Marine Tank questions from a pseudo-novice (longish)
W. Scott Tillman
been through some hell and therefore, it really has not changed much since I
first set it up. Over the past 6 months, I have moved twice and I must say
that moving a 55 gallon marine aquarium with all its components, along with
the fish, is not a fun process at all. Now that I am more settled, I am
going to once again focus my attention on trying to make it into something
that is a little more appeasing...
I just have a few questions or suggestion requests?
First off, it is a fish-only tank for now and since I am a graduate student
and there is simply no way that I can afford lighting for a reef at the
moment, it will be this way for quite some time. For the first six months,
I really used only natural fauna from the coast of NC. I went to the beach
on a couple of occasions and filled my tank up with grass shrimp, a couple
of juvenile pin fish, oysters, anemones, sea squirts, stone crabs, various
nematodes and other invertes. I really enjoyed this setup but the pin fish,
for the most part, took care of most of the invertes and shrimp and I
lowered the bioload by removing most of the organisms. Then came the first
move and I essentailly put everything remaining back in the ocean. I
started to think more of the pet store feel and got a couple of yellow tail
damsel fish and a bursa trigger. From what I have seen, these are easy and
inexpensive which suited me fine...
After the second move, I managed to salvage everything and they have been
living relatively comfortably ever since. I have thrown in some live rock
to make things look a little more appealing but right now, my tank just
seems really boring and uneventful. As of right now, I have the one trigger
and those two damsel and about 40-50 lbs. of rock. I really liked the
inverts but it I just don't think it is feesable with the trigger in the
tank (I know how they are in the wild). Does anyone have any suggestions
out there as to how I can spruce things up? I have been thinking about
getting rid of the trigger but I did not want to if there were other
options. Also, money is something of a consideration, which is fine, it
just means that changes are more progressive as opposed to all at once...
Also, I have this incesant bloom of brown, powdery algae in my tank that I
just cannot get rid of. I use pretty high quality florescent lighting that
is on approx. 12 hours a day. Could this be the problem? My nitrate and
ammonia levels seem to stay normal (with some fluctuating nitrate levels at
times). Could just occasional nitrate peaks cause this? It is just a pain
to clean, especially if there is another option.
I think that is pretty much all of the questions for now but I am sure more
will arise, especially with some incoming suggestions. Thanks to anyone
that even reads down this far and even moreso to those that offer up some
advice.
Take er easy
Scott T.
howie
you do not know how easy a life you have.
come toEngland and set a tank up.
E.G Yellow Tang £30
Powder blue £30-40
salt£30 for 8 kg
turbo snail$7-8
my nearest outlet is 60 miles away. petrol is $5.50 a gallon.
"W. Scott Tillman" <Scott...@nc.rr.com> wrote in message
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W. Scott Tillman
mortgage...
I am trying to keep it as cheap as possible and still add some appeal. A
graduate salary barely gets protein in my belly so cheap is good...
Feeling for you across the drink
Scott
"howie" <howard...@xyzbtopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:ap1uam$cuk$1...@venus.btinternet.com...
howie
> Damn, that doesn't sound like a hobby...it sounds more like a second
> mortgage...
>
> I am trying to keep it as cheap as possible and still add some appeal.
A
> graduate salary barely gets protein in my belly so cheap is good...
>
> Feeling for you across the drink
> Scott
Trouble is, once you start keeping them you get kinda hooked..
Fishnut
<howard...@xyzbtopenworld.com> wrote:
>Scott you pain in the ass.:-)
>you do not know how easy a life you have.
>come toEngland and set a tank up.
>E.G Yellow Tang £30
>Powder blue £30-40
>salt£30 for 8 kg
>turbo snail$7-8
>my nearest outlet is 60 miles away. petrol is $5.50 a gallon.
I apologise to Scott for deling him !!
Howie,
I don't know where in the U.K. you live, but buy yourself a
subscription to "Practical Fish Keeping" ~ £ 33 for 13 editions - very
good magazine. You will find plenty of good value bargains on mail
order. Buy your salt in bulk (20 Kgs), delivered to your door.
Regards, Fishnut.