[deutschmann59]

Since you're so close to the ocean, Nik, do you just use regular ocean water for your tank, or do you actually mix salt with RO water? Just curious.

I usually hate doing water changes and I've often joked that I'm going to move to beachfront home and setup some sort of plumbing system that takes water in from the ocean, pumps it into my house and into the tank, then recirculates back out into the ocean

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

Since you're so close to the ocean, Nik, do you just use regular ocean water for your tank, or do you actually mix salt with RO water? Just curious.

I usually hate doing water changes and I've often joked that I'm going to move to beachfront home and setup some sort of plumbing system that takes water in from the ocean, pumps it into my house and into the tank, then recirculates back out into the ocean

You can't use ocean water because it is teeming with diseases, parisites, pollution, etc. The water we get from the store is filtered and much cleaner. Most of the fish, water, and rocks they have come from the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico.

Haha that is a great idea, you probably could do that with some sort of filtration system.

[Nikki]

here are new pictures

[Squawks]

Where's the sea anemone for your clown fish to sleep/stay in?

[deutschmann59]

Nikki, look what I found in my tank! I just found it today...well I've noticed it for a while, but all this while I thought it stationary, but today it moved and started wrapping its tentacles all around my xenias! I quickly took a picture of it and posted it on an Internet reef forum and they told me it's an Aptasia--one of the worst anemones you could have in a reef tank.

I tried to get rid of it myself this morning, and ended up scraping it because it was attached to the coral and slides to move around, like anemones do. It turns out scraping it was the worst thing to do because that only spreads the "spores" around and they could end up taking over the tank.

But guess how I ended up killing it? I target fed it lemon juice with a syringe and that killed it instantly!!! Apparently, lemon juice is reef safe and won't harm any other inverts.

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by Squawks

Where's the sea anemone for your clown fish to sleep/stay in?

Clownfish don't need to live in anemones. You can't mix anemones and corals in a tank because they'll sting each other. The clownfish will still use the soft corals to swim in.

Sharp:
We had a bunch of those bad anemones and we got Joe's Juice to kill them, which works really well.

[BMRu4ia]

My 3 month old 24 gal nano reef biotope

[LEDZEP]

If it can't catch a frisbee it's not a real pet.

[scottz5]

wow very cool pics i want a salt tank so bad!

Nikki did that coral grow that fast or did you add a lot to it?

[Nikki]

BMRu4ia: your tank is awesome! i wish i had enough money to make mine look like that.

Originally Posted by scottz5

wow very cool pics i want a salt tank so bad!

Nikki did that coral grow that fast or did you add a lot to it?

I added really the only corals that are in it..there are about 6.

[scottz5]

Originally Posted by Nikki

BMRu4ia: your tank is awesome! i wish i had enough money to make mine look like that.



I added really the only corals that are in it..there are about 6.

So you are just running an ECLIPSE 29GAL COMBO tank? I think I may get one for my son. He loves Nemo.

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by scottz5

So you are just running an ECLIPSE 29GAL COMBO tank? I think I may get one for my son. He loves Nemo.

yeah it was the 29g eclipse instant ocean set. if you haven't had a fishtank before, it is really difficult to start a reef tank. we started off with a 55g of cichlids and even then had difficulty with the reef at first. if you are looking into setting up a reef tank, find a good fish store (aka not petco) and ask tons of questions. There are also very good forums like www.reefcentral.com. www.marinedepot.com also has a lot of info and they also sell stuff at www.marindepotlive.com.

now as far as cost, it gets very very pricey. i'd say we've spent at least $1,000 in total on our tank and a lot of it was just getting it started. the tank is $125, the stand is $150, the live rock is between $200-$300+, the live sand is $150-$200+, the chemicals are $50-$75+. Now you need lots of snails, hermit crabs, and probably a starfish and a shrimp. That will total about $25-$75.

after you have all that, if you don't feel like waiting for corals to grow and want them now, they're $30-$200+ each. Fish are $3-$200+ each.

now to maintain the tank, you need to do weekly or biweekly water changes and change the filters every month. you're best bet is to buy the water for the water changes at the fish store and it's relatively inexpensive. the filters come in packs and are also rather inexpensive.



now if you want to just do saltwater, no reef, nothing alive, just a clownfish--it's the tank, stand, chemicals, cheap non-live sand, and a $15 clownfish.

[BMRu4ia]

I'm running a Nano Cube from JBJ. If your going to get one, make sure its a new 2006 model. The old ones have a high rate of cracking.
The live rock/sand, fish and most coral were from my 50gal 6 years old tank. I've just recently moved and purchased a condo so I had to say good bye to the 50 and went with a more space saving nano tank. I actually like it better now. Clean up, maintenace and water changes are much easier in smaller tanks . It is a bit more difficult in keeping the conditions constant because of the smaller amount of water can cause a larger fluctuations concerning temp, salinity and other variables.
Here is a picture of my 50 gal before I broke it down.

[BMRu4ia]

Thanks Nikki . It was alot of trial and error. Only info I had when I started was from books. No one I knew was in the hobby. I made alot of costly mistakes. I'm still not out of the woods yet with my nano tank, because it is actually still new, even if my livestock is from an established tank.
I monitor it closely everyday. I did however give up on costly test kits. I just watch for changes in my coral . My anemone usually is the first one to tell me if somethings wrong or off.

Originally Posted by Nikki

BMRu4ia: your tank is awesome! i wish i had enough money to make mine look like that.



I added really the only corals that are in it..there are about 6.

[deutschmann59]

Also Scott, if you're looking into a reef tank, corals require special lighting, which could end up costing more than everything Nikki already listed combined!

Some people get nuts over it and end up spending thousands just on metal halide lighting. But of course with that, you can keep anything.

Metal halide causes problems, though because of not only heat, but also cost. I just have a simple power compact lighting setup, which is basically very-high-output floursecent lighting...one bulb is 10000k, which is used for the coral lighting requirements, the other actintic is 6700k which gives the asthetic appeal to the tank.

Power compacts are a little less expensive...though if you're looking into a 29 gallon tank, you could end up spending $200-300 just for the PC lighting. The bulbs are pretty cheap, though at about $20-30 a bulb.

[deutschmann59]

Originally Posted by BMRu4ia

I just watch for changes in my coral .

Ha ha ha! That's probably the best way too. I've always thought if the corals are ok, the fish should be fine. If the corals don't look ok, then something has to be checked because they're the first to tell you since they're more sensitive.

Awesome setup, by the way!

[BMRu4ia]

Originally Posted by sharp1183

Ha ha ha! That's probably the best way too. I've always thought if the corals are ok, the fish should be fine. If the corals don't look ok, then something has to be checked because they're the first to tell you since they're more sensitive.

Awesome setup, by the way!

Thanks sharp1183. I use to check my PH twice a day. and dose trace elements and go crazy trying to balance everything manually. Now I just do 20% weekly water changes which is about 2 gal. And that seem to be more stable for me.

[BMRu4ia]

Hey Scott. You might want to also check out the '06 model Nano Cube. They make 6,12 and 24 gallon glass tanks with built in filtation and reef lighting all built in to the streamline hood. I think they start complete at around $199 for a 12 gallon its not as small as you think. I have the 24 gallon for $250. Everything in my tank is stock even the lighting.

[BMRu4ia]

Not my tank (i wish), but look at the potential for a smaller tank.

[scottz5]

Thanks for the advice. I want it to look nice but I also want a clown for the little guy? So, I guess these little nano cubes are the way to go.

[BMRu4ia]

Clown fish (nemo) are perfect for a small nano tank environment.

[Enroutte]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

If it can't catch a frisbee it's not a real pet.

Thank you!

I don't know why, but growing up, I wanted a pet so my parents got me fish. THAT DOESNT COUNT. They just sit inthe tank. I think asian parents have a nack for fish because they don't make as much of a mess as a dogg or something. My fish eventually died because I didnt want to cleanteh tankadnneither did anyone else in the house.