OMG this is the tank and fish I so want!! you mean I do not have to have live rock,sumps, and all that other stuff, I can actually have just gravel and pretty fish?
no way! tell me more, how to care for and do a tank like this!!! I want this tank!!!!!!!!!!!!! what are these fish, and what kind of can a person keep in a tank like this??? Im sooooo interested!! ( salt, brand, etc.)
okay, I don't want to burst your bubble, but this tank only works because of the type of fish that are in it.
ie hardy fish.
I probably could not put a clownfish, or a tang or most other saltwater species in this tank and have it do well at all.
reason is - the absence of live rock and no marine sand or aragonite (crushed coral) substrate.
many saltwater fish graze on algae on the live rock (eg. angels, tangs) and most are more sensitive so they will need a higher pH than what my tank has (the marine sand/crushed coral keeps the pH up higher).
the other reason is that many saltwater fish need much more structure to hide/get away from the aggression of other fish. eg. I had a school of green chromis in this tank that all killed one another excep the last one.
why? because I had no cover for them...
the absence of a skimmer means that I do have to change water every week. most reef tank owners never do this much because the skimmer takes wastes out of the tank BEFORE they break down into nitrates, hence, keeping the need for water changes to a minimum - which is good since salt is expensive.
I maintained reef tanks at the LFS where I used to work so I have a lot of experience with saltwater so I knew this would work.
but I would NOT recommend this type of a half assed setup for a first time saltwater owner..
this tank actually started off as a brackish setup (monos are brackish water fish that do better in full salt was they mature) with little salt..I raised the salinity up to 1.020 over time..then added the golden Jack and the hermit crabs..
if you are going to do a salt water setup, I would at least recommend going with the skimmer, live rock and proper substrate...
you will have much better success doing it right, not wrong like I did..
my tank only works because of the particular type of fish I have...
if you want to do a brackish setup with monos like I did and work it up to salt over time, that is not so bad.
but I wouldnt go with all the pretty saltwater fish that we are all used to seeing and try and put them into a tank with some salt and thats it.
do as I say, not as I do
the brand of salt I use is Instant Ocean.
hope this helps, even though it may not be what you wanted to hear...
