Going SW, need good equipment!

silver dollars

silver dollars

Superstar Fish
#1
Jan 1, 2006
1,912
1
0
31
Salt Lake City, Utah
quantum-physics.webs.com
#1
Ok i decided to turn the 20G at my moms into SW since i am getting a 55G in March. I read the sticky about keeping a successful SW tank, and 2 things in there confused me, How to add the Salt and The Hydrometer. So if someone could explain that alittle more to me, that would be greatly appreciated. Then i am wondering what the best equipment would be? And if there are any online stores that sell the equipment, please share the address. And about the coral thing or just having fish and no coral, that kinda confused me also. Would it be good to have coral with the fish or is it optional, or are there fake corals(decorations) that would work??
Now about the fish/tank. What are good begginner fish and how long should i cycle the tank?? Thanks in Advance for all of the help!!!
 

J

JWright

Superstar Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
2,192
7
0
40
Snowy Upstate New York
www.cnytheater.com
#2
There is no need to have coral in a SW tank. Many people have coral in their tank because thy enjoy the challenge of maintaining it, and they think it's pretty. However, there are also plenty of people who simply run FOWLR tanks (Fish Only With Live Rock), with no coral in them at all.

What confuses you about adding salt and a hydrometer. Salt is a white granular substance that you add to the water to make it more like the ocean. A hydrometer tells you how salty the water is. It does that by measuring how easily things will float in the water. Ever notice how you float more easily in the ocean? That's because it has more stuff dissolved in it, making it heavier per a given volume than fresh water.

A more accurate way to measure your salinity is with a refractometer, which measures how much the water bends light. As water gets more salty, it becomes "harder" for light to pass through it, so it bends more.

~JW
 

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