Considering Salt

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
4,502
Reaction score
1
Location
Calgary Alberta
Hi guys,


Unfortunately I may need to down grade my tanks, with work coming up it looks like I may be gone 2-3 months at a time this year, and also probably wont have as much free time on a daily basis (this means most likely getting rid of my Discus :( ) I wanted to check about a easier maintenance salt water tank, is there any hardy corals/salt water fish to choose from? I'm sure I'll be fine doing water changes a few times a week (possibly not daily) but when I'm away all my Dad would be able to manage is weekly. SO, I have a few questions:

1. Can you use a python to change water? With filling would I have to use a bucket because of the salt?
2. What kind of water change regimen are we talking about?
3. What kind of hardy corals/fish would work for a 45 gallon?

More questions to come I'm sure..

Thanks in advance,

Connor
 
Better discuss with dad the options re: doing salt water changes. That is, making your own sea water vs buying it an lugging it home. Although not really difficult, it IS a bit more work than doing a FW change. You can use a python to remove the water but obviously not to replace it from the tap. 45 gallons is not a nano but I do 10% weekly water changes. SH
 
Hi guys,


Unfortunately I may need to down grade my tanks, with work coming up it looks like I may be gone 2-3 months at a time this year, and also probably wont have as much free time on a daily basis (this means most likely getting rid of my Discus :( ) I wanted to check about a easier maintenance salt water tank, is there any hardy corals/salt water fish to choose from? I'm sure I'll be fine doing water changes a few times a week (possibly not daily) but when I'm away all my Dad would be able to manage is weekly. SO, I have a few questions:

1. Can you use a python to change water? With filling would I have to use a bucket because of the salt?

Yes to empty the water


2. What kind of water change regimen are we talking about?

I do 20% a week, but with hardy soft corals and fish you could do fortnightly changes.

3. What kind of hardy corals/fish would work for a 45 gallon?

45G is a good size, most of the soft corals (Mushrooms, zoas, toadstools ect) are easy to care for.

More questions to come I'm sure..

Thanks in advance,

Connor
 
Thanks for the replies guys. My Dad should be fine making salt water and doing water changes, he has dealt with our brackish tank in the past. He seems to be cursed with Discus and keeping up with water changes though, as whenever I leave him to take care of the tanks I come home to messy aquariums and sick fish :( . I am relieved to see water changes aren't as heavy as with Discus.

Any ideas for fish? Here's a few I like:

Pair of clownfish
Chromis
Damselfish

Are these compatible? Are Damsels schooling? Do you use the inch of fish per gallon rule with salt too?
 
IMO salt water tanks are way harder than fresh water tanks
 
salt water tanks are easy to look after. its way better than fw imo. the fish look nicer and you can keep so many different things with salt water tanks.
clown fish are fine.
but the others are aggressive so its best to get things like wrasse,gobys and blennys. have a look at lots of journals etc. its 5cm of fish per 20L for a reef and 5cm per 10L for fish only.
 
Any ideas for fish? Here's a few I like:

Pair of clownfish
Chromis
Damselfish

Are these compatible? Are Damsels schooling? Do you use the inch of fish per gallon rule with salt too?

clowns and damsels should be perfectly fine together, after all clowns are a type of damsel :)

the only problem ive had with having lots of damsels together is they are very territorial and can be aggressive towards each other.

some are ok, and in the past ive never had problems with domino damsels living with humbugs or clowns.
something i learnt the hard way is that if you have blue damsels, and add a different blue fish, they will beat it to death!

i lost a regal tang that way :(

as for schooling, ive never kept enough damsels together to form a school, with the exception of green chromis, they are a good fish to have in big groups :)

as for the inch per fish, i think with marines the "rule" is 4 cms or so, but i may be wrong.
people have differences in opinion when it comes to stocking levels.
ive always thought that if the water condistions stay clean and healthy and the fish have enough space to be happy then everything is ok :)

i also agree with Harry, marines are easy to look after, it just takes patience and time
 
clowns and damsels should be perfectly fine together, after all clowns are a type of damsel :)

the only problem ive had with having lots of damsels together is they are very territorial and can be aggressive towards each other.

I'm afraid I totally disagree - the reasons you shouldn't keep them together are that the damsels as a species are aggressie and territorial - I wouldnt even keep them together in a large tank :crazy:

as for schooling, ive never kept enough damsels together to form a school, with the exception of green chromis, they are a good fish to have in big groups :)

Again I disagree, they are aggressive and unless you have a large tank will pick on the weakest of the group until there are only one or two left :crazy:

as for the inch per fish, i think with marines the "rule" is 4 cms or so, but i may be wrong.

There is no hard and fast rule in Marine - every tank and fish load needs to be looked at differently for bio load etc

i also agree with Harry, marines are easy to look after, it just takes patience and time

Patience and research are the keys :good:
 
when i say about damsels together, i used to keep 11 chromis, 2 sergeant major, 2 yellow tail and a domino damsel along with a boxfish, fuzzy dwarf lion and some clowns and a yellow tang in my 7ft tank, they never fought.
they all had clear territories though, but i never lost a fish or got any injured ones from having them together.
the chromis used to spend all the time together at the top half of tank, and the others had various areas across the bottom of tank.
i did have a massive amount of rocks though and they all had plenty of hiding spaces.

i do agree though that in a small tank they will fight, i have 2 yellow tails in my reef tank now, they came "free" in live rock by accident, i didnt want them as part of my stocklist but now i cant catch them lol. they chase each other but so far no actual fighting or damage caused
 
as for schooling, ive never kept enough damsels together to form a school, with the exception of green chromis, they are a good fish to have in big groups :)

Again I disagree, they are aggressive and unless you have a large tank will pick on the weakest of the group until there are only one or two left :crazy:

I would say 3-4 chromis should be fine, i had 5 in my 50G, they were the first fish i ever bought and didn't go untill i closed the tank down, they were model citizens and one of my favorite fishes.
 
if you get chromis then feed them a lot e.g i think it is 3-4 times a day to keep the aggression down. i think if you are away for that long and your dad is looking after the tank its best to skip the chromis. unless your dad can feed them that many times aday?

edit: just thought if you buy a automatic feeder that feeds up to 3 times a day then maybe that would work.
 
Thanks for the replies guys! I am newish to salt, but have been keeping freshwater and Discus for a long time and have worked with salt a little at the pet store I was employed at, so I am pretty confident I won't have much problem. I better skip the chromis for now, if something went wrong I don't feel confident my Dad has the skills to know what to do. Wrasse look pretty cool. Would fire gobies be okay too or are they hard to keep/aggressive?
 
Another question, I should top the tank up with plain tap water before I do a water change, right?

Water top ups from evaporation should be with plain RO water.

Thanks, I will have to look into buying an R/O unit, or possibly looking for a supplier in my area.


I have been doing a little research and have come up with a rough draft of what I want the fish stock to consist of. I am no expert, and trust your info over the web, so please tell me if there are incompatible fish on this/finicky fish that are hard to keep.

2 Percula Clownfish
1 Firefish Goby
4 Pajama Cardinals
1 Royal Gramma
1 6 Line Wrasse

Let me know if these can be mixed together, also, is this too much for my 45 gallon? If it isn't, any other fish you could recommend that would work well?

Thanks in advance,

Connor
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top