Are you considering a pistol shrimp? If so, sexy and peppermints would probably be out of the question.
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My first saltwater tank build
- Thread starter homedog98
- Start date
Pistols do not clean.. the video just has a cleaner shrimp as the still photo. Pistols are what pair up with gobies and are a cool combo to have/watch but if you go that route then other little shrimp are out of the question. If you skip the pistol shrimp then yes, a few sexy shrimp and a peppermint shrimp is fine.
Oh, what's the relationship? I think I saw something about that, but I can remember how it worked.
Basically the shrimp is the "blind bouncer and cave maintainer" to the goby cave and the goby is the seeing eye dog for the pistol shrimp. The shrimp will try and keep one feeler on the goby at all times to know where it is at and if the goby jumps the shrimp will run back into the cave.
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oh. thats cool! i think i'll just stick with the sexys though... i just got a chance to watch the pistol shrimp video you posted before... it's kinda creepy! lol. cool... but creepy!
How about cycling the tank first. A saltwater tank takes 6 to 8 weeks to fully cycle. And for filtration the tank has to be turned over at least 10 times an hour.
Ok, so cycling now. I have a few questions:
1. I was just planning on using the AC30 HOB. Would that be ok?
2. I know liverock will help with cycling, but do I still need an ammonia source?
3. Wow, I didn't know it took that long! Do you have to wait until it fully cycles to add fish like in FW tanks?
1 you can use that filter but it depends a bit on the media.
2 live rock basically IS your filtration system. Most live rock will have some die off that will jump start your cycle. Buying fully cured rock(locally) can help speed things up. I got all my rock from someone tearing down their reef tank. I never saw any sort of cycle. Just depends on the source. Live rock shipped to you or recently shipped to the LFS will have a good amount of die off that will cycle your tank. Using dry rock will cause that to take longer.
3 Yes yes YES. Saltwater fish/inverts/corals are sensitive. Patience in the key. Nothing good happens fast in saltwater.
2 live rock basically IS your filtration system. Most live rock will have some die off that will jump start your cycle. Buying fully cured rock(locally) can help speed things up. I got all my rock from someone tearing down their reef tank. I never saw any sort of cycle. Just depends on the source. Live rock shipped to you or recently shipped to the LFS will have a good amount of die off that will cycle your tank. Using dry rock will cause that to take longer.
3 Yes yes YES. Saltwater fish/inverts/corals are sensitive. Patience in the key. Nothing good happens fast in saltwater.
Nothing happens fast, unless you use Dr. Tim's bacteria, then the initial cycle does happen fast (5 days on average). No idea where gangstafish came up with 6-8 weeks to cycle, that is the life cycle of Ich, not the time to cycle a tank. Then again, that picture posted scares the crap out of me, a shark resting on top of a lion? Asking for death. Is that tank size anywhere close to suitable for a shark? Can't tell from the photo, but one thing I can tell, it is a square/rectangle tank which is highly frowned upon for sharks. Sharks and rays should be kept in round tanks, not square tanks. If the shark is in the same tank as the bottom picture, size wise seems big enough for a baby shark, but what happens when it grows up? It doesn't appear to be a 600G+ tank.
Still, I challenge anyone to show me a definition of "cycle". There isn't one. The "initial cycle" is when you have no ammonia or nitrites in the tank but that by no means your tank is fully cycled, a fully cycled tank can take many years depending on your definition.
As for flow/turnover, I would actually say 20x should be the bottom limit for saltwater display tanks (tanks with rock in it). 10x for QT tanks because there are no obstructions like rock to break up/slow down flow.
Still, I challenge anyone to show me a definition of "cycle". There isn't one. The "initial cycle" is when you have no ammonia or nitrites in the tank but that by no means your tank is fully cycled, a fully cycled tank can take many years depending on your definition.
As for flow/turnover, I would actually say 20x should be the bottom limit for saltwater display tanks (tanks with rock in it). 10x for QT tanks because there are no obstructions like rock to break up/slow down flow.
