I know I've made my share of mistakes with the freshwater, but I have fixed almost all of them (working on the water changes and feeding schedule) and I have been told by an expert salt water aquarist that I know a lot about salt water and that I might be able to start a salt water... I do not want to do corals at first (later on however if I can afford it I will) just FOWLR. I would like to know the stocking size for a 30 gallon... I would like a couple of blue legged hermit crabs and some of those little white algea snails just so that algea doesn't become a problem. I am really set on keeping a clownfish or two, but I also like the blennies... Tell me good alternatives, and if these fish would get along... Are these good begginer fish?
Could someone help me out?
- Thread starter Frogki
- Start date
Cool, thanks Lotus... And in terms of equipment, do I absolutely need a sump, or refugium? I really want to have salt water, that was why I got into the hobby, I started out in fresh because I wanted to get some experience under my belt first... Is it neccesary... Oh, and what about filtration, I have one of those clear ones with the blue rubber ball things in the side compartments? Is that a good one? It costs about 500 dollars at the store... My dad's friend will also probably be able to help me out... Oh, and about the blennies, I like the sailfin or the bi color blennie... Which one do you suggest...? I thought that stocking for hermits and snails was about one for every ten gallons, so shouldn't it be about three hermits/snails?
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BTW, I also am reading that because it's a salt water I should probably invest in a protein skimmer... Is it neccessary without corals? I am going for a FOWLR tank because I can't afford things like thousand dollar protein skimmers... Could efficient water changes and a really good filtration system make up for the protein skimmer?
sump or refugium is neccacerry but its nice to hide equipment like heaters and stuff...you can have more than 3 snails/hermits... and you can get away without a skimmer especially in a FOWLR but that means your really guna have to stay on top of your waterchanges, and you can get a good HOB skimmer for a decent price if you buy used 
Oh, like once a week, or day, or every other day? lol... I could probably do a water change every day, I just can't afford a lot, with my Mom jobless, and having just escaped foreclosure (we ran into some money thank god), I don't have an allowance... I am only 13 so jobs really aren't possible especially in the present job climate, so money is VERY tight for me especially considering I'm broke xD... How many water changes a week, and what equipment is ABSOLUTELY neccesary... Anything that I will need include.... And give me a fairly accurate price list if you can... Thanks, I'm really new at salt water and the equipment is really not familiar... What do I need?
the most expensive thing is going to be live rock... your going to want about 30lbs and it can cost as much as $5.99/lb... if you shop around you can usually find it for $3-4/lb and if you can find someone breaking down there tank you can find it even cheaper...youll need some sand but dont bother buying "live" sand cause over time itll become live anyways... other than that all you need is a few powerheads and yur good to go! eventually you can get a protien skimmer but i ran a 55g for 2 years without a skimmer so it CAN be done!
ok listen
these guys will say next you gotta have more than 5 watt per gallon
and next time you come with a situation
they will say somethin else
i tell you the trick
buy live rocks and put them in your tank with saliniy 1.27
and let it clean itself
you must have know about the euipment by now
only thing i want to tell you
after 15 days of cleaning and when you see amonia zero put all your corals
no fish till 6th month
1st month max 3 corals and upon progress add more
when you think all deseases came with rock and corals/inverts are gone
put
two fishes in qt tank for 15 days
and then in your 30 gallon
you will be suprised to see your tank progress
even if you only fish then adding anything after keeping fish will desastrousfull
chow
and one more thing
about light ...you only need light where your corals are so example
mostly all are placed back side so two 92watt flc would be good on the back side and one 36 watt in front would be good
corals before fish is the trick
hope you understand
these guys will say next you gotta have more than 5 watt per gallon
and next time you come with a situation
they will say somethin else
i tell you the trick
buy live rocks and put them in your tank with saliniy 1.27
and let it clean itself
you must have know about the euipment by now
only thing i want to tell you
after 15 days of cleaning and when you see amonia zero put all your corals
no fish till 6th month
1st month max 3 corals and upon progress add more
when you think all deseases came with rock and corals/inverts are gone
put
two fishes in qt tank for 15 days
and then in your 30 gallon
you will be suprised to see your tank progress
even if you only fish then adding anything after keeping fish will desastrousfull
chow
and one more thing
about light ...you only need light where your corals are so example
mostly all are placed back side so two 92watt flc would be good on the back side and one 36 watt in front would be good
corals before fish is the trick
hope you understand
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Cracker, for one thing, I can barely understand your writing... No offense, I just have trouble reading it, it seems a bit broken to me... Secondly, these people have all been doing this for a while, and you seem to refuse to listen to anything anybody else says... So you should understand if I don't agree with that advice... I have been reading up on this subject and what they are telling me seems pretty accurate... Also, I can't do corals right now, you need a lot of equipment (which you seem to neglect getting, thinking that whatever you throw in will survive) and they can get along later on.... I have seen it... Anyway, thanks TRe, I will follow your advice... Crackerman, I would like to see you follow some other peoples advice before I follow yours... Get a bigger aquarium for that anenome... And btw, noone is trying to discourage you, we are just telling you the facts that you obviously don't wanna hear. If you don't want to listen to the advice you get from others, fine, but don't expect others to follow yours. Not trying to be mean, fyi, I'm just telling you the harsh reality... Try listening to these people, they want to be your friends and help you and make you succesful, but you have to listen and read a lot for things to work out... Google search "captive anenome care" for starters on anenomes...
Frogki, Crackerman would be the last guy in the world I would take advice from. In fact he is giving you poor advice right now. First off, get your params at regular levels. Saninity level should be between 1.024 and 1.025. Put in your Live rock and your cycle will be complete after both ammonia and Nitrite are back to zero and stay at zero for about 3 days. Then you can add your clean up crew. After a couple weeks you can then add your fish, only a couple at a time. If you plan on doing corals, give your tank a few months to get established first. If you don't plan on doing corals you can ge away with a compact flourescent for lighting but if you do corals youi should probably set your self up with nothing less than T5's. You should get a fixture with both actinic and white light. Some people even get fixtures with LED's in them too for night.
Read all the stickies at the beginning of the SW forum and you will get alot of good info.
Crackerman always asks for advice and after we give it to him he just goes off and does whatever he wants anyway.
Read all the stickies at the beginning of the SW forum and you will get alot of good info.
Crackerman always asks for advice and after we give it to him he just goes off and does whatever he wants anyway.
I kinda got that in the anenome thread so I just told him, if you read that lol... I don't have water in the tank right now, it's not even set up with anything alright, so params are not what I'm worried about atm. I'm worried about the equipment... I know that before I add a single life form that I'll have to get parameters under control, but the water isn't in the tank yet rofl, so I can't take param tests... I'de like advice on equipment... I think I have a good filter system, I'm going to ask my Dad's friend for help on that too, and then I'm gonna get any other equipment I need... Thanks for the help, I know that parameters are definately a concern, so I'm going to get test kits before I add water even lol... Tell me what equipment I'll need...?
The main thing you'll need are powerheads. The Koralia ones are good at a reasonably low price. You don't need a filter (canister or HOB) for saltwater, and they're generally a bad thing.
A skimmer would be a good idea, too.
Obviously, you'll need a thermometer and a water heater.
You can probably get away with a hydrometer, although a refractometer would be better. If you go for the hydrometer, check its calibration with your LFS to see if it's off, and by how much.
You'll also need to find a source of RO water, either from a LFS or from a Glacier machine (or similar).
With so many people getting out of the hobby, see if you can find used LR and equipment. The RC club forums and selling forums are a good source of used stuff for cheap.
A skimmer would be a good idea, too.
Obviously, you'll need a thermometer and a water heater.
You can probably get away with a hydrometer, although a refractometer would be better. If you go for the hydrometer, check its calibration with your LFS to see if it's off, and by how much.
You'll also need to find a source of RO water, either from a LFS or from a Glacier machine (or similar).
With so many people getting out of the hobby, see if you can find used LR and equipment. The RC club forums and selling forums are a good source of used stuff for cheap.
I know this is going to sound stupid, but what is an RO? And I have this thing I don't know what it is but it's for salt water, it's got three thin compartments in it, one empty one in the middle, and then both compartments on the side have these rubber blue balls with... You know those stretchable balls with the "spikes" on the side? Well these are like tiny inflexible ones... Sorry if you don't know what I mean, I'm doing my best to describe this thing without a picture, if it's possible I will get you a picture soon... Alright, anyway, will I need a sump? how big should the sump or refugium be? And about the skimmer, so it's neccesary? I was really trying to avoid those, it will be very hard for me to earn 1,000 dollars... Any other suggestions in setting it up?
RO is reverse osmosis water. It's pure water that will really help make sure the water in your tank doesn't contain contaminants.
I'm not sure what the equipment you have is. A pic would help. It could be a protein skimmer. It's hard to tell from the description.
If I were doing a simple 30g saltwater, I probably wouldn't do a sump, but I might do a HOB refugium. You might be able to get away without a skimmer if you stock lightly and are careful with feeding.
I'm not sure what the equipment you have is. A pic would help. It could be a protein skimmer. It's hard to tell from the description.
If I were doing a simple 30g saltwater, I probably wouldn't do a sump, but I might do a HOB refugium. You might be able to get away without a skimmer if you stock lightly and are careful with feeding.
a skimmer would be a good thing to have BUT if you dont have the $$ you can start it with out one and add it later if you choose... personally in a 30g tank with plenty of live rock and only fish no corals i wouldnt be conserend with a skimmer... 2 poweheads (one on each end of tank facing towards each other) and thats it other than a heater