hello
well my salt tanks been running for well over a month- what a joy
i am only running a ehiem 2500lph pond pump and that s all!!
in the tank is
live rock, corals hard, saltwater crayfish, prawns, anemones heaps of them, damsels and some sort of black and white skippers, and a crab or 2, and some soft sponges etc
this tank is trouble free and actually easier than my african tanks,
was running a 4 foot light but found it was heating the tank temp up to high so when i changed to a 2 ft double fluro running a coral tube and a normal household fluro it was perfect!
i dont really know what all the hipe is over saltwatrer tanks -but i reckon there basically easy if kept simple,
the tank is only 5 foot but get this!!- only 1 foot high and wide!!!!
but i have no trouble at all - everything is thriving and the anemone s are growing and the corals flourish!!!
its great to sit back and watch the crayfish walk about scrounging for food, the damsels come to the tank front for food, the skipper is starting to be very friendly and the crabs and prawns always active,
never did i think i would run saltwater tanks-i actually hated them for a while as i thought the expense was too high for the outcome- but after researching i found that a saltwater tank can be hassle free and done cheaply even cheaper in setup than some freshwater setups,
i therefore think that like a lot of new things that come to the market are hiped up and so is the price tags so that every newcomer spends big dollars as there told they need this and that and the costs rise dramatically- once people relize that a salt tank setup can be done cheaply and still run all the live corals and fish without the big price tag the prices on the rather expensive pieces of equipment they state you need will drop.
yes the ocean is so deverse with life but one must remember that the ocean supports itself and that if you have the right tankmates the system will support itself,
every living creature has a purpose- the shrimp constantly cleans and sifts for debris, the crab finds and digs to gather debris under the sand and therefore loosens the sand and thus lets bacteria grow in the sand that becomes usefull i the tank
the corals and anemone sift the water for minute particals,
the algae filters the water and creates food for grazes-this is a natural filter for your tank
plus not to mention a million other life supportive creatures unseen by eye,
everything has a purpose- put them together and u will find the tank becomes self supportive!
well that s my opinion and hope you enjoyed the read- everyones point of view is different and i respect that -
i welcome everyones point of view whether it be good or bad, i am just sharing my point of view towards the saltwater trade, but for me my cheap saltwater tank setup is great and hassle free
and i hope everyone enjoys there saltwater tank setup as much as me
good work mate!
I recon one of the reasons you have had success with the corals is indeed the 1 foot height.
Less water to filter out the light.
Water flow is also very important to the corals and a 2500lph must be giving you that.
Damsels really are incredibly tough fish. Only thing that kills a damsel it sometimes seems is another damsel.
Ok so thats bias, they are not all tough and easy to feed, but 90% make excellent pets. Just a shame many are drab when older...
The clownfish are close to the damsels in ease of care as well.
Your clean up crew of crustys seem to be serving you well, any snails or bristle stars in the mix?
Over all I would have to echo your thoughts, marine tanks are not overlly difficult.
As the ford dude said 'nothing is too hard to do if broken down into small missions'
That said it is another tank to look after.... <grin>
Yea I'm a water changer..... but I live near the beach so it's worth it for the planktonny fings.
Me filter feeders go crazy.
yeh i do have snails and bristlestars as well, this was my first attempt at marine and i dare say its easier than i thought,
just did some reserch on natural reefs and eco systems and away i went- i think that if one studies the eco system and understands what does what than it becomes much more easier
thank you for the good rap - and later down the track i am planning a much bigger setup-though i am thinking of the following so please let me know if you think it will work
8ft x 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 tank
bare bottom tank
small bombie containing live rock etc in the middle of the tank
minamal lighting
big flow pump- thinking of pool pump or simalar
wave maker
and a couple of 1-2 foot sharks- bronze whalers or reefies or simialar
maybe than i will need a chiller or such -this indeed will no doubt be a much harder setup to maintain and water qaulity will be the utmost importance
do u think this setup will work
Yea sounds like it will be a mad shark tank. Always impress people.... well not wobbys or cats but yea bronzes would.
Sharks really do make tanks look small tho, but yea for a whilke it could be good. Heh heh.
With the bomy still try and expose as much rock surface area to the current. This helps a lot more than tightly packing it into a mountain as liverock needs water flow to work.
I'd also check out the garf website and get cracking on some custom display pieces, sure ya need to leach for a bit but it's a big $$$ saver.
Big flow pump I'm lost on, I'd check the power usage on a pool one and an aquaculture one. Aquaculture one will prob save ya cash over time thru more efficiency. If your also rellieing on water moving thru the liverock to provide your waste processing, you may run into problems handling the sharks waste load. Good time to drill and sump the thing, then ya can hide all sorts ugly pumps and stuff outta sight.