Can someone help me with starting a saltwater tank

[Beengirl]

Dotty backs are semi-aggressive and can be territorial, which might be even worse in a tank that size. Clowns are very cute, I have a black and white clown. Firefish are nice. I have a dwarf half-black angel in my tank he's done fine, but he does like to swim in and out of all of the caves that I have in my rockwork. Angels also tend to pick at corals, just in Case your planning to add coral later, might wanna keep that in mind. Blennies are cute, have a lot of personality, but don't really swim around a whole lot; mostly tend to sit on the rocks. Dartfish look nice. The white stripe Pygmy wrasse is pretty and colorful. If you go on liveaquaria.com, there's all kinds of fish along with tank size and temperament. Personally, I have only added fish with peaceful temperaments cuz I didn't want any fighting or killing goin on. A sand-sifting fish is cool to watch. Just some random thoughts.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Please ask as many as you want and can! I'm no expert and I don't know everything but someone on here will! Dry rock or "base rock" is rock that is suitable for saltwater that is not seeded with any bacteria yet and many of us will use it as a inexpensive substitute for cured liverock to fill our aquariums and use for aquascape. Basically, you can buy less live rock and within 6-9 months the base rock will have bacteria in/on it and becomes live rock. Before putting base rock in your tank, I recommend you buy it from your fish store or online because a lot of rock has different minerals in it that are bad for your shrimp or clean up crew as well as your tank in general. For example, something with copper in it would kill your cuc (clean up crew). You will want some live rock to help seed the bacteria as well as purple coralline algae which is good for your tank.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Great advice beengirl!! Those are some great suggestions!

 

[Mike jones]

Alright tomorrow I will be going and gettin some sand and live rock is there anything special I need to keep live rock i have a coral like 50/50 on it and I have a few tk 8000 lying around I'll put a 55 heater in and I know this probably sounds stiupid but do salt water fish need oxygen in their water to cause I've never seen it in any reef tanks or explained it on any "how to" videos

 

[Beengirl]

You'll need a couple of powerheads to circulate the water, want a little bit of ripple at surface of water to aerate the water and help regulate pH. The powerheads don't need to be expensive; Some people swear by certain brands, but I just got the Petco brand for 2 of mine and the other is a maxi-jet cuz it was on sale and cheaper at the time. I've had no problems with those powerheads. Save money where you can, but spend it on the important stuff, and buy what you want the first time so you don't waste money buying a second item of the same thing (like having to buy a better light cuz the first one not good enough). For me, getting a good filter and skimmer was important, so thats where i spent a good amount of money. You don't need an airstone or anything like that, if thats what you're asking. Only things I have on my tank are 3 powerheads (I have a 55gal), filter, skimmer and heater. Oh, and light of course. Getting a SW tank going is expensive, but once you start it's so much fun!!

 

[nikki_kaiser]

You don't need anything special. Just put the piece of shrimp in your water and start the process. Expect some brown algae as most newly cycled tanks get it. Water movement is what keeps the tank oxygenated along with filtration. That's why you need to get a power head or two. If you will get some cheap base rock you can build some cool little caves for your fish to feel safe!

http://www.ehow.com/about_6587329_source-oxygen-salt-water.html

 

[Mike jones]

When should I add live rock

 

[nikki_kaiser]

As soon as you can really. Soak it in some fresh dechlorinated water for about 5 minutes before you do. This will get parasites and other crud off that you won't want in the tank. When you take it out kind if shake it a little so anything that might be stuck on it comes off and put it in! That's what I do.

 

[Mike jones]

Well do I need filtration for live rock cause I dont plan on buying fish for awhile

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Do you already have the live rock?

 

[Mike jones]

No I'm planning on getting some this weekend

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Just run the filter you have on the tank now. It will be fine with live rock.

 

[Mike jones]

Alright thank you I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions Im the future

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Please ask anything you need! I may not know the answer to all your questions but I can find it somewhere! For now I would encourage you to read up about cycling a saltwater tank so you are knowledgeable on the process. Since it takes a few weeks you have time to do other research as well!

 

[Hocky puck]

Im a huge fan of dart fish and gobys

 

[Hocky puck]

And yea what she said was just catching up on thread

 

[Mike jones]

What would be better filtration for reef tank canister filter or sump?

 

[nikki_kaiser]

Sump. You need a well established tank though before you get into reef along with some serious lighting which is costly. It's why I'm just now converting my tank over. I figure for LED's I'm gonna drop anywhere from $350-$400 on the lights alone.

 

[nikki_kaiser]

You have to be sure your biological system is established and can handle fluctuations well. Otherwise you will kill the corals and some of them can kill other stuff when they die. If you don't have the right lighting, supplements, water conditions, temp, and know what to feed them...they will die.

 

[Mike jones]

Dang what would be your guess on a protein skimmer for a 30 gal and then I was gonna try to make a dump out of my 10 gallon