Puffer
- Thread starter assortedsorts
- Start date
ooh ok.
My only concern with salt is the maintenance.
My dad has a friend with a salt tank...i'm not sure if its a reef tank or what is in it or anything else like that...all I know is every single night he has to add calcium and something else and change 6 cups of water...I know its a BIG tank but that's all I know.
DO you have to do all this work all the time?
My only concern with salt is the maintenance.
My dad has a friend with a salt tank...i'm not sure if its a reef tank or what is in it or anything else like that...all I know is every single night he has to add calcium and something else and change 6 cups of water...I know its a BIG tank but that's all I know.
DO you have to do all this work all the time?
no not at all. he probably has a reef tank. the only thing i do daily is feeding. weekly water changes, maybe every two weeks for a water change. depends on how your levels are, bioload in the tank, how much you feed, and amount of live sand/live rock you have in your tank. the more live rock and live sand you have and the bigger the tank you have, less frequently you will have to do water changes. im on about an every two week water change schedule. the upkeep as long as you dont have corals is basically like a freshwater tank just with an additional piece of equipment in a protein skimmer and you just have to make sure you keep your salinity up at marine levels when you do water changes.
they come in two forms, hang on back or in sump. basically what it does is creates a whole bunch of turbulance in the main chamber of the skimmer and it has a collection cup that catches all these bubbles in the cup and its basically all the nasty stuff from the surface of the water that might settle and in the long term harm your fish. its an awesome filter and it pulls all kinds of gross water up in there. i have a hang on back since i do not have my sump/refugium just yet and after i put that thing on my tank the water seemed to get even more clear than it already was. google protein skimmers and im sure you can find a whole lot out than what i can give you since im pretty new to this hobby as well. but thats the basic idea of it.
i still have my 2 aqua clear 70's on my tank along with my protein skimmer. the 70's both have just a sponge and carbon, then i got a bunch of live rock rubble from a local fish store and put that in there as well. everytime i do a water change i rinse the sponge really good and the carbon pouch with the tank water i am taking out because hang on back filters are known to be nitrate factories if not maintenanced properly
i dont find it any more work than having a brackish tank. every few days, or when the water looks low i check the salt. if theres too much salt in my eyes, i add fresh water to bring the sg down to the required level.
i try to do a WC every week. but sometimes the bills need to be paid first. so it depends.
the dosing of calcium in your dads mates tank will probably be for corals, or just to get more coraline algae (the red/purple stuff on live rock) to grow.
IMO, protien skimmers arent needed on small tanks. water changes are an easier and cheaper alternative. on larger tanks where the cost of water gets expensive, protien skimers begin to make sense i think someone said 100L of SW costs 20$? maybe. thats like £16. if thats accurate, i cant afford that.
and you can use basic filters in SW. i used a fluval 4+ in my salt tank for months with no negative effects. now i use a fluval 405. the trik is to use only the mechanical filtration. i only use the sponge. the 405 is basically for extra volume and water movement. the LR will cover most of your filtration needs in a SW aquarium.
i try to do a WC every week. but sometimes the bills need to be paid first. so it depends.
the dosing of calcium in your dads mates tank will probably be for corals, or just to get more coraline algae (the red/purple stuff on live rock) to grow.
IMO, protien skimmers arent needed on small tanks. water changes are an easier and cheaper alternative. on larger tanks where the cost of water gets expensive, protien skimers begin to make sense i think someone said 100L of SW costs 20$? maybe. thats like £16. if thats accurate, i cant afford that.
and you can use basic filters in SW. i used a fluval 4+ in my salt tank for months with no negative effects. now i use a fluval 405. the trik is to use only the mechanical filtration. i only use the sponge. the 405 is basically for extra volume and water movement. the LR will cover most of your filtration needs in a SW aquarium.
