Planning a reef tank ?'s

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Most don't, mainly because they don't consider them a nutritious food. Mysis shrimp would be a better choice.
 
You could. I did and it was cool watching them grow everyday. But it has a smell if you don't do water changes every few days. Like Mr. X said, they aren't really nutritious but they are when they first hatch for about 2-5 days.
 
Bearchumjs said:
LOL! I think I'll just save up and when I'm ready to get lights I'll do more research. For now though, I have learned alot about lots of different types of lights. Thank you all for all your input on the topic.

New topic: brine shrimp- aka sea monkeys. I told my daughter we will have to raise some so we can feed the fish and corals. Do any of you raise brine shrimp or anything like that?
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Can't help on that one. Sorry. I feed frozen mysis shrimp
 
Sniperhank said:
Wait...green star polyps one of the toughest corals? Far from the truth, it is a beginner coral that turns into a weed.

You are correct that if you want to hold off on corals then you would not require a more expensive light...but I did similar and am kicking myself as I now go about spending the money I should have ontop of what I already invested into it. If you are concerned about the money part, look into LED. I keep reading more and more about cheap LED units that have the capacity to supply enough light for SPS. In Doug's 250 wall build they are talking about them. Should be somewhere around page 98-100. I ended up going the LED route, but went with Ecotech Radions so I could set everything up with my computer rather than having timers. My first one will arrive next week.
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By toughest I ment they are hard to kill they can live through alot
 
Ok. Looked up breeding mysis... I think I'll just buy frozen and raise some sea monkeys (brine shrimp) and feed them to the fish now and again. Sea monkeys are cool. Maybe I'll get a little 2.5 gallon tank set up on the counter for them. My daughter got some for Christmas one year and the kids really liked watching them...
 
New question!! Yay!

If I get a 55 gallon tank, how much water will I need to remove for the weekly water change once it is cycled? Or should I do bi-weekly instead of weekly and if so how much water should be removed?

How many days before the water change should I mix the saltwater? How long can you store it in a bucket?

Also, for topping off in the case of evaporation, how many days ahead of time should I get to RO freshwater water ready and how long can I store that in a bucket?

How do you guys pour the water back into your tanks? I image it would be hard to lift a 5gallon bucket up to the aquarium and not spill it everywhere. I'm thinking set the bucket on an elevated surface and use some hosing and let gravity take over like it does when using a siphon... But I want to hear how you guys do it.
 
Alright I store about 30 gallons of water in a brute trash can. I mix my saltwater a few hours before my water change some times overnight. I use a water pitcher to fill the tank back up so it slowly mixes all the water and doesn't create a sand storm. My water is stored in the trash can for a week. I do 10 gallon water change on my 55 salt and 15 Gallons on my 55gfreshwater and have 5 gallons of water for evaporation each week.
 
I keep a ton of distilled on hand. I have 3 5 gal buckets and endless milk jugs. I mix my water up over night with a powerhead and heater. I do my water change through my sump so not to disturb my DT. I have about a gallon of evap a day.
 
Sniperhank said:
I keep a ton of distilled on hand. I have 3 5 gal buckets and endless milk jugs. I mix my water up over night with a powerhead and heater. I do my water change through my sump so not to disturb my DT. I have about a gallon of evap a day.
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What size tank do you have again?
 
You can store water for as long as needed as far as I know as long as it has lids.

I always make more then needed.
 
New question!!

How do you quarantine new fish when you bring them home? Do you keep a small tank up and running all the time or something?
 
I just set my qt tank up when I need it with a small hang on spounge filter and a piece of 3" pvc for the fish to hide in if they feel the need. I just mix up some fresh saltwater everytime I need it. It works well. I just make sure the saltwater matches the salinity of my dt. Other people might leave it set up all the time but I have no need for that. As for pwc on my dt I have a mark on the side of my tank and I got a small drill operated pump from menards and some rubber hose from ace hardware and I pump it out and then reverse the direction on my drill and pump it back in out of my 5 gal bucket. It works great. To keep fish from getting sucked up in it I put one of those nylon traps that zip tie on the end of the hose that are supposed to be used for a clothes washer. I built the whole thing for $20 and it took 20 min to put together.
 
jwalsh said:
I just set my qt tank up when I need it with a small hang on spounge filter and a piece of 3" pvc for the fish to hide in if they feel the need. I just mix up some fresh saltwater everytime I need it. It works well. I just make sure the saltwater matches the salinity of my dt. Other people might leave it set up all the time but I have no need for that. As for pwc on my dt I have a mark on the side of my tank and I got a small drill operated pump from menards and some rubber hose from ace hardware and I pump it out and then reverse the direction on my drill and pump it back in out of my 5 gal bucket. It works great. To keep fish from getting sucked up in it I put one of those nylon traps that zip tie on the end of the hose that are supposed to be used for a clothes washer. I built the whole thing for $20 and it took 20 min to put together.
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But the qt tank isn't cycled right? I thought you'd have to qt them in a cycled tank. How many days do they stay in the qt tank?

Also, I guess you have to acclimate them to the qt tank and then acclimate them to your dt when you put them in there?

Do you need to qt snails and crabs or can you just drip acclimate them and put them in the dt?


...I'm going to be the most knowledgeable saltwater aquarist ever who doesn't own an actual tank... LOL! I'll be excited to get to use this knowledge one day!
 
No the water isn't cycled. I only leave them in there for 24 hours or so. Just to see how theyh are doing. If all is good into the dt they go. I personally don't qt my inverts I just drip them then add them right to the dt. And yes you need to acclimate the fish to both the qt and the dt just to make sure everything is on par. Also don't forget a heater in the qt. I forgot to say that before. Most fish and notice I said most are more sensitive to temp change than minor salinity changes. But just to make sure all is well acclimate them to the dt as well. Also make sure the temps are as close as possible. I keep mine between 78 and 80 degrees.
 
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