my first SW tank

Rbishop

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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Okay, in support of Max and his first FW tank, I am going to venture into the opposite situation so we can compare notes and benefit all, hopefully. :cool:

So let me tell you what I want in general (or my grandkids), and please remember I am a total newbie with saltwater, so all the abbreviations and general detail will make me run back to operating a nuclear power plant which seems pretty basic to me.

I have a 55 gal acryllic tank available for the set up. I am proficeint as a handyman and have no qualms about drilling for an overflow and sump if required. I also am no stranger to tank maintenance with 25 FW tanks and am not at loss of patience to properly age a tank or cycle if you prefer.

I am starting a review of fish I like, and am sure I will make errors in judgements because of misunderstanding their requirements.

Reef. FOWLR. DSB are all unknowns to me. I love the look of damsels and clowns and the butterfly angels really have me intrigued.

So, Dork, Max and Yellow Tang, where do I start?
 
Reef- a tank wich suports and contains coral and other invertebrate growth.

FOWLR- fish only with live rock (FO- fish only, LR - live rock)

DSB- deep sand bed

The initial cycling stage in a salty tank is the same as in a freshy tank, minus maybe fishless cycling due to the added toxicity of ammonia becuase of the high PH in seawater and the cost of salt for water changes. You also need to remember that marine tanks need to do more than merely cycle in order to suport some fish. Herbiovores, and pod eaters for example need tanks that have been up more than 6-12 months.

Damsels are some rather coloufull fish and probably one of the most hardy marine fish - however they tend to have a bad attitude towards tankmates, maybe not right away, but they get more territorial as they mature.

Clowns are pretty much the same as damsels, although some, like the percula and ocelleris clowns can make good community tankmates.


Not completely sure what you mean by "butterfly angels".

Maitnence in a salty tank is arguably a lot easier than in a freshwater tank. Once a monthly water changes is usually all that is needed provided that you don't over do it fish wise. Other than that, you've got cleaining the skimmer, changing the light bulbs and toping off is pretty much everything else you need to do.
 
Hello rbishop and thanks for the support.
1. yes, you will make mistakes ,"I like to think of them as happy accidents mostly"
2. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you mean either tangs or b-flys. I'm afraid that your tank isn't large enough for anything except maybe a hippo tang.
3. I agree with what dork fish has said,"I change my water about every 2 weeks or so".
4. I'd strongly encourage you to use uncurred live rock to cycle your tank with . It will greatly add to your bio-diversity and if you keep your reading under 1 ppm for ammonia you shouldn't have too much die off.
5. there will be some hitchhickers on your rock that greatly improve the health and vitality of your tank a few that are real monsters.
6. The easy way is the natural way dsb and live rock for filtration/buffet with as little machinery as possible.
7. it takes a lot of patience but, once you get your system up and stable there really is less work imo.
Please, let us know what plan you decide you're going with and we'll be very happy to help you out.
hth
Chris
p.s. I've just learned that when a f.w. tank is cycled you can add all your live stock at that point. That's not the case with s.w. you'll want to stock your tank much slower. IME it's usually not good to add more than 1 or 2 fish per week.
 
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