First Saltwater Tank ... Have Some Ideas

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ascarlis

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Mar 12, 2006
Messages
9
Hello!

Here is the situation:

I currently have two 185 freshwater tanks (one large cichlid tank and one community tank) and am thinking about getting a saltwater tank.

I was going to get a 55 - 75 gallon FOWLR. Originally, I wanted to get an anglerfish, but couldn't really build up a tank around it. So, I was thinking about a snowflake eel. What else could I put in with the eel in that sized tank? Thanks!

Also, I will be moving in 20 months from Chicago to New York. I already have arrangements for my freshwater tanks to remain here with a new steward. I would want to bring the saltwater tank with me. Is there anyway to keep the livestock? What about the Live Rock? Thanks a lot!
 
Inhabitants: I'm not into agressive tanks, so hopefully somone else can chime in on your eel and companion question.

Moving: I've moved my freshwater tank about 10 times between Chicago and Rochester. It's a 14 hour drive. Chicago to NYC would be a 20 hour drive? 20 Months would be November?

Pointers:
Bring as much old water as you can. 5 gallon buckets will cut down on your gas milage, but reduce the shock of the move.
If possible, pre-mix a large amount of saltwater at your destination, so you can do water changes right after the move if necssary.
Seperate fish, invertabrate livestock and live rock into seperate buckets, or see if your LFS will pack them in bags and styrofoam for you. (If bagging, pre-arrange, but leave this step til last minute.)
When draining the tank, take all but the last couple inches as your clean water you're bringing with you. Stir up the substrate really good to wash it and siphon the last bit of water as waste.
Pre-plan disassembly/reassembly of your setup so it goes as fast as possible.
If you have to stop for the night, bring the livestock in to the hotel for climate control reasons.

If you can do everything fast, keep everything wet, and not let anything get too cold/hot, you should be able to set up at your destination and not even go through a second cycle.
 
Don't be too concerned about the weight...if you have the space, bring the water! It WILL cut down on your gas mileage, but think about it this way:

At just over 8 pounds per gallon, 20 gallons of water will weigh about 160 pounds...the same weight as an average male. For every 20 gallons of water, you are adding the equivalent of about 1 passenger...not too terribly much to worry about, especially for the stress you will save your fish. :)

Paul
 
Carlis, you are already on the right foot with saltwater hobby when you said "Originally, I wanted to get a big fish but couldn't really build up a tank around it"

Most people would setup the tank then figure out what can fit in it. You are thinking correctly and ethically, my friend. Kudos!

In terms of your move, good luck and do keep us posted. We only wish the best for you...although it's still 20 months away.

In terms of your sized tank, and an eel, I will leave it up to the FOWLR experts to help us out there.

Any takers?
 
I've never tried keeping a moray, but have done aggressive fish before. I can only tell you what i've typically seen housed with them. Some type of trigger, lionfish, maybe a puffer. Some combination out of that. I kept tangs with triggerfish and lionfish before and they got along fine. Just need fish large enough not to look like food to the predators. I think your main obstacle will probably be tank size. All of these fish get pretty good sized and that's going to limit your stock. They are also all messy eaters and can really foul up your water in a too small tank. Any chance you can go bigger than a 75? With the portability requirement probably not.

I think that snowflakes are supposed to be on the peaceful side, at least less aggressive as far as morays go :) It might do well housing it with some less aggressive species, but large enough that the moray doesn't think of it as lunch.
 
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