I thought it would be a good thing to do a fun thread. See if it can hit all the major points of fun and just plain ol’ neato.
It begins:
Once upon a time in a county not so far away there was a job. In doing this job the owner and I got to know each other pretty well and one of our conversations broached the subject of keeping fish in tanks. I’ve had some kind of tank going for 20 plus years and have all been fresh water. He too loved the hobby. However, due to numerous reasons he had to break down his 135 RR combo. Did not want it in this new house I was working on soooooooo, he gave it to me.
Trickle filter and even has a UV filter on it. Now I decided this is the time if ever to go Salt Water. He did tell me this is an older tank and has been around the block.
Translation: Lots of deep scratches on the front glass. I have done my due diligence on getting new glass for the best price and am now saving for it. (Bless you Dave Ramsey)
I am a tiny bit anxious in doing the replacement myself. I have taken a 45 completely apart and re-sealed it with no leaks. Let’s just say that with increased scale comes increased concern. I welcome any pointers to this process.
I am not in a rush though I would like to have it up and running by Christmas.
I also know about Tideline and think it is hands down the best store from here to any where inside of a hundred mile diameter.
I will now shamelessly promote what great guys they have there and give a special shout out to Raymond who managed to juggle 3 customers with out alienating any of us at the same time. (How did you do that man?)
Next, the theme of the tank.
I have the live sand for the substrate. I want to do a local tank as it would tick me off to kill expensive fish learning how to keep the water right. I’ve decided to put a piece of piling covered with barnacles and oysters in the corner and try and make it look like life under a dock. I will start the cycle of the tank with mud minnows and then blue crabs. From there what ever I can catch shall
I’d be very careful with the re-sealing of the tank. Nothing worse than a seam letting loose (I had a 55 gallon salt water tank do that).
Cycling the tank will be much faster if you go the route of using local pilings covered with life on it. Not sure how the live sand will and local pilings will work? I know there is always a risk of bringing in contamination with local material, which will be a risk as you introduce other local fish over time. It can be done, but just be wary. I have a co-worker who had a “local” tank, and CaptEd (on here) had one too.
I’d suggest a good protein skimmer. Lots of life in the tank produces lots of waste, and the skimmer will help remove it. Make sure you have a good turn over of water as well. My 24 gal reef tank moves a lot of water around, with 2 small Koralia, the original pump, and an oversized HOB filter. Try and get some macroalgae growing in your trickle filter if you can too (Chaeto or Caulerpa). Then there are lights. Lots of options here, depending on what you want to keep in the tank. Best bet is to talk to Tideline. I went the Kessil LED route over my reef tank and love it. Bad lights can lead to bad algae outbreaks.
Buy the biggest tank you can afford. I had a 75 gallon reef tank for a few years. If I were going to do it again, I’d get a 120-150 gal. Invertebrates were my favorite.
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
Thanks for the advice! To recap, I have a One Hundred and Thirty Five gallon tank. I have spent hours and hours at Tideline getting advice on things. I have 36 years in construction and have already rebuilt one tank completely buy taking it apart and scraping all the old silicone off and cleaning the edges with denatured alcohol. I re-assembled using a square jig and clamp set up to make sure that I had a uniform application of silicone between the edge of the glass and its mate. I also sealed the plastic trim to the perimeter and let that cure before applying the inside bead in the corners and runs.
Xman, I remember seeing your tank at your house and man, it is nice! Your reminder to be wary is well warranted from others I have talked to. I am choosing local because I would feel better about loosing an oyster toad and finger mullet vs. a fire angle. I do have a protein skimmer built into this particular trickle system. I do like the thought of faster with the pilings. However, I have with age gained a proper respect for patience. I am going to test the water until the spikes of nitrates ect. are smoothed out and introduce animals at a slow and measured pace with much water testing before, during and after. The macro algae is something I did not know about but, thanks to you will research at length. I have also learned of the “cleaning crew” of crabs, snails and other small creatures that will eat unwanted algae and uneaten food.
As far as the pump goes I have one that will cycle all 135 gallons ten times in one hour. If that is not enough, I have a bigger pump saved from a jaccuzzi that will pump even more than that.
When I get successful at keeping the free fish alive and the inverts, I’ll think about moving over to a reef tank. For now, a FOWLR.
Is it one of those RR tanks with the baffle in the corner and pre-drilled hole in the bottom? If so, I’d build a stand for it with a sump underneath and put the skimmer under there with a bunch of LR. I’d be hesitant about an actual piling just because of the chemicals in the wood, and the historical failure of oysters in an aquarium setting. They’re very difficult to keep alive.
In my opinion, if you are doing a local tank the UV sterilizer will be one of your most important pieces of equipment. I would think you should have a 25-40 watt sterilizer and make sure you have a small pump to push the water through the UV slow enough to make it effective.
quote:I have a question about oysters not surviving in the tanks. No tide? Would dead shells be ok for habitat/structure?
I kept a saltwater tank for years. Finally got too lazy to keep up with it. First with tropicals, then converted to local. Lot cheaper stocking a tank from a cast net than buying the tropicals. I did like the clown fish and anemones and live corals, but they are a lot of work and expense to maintain. There is a lot to know about keeping a salt water tank.
Oysters are filter feeders need all the nutrients, plankton and such that the marshes produce. They will live a while but not very long. I had a stone crab for a long time and we fed it oysters, clams and mussels. Pretty cool to watch a stone crab bust an oyster open and eat it. After seeing it do that, I keep my fingers away from those claws[:0]
I thought this was a great place to put this. I have a 110 gal tank that i use for fresh water, with oak canopy stand. I paid over $1000 for the entire set up I am looking to sale it for $400 it comes with everything except water. Email me at www.knotstressedcharters@yahoo.com
quote:I have a question about oysters not surviving in the tanks. No tide? Would dead shells be ok for habitat/structure?
I kept a saltwater tank for years. Finally got too lazy to keep up with it. First with tropicals, then converted to local. Lot cheaper stocking a tank from a cast net than buying the tropicals. I did like the clown fish and anemones and live corals, but they are a lot of work and expense to maintain. There is a lot to know about keeping a salt water tank.
Oysters are filter feeders need all the nutrients, plankton and such that the marshes produce. They will live a while but not very long. I had a stone crab for a long time and we fed it oysters, clams and mussels. Pretty cool to watch a stone crab bust an oyster open and eat it. After seeing it do that, I keep my fingers away from those claws[:0]
Dead shells are fine to use.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
I just finished a marathon immersion into the chemistry with a reef tank…[:0]
The processes involved in reef biochemistry are incredibly cool and complex. The neat thing is with the amount of technology available., if you throw enough money at it, it’s pretty automated.
Well, money is a thing. I tend to think that I should learn the nuts and bolts of it. From what I’ve read so far if you do due diligence on the front side, the back side tends to take care of its self with simple monitoring and water changes. I’ve decided that I’ll spend the money up front for really good digital testers and not have to buy new test kits all the time.
I don’t know if it’s been said or not, but figure out what you want in the tank first.
If you want hard stoney corals, save up for lighting.
If you want simple but pretty fish, Get a damsel tank. You can put dozens of them in a 135.
If you want aggressive fish, i.e. groupers, eels, lionfish. Learn the acronym FOWLR, fish only with live rock. There are forums all over the internet with information on all these setups.
My advice, stay away from the corals for now. Get some live rock. Be aware of the laws on taking local rock pilings. I don’t know them. I’m a florida transplant. I know it’s illegal to take rock from Florida. It’s likely illegal here too. But don’t think you have to buy all live rock. Get a small amount of live rock to seed some dry rock. I have 200lbs of dry rock I bought for my future tank. Some of the pieces are 18-24 inches across. That’s a $500 piece of live rock. I paid $2.50 a lb at a store in Jacksonville, Fl.
Tideline is good. But also check http://www.joeknowsreefs.com They’re a new store in north Charleston. They do nothing but saltwater. I haven’t been yet, but I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about them. Maybe I’ll go today.
my future tank will be no less than 180 gallons. I’d like taller though. So more likely a 210 with grouper, eels, puffers and lionfish. When the lion gets big, I can through him in the sea and get a new one.
Here’s my favorite aquarium grouper.
and I’m kidding about the lionfish. Don’t hang me yet.
to add. One advantage to not getting liverock is you get cleaner rock. I have a 37g reef tank now. I’m battling bubble algae. It came hidden on a small piece of rock that I bought because it had some mushrooms on it. It’s spread to the point I’m ready to start over with clean rock.
I don’t know if it’s been said or not, but figure out what you want in the tank first.
If you want hard stoney corals, save up for lighting.
If you want simple but pretty fish, Get a damsel tank. You can put dozens of them in a 135.
If you want aggressive fish, i.e. groupers, eels, lionfish. Learn the acronym FOWLR, fish only with live rock. There are forums all over the internet with information on all these setups.
My advice, stay away from the corals for now. Get some live rock. Be aware of the laws on taking local rock pilings. I don’t know them. I’m a florida transplant. I know it’s illegal to take rock from Florida. It’s likely illegal here too. But don’t think you have to buy all live rock. Get a small amount of live rock to seed some dry rock. I have 200lbs of dry rock I bought for my future tank. Some of the pieces are 18-24 inches across. That’s a $500 piece of live rock. I paid $2.50 a lb at a store in Jacksonville, Fl.
Tideline is good. But also check http://www.joeknowsreefs.com They’re a new store in north Charleston. They do nothing but saltwater. I haven’t been yet, but I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about them. Maybe I’ll go today.
my future tank will be no less than 180 gallons. I’d like taller though. So more likely a 210 with grouper, eels, puffers and lionfish. When the lion gets big, I can through him in the sea and get a new one.
Here’s my favorite aquarium grouper.
and I’m kidding about the lionfish. Don’t hang me yet.
10% of the people catch 90% of the fish.
Perhaps you should throw him in the skillet instead. Lion fish are an invasive species here in South Carolina and we are trying to get rid of them.
I have a 180 RR drilled sitting empty in my parents garage. House I moved into is on a crawl space, and I’m 90% certain it would fall through the floor.
My dream was to do a full blown reef, automated controls with skimmer, kalk and calc reactors in sump, have a float switch hooked up to a dedicated RO to keep water level the same, refugium underneath with a bunch of plant life for natural water filtration, custom LED lighting, wave simulator through a big ass pump and this really neat alternating current thing I bought that I can’t remember what it’s called…It would be legit
