Question by chrisascella: how do I upgrade from a 55 gallon fish only tank to a 125 gallon reef tank?

Best answer:

Answer by copperhead
You could just run both tanks for a while.

If you’ve been successful in keeping your 55 gallon salt tank, you’ll already have some of the basics down. It’s important that you remember that live rock, even the “cured” stuff may have some die-off at first. Since this will add to the ammonia and nitrites in the tank, it would be better for your fish to remain in their present home until the new tank cycles. Use a saltwater test kit to monitor ammonia and nitirites in the new tank – ideally you’d want the ammonia and nitrite to be zero before adding your fish, and start with the hardiest (and peaceful) fish first and add the others over a period of time.

If you want the new tank where the present tank is located, is there somewhere you could move the present tank temporarily? Take out the fish (bag them in gallon ziplocs or get a few empty bags from your fish store), take out as much of the water as possible and keep it in clean 5 gallon buckets/large Rubbermaid storage boxes, etc. – it’s not necessary to store all the water – you can do this at the same time as a scheduled water change.

You can also use your current substrate to “seed” the new tank, and/or some of the old media from your filter, although there should be bacteria in the new live rock – it all depends on how well it’s kept moist during shipping and moving from the store/distributor to your tank.

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Question by Delaney: what is the best reef tank fish to get?
i have a 25 gallon tank with 2 small tomatoe clowns, yellow clown goby, pipefish, and the fish man said i could get a couple more fish what should they be?
thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by copperhead
Although your clowns may be small at the moment, the female will get to be around five inches (the male will be a little smaller).

I don’t know what the floor dimensions are of your tank (or if it’s rectangular, hex, bowfront, etc.), but the floor space is what you should use to consider territory (they don’t care as much about up and down space, only horizontal). Your clowns are territorial fish, and will become terrors if they should pair up and spawn (or if you try to add any more fish after they mature).

Do you keep a lot of live rock in your tank? This could give others a place to hide, but at the same time, it cuts down on the overall water volume in the tank. You can’t stock a saltwater tank as heavily as a freshwater one because of the greater aggession, territoriality, and water quality demands of saltwater fish. I’d say for your tank size (especially with the clowns’ adult sizes and temperment) right now you should avoid adding other fish. This would especially be true if the tank is a hex with more vertical than horizontal space.

If you’d consider changing out your clowns for a smaller (and semi-aggressive) clown species, and your tank has a wider than taller profile, you might be able to do one more. It would need to be a peaceful fish because of some that you already have. Perhaps one of the cardinalfish (PJs or Bangaiis), a longnose hawkfish, or small blenny or basslet. You should try to avoid fish of a similar color or body shape to what you already have as a way to further reduce aggression between the fish. See some of these choices in the link below:

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Question by Bluebear: We have a 3gallon pico reef, want a pico fresh/brackish as well..?

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Answer by bettachris
all of those are too large for a 3 gallon…

if you like uncommon fish, try looking into a sparkling gourami for a 3 gallon, they are alittle rarer, and only grow about 1 inch.

i personally have had a male croaking gourami which is considered rare in the fish trade, in a 3 gallon with tons of live plants.

Again what you listed arent suitable for 3 gallons.

Edit: for brackish set-ups, bumblee bee gobys are suit able for a 3 gallon.

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Question by johnnyBgood: Reef tank?
Can someone explain exactly what a reef tank is? I just dont undertand the term

Best answer:

Answer by Amanda
It’s a saltwater tank that contains coral reefs, live rock, etc. People usually keep anemones and stuff like that in them, too.

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Question by kyle.hagen: How to start Start 10 gallon saltwater aquarium?
I have a 10 gallon aquarium that i would like to use as a starter saltwater aquarium for practice for a little bit before i turn my 55 gallon aquarium into saltwater. Does anybody know how to go about this? I know barely nothing. I know that you have to use a hydrometer to measure the salinity. But how would I do it. Whats the best/cheapest salt to get and whats the best starter/easiest cheapest starter saltwater fish to get? Clownfish ?

Best answer:

Answer by swimmer dude
I HIGHLY recommend a pre-drilled reef ready tank (a 55g is fine and MUCH better than a 10g tank). Your incidence of flooding will be drastically reduced going with a reef ready tank. You won’t even know to thank me for this suggestion because you won’t have experienced the overflow box flooding that I’m talking about.

A protein skimmer is way up on the list of important pieces of equipment. I would recommend the Bermuda Aquatics BPS-3C (linked below).

20g sump is fine. Just make sure you don’t use the entire volume with operating water. You need to leave enough ‘vacant’ volume to accommodate water flowing out of the display above during a power outage.

Heater – use two for redundancy. This is the #1 piece of equipment to fail in our hobby. Use two 75w heaters. Technically all you need is one single 150w heater, but the above statement WILL effect you at some time in the future. If the heater fails in the ‘on’ position, it will cook your tank. If it fails in the ‘off’ position, it will get drastically cold. Two smaller heaters (even two 50w heaters is fine), will not be sufficient to cook or freeze your tank individually. Together they are more than adequate to run your system. Also consider a Ranco temperature controller in the future.

Powerhead – You can spend a lot or a little. You can get some that are capable of creating wave patterns or some that just move water. I would recommend at least two in your tank. The Koralia 3 or Koralia 4 would be cool and very affordable.

Salt – the biggest debate in reefing on the planet. Instant Ocean is widely accepted…..but not totally recommended by me. Pick one that you can find locally. Buy the bucket for whichever you decide on. It will contain enough to mix from 150g to 200g of saltwater. You’ll need it for regular water changes.

Refractometer- Don’t cheap out here by buying a hydrometer. This is one of the most important measurements you’ll need to monitor. A refractometer is infinitely more reliable. No matter what size tank you start with, please don’t start with a hydrometer. As a matter of fact, the smaller the tank the more important it is to use a refractometer.

Test kits – Salifert makes the best, affordable and efficient test kits for the hobby. You’ll need ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, calcium, alkalinity/hardness, magnesium. Any more than this is not really necessary but available if you want them.

RO/DI water filter – Your tap water contains loads of TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) that are prime for causing algae outbreaks. If you get a TDS meter you’ll be able to test your tap water. Mine comes out of the tap at 105 ppm. We want zero. ‘Nuff said.

Lighting – I could write an entire book on reef lighting. Depends upon what animals you want to keep. Metal halide, T5, Powercompact (PC), LED, combination of MH & T5 or MH & PC is a great combination.

Thermometer – The Pinpoint Wireless thermometer is very reliable.

Return pump – Depending upon the amount of vertical height you’re pumping your return water will determine the size pump you need. Remember, as water is pushed up vertically, as well as the friction of the pipe it is flowing through as well as the # of fittings (elbows, unions, ball valves, etc) will reduce the flow you get through the discharge in the tank. A 1″ pvc pipe overflow can handle NO MORE THAN 600 gph. Therefore, you might need a 1000 gph pump to compensate for vertical height plus backpressure from the fittings used.
Marineland Utility Pumps are fantastic.

I can list more things you can use, fluidized media chamber for carbon or phosban, controllers for lights & heaters, monitors for ORP, pH, nitrates, phosphates, and lots more.

Do yourself a favor and do not under any circumstance use a wet/dry filter.

Hope this helped,
swimmer

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What should i do?

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Answer by BlueOctagons
There is a medicine you can use –I can’t remember the name, but it comes in tablets and is from the same company that produces Melafix. It cleared up my fish’s cloudy eye in two days.

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Best answer:

Answer by thebossmare13
Use diluted bleach water to clean, u should start over with new decor. If u don’t want to don’t use decor that is made of natural sea products ( changes the ph in fresh water tanks). A heater, and a filter are really all you need, power heads are ok. Set up your tank and let it run for a couple of days, take a sample of the water in to the pet shop with you when you go to get fish. Don’t use distilled water, city water is the best with a water conditioner. Start out with just a couple of fish to start( not goldfish)

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Question by Melanie R: Saltwater aquarium ?
How do you get rid of neon green algea in a saltwater aquarium?

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Answer by traila_dwella
send some “gangsta’s” over to take the algea and they will put it under their cars.

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Question by Chris L: saltwater aquarium?
what are the basic neccesities of a saltwater aquarium. and how do i set up the eqipment ,and what does each tool do?

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Answer by fivespeed302
Dude, entire volumes of books have been written attempting to answer your question. Go to http://www.wetwebmedia.com/index.html
They have tons of articles that will answer most of your questions.

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Orange starfish

Question by Aleasha C: How to Care for a Saltwater Aquarium?
I love saltwater fish and really want to get a saltwater aquarium. I have no idea how to care for one though. I don’t even know how to set it up. I’d really appreciate if anyone can give me some advice on how to care for a saltwater aquarium, how to set one up, what supplies I will need, etc… I really appreciate it. Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by Blackbeard
Check this out:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5796_set-saltwater-aquarium.html

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