Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted July 27, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2008 (edited) and he fell in love with a cute lil blue tang there. now, this friend knows nothing about fishkeeping whatsoever. i have some experience in freshwater.. but definitely not saltwater. i convinced my friend he needed to do a lot more than just buy a tank and stick his fish in there.. so now it's up to me to guide and help him through the process. however, i haven't a clue to what i need to do, or where to even start!! so i'm hoping you guys will giive me a lil push and guide me in the right direction here are a few questions to start with.. how many gallons does just ONE blue tang need? is the cycling of a saltwater tank the same as the cycling of a freshwater tank? what will i need to do in order to keep a coral reef alive ? what are the filter/aeration requirements for saltwater tanks? Edited July 27, 2008 by justkeepswimming 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted July 27, 2008 Admin Share Posted July 27, 2008 and he fell in love with a cute lil blue tang there.now, this friend knows nothing about fishkeeping whatsoever. i have some experience in freshwater.. but definitely not saltwater. i convinced my friend he needed to do a lot more than just buy a tank and stick his fish in there.. so now it's up to me to guide and help him through the process. however, i haven't a clue to what i need to do, or where to even start!! so i'm hoping you guys will giive me a lil push and guide me in the right direction here are a few questions to start with.. how many gallons does just ONE blue tang need? is the cycling of a saltwater tank the same as the cycling of a freshwater tank? what will i need to do in order to keep a coral reef alive ? what are the filter/aeration requirements for saltwater tanks? Well your friend is diving into the deep end of fish keeping for a beginner Tangs need 70 gals min for them http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=330 Cycling of tank is different than fresh water fish. The tank needs to be set up with salt water and either live rock or live sand. They tank will need to be watched for atleast a month with out any live coral or fish. He will need to test the water (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, Ph, Cal and ALK). Now for the reef part this gets harder, cause if you want to add live coral the the tank your going to need to go alot slower. There are some that can be added to the tank in a few weeks but others are so delicate that any change in the water quality will kill them. Then there is there lights, alot of coral need a high amount of watts in the tank cause they rely on that to keep alive, also some need power heads to keep they clean and healthy. For equipment: For a tank that big your going to need either 3 HOB filters or Wet/dry filter. Also will need a skimmer if he's going to have coral in the tank this is a must for a reef tank. Also going to need alot of light for a coral tank not so much for a fish only tank. Test kits a must, Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, PH, Calcium, Alk, KH, GH. He will also need water conditioners more different than fresh water: Calcium, Alk, minerals blocks and such. Then there is the food: corals differ from one to another, some need food added to the tank others dont. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted July 27, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2008 thanks for all that info koko =]] this sounds like a heck of a lot of work! i just had a flashback to when my best friend got a fishtank for her birthday..it was a tiny little (no more than) 10 gallon tank that the fishstore set up as a "finding nemo" theme with a blue tang, 3 clown fish, several other random fish (about 5) and a seahorse..PLUS a mini reef.... no wonder all her fish died...it mustve been EXTREMELY overstocked =[ anyway... are there any saltwater fish that dont need that may gallons and can do well in between 20-30 gallons? and you said that some coral is extremely sensitive to the water quality... i was hoping to steer away from those and find some that are a tad easier to care for? also, i was just wondering about some easy starter fish...if there are any? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted July 27, 2008 Admin Share Posted July 27, 2008 The easy coral's I have found are: Mushrooms and leather plants are great beginners corals As for the fish you could have "a" true or false Percula only one though. Also gobies are another good one. I would just be simple. When I started my Nano (13gal) tank, I only had live rock and live sand for about a month. Then I added crabs, and mushrooms to the tank waited another month and added my one fish (percula). I tested the tank everyday making sure everything was good and kept adding the additives the the water. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted July 27, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2008 i think i will do something similar to what you described. would it be smart to start with the mushroom/leather plants and live sand ..and then add fish later? or should i treat the coral like fish too and just start with the sand and water. and the coral needs rock to attach to i'm assuming? or does it come with the rock already? do you think a percula will do well in a 20 gal? that size seems most ideal to me right now. i dont want anything too small that is too hard to maintain. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member drkslvr Posted July 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2008 (edited) Replying to Went To Lfs With Friend....and he fell in love with a cute lil blue tang there. i think i will do something similar to what you described.that size seems most ideal to me right now. i dont want anything too small that is too hard to maintain. looking for advice for a "friend," huh? I think we've all heard that line before. Edited July 28, 2008 by drkslvr 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member justkeepswimming Posted July 28, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2008 lol! nice catch honestly, i have enough trouble with one goldie as it is! but itll be fun to attempt to set up a saltwater for my friend... as long as i dont have to come over everyday to feed the fish and change the water -_- thats what i get for being over concerned and pretty much just taking over his whole idea >_< 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted July 28, 2008 Admin Share Posted July 28, 2008 i think i will do something similar to what you described.would it be smart to start with the mushroom/leather plants and live sand ..and then add fish later? or should i treat the coral like fish too and just start with the sand and water. and the coral needs rock to attach to i'm assuming? or does it come with the rock already? do you think a percula will do well in a 20 gal? that size seems most ideal to me right now. i dont want anything too small that is too hard to maintain. You should for the first month just have live sand and live rock in there, keep checking the water quality cause the ammonia will go up, this can kill even mushrooms even though they are tough corals to have. Most corals come on there own rocks. You will need live rocks to help cycle the tank, there are alot of critters in the live rock and you will see things growing in and around the rock. One thing to remember about live rock is to make sure you take a look into the tank that you get it from, cause some places dont keep there rocks clean and there can be hitch hikers in the rocks. My tank got bristle worms in it cause I didnt pay attention, there not really bad but if you just stick your hand in there with out watching your self you can get stung by them and get little slivers in your skin. One other thing to be careful of salt water tanks, is if you have a cut please use gloves, infact you should always use gloves dealing with salt water tanks, there are alot of critters in them that can harm you 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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