Whats up guys,
FIRSTLY, this is probably going to turn into a long read, so please forgive me and bare with me and for those who read all the way through, thank you.
So, some of you may know that i recently got a 8'L x 20"W x 24"T 200 gallon aquarium, originally I was really hoping to keep freshwater stingrays and other assorted large specie exotic fresh water fish, but the center piece was going to be the stingrays. It was brought to my attention that unfortunately, a tank that is only 20" wide is not large enough for any species of freshwater stingrays... so fine, back to the drawing board...
So the only thing I could think of that I would want to keep more than stingrays would be... Sharks, salt water Sharks. So I started researching a little to see if 200 gallons would even get me in the ball bark of keeping Sharks. I originally wanted a species of shark that has the size, shape, behavior and swimming style of what comes to mind when someone thinks of a shark, the black tip / white tip shark came to mind. Through research i learned that they need a minimum of 1000 gallons, so that quickly went out of the window.
I kept researching, and found that the " Cat " family of sharks, Bamboo, banded cat, dog chain, epaulette, Marbled Catshark, coral catshark, etc etc. All of these sharks stay under 3' as full adults and they all require a minimum of around 150-180 gallons. Since my tank is much much longer than a typical 150 gallon tank, i think my 8' 200 gallon tank will be perfect. Winner winner chicken dinner? Im thinking a couple of one of those species (which ever i can get my hands on ) and some rays, id really like to get a blue dot ray, but i havent done any research about what a good ray would be for this tank, havent gotten that far yet. I was also thinking of keeping more exotic saltwater fish that ive always wanted to keep, like triggers and lion fish, but same with the rays, i havent begun research for those fish.
From my research i have read that saltwater sharks require near perfect water to thrive, and the best way to do that is through an epic filter. I have a 90 gallon tank that i am going to make into a sump for it, it will have room for over 50 gallons of biological media and will have really good mechanical filtration. The sump will be wet/dry with some of the bio media completely submersed and the rest under a drip plate. Ive also read that a good protein skimmer is necessary. I will also have an algae scrubber.
I have never had a salt water tank of any kind, but have been keeping freshwater fish for over 15 years and i like to think i am an experienced aquarist. I have been " gung ho " about starting a saltwater tank a few times and went into serious binge research mode a few times and have always been discouraged by that start up cost, high likely hood of failure, expensive filtration, chemicals and water tests. In the past tho ive always been researching about how to keep a reef tank, for this setup i was thinking about doing a " Fish Only " or FO setup to keep things simple and relatively cheap (compared to a reef setup).
^^^ All that is optional to read, if you dont want to read that please skip to here ^^^
So my questions are;
1. Is a 200 gallon 8' tank suitable for a couple cat family sharks?
2. What are the pros and cons of a FISH ONLY saltwater setup?
3. Would pool sand be an acceptable substrate for this kind of setup?
4. Is a fish only saltwater tank more complicated than i think it is, basically a freshwater tank, but with salt...?
5. I read that saltwater fish like higher PH, my tap is around 7.2, how would i get it into the 8+ph range?
I suppose thats it for now.
Thank you for any input!
FIRSTLY, this is probably going to turn into a long read, so please forgive me and bare with me and for those who read all the way through, thank you.
So, some of you may know that i recently got a 8'L x 20"W x 24"T 200 gallon aquarium, originally I was really hoping to keep freshwater stingrays and other assorted large specie exotic fresh water fish, but the center piece was going to be the stingrays. It was brought to my attention that unfortunately, a tank that is only 20" wide is not large enough for any species of freshwater stingrays... so fine, back to the drawing board...
So the only thing I could think of that I would want to keep more than stingrays would be... Sharks, salt water Sharks. So I started researching a little to see if 200 gallons would even get me in the ball bark of keeping Sharks. I originally wanted a species of shark that has the size, shape, behavior and swimming style of what comes to mind when someone thinks of a shark, the black tip / white tip shark came to mind. Through research i learned that they need a minimum of 1000 gallons, so that quickly went out of the window.
I kept researching, and found that the " Cat " family of sharks, Bamboo, banded cat, dog chain, epaulette, Marbled Catshark, coral catshark, etc etc. All of these sharks stay under 3' as full adults and they all require a minimum of around 150-180 gallons. Since my tank is much much longer than a typical 150 gallon tank, i think my 8' 200 gallon tank will be perfect. Winner winner chicken dinner? Im thinking a couple of one of those species (which ever i can get my hands on ) and some rays, id really like to get a blue dot ray, but i havent done any research about what a good ray would be for this tank, havent gotten that far yet. I was also thinking of keeping more exotic saltwater fish that ive always wanted to keep, like triggers and lion fish, but same with the rays, i havent begun research for those fish.
From my research i have read that saltwater sharks require near perfect water to thrive, and the best way to do that is through an epic filter. I have a 90 gallon tank that i am going to make into a sump for it, it will have room for over 50 gallons of biological media and will have really good mechanical filtration. The sump will be wet/dry with some of the bio media completely submersed and the rest under a drip plate. Ive also read that a good protein skimmer is necessary. I will also have an algae scrubber.
I have never had a salt water tank of any kind, but have been keeping freshwater fish for over 15 years and i like to think i am an experienced aquarist. I have been " gung ho " about starting a saltwater tank a few times and went into serious binge research mode a few times and have always been discouraged by that start up cost, high likely hood of failure, expensive filtration, chemicals and water tests. In the past tho ive always been researching about how to keep a reef tank, for this setup i was thinking about doing a " Fish Only " or FO setup to keep things simple and relatively cheap (compared to a reef setup).
^^^ All that is optional to read, if you dont want to read that please skip to here ^^^
So my questions are;
1. Is a 200 gallon 8' tank suitable for a couple cat family sharks?
2. What are the pros and cons of a FISH ONLY saltwater setup?
3. Would pool sand be an acceptable substrate for this kind of setup?
4. Is a fish only saltwater tank more complicated than i think it is, basically a freshwater tank, but with salt...?
5. I read that saltwater fish like higher PH, my tap is around 7.2, how would i get it into the 8+ph range?
I suppose thats it for now.
Thank you for any input!