Going to need LOTS of Advice, first saltwater tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
P

phrack3r

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 18, 2008
36
0
0
Philadelphia, PA
Hi all,

i have been thinking about starting up my first saltwater aquarium that past few months due to the beauty of them (not that fresh doesnt have any) and i made my mind up tonight that i am going to start my own due to Fugupuff;s Rare Fish thread. Now being as my first saltwater aquarium im going to need lots of advice. I want to start off small until i get used to it i wanna start around at a 20-30 gallon tank and hopefully move up to 100 gallon in 6 months to a year depending on how well i pick up on it. Now for my questions:

Where can i go get nice 20-30 gallon tank without spending a fortune i have seen some threads here on people have built their own from 300 gallon to the 50,000gallon aquariums. But will it save me money and be worth. I think not since it would be my first build tell me if im wrong lol.

Next is, any good threads i should read/internet sites and or books that i should buy to learn about my first saltwater tank from the salt levels ph levels live sand and filtration(i saw a good thread here on it but havent gotten to read through it yet.)

Now, what should i do for a filter, should i invest in a canister pump or should i just get a normal one for now and wait til my next tank to step it up a notch.

Last thing i can think of right now, what should i be looking into for my first fish. i browsed a tiny bit through the vendor forum and found one site from Fugupuff's thread: Liveaquaria.com is this a trusted site or should i go to the vendor, i do know a nice aquatic specialty store by my house and im thinking about going there too look it out. But any suggestions on how many fish i should get including some cleaners and live plants also where should i get the at, the local fish store or petco or spmething like that even off here or Liveaquaria.com?

Thanks for everyone who read through this thread and even more to the people who reply with advice. after i get everything started i will start a thread following my first aquarium and continuing through everyone i get afterwards.
 
sorry for the double post i forgot to add should i go glass or acrylic for my aquarium and if glass how long does it effectively work and what are the chances of me dropping coral on the bottom and cracking it?
 
Well a 30 gallon would be better and you really want a larger surface area. You need a separate tank,for water changes and well 1 cup of salt per gallon is what I normally do. And let it run for two weeks before adding any fish and rmember the live rock,and the FOWLR. ( Fish Only With Live Rock ) And also get a Salt Water Filter. Great first fish are Clown Fish,Damselfish,Tangs,and more. But Damselfish tend to be more aggressive.
 
Aquaman_95;1895728; said:
Well a 30 gallon would be better and you really want a larger surface area. You need a separate tank,for water changes and well 1 cup of salt per gallon is what I normally do. And let it run for two weeks before adding any fish and rmember the live rock,and the FOWLR. ( Fish Only With Live Rock ) And also get a Salt Water Filter. Great first fish are Clown Fish,Damselfish,Tangs,and more. But Damselfish tend to be more aggressive.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice, i was prolly going to end up waiting the time to get fish even before you told me depending how much money a month i can spend but thanks alot.
 
NO TANGS!!!!
 
phrack3r;1895641; said:
Where can i go get nice 20-30 gallon tank without spending a fortune i have seen some threads here on people have built their own from 300 gallon to the 50,000gallon aquariums. But will it save me money and be worth. I think not since it would be my first build tell me if im wrong lol.
no it definately wont be worth it.. materials alone would cost you about as much as a tank would.. not ro mention you then have to labor to actually build it, and then it'll probably leak...


Next is, any good threads i should read/internet sites and or books that i should buy to learn about my first saltwater tank from the salt levels ph levels live sand and filtration(i saw a good thread here on it but havent gotten to read through it yet.)
try the SW forums here :D wher this Q should be :D
a lot of good people to know frequent this site.. questions get answered fast and thoroughly.. check the stickies first...

Now, what should i do for a filter, should i invest in a canister pump or should i just get a normal one for now and wait til my next tank to step it up a notch.
if you're going to 'invest' in something invest in a good skimmer and a good ammount of quaity live rock.. the best 2 filtrations items you can have.. just a few powerheads and that's all you really need...

Last thing i can think of right now, what should i be looking into for my first fish. i browsed a tiny bit through the vendor forum and found one site from Fugupuff's thread: Liveaquaria.com is this a trusted site or should i go to the vendor, i do know a nice aquatic specialty store by my house and im thinking about going there too look it out. But any suggestions on how many fish i should get including some cleaners and live plants also where should i get the at, the local fish store or petco or spmething like that even off here or Liveaquaria.com?
liveaquaria is ok to get an idea of what fish you like the look of.. but their info on them is lacking something to say the least.. they seem to think 3 and 4 foot fish can live in a 2 foot wide tank :screwy: so i dont trust any of their min. size tanks...
also check out vividaquariums.com for a few fish.. they say alot of specs (SG, pH, temperment, etc) but not alot about the actual fish.. find out some fish you'd like and just come here and collect our $0.02...

a few good starters for a 30 gall would be, chalk bass, clownfish, grammas, firefish, gobies, damsels, chromis, and jawfish, but each kind of fish has a few that should be avoided so always double or triple check with different sources before you buy...
Click to expand...

added in red
 
i was at my lfs today. i saw a saltwater tank with only an aquaclear running. i dont know if there is such thing as a saltwater aquaclear but it looked just like my aquaclear that i use for my FW tank.
 
popcorn1;1895776; said:
i was at my lfs today. i saw a saltwater tank with only an aquaclear running. i dont know if there is such thing as a saltwater aquaclear but it looked just like my aquaclear that i use for my FW tank.
Click to expand...


yes they go both ways... most big brand name products are designed to work in both fresh and saltwater
 
I've had Salt for years, don't use a aquaclear, you need a filter that can hold biological load, look into a wet dry system or at least a canister filter, live rock will help
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom