Questions on a saltwater aquarium? I have many questions so bear with me and try to answer as much as you can.
To begin, I have two tanks that I dream to be converted, and a 46 gallon tank of 10 gallons. In 10 gallon I would obviously start a nano tank with maybe coral live rock, inverts that come with it and maybe a clown fish or two. In the 46, I'm obviously going a little more, but I'm looking for a limited budget, which means not a luxury, not essential to start. In 46 I would consider live rock, possibility of corals, fish around 5 clearly contrast with the rock, and maybe even an eel Snowflake. I do not need help for compatibility, nor do I want answers telling me: "This is how TOO overloaded" I have more freshwater aquariums, I know the drill. What I need to know is:
* The tank nano cheaper?
* What elements are needed in addition to the filter, heating, ventilation equipment thermometer, lights, mix salt, a hydrometer and a test kit?
* Will I need a quarantine tank?
* What does require extra care corals?
* If I go with the corals, should I add the fish before or after?
* Should I skip any corals until I'm more experienced with marine fish?
Please give me some real answers and not try and lecture I think I am ignorant and do not know what I'm doing. I did lots of research, I am ready to do the job, and I have a great experience.
First of all I will say that the 10 sounds good as a nano tank and may not need a skimmer if only one clown in it ... if you go to two, then you will need a skimmer ....
Next 46 will need a large skimmer and water flow so much to keep stock .... b / c it is a bit unfair ..... if you want to keep corals, you should keep about 6 inches of fish per 20 gallons no more than 15 inches of fish should be in the tank ... salt is not as fresh water, it absorbs only about 250% O2 at less expense ... which means that corals and inverts need O2 and then amount of fish is low ...
Then you must run the entire tank with live rock for a week before adding anything ... about 4 weeks .... corals should not be added for about 5-6 months due to the tank ....
If you have a small budget when sea water is difficult as you'll need about 60 pounds of live rock for the tank together .... and you will also need live sand ... and coral is about 20-40 each ... .
and what kind of lighting did you ... you'll need about 80 watts 50Watt CFL ... and the 46 you'll need about 200-400 watts of CFL and maybe a few lights in MH with depth i just want to make sure that you know of a fluorescent lamp at 18 inches 2000k is very yellow and not nearly strong enough for the corals you need to find the light in the range of 10000k 20000k ... and with standard fluorescent .... you'll need about 4-6 bulbs 18in
Edit:
If you add two clowns you must first add the live rock, then about 4-5 weeks later, add the first clown (tank would be best shave you do not have an anemone with a lighting day) .... so do not add up to the second 4 weeks ... make sure they are the same kind
When I started mine, I added different PC when I could. I started with the blah blah normal heating filter goodies .. I added the power head first and I just got a skimmer after more than a year. I did up grade the lights twice the first was a 50/50 bulb that reduce the growth of algae. So far, I only keep soft corals, but I added slowly pcs never had any problems. simply can not change the basic water and monitor the water you'll be fine. ur more than take the time to research so many people do not. success
If you have corals, you will definitely want a skimmer. They are quite expensive, I'm on a limited budget.
Posted on June 7, 2010.