Thinking about a saltwater tank...

[Crystal A]

I think his tank is larger then ten gallons. Lol I have a nano tank it 28gallons. I have 1 large turbo snail, 2 zebra snails, about 4 hermits, and 1 cleaner shrimp. I had a emerald crab but he started to eat my corals so I took him out. I also have like a hundred nassarius snails because they breed but I agree one of the neatest things in the tank.
In a ten gallon I would Probaly go with 2 hermits, 2 snails, your choice on the kind, 3-4 nassarius, 1 cleaner shrimp. Ya don't want to start with to many so if you find that they arnt keeping up with tidying up you could add one or two more. My rule of thumb has always been they eat and poop as well they will grow. I started with 6 hermits and two have died off or were killed.
As far as cycling I used the table shrimp method took about three weeks then I added my cuc. Waited another 20-30 days for them to clean up the algae then added my first two fish. Clowns. time and patience are the best in saltwater and as long as you stick with the pwc every week you shouldn't have to worry about any build up of nutrients. Wow that was long. Glad to see someone so excited about starting up. Good luck and ask questions as they come to ya.

 

[okapizebra]

Okay, I will go with that stocking plan for inverts then. I am afraid of putting in too many for that reason. I will definitely add more if I need them.

I am very excited lol. Cycling is going to be the hardest part to contain my patience. My plans for this week are to start getting the dry rock and work on moving the current inhabitants of the tank elsewhere. Then once they're gone I can clean it out completely. From there i'll get my live sand and saltwater and fill it up!

 

[Crystal A]

Sounds like a plan. Keep us posted.

 

[okapizebra]

Will do! Tomorrow I'm going to go over to my local saltwater store (I've only ever been there once) to check it out and see what they have and also see if I can get some dry rock. I only have like 20 dollars currently so I'll see what I can do. Might just get my hydrometer and some new filter media for my AC 20.

I have some questions about my current tank and I don't want to make a whole thread about it so I'll see if anyone here knows. Is there a way I can disinfect my plants in my current FW tank so that I won't pass any algae or pathogens over to my other tank when I move them? Will H2O2 work?

 

[okapizebra]

Is it okay to put shells in my tank? I live 5 mins from the beach and have tons.

 

[Beengirl]

Is it okay to put shells in my tank? I live 5 mins from the beach and have tons.

You absolutely can add shells from the beach!! Just boil them for about 10 min to kill off any bacteria that might be on them. Let them cool and toss them in.

 

[okapizebra]

Sounds good! Thanks!

 

[obscurereef]

I think his tank is larger then ten gallons. Lol I have a nano tank it 28gallons. I have 1 large turbo snail, 2 zebra snails, about 4 hermits, and 1 cleaner shrimp. I had a emerald crab but he started to eat my corals so I took him out. I also have like a hundred nassarius snails because they breed but I agree one of the neatest things in the tank.
In a ten gallon I would Probaly go with 2 hermits, 2 snails, your choice on the kind, 3-4 nassarius, 1 cleaner shrimp. Yeah don't want to start with to many so if you find that they arnt keeping up with tidying up you could add one or two more. My rule of thumb has always been they eat and poop as well they will grow. I started with 6 hermits and two have died off or were killed.
As far as cycling I used the table shrimp method took about three weeks then I added my cuc. Waited another 20-30 days for them to clean up the algae then added my first two fish. Clowns. time and patience are the best in saltwater and as long as you stick with the pwc every week you shouldn't have to worry about any build up of nutrients. Wow that was long. Glad to see someone so excited about starting up. Good luck and ask questions as they come to ya.

I definitely agree. Yeah I don't have a nano tank, so I guess I'm not as conservative(?) as someone with one. I mean snails & crabs still don't produce too much waste, however many you think will be good enough for cleaning up your tank. I also started out with some and added a bunch that I bought offline later. I don't think you can use FW fish food for SW fish/inverts as they eat different things and might have phosphates. What are the ingredients? Like both FW and SW fish can eat brine shrimp, etc. You can use vinegar or some people use bleach to disinfect the tank. How exciting, setting up the tank and all!

 

[okapizebra]

The only thing holding me back now is funds! lol

I know I can feed the algae wafers (it's just spirulina) but I don't know about the catfish wafers. I'll probably just avoid them. They're just shrimp though, so I don't know.

 

[obscurereef]

Craigslist!?

 

[okapizebra]

Just checked... Couldn't find anything!

 

[obscurereef]

Aww...No lfs going out of business or having sales..or ebay (not that I've had experience w/ or trust ebay).

 

[okapizebra]

I couldn't find anything good on ebay.

I'm going to my local saltwater store to see what they have hopefully tomorrow, if not then on wednesday.

 

[okapizebra]

So today I went and got my hydrometer and new filter media for my filter. I only need about 60 dollars more until I can go and buy my salt water, rock, and sand. So excited! So I'll be setting it up as soon as I get the funds... I can hardly wait lol.

 

[okapizebra]

What kind of rock do I need exactly? Could any of it be bought at home depot? At my local saltwater store they were selling rock for 10 dollars a pound! But they said they could order me in some dry rock. I forgot to ask them for the price though. If it's just rock, couldn't I just get it home depot?

 

[Beengirl]

The rock needs to be porous to allow many crevices for bacteria to live. It's not regular solid rock. The dry rock is usually $2 or less per pound, much better than live rock. I would ask LFS how much they charge for that.

 

[okapizebra]

That sounds much more reasonable. I'll have to go back there and see.

 

[okapizebra]

How much rock do I need?

 

[Beengirl]

The goal is 1- 1 /2 lb per gallon. It doesn't have to all be adde at once if you're short on cash. After you're cycled though, any rock you add should be base rock so that you don't have a mini cycle from die-off on LR.

 

[okapizebra]

Okay, thanks! How much do I need to start off with? If it's only about 2 dollars a pound I should be fine with starting out with ten pounds. But just in case it's more, how much is enough to start off with?