# My ideas for saltwater...



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I was thinking about having a saltwater tank so here's my idea (tell me if there's anything wrong with my thinking). I want to use my freshwater 5 gal to keep a pair of clownfish and maybe a damsel fish. I don't want live rock or that sort of thing but I don't know if they'll be happy without it. I was wondering if I needed a heater and special type of filter or filter cartriges for that. My mom says "I can't have saltwater because it costs too much and is too much work and that sort of thing but I keep telling her that it might not be that much work and cost... She says I'll have to keep on adding salt to the water but salt doesn't evaporate. please give me an estimate of how much the tank will cost!!!


----------



## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Forget everything you've typed. I hate to say it, but that entire idea is worthless. Now that the unpleasantries are are out of the way, here's my analysis. It is clear that you want to set up a small salt water tank and keep one or two small, but iconic, fish. If you want to have that pair of clowns, you need at least a 20 long. Here's what you would need to maintain them. 

1. 20 gallon long 

2. HOB power filter with filter floss cartridge. 

3. Relatively pure water. RO is best. DI is pretty good. "Filtered" water (fridge) is barely acceptable, but doable. Tap water is a no-no. 

4. SW salt. Yes, you need to actually change water in a SW tank. For a tank that small, at least 15% (3ish gallons) per week. Adding evaporated FW must also be done, but that's as easy as measure and pour. 

5. Heater. 

6. Small power head. 

7. Hydrometer to measure the specific gravity. 

8. Lighting so that you can see! 

9. Hood to prevent jumping. 


It doesn't need to be extremely complex, but it's best to have more than what I've listed. Test kits are an obvious must, for example. I still think you should have LR. It's the majority of your biological filtration. Here's what you should do. 


1. Get 20 L or larger and fill with water. Add salt and check salinity. Add power head, filter, and heater. 

2. Order cheap base rock from http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?p...ategory_id=15&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=34 . Buy about 15 lbs. 

3. Add between 1-10 lbs of live rock. It doesn't need to be fancy. 

4. Add some sort of sand (Nothing With Silica!) 

5. Cycle tank! (Don't Change water. Only Top off with Fresh Water.) 

5.5 As soon as the nitrites start going down, you can add three or four snails and five or ten dwarf blue leg hermits. They should eliminate all of your algae/diatoms from cycling. 

6. Do the FIRST water change. Change 10ish gallons. 

7. Wait a week and then buy ONE small fish. Royal Gramma, clown goby, SMALL! *You need to quarantine them first!* (If you want a pair of the same type of fish, IE Clowns, add them at the same time.) QT in a five gallon bucket and change water every day. Observe for signs of sickness and treat accordingly. 

8. After no less than four weeks of QT, you can add the fish to the tank. Yay. 


Sorry if I'm coming off as annoyed. I am... Please, read a book on keeping SW fish! They're easy to maintain, but you need to take real care in how you set them up. ;-)


----------



## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Funlad, you don't sound rude at all! In fact, pretty much all you said agrees with the various literature I've read on saltwater. 

Most libraries, or even websites, have great information on starting a SW tank and stocking it with hardier fish, such as clowns (and you have to admit they _are _cuties...)


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

funlad3 said:


> Forget everything you've typed. I hate to say it, but that entire idea is worthless. Now that the unpleasantries are are out of the way, here's my analysis. It is clear that you want to set up a small salt water tank and keep one or two small, but iconic, fish. If you want to have that pair of clowns, you need at least a 20 long. Here's what you would need to maintain them.
> 
> 1. 20 gallon long
> 
> ...


You don't sound rude at all! It is better that you sound rude then i loose about 80 bucks!


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I have a 20 gallon right now. I've seen tanks for sale at goodwill and the thrift store for about 10 bucks so maybe I'll get one... I just remembered how my friend's dad broke their 30 gal on PURPOSE!!!!! they kept an oscar in it and is had a filter and a heater!!! Just thrown away and broken because they didn't want to have the problem of selling it!!! They were thinking about giving it to ME!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

So painful!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Okay funlad, sense you dashed my want of clownfish to pieces lol! i was wondering about damsel fish??? in a 5 gal?


----------



## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

No fish in five gallons! They're too small! Maybe some corals, but no fish! They will be bored out of their mind! You need at least a ten gallon for even a micro-goby! If you were to set up a twenty, you might be able to have a pair of clown fish. No five gallons though!


*Read a Book!!!*​


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Books books books! what's the smallest tank I can keep a saltwater fish in. FISH ONLY lol.  :chair: :fish::fish::fish::fish:


----------



## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Don't look for what's smallest. Look for what will fit one of the fish you want. If you want, you can go to chat.


----------



## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

With SW tanks stability is essential. Larger tanks are more stable than smaller tanks. Water parameter flucuation-potential increases with smaller tanks.

Even for experienced SW hobbyists, the complexity (in terms of long-term success) increases with smaller tanks.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

In saltwater, nothing costs more than trying to be cheap. There are some things you just CANNOT do, no matter how much you think you can, or how little you think you can spend.
If you want a pair of Nemos, you need a 20 gallon tank, and that's all there is to it. If you want a pair of neon Gobies, then you can get by with only a 10. 

Funlad:
7.


> Observe for signs of sickness and treat accordingly.


*sigh* Have you learned nothing?


----------



## OliveOyl23 (Apr 18, 2011)

I am also looking to start a salwater tank, 75 gallons, FOWLR, looking for experinced peoples opinions on which type of filter they prefer? Starting with FOWLR but would like to add some reef elements maybe later down the road... want to make sure I can keep the fish going first...


----------



## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

Well, since this has turned into a "yell at the person trying to stuff fish into tiny tanks" , do you think one could keep a tiny seahorse in a 2.5 gallon? Go on, yell at me, but just wondering... Because my LFS has a 3 gallon on display with maybe three of these "sexy shrimp" (that's what they called it). So I thought, maybe a sea horse? Tiny one, though!


----------



## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

7.
Observe for signs of sickness and treat accordingly.
*sigh* Have you learned nothing?

I know to treat preemptively, but if we're still stuck on a five gallon tank, I don't think that's going to happen. (I'm trying to train the wrasse to associate the net with food, so you can't say I'm not trying!)




No Seahorses in anything smaller than a 30 gallon cube! They like to hunt copepods and are very reliant on water quality, Way to hard to maintain in a 2.5 gallon. Also, consider the fact that most of the commonly sold sea horses grow to more than six inches.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Well, those little pygmy zosterae horses can do okay in a small tank, and in fact they're easier to keep in those since you can keep the food concentration up around them, but otherwise, the amount of room a horse needs depends on what you can get it to eat and how big it is. That said, 2.5 gallons is no good even for zosterae. ( 5 works, though )


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I'll check out MINNIE seahorses!


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

You'll still need the food to feed them, and that's where you're gonna run into major problems. If you think a big tank is too expensive, try feeding seahorses for a few months.


----------



## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

Oh, okay. Well, I guess it's pretty obvious I don't know anything about saltwater tanks :embarrassed: Okay, no seahorses!

And I think it was a pun bettaman was trying for....


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

didn't think that... what's the pun?


----------



## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

Oh. Well... I dunno, I guess the caps lock "minnie"... You know, like minnie mouse? Or something?...


----------



## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I just relized that today. It was a mispell.


----------

