Im mentally retarded

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grmanrocks

grmanrocks

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2006
1,237
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Fishville
so i decided yesterday upon beaching my kayak and watching the litle sand gobies on the little beach in california that i want to do a temporate nano "Huntington Harbor Marine Biotope":thumbsup: . this will be the first tank with any salt in it at all that ive ever kept.:D its would be Entirely FREE:headbang2 cuz i already have the 10 gallon tank and 20 gallon filter. i just think it would be cool to take the kayak out and fill er up with cool native specimines hand collected with a snorkle and a net.

so, the things i need to know are this....

:confused: 1. theres this neat red planty stuff i want to keep, does it just need anchored like any other aqaurium plant or what? would my double 25 watt bulb get up provide enuff light?

:confused: 2. would carbon remove the polutants in the harbor water?

:confused: 3. how many fish and of what size would do good in this type of tank? i want to keep a few sandgobies, some rock crabs and mabe a little school of smelt, is this resonable?

:confused: 4. if i was to take a sifter and collect a bunch of sand from the nearest beachy and well sift it and rinse it with saltwater would this speed up the cycling proccess? it would be just like livesand right?

:confused: 5. any and all general marine advice is greatly appreceatied.
 
yep
 
alright i am a buthead
just giving you a bump
 
The most important thing to remember is, that when you add more water to your tank, add fresh water. As the water evaporates, the salt stays in the tank, so add fresh.

As for everything, just go with the flow and hope it turns out ok, lol. No, maybe someone else can help you with the rest. :grinno:
 
1 u could keep some red macroalgae but be careful not to let it decompose in the tank light should be ok but not great

2 carbon is not bad but a protien skimmer is what u need for the best result but u could get away with just a power filter

3 i would start out with the 2 gobies first then add the crabs and if your water stays ok maybe 3 smelt but this is really overloading a ten gallon

4 sand from under the water is best and rocks and shells to because these are all covered in bacteria to establish the tank plus the rocks and sand will have other creatures like shrimp, worms, sponges, barnicles, starfish and other fun stuff to

5 as with general marine advice
do not overstock is much more important in salt
feed little if you get good sand and rock there should be some food in there
make sure to top it off with fresh water daily in that small tank peramiters can change quickly
make sure to do water changes ofter and check peramiters a hydrometer for $6 and some test strips will help alot
most of the fish i have i collected myself and they just need a little more care but its fun to have things you dont see at the petstore or use the money u would spend on fish and plants and buy better equipment wich only makes life easier good luck
 
dont waste your money on a hydrometer they are HORRIBLY wrong...
also you will need a chiller i hope you know.. which will run about $300 used if you get a 1/10 HP chiller....
10g. tank seems small for all those fish.. but only once its stocked could we tell.. just as long as your not getting alot of Nitrates etc. then your fine
 
Fishfreak218 said:
dont waste your money on a hydrometer they are HORRIBLY wrong...
also you will need a chiller i hope you know.. which will run about $300 used if you get a 1/10 HP chiller....
10g. tank seems small for all those fish.. but only once its stocked could we tell.. just as long as your not getting alot of Nitrates etc. then your fine
Click to expand...

I agree that you would need a chiller, especially since we are only talking about a 10 gallon tank. Also, I am assuming that the 25 watt bulbs you are talking about are the standard screw in bulbs that typically come with a 10 gallon tank. If that is the case, then they will not provide enough light to grow the red algae.

I think your idea is a cool one, but I think you may want to invest some time learning about marine tanks and the requirements of the sand gobies and smelt before attempting this.

One more note. If you do end up getting a chiller, the tank will almost always be covered in condensation due to the tank being colder than the air, similar to how cold drinks get condensation on them. From what I've heard, acrylic is better in this case as it doesn't conduct heat as well as glass does.
 
what if i insulated the tank exept for the front with styrofaom?
i did think that i might need a chiller but when i checked the watter tempt the little harbor beach it was nearly 75 degrees, and the smelt have a very large temperature tolerance in my experience, if aclimated correctly i think they should be fine.......i think..........., plus with daily top offs with cold water i dont think the temperature will change much. if i do end up needing a chiller there is a nano chiller that can fit in a h.o.b. filter. and its only $150.

also.....

1) are plant gernerally more resillient to temp change? would it be more practical to do a sponge and plant only tank?? would temperature still be as much of a issue?

2)i dont think the red panty stuff is macroalgea it isnt bumpy like macroalgea, we have whitish magroalgea and its not like that.

3) so heres what i plan to do, collect my sand the permenalty submerged channel off the beach, drop a lead and a treble hook down and scrape the bottom for the red palnty stuff and other goodies, scrape some carpet sponge off of a dock or 2,get some fluffy green algea, fill up my 2 5 gallon buckets and head home. add all the sand and water, plant the stuff, and let the tank cycle. 2 or three days later ill head out wiht a little green fish net and try my best to get some crabs and gobies. plop them in and hope for the best.......... with any luck theyll adapt to the temp as it slowly rises.........

OR....... should i give up on the idea completly cuz i need a chiller that costs as much as settling up a 29 gallon........
 
i say try it u will never learn if u could/couldn't do it if u did not try
 
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