Hi. I recently joined this website due to a bet my father and I have made. My entire life I have grown up around and have been influenced by multiple pets, specifically fish. We've kept South American chiclids, African chiclids, bettas, and gars to name a few. Saltwater had always looked cool to me but my dad constantly refused to get one because it would be "too much work" and "if we left for a day we'd come back and they'd be dead". Any who, I came across an empty 55 gallon and I've been getting ready to set it up so my father and I head to the pet store to pick up a few things. Then that's when we see it, the pet stores brand new salt water section. I was amazed as was my father. So, we made a bet. If I can maintain a saltwater tank for a period of time, he'll let me get a 100+ gallon tank. So as you can guess I've been reading up on a lot of stuff but I'm still fairly confused. What's a protein skimmer and what does it do? What is live sand/rocks? What kind of food do they eat? Which fish can be added with which, are there restrictions? Salt? How does the salt work? Thanks.
Saltwater tank
- Thread starter Buggy0123
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Welcome to the saltwater hobby. It is a lot of fun. Take your time and you will do great. Live rock and sand is just rock and sand that has bacteria and other organisms on it. It is usually collected from the ocean and you get it without the life dying. Best of luck in your new adventure.
Start with the sticky above - how to start a saltwater aquarium...address is also below.
http://www.reefedition.com/291/
Start with the sticky above - how to start a saltwater aquarium...address is also below.
http://www.reefedition.com/291/
Sgt Jonny
Active Member
Hey welcome to the bobby... I thought the same thing as your father when I started. As long as your patient, and take everything slow you will be fine. I bought the book "Salt Water aquariums for dummy's" and it explained a lot! Also...youtube is a great place to learn stuff, along with this forum.
As stated above, live rock is rock with bacteria and other little critters that live in the crevices of the rock that help filter the tank. A skimmer is also a filtration device that removes nutrients and waste from your tank. The live rock and skimmer are your main filtration components and are very important. Remember....take it slow...and read...read...read! You will earn a lot...
Good luck
As stated above, live rock is rock with bacteria and other little critters that live in the crevices of the rock that help filter the tank. A skimmer is also a filtration device that removes nutrients and waste from your tank. The live rock and skimmer are your main filtration components and are very important. Remember....take it slow...and read...read...read! You will earn a lot...
Good luck
3dees
Well-Known Member
if your planning on a 100 gal. in the future, beg your dad for it now. many people upgrade from a 55 because they are so hard to scape without piling the rock against the back glass. a 75 gal. would be a bit cheaper than a 90 and still give you the same amount of space. two things to consider is an RO/DI unit and a qt. both will save you money and heartaches in the long run. research everything you intend on doing before you do it. there is plenty of help from this and other forums. salt is not as hard as some would have you believe. I did it after many of years of fw.
I'm very new to this hobby. I've had my 125 gallon up for 4 months now. Advice I could give would be this...
RO/DI water is very helpful, get a unit to make your own.
Go slow. It sucks staring at a empty tank, but these things take time. I only have 6 fish in my tank and no coral yet.
Get good equipment.
Ask questions/research
Know your fish. The worst part for me was buying a few fish that existed just fine together at the fish store, only to have them kill each other once I got them home...
RO/DI water is very helpful, get a unit to make your own.
Go slow. It sucks staring at a empty tank, but these things take time. I only have 6 fish in my tank and no coral yet.
Get good equipment.
Ask questions/research
Know your fish. The worst part for me was buying a few fish that existed just fine together at the fish store, only to have them kill each other once I got them home...
Saltwaterwill
Active Member
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Lol
melypr1985
totally addicted
Welcome!
A skimmer works by creating tiny tiny bubbles that swirl around inside the body of the skimmer. The bubbles attach to and lift the dissolved solids in the water up and over the skimmer cup. It collects there until you empty it.
Do you research. There are stickies at the top of this forum that are great reads and will give you a good base knowledge to start with. Start with "ultimate guide to setting up a saltwater aquarium"
A skimmer works by creating tiny tiny bubbles that swirl around inside the body of the skimmer. The bubbles attach to and lift the dissolved solids in the water up and over the skimmer cup. It collects there until you empty it.
Do you research. There are stickies at the top of this forum that are great reads and will give you a good base knowledge to start with. Start with "ultimate guide to setting up a saltwater aquarium"
Scubafrog
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the hobby. As a fairly recent newbie myself I found that Bulk Reef Supply and Marine Depot both had good information on their websites and YouTube pages. Bulk Reef Supply has a great 52 week series going right now on their YouTube page about setting up a reef tank.
Check out Marine Depots education page.
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter.html
I found the following two links with basic diagrams helpful when I started as I was clueless about sumps and protein skimmers.
http://www.marinedepot.com/what-is-a-sump.html
http://www.marinedepot.com/what-is-a-protein-skimmer.html
Check out Marine Depots education page.
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_educationcenter.html
I found the following two links with basic diagrams helpful when I started as I was clueless about sumps and protein skimmers.
http://www.marinedepot.com/what-is-a-sump.html
http://www.marinedepot.com/what-is-a-protein-skimmer.html
