pourus. It is beautiful looking. My cousin got me 25% on everything so far and hopefully he can do the same with the live rock.

Can i throw a raw shrimp in my tank to get the amonia up (to start the cycle)

[Smokey McPot]

Oh ya i live in cleveland ohio and it is cured.

[Fengzi]

No need to throw a raw shrimp in the tank if your going with live rock and live sand. The die off from the rock and sand will cycle the tank for you without adding any additional bio matter for cycling. Hard to say how long it will take the tank to cycle. Each tank is individual depending on whatis in/on the rock and sand. After two weeks or so start testing it every few days and when everything is good your tank is ready. The hardest part is being patient and not putting fish and corals in too soon. When you start to add the fish, don't put too many in at once or it will overload the system.

I definitely agree with unmeg, order the live rock on-line. This place http://www.marinedepotlive.com/live-rock-sand.html has a few different types for about $5 delivered. That's a big savings considering how much you need.

[unmeg]

yes you dont need anything else to cycle tank.there will be(should be) lots of life on youe live rock.you really need to shop around for the live rock,there is so many places that have bitching live rock/with Guarantee!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=+live+rock
dont rush it on the rock it is the most important part of your bio filter,you also need to rinse off rock real good b-4 u add to tank,evan cured rock!

[Fengzi]

One thing about rinsing the live rock that unmeg didn't mention, do it in a bucket of saltwater. Freshwater and saltwater organisms don't mix well and if you just rinse it in the sink you stand a good chance of killing off a lot of good things.

[Smokey McPot]

The place where im gettin my rock has good water quality and i guess its the best and biggest fish store in ohio (says the phonebook) so i trust them. I wont need to scrub the live rock if it is cured before i put it in the tank right?

[unmeg]

One thing about rinsing the live rock that unmeg didn't mention, do it in a bucket of saltwater. Freshwater and saltwater organisms don't mix well and if you just rinse it in the sink you stand a good chance of killing off a lot of good things.
yes saltwater is a must & you dont have to scrub the rock that is bad idea.
just simply stick in water and gentile shake,if you are that confident in your store than do what you feel is best.we can't see the rock you can,cant wait to see pic some day :)

[Fengzi]

Its a good idea to wear gloves when handling a lot of live rock. There's all kinds of critters that can get ya if you don't. Bristle worms are most likley, they won't kill you or anything but can leave an itchy burning sensation on you hand kind of like stinging nettles.

[unmeg]

i got stuck by a lionfish while cleaning a 500 gal tank, that hurt for a bit

[Smokey McPot]

Its a good idea to wear gloves when handling a lot of live rock. There's all kinds of critters that can get ya if you don't. Bristle worms are most likley, they won't kill you or anything but can leave an itchy burning sensation on you hand kind of like stinging nettles.

Ya i read about that in a book. I bought these really long rubber gloves so i wont have to wash my hands and arms everytime i work on my tank. I found this awesome book called The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. It tells you everything and the information all seems to be very helpfull.

[unmeg]

So whats up on some pics?

[Smokey McPot]

Ill try to get some pics, but i dont really know how to use all that shit. as of right now theres nothin in my tank but 70 lbs of sand. Im gettin rock soon though and fish when ever the tank cycles

[Smokey McPot]

My tank has been up for ten days now and i was wondering if it is ready for some livestock. Here is the water readings or chemistry or whatever they call it.

Ph- 8.3
Ammonia- less than .25
specific gravity- 1.023
Nitrate- 50

it seems as though my tank is just about done cycling. I havnt put any liverock in it yet so im guessing once i do the ammonia will go up again and it will have another small cycle. Are those good numbers?

[unmeg]

what about the nitrites which break down into nitrates.
I would guess no if I had to,be on the safe side and wait few more days.
What do you plan on putting in first?
what did your ammonia spike at?

[Smokey McPot]

I put in 51 pounds of live rock, 2 blue damsels and i yellow tail damsels. The ammonia is still at 0 and the nitrate is at 50. Im sure by tommorow that will change.

[Fengzi]

I'm wondering what you put in the tank at first to cycle it? The process is generally to add the sand and live rock and then wait for the tank to cycle. The live rock is essentially your filter. It is all the bacteria which build up on, and in, the live rock that break down the ammonia. Cycling is the process of building up all of those bacteria so that they can handle additional waste entering your tank. So, if you hadn't put the live rock in your tank wasn't cycled.

Don't worry about it though. Once your ammonia levels have gone down again, and stayed down, your tank will be cycled. Be sure to check for nitrites too, like unmeg mentioned. Nitrates aren't so bad. They can cause algae to grow which is a pain in the ass but won't really do any harm to the fish or corals. Nitrites, however, are a different story.

Damsels huh? I just hope you got them because you liked them and not because that's what the guy at the fish store said you should get first. I actually thought they were pretty cool and had a couple that lived for as long as I had my tank. If I had to do it again I wouldn't have gotten any, however, because they can be bullies and will limit what other fish you can add. Still, they're pretty cool, I especially liked my yellow tail. I think you can even see her in one of the pics I posted early.

Anyhow, good to hear things are coming along. Keep us posted on your progress. Damn I'm jealous! I want a new tank too.

[tokosan]

need more pics on this thread.

i want a really cool aquarium to just get high and stare at.....




and mastrubate.....

[Smokey McPot]

ya those damsels i got are agressive. The yellow tail got stuck in between rocks and died. Oh well. I bought 4 turbo snails and 1 emerald crab. They are awesome to look at.For the past hour i have been staring at my tank very stoned. Its amazing! i keep on finding new things! The live rock i got is VERY good. There is a lot of shit such as coral growing on it. I love the way i set up the live rock. There are so many caves. Barely any of the rock is on the sand which is good. Most of it is stacked. The two fish that are left are very healthy i can tell. They are moving all over the place. Same with the snails and crab.

Im stoned

[unmeg]

gald to hear all is alive for now,dont add anymore for couple months,just be happy watching the live rock establish your tank.
Yea those Fiji damsels look cool,I cycled a tank with some b-52 mollys(freshwater)acclimated them to salt water use to blow ever ones mind when i would check the salt level with freshwater fdish swimming around.

[Smokey McPot]

Havnt talked about this in awhile! Ill try and send a pic of my tank some time. Right now i have a fire shrimp, 2 saddleback clowns that are black with yellow fins and yellow faces, a blue damsel, and a yellow tang. I also added a small refugium. I love this hobby. It is very relaxing (and expensive!). I plan on going back to the store this thursday and pickin up 20 snails and another fish. I may also pick up some base rock. I need more rocks but cant afford the live rock. I mixed base rock and live rock when i first put in all the rock. The base rock allready has coraline on it so i am kinda mad that i spent $9 a pound on live rock when i could have ust bought $3 a pound base rock that would turn into live rock.

I plan on getting a low light coral and seeing how that goes. I want a yellow goragian or whatever. I must get a better cleaning crew. My sand has to much fish shit on it that i have to siphon.

[Fengzi]

Glad to hear all is going well. Don't feel bad about spending the money on the live rock. There will be all kinds of critters coming in on it that you don't see, like amphipods, but the coral will love. You just won't get that from the base rock. Can't wait to see pics. I'd stay away from the yellow gorgonians though. They look really cool but are notoriously hard to keep for more than a few months. I had a red one and even though I had a well established tank and fed it daily with live phytoplankton it only lasted about 3 months.

[Euphoric]

O.K. i have a freshwater aquarium. A goldfish, a betta and some neon tetras. I decided I wanted to make it a salt water aquarium so I could have some coral and invertebraes too. After putting three cups of salt in the tank though, everything died. What am I doing wrong??
My friend told me I didnt put enough salt in there for them to breathe. :( I'm putting more fish in there today though. Does any one have a good site to buy live fish?

[johnny cottonmouth]

euphoric you cant just put salt in your freshwater tank to turn it into a saltwater tank. you have to have totally different water like um i dont know SALTWATER. and yeah of course your fish died because of the salt you added those are fresh water fish. freshwater fish cant have salt in the water. unless there brackish water fish but those are a different story.

[Euphoric]

Look dude, a fish is a fish. Mine keep floating to the top of the tank though :( I think it is because the salt make them too boyant.
Do you know of some heavier food I can feed them? :confused:

[Euphoric]

hehe ok this was a joke. I was trying to horrify Fengzi. :) I do have a freshwater aquarium but I'm not that stupid to dump salt in it and add coral hahah good times.
all muh fishies are in good health they get plenty of THC i mean TLC i spend lotsa time with them they have plenty of room to swim about with live plants and such

[Fengzi]

The Horror

[Euphoric]

The Horror

Mission: Accomplished. :cool:

[Smokey McPot]

Dude i love my tank. I advise everyone to get one ha ha. I have 2 wild saddle back clowns, 1 blue damsel, 1 yellow tang, 1 bicolor dottyback, 1 cleaner shrimp, and 1 threadfin butterfly. I even added 2 pieces of coral: green star polyp and a yellow gorgonian (AKA sea fan). Im going to try and post picks. I just made moon lights out of LED christmas lights.

ANyone else have a tank?

[Smokey McPot]

Here's a few pics of my tank taken over a several year period.

I had the tank pretty well automated so a lot of the daily tasks like water replacement were taken care of. I probably put 30 or so minutes a day doing things like feeding, cleaning off the front glass, random water quality tests, etc. I'd have to give the skimmer a cleaning every 4-5 days. Every two weeks I'd do a 20% water change which would take an hour or two.

I figured out that all together I was spending about 30hrs a month on the tank. Not an overwhelming amount of time for sure. At least not until my daughter was born. Once she came finding a spare hour to deal witht he tank, not to mention 30, was tough. Even so I probably would have kept it if not for the fact that we moved to a new house and moving one of these things is a seriously fucked thing t have to do.

If you want to get back into the hobby but dont want to spend as much time or money, just get fish only with live rock. You dont need strong lighting. Also there are some cool lookin corals that are cheap and dont need strong lighting. Thats what i have and i spend about 10 minutes a day on it and maybe like once or twice a week i spend an entire hour out of a day on it. It no big deal to me. I think its pretty cool. You basically have a small ocean in your house. I love the ocean so it works for me.