Saltwater tanks

[flamingonhot]

sorry........im buying the dummie book.......
i wont say the su word anymore........

 

[flamingonhot]

and how much does a thing of live rock usually cost?

 

[Hara]

average would be around 5.00 per pound. A pound rock is about the size of a baseball. (rough guess)

 

[jaiden]

and you need at least one pound per gallon... and you need to be starting with an absolute minimum of 30 gal for your first SW tank. Expect to spend $1000 in your first two months, and don't expect to get your first fish for at least 6 weeks after starting.

 

[MT79]

Flamingonhot seems to be quite an appropriate avatar LOL....Listen to these people, trust me

 

[XXFirefighter]

You don't want to spend 30 bones on a tank, go buy a bowl and a beta....

 

[BillyZ]

I think we all need to both be a little more supportive as well as a little more receptive, on both sides of the conversation.


I think $1000 might be a little high. There are frugal options out there (Trust me, I'm rather frugal myself! [and by frugal, I mean broke! lol]) You can save a lot of money by researching things first. Get what you need and get the RIGHT thing the first time. You can save a TON by stocking your tank with baserock first, then adding LR, etc. there are a lot of ways you can save money. I got my 55 going for a lot less than $1000. But you have be patient and you have to research. Research in books, on the web, ask questions here (which you will hopefully get friendler responses to in the future :? )

 

[RocketSeason]

1000 dollars may be a bit high. but not by much. I spent over 1000 bucks on my 37 gallon tank before I added one fish. Now I did take a bit more of an expensive approach, but I think if you plan on spending about 1000 bucks for setup, you wont be shocked in two months.

also, do alot of research. alot of people don't really catch the saltwater bug. It's better to work through it now and save yourself alot of time, money, and headaches two months from now.

I researched for a year before I bought the tank.

By the way: WELCOME TO AQUARIUM ADVICE!!!

 

[balasharkfreak]

Peoria

Hey Rocket,

Didnt know anyone on here lived in the "Armpit of the World"?

Just kididng. Im from Chicago, went to EIU (knew people from Peoria) and now live in Seattle. Ever hit Big Al's?

 

[RocketSeason]

Im not really a strip club kinda guy, but I hear good things.

 

[klam]

dummies thing for 8 bucks........
so when i ever get a ride and get a load of money walla!

I hope you didn't mean that $8 is a load of money. To setup a 10g reef the initial cost will be around $300+ and that doesn't include the cost of live stock. But you can buy used equipment and stuff to save you some money.

 

[klam]

and you need to be starting with an absolute minimum of 30 gal for your first SW tank.

Sounds like something a LFS would say to a newbie to get them to spend more on a bigger tank.

There is really no minium or maximun tank size that a begginer should start with. Smaller the tank size the more difficult it is to maintain and to have stable water quality . There is less room for errors due to less volume of water of smaller tanks.

If you read, research, have patience, and a little bit of money you can be successful in this hobby even if you never done saltwater before.

 

[flamingonhot]

sorry klam i meant the book is eight and once i get a load of money i can get the equipment and stuff... and i was thinking of having a small 10 gal. for crying out loud 30 smallest? ive seen 1 gallon tanks!

 

[RocketSeason]

Because saltwater fish have a much lower tollerance for poor water conditions, it is very important to avoid large swings in the water conditions. It is much, much easier to keep large tanks stable. because of this, most people do not recommend anything less than a 55 gallon for beginners. However, if you are dedicated, you could get away with something as small as a 30 gallon tank.

10 gallon tanks are known as "nano reefs" and not recommended for first time SW aquarists. Also, you can only fit about 2 inches of fish in a ten gallon tank. This means your options are extremly limited. ( one damsel, chromi, or one clown.)

Salt water fish need alot more room then freshwater fish do.

 

[Mr Crabs]

I swear I saw Big Al's up for sale on Ebay about a month ago

 

[jaiden]

It's not me, or an LFS saying 30 gal minimum... It's Mr. Fenner.

This guy is going to kill a bunch of fish.

 

[grimlock3000]

sorry klam i meant the book is eight and once i get a load of money i can get the equipment and stuff... and i was thinking of having a small 10 gal. for crying out loud 30 smallest? ive seen 1 gallon tanks!

You can do a 10g tank, however it takes a lot more work and planning to do so properly. As stated many times, the smaller tanks are more likely to experience flucuations. I am doing a 10g tank, and will be moving everything into a 15g in a couple weeks. The tank is going into a baby room, otherwise I would have got something bigger.

Here is some original planning I did for my 10g:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=31650&highlight=

 

[RocketSeason]

I swear I saw Big Al's up for sale on Ebay about a month ago

um...I don't think they would sell a world famous strip club on Ebay.

At least without my knowing about it.

 

[Jessethebody101]

You are not going to get far with that kind of attitude.If you think $30 for a book is alot,I have 5 tank setups,all with expensive wet dry filters and protein skimmers.And I am just a kid.So you are going to have to get use to spending hundreds of dollars.

 

[balasharkfreak]

LOL Rocket,

I think Mr Crabs was referring to Big Al's Fish Store (of Canada) beign sold on eBay, not Big Al's Strip Club of Peoria, IL.