i have a 29 gallon tank, right now i have my brothers fish in it, I was thinking of moving them out and doing SW. But im in a sticky predicament, I don't know anything about SW, so I decided to ask a few questions here. First: Should I do the regular fresh water cycle? Also what kind of filter should I use if I have live rock? and what are some harty fish for a beginner?i will ask more Questions, after a few replys are posted, thanks!!
new SW questions HELP
- Thread starter parrot MAN
- Start date
i need help
NO ONE replied in salt water, so i am gonna post this here! I have a 29 gallon tank, right now i have my brothers fish in it, I was thinking of moving them out and doing SW. But im in a sticky predicament, I don't know anything about SW, so I decided to ask a few questions here. First: Should I do the regular fresh water cycle? Also what kind of filter should I use if I have live rock? and what are some harty fish for a beginner?i will ask more Questions, after a few replys are posted, thanks!!
NO ONE replied in salt water, so i am gonna post this here! I have a 29 gallon tank, right now i have my brothers fish in it, I was thinking of moving them out and doing SW. But im in a sticky predicament, I don't know anything about SW, so I decided to ask a few questions here. First: Should I do the regular fresh water cycle? Also what kind of filter should I use if I have live rock? and what are some harty fish for a beginner?i will ask more Questions, after a few replys are posted, thanks!!
did you try reading this?http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14712
wayne has a detailed account of his tank set up and he's a well versed marine fishkeeper.his method may not be for you but i'm sure you could glean a lot of info from that.
please to give members time to see your post.our saltwater community isn't as big as the freshwater
wayne has a detailed account of his tank set up and he's a well versed marine fishkeeper.his method may not be for you but i'm sure you could glean a lot of info from that.
please to give members time to see your post.our saltwater community isn't as big as the freshwater
ok...im here and i see...and i will tell you what everyone will tell you: get some books and read. there is far to much information for us to convey to you if you don't know what you are doing a bit. look into mike palletas "new marine aquarium" and also fenners "Consciencious marine aquarist" as well as anything else you can pick up at the library. rumor has it the "SW for dummies" book is pretty good but i think for a better in depth understanding those two are better choices.
as far as your filtration, you need to figure out what kind of tank setup you want in the long run. will this be a reef? FO?
you need to do a lot more research before you plunge into this or you will lose a lot of livestock and a lot of $$
as far as your filtration, you need to figure out what kind of tank setup you want in the long run. will this be a reef? FO?
you need to do a lot more research before you plunge into this or you will lose a lot of livestock and a lot of $$
New to SW
Be careful, I too am treading in unfamiliar territory. I just bought an 80 gal tank & am going to do the Nemo theme for my kids & the internet has given me conflicting info. I have since contacted tropical fish stores & chatted over the phone with them & it has helped. I have the "SW for Dummies" & it still does not break all the information down, like how long to quarintine nor did they state anything about the freshwater dip. It forces the parasites off the fish, if it does not get distressed and may omit quarintine. My advise is call stores for their opinions & go with the person who repeats stuff you've heard for credibility and surf the web for experienced people telling you techniques they had done & works!
Be careful, I too am treading in unfamiliar territory. I just bought an 80 gal tank & am going to do the Nemo theme for my kids & the internet has given me conflicting info. I have since contacted tropical fish stores & chatted over the phone with them & it has helped. I have the "SW for Dummies" & it still does not break all the information down, like how long to quarintine nor did they state anything about the freshwater dip. It forces the parasites off the fish, if it does not get distressed and may omit quarintine. My advise is call stores for their opinions & go with the person who repeats stuff you've heard for credibility and surf the web for experienced people telling you techniques they had done & works!
join the forums over at http://reefcentral.com
and youll get alot better advice and ideas over there than you ever would here for saltwater tanks
and youll get alot better advice and ideas over there than you ever would here for saltwater tanks
i agree with wayne...i tried reading reefcentral before i had a SW setup and there were just too many opinions and too much information to sort through...to a simple question like "MH or PC lighting for a 55?" you would not only get a few answers which were generally helpful but 50 more which are bickering and "do this because i did" when all you really wanted was a comparison....
people here really are very knowledgeable phantom, partcularly wayne and s. reef and there are a few more of us who are working our way up there...if we send everyone interested in SW away form here then how will our knowledge base expand??
people here really are very knowledgeable phantom, partcularly wayne and s. reef and there are a few more of us who are working our way up there...if we send everyone interested in SW away form here then how will our knowledge base expand??
Sending our members to other forums because ours doesn't offer good advice and isn't big enough (in your opinion, I totally disagree) is not going to fix anything. It will just perpetuate the situation you percieve.
I'd take advice from camaro or wayne or s.reef or a dozen others here anyday.
There is simply way too much to get into to answer the questions that I can see coming. If a FW newbiw comes in and says "what's a cycle" or "what kind of filter should I use so I can have guppies", chances are that most people would reply "read up on..." or "check out this article." Which is exactly what happened here. Research is key
And I don't even do SW!
I'd take advice from camaro or wayne or s.reef or a dozen others here anyday.
There is simply way too much to get into to answer the questions that I can see coming. If a FW newbiw comes in and says "what's a cycle" or "what kind of filter should I use so I can have guppies", chances are that most people would reply "read up on..." or "check out this article." Which is exactly what happened here. Research is key
And I don't even do SW!
i dont have a problem with anyone here and i know that alot are knowledgable, but its getting them to reply without having to wait 2-3 days. ive found out that most people would like the information that ask about fairly soon after they ask, and at reefcentral you get that personalized attention, replies in a matter of minutes. the #1 thing i got most of my knowledge and ideas from for my SW tank is from the past issues of reefkeeping magazine, they have a section where you can look through all the past tanks of the month and read through and look at all the pictures, to me that was very helpful, not to mention the countless other articles on various things written in that magazine.
so i guess in reality you wouldnt even have to join the forums there, i joined and posted for about a week and got most of my questions answered. what i actually did was posted some of the same exact questions on this board as the board at reef central, i got numerous replies and i had my question already answered at reef central before anyone even replied over here.
now i like this board and im not trying to cause any problems, but i just think if someone is looking to start a saltwater tank, reefcentral would be the best place to go, they wouldnt even have to post on the forums, they could look through all the articles and past issues of reefkeeping magazine, or look at the memberlist on the forums and pick one of the top posters and PM that person or get their email or aim/msn or whatever they use and just start talking to them and accumulate vast amounts of knowledge
so i guess in reality you wouldnt even have to join the forums there, i joined and posted for about a week and got most of my questions answered. what i actually did was posted some of the same exact questions on this board as the board at reef central, i got numerous replies and i had my question already answered at reef central before anyone even replied over here.
now i like this board and im not trying to cause any problems, but i just think if someone is looking to start a saltwater tank, reefcentral would be the best place to go, they wouldnt even have to post on the forums, they could look through all the articles and past issues of reefkeeping magazine, or look at the memberlist on the forums and pick one of the top posters and PM that person or get their email or aim/msn or whatever they use and just start talking to them and accumulate vast amounts of knowledge
Bitching that people don't reply quickly enough is ridiculous. I have a house, full time job with travel, children and also have to do technical reading and look after my own fish and maintain/improve my house. Do you? Services like this , reefcentral and wetwebmedia are voluntary, and damn good for being voluntary. Obviously reefcentral, reefs.org et al have more specialised traffic which helps with pickup speed, but at the end of the day you'll still find some threads everywhere get neglected. The combination of voluntary and service quality is what makes wetwebmedia for me absolutely astonishing.
The above is also the reason I'm uterly unwilling to talk somebody through setting up their own tank - it's simply a waste of my time that could be better employed elsewhere, especially if they're too damn lazy to do basic reading.
And frankly if sombody wants to start a tank they are best of spending there time doing the recommended reading, either online or on paper, not trawling the internet trying to worry about skimmer A over skimmer B or bioionic calcium and strontium addition for their new 20 gallon fish only. That's the problem with the internet - as well as tons of good info there's a massive volume of pure gibberish that if you're a beginner you are not going to be able to figure out.
The above is also the reason I'm uterly unwilling to talk somebody through setting up their own tank - it's simply a waste of my time that could be better employed elsewhere, especially if they're too damn lazy to do basic reading.
And frankly if sombody wants to start a tank they are best of spending there time doing the recommended reading, either online or on paper, not trawling the internet trying to worry about skimmer A over skimmer B or bioionic calcium and strontium addition for their new 20 gallon fish only. That's the problem with the internet - as well as tons of good info there's a massive volume of pure gibberish that if you're a beginner you are not going to be able to figure out.
for your information, i own my own lawn mowing buisness, i have to keep up with all my customers, pay all my bills to get new equipment and repair old equipment, i have to pay insurance and for my own gas (unusual for a 17 year old these days) pay my large cell phone bill, maintain a healthy relationship with my girlfriend (goin strong for over a year and a half, also unusal for a 17 year old) and PLUS i have to read three 4 inch thick books and know them by the beginning of next school yeah which is in 2 months, so i can do good in my AP classes and earn college credit when im still in HS so i can do good in college to become a chiropractor. im doing all that plus i have time to do the things that i want to do, like play paintball every weekend and work and spend money on my bracket racing car, as well as help out my friend who races dirt track and fix his car after he tears it up every weekend, and im also a member of 7 other message boards, mostly car message board, and im always going to meet and get togethers with them. not to mention i have to pay part of the electrical bill and a small amount of insurance to cover the amount of eletricity my room uses, between the computer, tv, stereo, and 4 fish tanks, and the insurance is to cover if one of my tanks breaks and drops 55 gallons of water on the floor and leaks down into my dads office which is directly below mine and ruin all of his computers and high tech gadgets and **** that he has down there
so before you go throwing accusations around like that, i think you should be a little more curtious. i know that a full time job with children canbe very hectic, i saw it, and still see it every day, my mom and my dad both have full time jobs and i have a 5 year old brother as well as a 19 year old brother, keeping up with the 5 year old with daycare and tays and everything that 5 year olds NEED ( ) combined with my older brother moving out into his own house, im pretty much by myself, my parents dont ever give me money to buy stuff and they dont take me places and spoil me, ive got my own car and my own life pretty much, thats about it, im just pretty much livin my own life, and im only 17
so before you go throwing accusations around like that, i think you should be a little more curtious. i know that a full time job with children canbe very hectic, i saw it, and still see it every day, my mom and my dad both have full time jobs and i have a 5 year old brother as well as a 19 year old brother, keeping up with the 5 year old with daycare and tays and everything that 5 year olds NEED (
) combined with my older brother moving out into his own house, im pretty much by myself, my parents dont ever give me money to buy stuff and they dont take me places and spoil me, ive got my own car and my own life pretty much, thats about it, im just pretty much livin my own life, and im only 17Lets keep this civil. I guess my point is that's not realistic to expect 100% service from a voluntary site. I have other business to attend to , and so do other people who contribute. We do our best. Sometimes you'll get better service from other sites, and that's ok, nor is it a surprise to me. However I am obviously not going to turn down work that disrupts my contribution and nor do I have infinite time. Right now I'm breaking down tanksand literally giving away fish, inc. discus and L numbers simply because I do not have maintenance time, and I've already given away the Tropheus for the same reason. So life is tough. But you too obviously are using a bunch of time working each day so at some point you too will reach this point.
I guess the above is relevant because I tire of answering the same questions again and again when the answers are so easily documented here, on other sites and on paper. That's why the answer to so many of these questions are exactly the same - buy this book , or the other... we're not blowing people off, it's just a waste of my time and your time and money to give a partial piecemeal responses that can only ever be incomplete when there is so much better info . I have stickied one thing, and should likely sticky another about 'SW for beginners', but I know I'd still get any number of questions from 'SaltNewbie' asking the same questions even though it's at the top of the page. I would like to point that I don't mind answering questions from newbies, and want to give them the best advice I can, but that is almost always to direct them to some starting reading, and then to clear up specific questions after that.
I would also like to state my opnion that I am very cynical of directing newbies towards some of the bigger forums without at least a grounding in what's going on as there is a considerable amount of 'dubious' practice and advice spat out of all sites.
I guess the above is relevant because I tire of answering the same questions again and again when the answers are so easily documented here, on other sites and on paper. That's why the answer to so many of these questions are exactly the same - buy this book , or the other... we're not blowing people off, it's just a waste of my time and your time and money to give a partial piecemeal responses that can only ever be incomplete when there is so much better info . I have stickied one thing, and should likely sticky another about 'SW for beginners', but I know I'd still get any number of questions from 'SaltNewbie' asking the same questions even though it's at the top of the page. I would like to point that I don't mind answering questions from newbies, and want to give them the best advice I can, but that is almost always to direct them to some starting reading, and then to clear up specific questions after that.
I would also like to state my opnion that I am very cynical of directing newbies towards some of the bigger forums without at least a grounding in what's going on as there is a considerable amount of 'dubious' practice and advice spat out of all sites.