Aquarium Talk: Fish/Reptiles/Lizards/Insectivoids...

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Pirranahs are legal over here in Germany. That is why I want to try another time with them and hopefully they will not die off on me after awhile.

Me and my wife want a few salt water tanks when we build our house. Sort of built into the house. I want a few sting rays and moray eels.

 

[comiso90]

Me and my wife want a few salt water tanks when we build our house. Sort of built into the house. I want a few sting rays and moray eels.

What size saltwater? The larger the easier it is to maintain and I cant bring myself to try a SW tank less than 100 gallons..

has anyone tried a small saltwater tank? Is it a pain in the arse?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I am not sure on what size I want, but I know I want them to be rather large. 100 gallons or more because the sting rays will get to a decent size and so will the moray eels.

 

[Matt308]

Help me out guys. I like the vertical tanks that have a small footprint. But I was told that they are not good for many fish as the fish need the horizontal space. Any truth to that? The vertical tanks are awfully pretty.

 

[comiso90]

My impression of vertical tanks is that:

They can look very cool but without specialized filtration, there can be dead spots in the tank with little or no current. You have to have current every where in the tank.

They are difficult to clean

Temperature control can be a problem... u don't want thermoclines!

The wrong thing to do is just pick out a vertical tank with off the shelf filtration and heating... it is worth more planning

 

[lesofprimus]

Agreed with comiso, his facts are correct....

 

[evangilder]

Yep.Smaller footprints are great for other things, but not fishtanks. Having horizontal space for them to move around is very important. Plus, if you have aggressive fish, you need to have places where fish can hide. With Africans especially, you need rock with nooks and crannies for them to call their own territory, or something like the way Comiso has his set up. If it is tall with a small footprint, it is difficult to set up a system like that.

 

[evangilder]

Here are 2 of my old tanks.

 

[lesofprimus]

Nice set ups Eric, too bad u had to give em up...

 

[comiso90]

I've seen succesful 6 foot vertical tanks but they require customzation like a powerhead every 2 feet and a heating unit on the bottom. I never saw how they cleaned it.

Great tanks Evanglider.. My water just went VERY cloudy and I'm not sure why. I think i threw a hunk of cheese in the tank after a few drinks.

 

[lesofprimus]

A hunk of cheese would do it u drunkard....

 

[comiso90]

Guilty as charged!

The fish love cheese... I just think i tossed too much in.

How much salt do u put in African Cichlid tanks? I've read different amounts

 

[Matt308]

I've seen succesful 6 foot vertical tanks but they require customzation like a powerhead every 2 feet and a heating unit on the bottom. I never saw how they cleaned it.

Great tanks Evanglider.. My water just went VERY cloudy and I'm not sure why. I think i threw a hunk of cheese in the tank after a few drinks.

I actually was contemplating taking acquarium advice from this gentlemen.

 

[lesofprimus]

LMAO Matt....

How much salt do u put in African Cichlid tanks? I've read different amounts

Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganika are rift lakes. They formed when tectonic action produced a rift in the ground. Ocean water flowed into the rift and formed a salty lake. Over time rain and runoff diluted the lake down to the low salt content it has today. What this means is that the appropriate water conditions for a rift lake cichlid tank is effectively very very diluted sea water. Although the salt content is only a little higher than freshwater levels, I recommend adding salt because it kills freshwater parasites.

There are several ways to create friendly water conditions. Perhaps the simplest one is to use 1 tablespoon of synthetic sea salt for every 5 gallons of water. Note that this is practically fresh water; marine aquariums use approximately 1/2 cup of synthetic sea salt for every gallon of water. So while synthetic sea salts are expensive, one small box will last you through years of water changes. If you use this method I recommend using Instant Ocean salt.

You can also duplicate these water conditions with a combination of 1 tablespoon of normal aquarium salt for every 5 gallons of water combined with a cichlid water conditioner such as Tetra Cichlid Vital or Rift Lake Vital. Note that salt does not evaporate so only add salt during water changes (not with top-off water).

Both of these methods assume the use of a gravel such as crushed coral or aragonite. If you are using normal aquarium gravel, you will need to add a buffer to increase the carbonate hardness. A slightly higher carbonate hardness will help you maintain the appropriate PH: between 7.5 and 8.

Keep in mind that ammonia becomes much more toxic at high PH values. When cycling a tank, keep the PH at 7 and then slowly work it up to 7.5 over a week, or your fish will not survive the cycling process. I recommend keeping the PH at 7.5 for beginners and breeding tanks. If you plan to sell your fry, you should raise the babies in a PH of 7.2 to 7.5 so they will be accustomed to the lower pet store PH levels.

 

[comiso90]

I actually was contemplating taking acquarium advice from this gentlemen.

hey now...I have Roman artifacts in the tank... I may as well act like a Roman..

u see how clean the tank is pre-cheese. I've had tanks since i ws 10

Maybe I should sue... there wasnt a warning label on the cheese!

 

[Matt308]

 

[comiso90]

LMAO Matt....



There are several ways to create friendly water conditions. Perhaps the simplest one is to use 1 tablespoon of synthetic sea salt for every 5 gallons of water. Note that this is practically fresh water; marine aquariums use approximately 1/2 cup of synthetic sea salt for every gallon of water. So while synthetic sea salts are expensive, one small box will last you through years of water changes. If you use this method I recommend using Instant Ocean salt.

.

I 've read other sources that recomend more than that...

good to know..

BTW... I'm sorry I mentioned the cheese!

 

[Matt308]

 

[lesofprimus]

The advice I use is from an MIT geek whose knowledge in Cichlids, in my opinion, is unmatched....

Too much salt and u run into problems introducing new fish IMO...

And for the record, I love the pottery u got in ur tank comiso... Its given me ideas for my new 55 gallon Im getting ready to set up...

 

[lesofprimus]

And remember, use a buffer if u need to, as its very important...