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My Flame Angel got stressed and sick pretty quickly after we moved to our new house.  He finally kicked the bucket on Sunday. I'm totally dejected about it, and I'm wondering if I even want to keep my tank going anymore. I was waiting until after the move to get any more fish, but now the only one I had is a goner. I also managed to kill my 2 clownfish back in January because I was stupid and let my tank get too cold during my Christmas holiday trip. On the other hand, I love it when my tank looks really nice, and I was excited to find some baby snails yesterday. Apparently I'm better with snail husbandry. I just don't know what I want to do, and the guys I live with are pushing me to sell the tank. It would be nice to have a little money in my pocket too, since we're having some cash flow issues due to the move. Advise me goons? Should I just sell the drat tank?
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Jun 5, 2008 16:43
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strwrsxprt posted:This question isn't restricted to saltwater, but I don't see a general aquarium megathread so I'll just ask here. I'm considering getting a small tank, maybe just a 6 gallon to place on my desk. Would I be torturing whatever pour souls I put in there by placing them near my speakers that are frequently pumping music, movies, and video games? I wouldn't do it. My angelfish expired very quickly during/right after we had our housewarming party, and I think the music was what sent him past the point of no return.
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Jun 26, 2008 15:46
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Trillian posted:I would really love a reef tank, but something is bugging me. How possible is it to stick to aquacultured livestock? There's always the option of getting your livestock second-hand. That way you're also getting fish & corals that are already adjusted to living in a tank. Some of the aquarium clubs have swap meets for corals people have propagated, and usually there's somebody wanting to get rid of their livestock and/or rock on the boards. That being said, there's more stuff being aquacultured than there used to be, but you'll probably have to seek it out. I think the most responsible thing that people can do is make sure that they're responsible with the livestock they DO get. For example, mandarin dragonets are show stoppers, but unless a person has a large enough tank with a large enough copepod population, that poor fish will starve to death.
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Feb 3, 2010 00:35
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I'd go larger, unless you're really, really interested in conquering the challenges of miniature reef-keeping, namely water quality management and limited livestock choices. Personally, I hate having to worry about my day-to-day water quality, and in small tanks, things can go from "fine" to "OMG my tank is crashing" pretty quickly. A moderately stocked medium-large tank won't require too much input on a daily basis. I screwed up quite a few things with my tanks over the years, but I found that lightly stocking my tanks has saved me more time and hassle than any gadget or piece of advice. Some people enjoy tinkering around in their nanos on a daily basis, but I prefer the the concept of having the tank be a balanced, healthy ecosystem that requires very little from me besides food and topping off the water. I think it comes down to figuring out exactly what sort of enjoyment you get from fishkeeping. Other than having to micromanage water quality, I see properly stocking a nano to be a big pain in the rear end. There are some really cool species of small fish, but I'd rather have a school of them in a large tank rather than just one or two in a nano. I agree that a 40g breeder would be a good starter size, but most people want to upgrade to larger ASAP because you'll quickly realize the limitations of a medium sized tank. Even at a 55g or 60g tank, there are plenty of species that you can't keep because they'd need more space. For example, I'd love to have had a Picasso Triggerfish or Naso Tang, but both species need a larger tank (125g, maybe more).
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Feb 3, 2010 20:52
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Yeah, it definitely comes down to what your priorities are for the tank. Your percs look pretty happy with their anemone.  I can certainly understand why people get so excited about their inverts; my Nassarius snails ended up being my favorite thing to watch in the whole tank.
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Feb 4, 2010 01:09
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Dono posted:It's a large community and from what I've learned is that everyone is here to help you out. Ask questions, and most importantly take your time, this is a hobby for the patient. I think this is great advice. I got really into marine setups awhile back, but it was frustrating how much conflicting advice there is, even when you're trying to find an answer to what you think is a simple question. The best thing I did was to take my time to understand the -why- behind all the advice, so I could actually sift through it more knowledgeably. Having a solid understanding of the biological processes and various animals in my tank was also a big part of what I enjoyed about having a saltwater tank, too. My favorite things in my tank by far were my army of nassarius snails. I loved playing God of my own little aquatic world. I've been moving too much the last few years to have a tank, but I can't wait to really settle in somewhere and build the 125g of my dreams. My 55g was fun and manageable (and generally quite stable) for a beginner, but it honestly took about 3 months before I was dying to upgrade to something larger. In retrospect, I wish I had bought more live rock to start with, created a large refugium, and made a deeper sandbed.
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May 20, 2011 03:43
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