"Kellbot" wrote in message
oups.com...
|
| Went down to the LFS this evening, its' really nice and they helped
me
| figure out exactly how much stuff would cost, what i could keep in
the
| tank, etc.
|

Word of caution, even the best LFS is there for one main reason...to
make money. A good LFS won't sell you that which you don't need, but
a store that good is rare.

You can use multiple containers in the sump, with each unit
overflowing into a larger one. This cascading effect is
similar to the baffle routine.

There is a DIY skimmer in ReefCentral.com's DIY Forum called
"Cheap as Pie DIY Skimmer" that costs about $20 to build.

Marc


Kellbot wrote:

a rubbermaid, eh? What do you use for baffles then? Will the acrylic
bond to it?

I"ve also been looking at designs for DIY protein skimmers, since most
of the ones for sale are overkill for a 10g.

Went down to the LFS this evening, its' really nice and they helped me
figure out exactly how much stuff would cost, what i could keep in the
tank, etc.


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great, thanks for the link.

My only concern with all of this is the noise... two pumps (one for the
sump, one for the skimmer) plus cascading water might not be the best
option for me, since the tank will be in my bedroom. How loud is all
this stuff?

The pumps should run very quietly, and most skimmer do have
a soft rumble to them.

To deal with the cascading water, you'll want a silencer in
the overflow box on the back of the tank:
http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/90a.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/90b.jpg
http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/90c.jpg

And in the sump:
http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/pvc_cut.jpg

Marc


Kellbot wrote:
great, thanks for the link.

My only concern with all of this is the noise... two pumps (one for the
sump, one for the skimmer) plus cascading water might not be the best
option for me, since the tank will be in my bedroom. How loud is all
this stuff?


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"Kellbot" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks! Your site has a ton of information! And that bubble tipped
anemone is huuuuge.

This may seem like a silly question, but are all hyrometers the same or
are the aquarium/salinity ones different? I have a triple mass
hydrometer I use for brewing, is this the same thing?

It sounds like sal****er doesn't need the massive weekly water changes
that freshwater does, is that correct? That changes where I can place
my tank. My 30/40 gallon freshwater (its a strange shape so i dont know
the actual gallonage) takes 30% water changes a week... I would die if
I had to do that with buckets.

I don't know what you are doing with your freshwater tank that it needs such a
massive water change every week, unless it is overstocked. I've raised fish
(salt and freshwater) for over thirty years, and have never had to make water
changes like that. Salt water tanks need a lot more care than freshwater tanks.
Of that, you can be cure.

I could get away with less, but my goldfish are pretty messy and I like
to vacuum the tank thoroughly every week to keep it looking nice.
Usually by the time I'm satisfied with the cleanup efforts I've tanken
out 25-35% of the water. It amazes me how 2 fish who are under 2" and
not overfed can make so much waste. I always wonder if they've been
eating the Java Moss, although I've never seen any evidence of it. My
nitrates are always nice and low though.

I guess I also got used to doing big regular changes on my small tank,
which had a nitrate problem (some combination of no plants and having a
UGF to trap crud and decompose it, I think).

My GF tank is bare bottom because I don't have sufficient water
pressure to clean the gravel well with my 25 ft python. There's a lot
of debate on rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish about gravel, to the point
where it's as much of a religious "my fish love gravel / gravel kills
fish" ****ing contest, but my fish are happy with gravel less.

Since my smaller tank is higher up I don't have problems getting
suction, so cleaning the substrate shouldn't be a problem.

Don't worry though, I have no delusions that sal****er tanks are low
maintainence or inexpensive. :) But I am pleasantly suprised to find
that if you're good with tools and have some free time it doesn't have
to be a hobby reserved for people with thousands of dollars to spare.

yep, the grocery store across the street sells it.
Although I still haven't figured out how long it would take for the
cost of a RO filter for my tap to equal the amout I'd spend on bottles
of water. Since I don't pay for water in my apartment, that's not an
issue.

Wow, that happens in the freshwater community? We have that
in the sal****er community about DSB (deep sand bed)!!! LOL

Marc


Kellbot wrote:

There's a lot
of debate on rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish about gravel, to the point
where it's as much of a religious "my fish love gravel / gravel kills
fish" ****ing contest, but my fish are happy with gravel less.



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My fish want to be back home on the real reef , but they are not going ,lol

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www.nydiver.com
ONLINE meeting rooms



"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
om...
Wow, that happens in the freshwater community? We have that in the
sal****er community about DSB (deep sand bed)!!! LOL

Marc


Kellbot wrote:

There's a lot
of debate on rec.aquaria.freshwater.goldfish about gravel, to the point
where it's as much of a religious "my fish love gravel / gravel kills
fish" ****ing contest, but my fish are happy with gravel less.



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One caveat.... as you are not putting any invertebrates in the tank you can
use a tank that has had copper used in it. Now if you ever think you may put
an anemone in it then yea.... make sure you have never used copper.

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
om...
Hi Kelly(?),

A 10g is very small, but doable. Here is what you need:

A tank that has never had copper used in it.
A simple light, since you only want a couple of fish and no corals.
A small piece of Live Rock would be nice for the fish to seek shelter
near, and give you more to look at than just crushed coral
A heater
A powerhead, pointed up slightly to ripple the surface.
A HOB filter is fine. A skilter is a poor man's filter and protein
skimmer built into one, and can be modified to run relatively silently.
Salt.
Test kits for ammonia, nitrite,nitrate.
Thermometer & Hydrometer.
Cleaning magnet or scrubbing pad that has never been used with soap.
Frozen food or flake food (preferable both, to vary the fish's diet.

You don't need an UGF, as they don't benefit a sal****er tank at all. I
had one in my 29g for years, and nitrates were always up. Once I ripped
it out finally, the problem was solvable.

For fun, read this brief overview:
http://www.melevsreef.com/overview.htm

A clownfish will be absolutely fine without an anemone, and I've had a
mated pair in a 10g for 1.5 years without any other creatures. They are
now in a 29g for the past 5 months with a pair of eels, and a ton of LR
(Live Rock).

If you increase your lighting to something better later, you can add a few
easy corals, such as mushrooms.

You should really take the time to navigate my site.
http://www.melevsreef.com

Be sure to click on Hidden Treasures!

Also, there is a site called http://www.nano-reef.com/ for smaller tanks.

Marc




wrote:
Allright, I've been considering converting my spare 10 gallon
freshwater to a small sal****er tank, and considering what sort of fish
I would like to start with. My roomates really like "nemo fish," which
I believe are clownfish (not having ever seen "finding nemo" I'm not
sure).

From what I've read clownfish are fairly hardy, but what I haven't been
able to discern is whether or not an anemone is necessary. I searched
the newsgroup back a few years, and some posts say the clownfish will
die without a host aneome, others say they will be fine.

I don't really want to have corals/anemones in this tank, it just
sounds like an awful lot of work and specialized equipment. So if
clownfish desperately need them, I'll have to pick a different fish to
start with.
I'm also slightly confused by names, is there another fish that looks
similar to a clownfish but has a different name? or is there an
alternative term for them? I was in the LFS recently, and saw a fish
that looked like a clownfish to me, but was less than an inch long, and
labeled as something else (can't remember what though).

It'll be at least a month before I really start setting it up, so I
have lots of time to research. I've been going through the old usenet
archives (hooray for google archiving) and a few websites for research,
but any specific advice for my setup is welcome :)

I currently have a 10 gallon tank (cycled) with an undergravel and
Hang-on-back style filter. I think I will use crushed coral as a
substrate, because I already have a *ton* of it (I use it to maintain
the pH in my freshwater tank). I'm already quite familiar with the UGF
debate, but are there any extra caveats for sal****er tanks? I'm not
intensely attatched to it (its practically a religious argument for
some folks) but I did find that my water parameters were a lot more
stable after installing it.

I'm also trying to get a feel for how much this would cost. I have a
feeling I can't afford an amazing ideal setup, but I would like my tank
to be sufficient.

From my understanding I need to add live rock and a protien skimmer to
my setup, and pick up a hydrometer to measure the salinity. I already
have test kits. I also have a heater for the tank, and a ridiculous
number of air pumps ( i swear they breed). So I should be able to
convert my setup to SW for about $100-$150?

The other thing I haven't seen is the frequency/quantity of water
changes. I'm used to doing 30% weekly changes on my 40gallong
freshwater tank.

This ended up a ridiculously long post! My main concern though is the
clownfish question, I'm sure I'll dig up answers to the rest of these
as I do my research.


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