Any aquarium hobbyists on ATOT?

[purbeast0]

Those are the juvenile colors for the Emperor Angel. Its even more awesome when it grows up. These fish get huge, 15"+ and are not reef safe. It will eat every coral in your tank.

ah yeah that is what one of the guys was telling me that you have to be careful about what fish you do put in a reef tank because they can eat em.

do they make fake stuff to put in tanks that looks like real coral or that moves and looks like anemone? im like 99% sure that i am not going to be doing a reef tank, espescially for my first one lol.

i just didn't see any real cool "fake" stuff at the shops i went to.

 

[Leros]

Itll cost a decent amount of money to get a tank of decent size and proper filtration. Id say 50g or more just to start with a few small ones (2"). You also need near perfect water care, ie daily checks, and feeding more than twice a day. If you want a few dozen of the larger (8-12") luminescence ones like you have in your dreams your looking at atleast 500 gallons plus filtration, sand, water, and chemicals. Getting a used 50g saltwater tank could only be a couple hundred bucks all finished but the larger ones will be custom and thousands of $.

It's not that simple. You need a special cylindrical jellyfish tank, which will cost a few thousand bucks. Jellyfish really aren't practical for a home aquarium.

 

[d4a2n0k]

ah yeah that is what one of the guys was telling me that you have to be careful about what fish you do put in a reef tank because they can eat em.

do they make fake stuff to put in tanks that looks like real coral or that moves and looks like anemone? im like 99% sure that i am not going to be doing a reef tank, espescially for my first one lol.

i just didn't see any real cool "fake" stuff at the shops i went to.

Unfortunately, all the fake corals I have seen look plasticky and dont really move like the real thing. Here are some pics of my older tank. I took a few years off since having a few kids etc, didnt have the time to take care of the tank the right way. Im now back in the game.

Carpet Anemone and Clarkii Clownfish

Mystery Wrasse

Crocea Clam

 

[purbeast0]

yeah man that is an awesome looking tank. the thing that really got me though was just how pictures don't do aquariums justice. like i had seen pics of reef tanks and stuff, but when i saw one in person it was even cooler looking. i didn't wanna stop watching the tank lol. i just wish it wasn't so intimidating of a hobby to get into with the reef tanks. hell i'm intimidated to start just a saltwater tank in general with fish and live rock.

 

[deanx0r]

Get started with freshwater which is less demanding financially and maintenance than saltwater. This is going to be my next project: aquascaping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZDexLMZFrU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkQfERR7a4g

 

[purbeast0]

i actually definitely want to at least start with saltwater in general, just not with the coral and/or anemone.

im looking through this thread over on reef central...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1053160

and man, i wish i could do something like some of the pics in there. the anemone with the clown fish is just so soothing to me.

 

[Leros]

For what it's worth, I've had more trouble with my high tech planted freshwater aquarium than I ever had with my reef tanks (including a 10 gallon nano reef).

I wouldn't be so afraid of it as long as you're willing to research a lot and put the time/money in to it. Oh, and you must have patience. It seems like the most common newbie mistake is not having patience.

 

[Agent11]

I've mostly done small fresh water aquariums personally, starting to do some research on larger salt water set ups though.

Was reading about cuttlefish, seems like they would be fascinating to keep.

 

[trmiv]

i actually definitely want to at least start with saltwater in general, just not with the coral and/or anemone.

im looking through this thread over on reef central...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1053160

and man, i wish i could do something like some of the pics in there. the anemone with the clown fish is just so soothing to me.

Yea the clownfish/anemone relationship is cool. Wish I could get my ocellaris clowns to host an anemone! Their natural hosts are somewhat pain to keep in captivity, and I've had no luck pairing them with bubble tip anemones. I had a bubble tip for over two years with one of my clowns, and she never went near it.

Another cool little symbiotic relationship in reefs is the prawn goby/pistol shrimp. I have a tiger pistol and a yellow watchman goby in my tank, and they are my favorite inhabitants. That shrimp is amazing engineer with the burrows he builds I swear sometimes it looks like he's building a porch, with a little deck out back with the little rocks I give him to add to his burrow

 

[purbeast0]

I've mostly done small fresh water aquariums personally, starting to do some research on larger salt water set ups though.

Was reading about cuttlefish, seems like they would be fascinating to keep.

the imax movie "under the sea" has a part about cuttlefish and those are some interesting fish. they are mesmerizing to look at because they change colors to communicate and show emotions. really awesome. the ones on that movie were large though, definitely not something to keep in a smaller (100g) aquarium. no clue if there are smaller ones in general though.

Yea the clownfish/anemone relationship is cool. Wish I could get my ocellaris clowns to host an anemone! Their natural hosts are somewhat pain to keep in captivity, and I've had no luck pairing them with bubble tip anemones. I had a bubble tip for over two years with one of my clowns, and she never went near it.

Another cool little symbiotic relationship in reefs is the prawn goby/pistol shrimp. I have a tiger pistol and a yellow watchman goby in my tank, and they are my favorite inhabitants. That shrimp is amazing engineer with the burrows he builds I swear sometimes it looks like he's building a porch, with a little deck out back with the little rocks I give him to add to his burrow

yeah i'm HOPING that after i do all of my research that i will feel comfortable enough to try a reef tank, but i'm not sure. i plan to start the book i have to go through next week. i may be ordering my tank shortly though. i'm thinking a 90g acryllic tank to start with but not 100% set on that either.

but once i do have a tank then that will really push me to get started on the next part.

 

[trmiv]

Only concern with acrylic is no matter how careful you are with it, you WILL scratch it. Outside scratches can be buffed out, but inside scratches you will need to drain it. I prefer glass for that reason.

Honestly if you have good husbandry practices, and read up on the forums, keeping a reef tank isn't that difficult. Especially with the easier soft corals. It's the people that set them up and think they can just not doing anything that suffer. Or the ones that want everything to happen too fast, and mess with it way too much. Just keep up on your water changes. There are a lot of great modern filtration methods that I use, but one thing you can always count on is the water change.

Also if there's one thing I've learned in my time reefing, don't cut too many corners on important equipment. If you have to go smaller to get better equipment, I'd do that. Not saying you need super expensive stuff to reef, but stay away from cheap chinese crap for stuff your tank needs to survive. It will fail when you least expect it. I save money where I can, but I would never go cheap on 1)Return pump (I always buy Eheim), 2)Water movement, 3)Heaters, 4)Lighting.

Also in regards to heaters, ALWAYS put your heaters on a controller, even "good" heaters like Jagers are prone to failure. And when they fail, they fail ON. I use a Reefkeeper for controlling all my stuff, but if you just want a heater controller get an Aqualogic. They are damn near bulletproof.

 

[Agent11]

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/forum.php

Here's the best source of information I've found for keeping Cephalopods in aquariums. Seems eminently doable, but there are challenges.

 

[purbeast0]

yeah i was actually going back/forth about glass vs acrylic. the scratches do worry me a bit, but realistically how much would the inside of a tank get scratched? are they THAT much clearer when they are all set up and done?

as far as water changes and stuff, that is one thing i still haven't read up on - how often to change the water and how much you atually have to change it. so yeah i'm still early in my research stages.

for equipment you are not the first to tell me to get quality stuff. that is something i've noticed in general with my research to get good equipment, and i definitely do plan on getting quality stuff when i do.

one thing i am concerned about is power outages. usually like once a year or so we'll get a big storm and the power will go out. at worst it will be out for like 3 days straight. so this concerns me a bit with a tank. do most people just have a gas generator that they use for when the power goes out to power their tank? or are there battery backup systems that are powerful enough to handle a tank for a few days at a time? granted, my wife and i do plan on getting a real generator at some point since we are now home owners, and it's just good to have.

 

[trmiv]

If you do a barebottom tank, acrylic is easier to keep. But if you use sand which I assume you will (coral sand, not the play stuff), it will scratch at some point. It's just unavoidable. You'll be careful, and for a bit you won't scratch it, but eventually you will. Sand, rocks, tools, etc. Something will scratch it, and it will piss you off! It is clearer than standard glass, but I don't find the tradeoffs worth it for smaller tanks. You can get Starfire glass, which is clearer than standard glass, but it's also softer and scratches easier.

Water changes, it depends. I shoot for around 30% every two weeks. I don't have a macro algae refugium on my current tank, so I do larger water changes than some. Some people do smaller changes weekly. Some do larger changes monthly. But if you can get 20-40% of the water changed per month, you're doing pretty good.

For power outages I have two backups. First, my Ecotech Vortech pumps have a battery backup on them. That kicks in anytime they lose power. It only powers them at like 25% speed, but any circulation is better than no circulation. Second, I have a power inverter that I hook up to my car to power the pumps at full speed if the power outage is going to last awhile, or if I need to power a heater or a fan or something if it's cold or hot

In the rare even it lasts longer, I borrow my dad's generator. We had a 2 day outage after a tornado a few years ago, and that got me through it

 

[purbeast0]

cool thanks for that info.

so does anyone have any recommendations on a website/book they would recommend for a 100% aquarium noob who is POSSIBLY interested in starting a reef tank?

i have "The New Marine Aquarium" book that was recommended by someone in here, which i am going to go through at some point in the near future, but i was wondering about other websites with good info like "where to start for a noob" type of things, that i could browse in my free time while at work or here and there at home.

 

[BoomerD]

Many people recommend Reef Central, but unless it's changed over the past few years, noobs are usually not treated very kindly there. There's a ton of great knowledge there from some of the best in the hobby...but lots of assholes as well.

I know many of the folks here:

http://www.reefersparadise.com/smf/index.php?wwwRedirect

Good, knowledgeable hobbyists...always willing to help noobies.

I agree with tmirv...do NOT buy cheap hardware. It will fail at the worst possible time...and wipe out your expensive inhabitants.

Be patient. Only the bad things happen quickly in the hobby...the GOOD things take time.

 

[Leros]

Many people recommend Reef Central, but unless it's changed over the past few years, noobs are usually not treated very kindly there. There's a ton of great knowledge there from some of the best in the hobby...but lots of assholes as well.

I know many of the folks here:

http://www.reefersparadise.com/smf/index.php?wwwRedirect

Good, knowledgeable hobbyists...always willing to help noobies.

ReefCentral used to be a great place. It was the first forum I ever joined.