starting a Marine tank need advice
Mike
Hello All,
OK, I've been a successful tropical fish keeper for the last 10 years.
I have kept everything from guppies and swordtails, to rift lake
cichlids. Well, my cichlids are getting old, 2 of my tanks are empty,
and I've done all I want in Freshwater.
I would like to setup a 55g fish only marine tank. I have a magnum
350 canister with bio-wheel 60, a 170 Gph powerhead with a sponge, and
2 20W aqua-glo florescent tubes.
Q1. Do I need different lighting?
Q2. Do I need a skimmer?
Q3. Do I need "live rock" (and what is it exactly?)
Q4. Do I need to replace the pea gravel with crushed coral? why?
Q5.how long does it take to cycle a marine tank? I've heard it's
longer than a fresh water tank.
Q6. what's a good fish to cycle the tank with? Something that I can
keep for a while.
Q7. What's a good book, web site, or source of information on marine
fish keeping?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for any and all information
you can give!
Mike
Serendipity
On Sun, 21 Dec 1997 16:29:57 GMT, Mike spoketh...
>Q1. Do I need different lighting?
Nope. Not on a FO tank. However, if you decide to get any anemone or
coral, you'll need to upgrade.
>Q2. Do I need a skimmer?
No, but if you do get a good one, you won't regret it.
>Q3. Do I need "live rock" (and what is it exactly?)
No. Live rock is pieces of rock, usually(?) taken from the sea,
sometimes tank propigated. It's got tons of microscopic critters
(sometime bigger invert. critters), aerobic and anerobic bacteria,
and various kinds of coraline algae.
Live rock seems to be a great way to naturally filter your tank. Many
of the "critters" are good for digesting ditrius. The aerobic bacteria
is good for nitrification. Anerobic bacteria is a good aid for removing
the nutrients created from nitrification.
>Q4. Do I need to replace the pea gravel with crushed coral? why?
No, but again, if you do get it you probably won't regret it. Crushed
coral is good for buffering your water.
>Q5.how long does it take to cycle a marine tank? I've heard it's
>longer than a fresh water tank.
Dunno about that. My 45g cycled in like 3 weeks. My 55g took almost 9
weeks to cycle. My 10g took about 6 weeks. When I kept freshwater tanks,
they always seemed to cycle right around 5 weeks.
>Q6. what's a good fish to cycle the tank with? Something that I can
>keep for a while.
There are damsels, which are quite hardy, and some are really colorful
and interesting fish. Clownfish aren't as good, but are also hardy and
can be used to cycle a tank.
Some people cycle their tank artificially using Ammonium chloride. This
way you can cycle the tank, but avoid getting the sacrificial fish.
Other people cycle their [new] tank by curing the live rock for the
tank, in the tank (new live rock, as it's being cured, usually causes
a amonia spike) --- although this seems to be a hotly debated method.
>Q7. What's a good book, web site, or source of information on marine
>fish keeping?
Both of Martin Moe's books. "The Marine Aquarium Handbook: Beginner
to Breader" and "The Marine Aquarium Reference: Systems and
Invertebrates".
>Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for any and all information
>you can give!
Not really a problem. At least you're asking questions and getting
educated before just throwing organisms into the tank, and hoping
everything works out.
You _really_ should get Martin Moe's "The Marine Aquarium Handbook:
Beginner to Breeder". Packed chock full of useful information,
and can answer most (if not all) these questions in great detail.
Later,
Thom
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basil
>>>Q7. What's a good book, web site, or source of information
on marine
>>fish keeping?
In addition to the excellent books Thom mentioned. Several
interesting web sites , with many links to
others, that have lots of information about marine aquaria are
;
http://www.ecosystemaquarium.com
Hope this helps. Basil
Mike
Thanks for the reply! I will be looking at those books and doing some
serious research. one *Last* =-) Question.
Live rock; does it contain invertebrates when you buy it? And does it
require HO or VHO lighting to use with success?
My LFS are very limited, only one has Marine fish and supplies, I will
probably have to mail-order all my equipment and livestock. any
reputable dealers?
Again, Thanks!
Mike
On 22 Dec 1997 07:02:10 GMT, serendipity_at@pop_dot.seanet_dot.com
(Serendipity) wrote:
>>Q7. What's a good book, web site, or source of information on marine
>>fish keeping?
>
cwoo...@ix.netcom.com
> My LFS are very limited, only one has Marine fish and supplies, I will
> probably have to mail-order all my equipment and livestock. any
> reputable dealers?
>
Oh yea, try Jeff's Exotic Fish. Good prices, nice guy, good info.
Chris