new tank

[barbizon]

Hello all! Am new to this!

I finally decided to go with SW fish(had considered Cichlids at one time)..I have a 37G All-Glass tank, Millennium 2000 filter, 200 Visi-Therm Deluxe heater.

Is a SW Tank hard to maintain?

1)What else do I need to start?
2)Crushed Coral for base or Sand mixed with coral?
3) Is live rock necessary? (I do not want plants in my tank). Coral is very $$$ I hear!

Fish..I will start with Damselfish.

Need all the help I can get!!

Thanks!

 

[d9hp]

I would use sand. IMO live rock is not nessary, but I would not set up a tank without it.

 

[ewisner]

Welcome. The BEST advice I got was from this forum, Take your time, wait, then wait some more. NOTHING good happens fast, in saltwater sytems. If it happens fast or you do it fast, it is bad!
I tried damsels for cycling fish. I will not do that again. I was told here to use a fresh shrimp from the food store. This worked great and no fish had to suffer or die.
I started with a deep sand bed 4 inches. I will be adding live rock in the following weeks.
Also, do not go cheap on the testing kit. (one of my first mistakes (of many).
Good luck and most of all... have fun.

 

[Salt4Us]

Welcome to AA Barbizon! You found a great place for help! Do as much reading as you can and figure out what you want, or depending on the size of your tank what you can have. Yep corals are expensive, but worth the outcome, but that's just my opinion

 

[loganj]

The best advice I can give you, and the best money you can spend at this point, is to buy a copy of "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert M. Fenner. This book will tell you most of what you need to know to get started. I'll try to answer your questions. A SW tank isn't really harder to maintain, just different. The things that work with FW don't always apply to SW.
1) I would recommend a skimmer and a couple of powerheads for flow (Maxi Jets are the best IMO)
2) Sand. You can use CC, but I think sand is better as it gives you better diversity. I wouldn't mix them.
3) LR is not necessary. You can have a SW tank without it. I think it is something you'll want to add though. If you have enough LR, you can do away with the power filter because the LR will handle your biological filtration. Also, there is all kinds of neat stuff that grows on and in the LR.
You might go to the "articles" link on the home page here and read some of the articles in there. I would suggest using the "fishless cycling" method to start your tank...I believe it is explained in there.
Welcome to AA and please don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have.

 

[barbizon]

Thanks for all the advice! I KNOW I will have many, many questions!

 

[sokhamik]

hey.. you can check out Robert Fenner's site... it has a lot of information there also.. it is www.wetwebmedia.com... if you have questions.. you can ask him directly or any of his colleagues.. if you want fast and great answers, here is where you's want to post.. good luck!!

 

[Leader of Men]

I cant wait to get a bigger tank so I can go salt water

Honestly, I think saltwater is pretty hard to maintain, and pretty money consuming at the start of it...

My friend had a lot of problems until he got a UV Sterilizer. (SP?)

 

[sokhamik]

i think it is worth it though.. saltwater fishes have so much personality.. it's like fun to watch.. the maintenance to me gives me something to do during the day.. i have nothing to do until school starts.. my friends all say i'm ditching them for my fishes.. i laugh at it.. hehe..

 

[Leader of Men]

I ditch no friends for fishies, but one time I made my friend wait so I could let my fish out of the bag before we left...

 

[SoylentGrundy]

Anyone else ever use Mollies for cycling? I found them to be very hardy, cheap, (and expendable).

 

[barbizon]

Hi Sok! I tried the web page you offered but it would not go through. So far, I spent abt $200(tank, filter,thermo)..I want to go slow with this and do it the best I can without loosing fish. We are looking into having a cabinet built so it will be similar to a TV/Aquarium side-by-side.

The thing is I am not good with 'chemistry'..AT ALL! This will be a bit difficult until the "light bulb" comes on! That has me a bit worried..but that is why I am here!

 

[steve-s]

The thing is I am not good with 'chemistry'..AT ALL!

Try reading this >>article<<. It can be very good at easing you into the basics.

Cheers
Steve

 

[barbizon]

Thanks Steve! I am going to print it out! I have a few books now..many put the scare into the newbee wanting to have a SW tank.

How many of you began with a FW tank or did you jump right in to the SW?

 

[tkos]

Umm...excuse me? Expendable fish. You think it is okay to expend fish during your cycling? That is great! (sarcastic)

 

[steve-s]

How many of you began with a FW tank or did you jump right in to the SW?

I had a FW tank about 15 yrs ago, but I doubt I could help anyone with the simplest problem now .. LOL. I do however have a 35g pond in the foyer of the apt. Nothing has ever gone wrong with it (touch wood) so it's been stress free.

I will be bugging the FW guru's soon as I will be wanting to start growing water plants though.

Cheers
Steve

 

[steve-s]

Umm...excuse me? Expendable fish. You think it is okay to expend fish during your cycling? That is great! (sarcastic)

While no animals should be considered expendable by any means, mollies can be a good choice for certain scenarios in SW. They can easily be converted to SW and breed quite easily in the home aquarium.

When you consider the impact of collecting wild specimens from the ocean vs breeding your own, one impacts the ecology much much less than the other. I think it's a choice of the lesser of two evils.

Proper thought and planning can avoid these issues though. Fishless cycling as well as avoiding animals that must be fed live foods is the most conscientious (sp?) way and one that I fully support.

Cheers
Steve

 

[barbizon]

Steve, I would support you on that. It would be very difficult for me to "hand over" a live fish to another for another one's dinner. It's even hard for me to watch animal shows that show survival of the fittest etc. I get teary eyed and am quite a wimp on that! I know that's how life is and is meant to be but....

With my FW tank..I liked the FW 'sharks' the pet store had..but, they would eventually grow to large for my desk-top tank I have at school..I asked "What then?" ..the employee said "Aw..just flush 'em when they get too big!" 8O !!

I did find a store that takes the ones that get too large for the owner's tank etc..you can trade them in!

Ok, I will get 'corney' here...The beauty of life is life itself.

Barbara