Free 39 Gallon High!

[heymickey94]

Hello everyone. As the title says I have the opportunity to get a free 39 gallon high tank! The tank is saltwater, I have never had a saltwater tank before. I am assuming that the tank comes with all of the neccasary equiment to set up a saltwater tank, as the tank is currently set up with fish in it. The fish in it are 2 damsel fish and a snowflake eel. Will all of these fish be able to live in this tank for life? I don't plan on upgrading the tank, so if the fish will get to large they will be brought to the lfs so that they will have a chance of a better life. If either of the fish has to be taken back to the lfs what would you reccomend I buy to replace it? Something that is easy to care for. When I collect the fish I will have about a 20 minute ride back to the house. What is the best way to transfer the fish? Should I just put them in a 5 gallon bucket? Also the tank looks like it needs a cleaning from the pictures, can I clean the tank the same way that I would clean a freshwater tank, with a sponge on a handle to wipe the sides? Also would the water change schedule be the same as freshwater? And when I replace the water do I have to buy marine salt or can I use the aquarium salt that I already have? Thank you and sorry for all of the questions.

 

[ProHaloSniper]

Well that sounds certainly like a good deal! Wish I had someone THAT GENEROUS!

I have had some experiences with transferring fish and I find that the best way to do it...is to follow the exact same way a LFS would send you home with fish. Get some of those bags and fill it with water from the tank. Make sure you fill the bag up about halfway. Put the bags of fish (individually) inside a styrofoam carton to keep temperatures from getting too high or low on the fish. They should be ok since you said it was only a 20 minute ride. Its an hour ride to my LFS and I brought stuff home before. That, I think, is the best way to do it If you don't have any bags, go to your LFS and ask them for some. Its just plastic.

The live rock (if any) may be alright in a bucket but the best way to do it us to put it in a styrofoam container with damp newspaper.

As for cleaning the tank, get one of those magnetic algae scrapers. I'm not too sure what you mean by "needs to be clean" without seeing pictures. Can ya post em up here?

Hope this info helps.

--Jim C.

 

[heymickey94]

Thank you. I do have styrofoam containers from when I bought fish online. Can I just use 1 gallon plastic bags, that are used for food? The bags that are like really big sandwich bags. I have plenty of those. That way I can fill the bags halfway with water, put all of the fish into the styrofoam box( in their bags) and put the lid on. I will also bring an extra styrofoam container and wet newspaper in case their is any live rock, however the gentleman didn;t say anything about live rock. I do actually have one of those magnetic algea scrapers that I can use. By needs to be cleaned I mean that the tank is filled with algae. Thank you for your quick response.

 

[ProHaloSniper]

DO NOT USE FOOD BAGS!

They leak like I dunno what. They are not strong at all for what you are doing. Just take the time and go to your LFS and get some free bags. Trust me, do it right the first time and there are no problems. Thats good if you already have styrofoam boxes.

I love my algae scraper. It keeps my whole tank clean. I use it just about every other day to get it off.

Have fun with transporting your fish!

--Jim C.

 

[heymickey94]

Ok thanks, I will go to the lfs and get some bags. Does anybody have any info on water changes or the fish. Thanks a lot prohalosniper

 

[idlefingers]

I do 10% water changes per week on my marine tank. You do need to mix salt into it and get it to the same specific gravity (and temp) as the tank water.

If you haven't already, you should check out a few of the pinned threads. There's a lot of reading, but there's a lot to learn! Thinking of setting up a marine tank and FAQ section for nano tanks both have a lot of info in which will explain a lot of the basics of getting the tank up and running and then maintaining it for time to come!

 

[rhysiboy]

the one hting i will say is that i dunno if a snowflake eel is really the best thing to start with. Also with the eel ask for like the biggest bag possible for it or explain what you need the bags for and what size the fish are. For the live rock if you can try to transport it in water i.3 in a food safe bucket with a lid this way you will have minimal die off and be able to dodge a 'mini' cycle

 

[heymickey94]

Ok thanks everybody for all of the help. Now when I get home how do I make new water to fill the tank? I mean how much salt do I have to add? Thanks.