just started a 5gallon saltwater tank.

[FrankSlapperinni]

if you wat to test, test with damsel fish. damsels are the cichlids of the salt water world.

Actualy, Wrasse literaly ARE the cichlids of the marine wolrd. from what I've read, wrasse are of the same family as Cichlids. ( just a little useless info I picked up on)

 

[OscarCichlid]

You may be right Frank, i am VERY new to salt water fish.

 

[ste2k3]

firstly, i don't think wrass are the same family as cichlids.

secondly, you should NOT USE ANY FISH TO TEST the tank. just because a damsel or wrass might not die dosn't mean it wont suffer. if you leave the tank for a month, it will mature just as well and if you want put some un-cured live rock in. You don't need to put fish in to mature the tank-IT'S CRUEL!!!!

 

[Eelzor]

something regarding this post for LVT - I know what you mean, true you can keep clownfish in a 10gallon maybe, and thats with optimum filtration though, like a trickle filter.

 

[FishHeads]

Now I am not in the position to talk because I have only done a salt water aquarium once and I ended up stopping because it got too expensive. I had 4 Maroon Clown fish and a few anenomeas in a 50 gallon...I had other fish too but I can't remember their names. Anyways, a friend of mine, who knows more about the marine world than I do, has the fishies now. As I recall, salt water aquariums require a lot of oxygen. A LOT! And it is very difficult to get that amount of oxygen to a small 5 gallon aquarium with too many delicate fish in it. Is it a 5 gallon tall or wide? Wider and longer tanks have a bigger surface area to hold more dissolved oxygen. A 5 gallon just doesn't cut it. I know Marine fishkeeping is an expensive hobby, but you MUST start out right or you will be out a lot of money and not creating the best possible environment for your salt fishies. Good luck!

 

[Opcn]

First offyou can put airstones in any tank and that will help imensely. and secondly if you leave your tank for a month with out any fish or any amonia sorce you will kill the cycled bactiria and the first fish you put in will be hit with the same cruelty but the tank owner will have had a month of downtimeif you use live sand you can skip the cycle all together.

Opcn

 

[Great Lakes]

A word of cation. Do not just blindly add airstones to a marine tank. You can precipitate to much CO2 and raise your PH too high.

 

[ste2k3]

also, 1/ you get the effect of turning the tank into a protein skimmer and are left with scum on the surface
2\ it dosn't look natural.

 

[superman]

LVT I live in the Twin Cities very close to you, I am originally from Roseville. I started Marine fish keeping in the past 6 months and have found it very rewarding. Just as you have seen from the reactions of other members on here, we all would love to see you trying out marine fish keeping with a larger tank, I started out with a 29 gallon tall, and found it to be a good starter tank if you don't want to get too large, but a 55 gallon would be an ideal size with very managable filtration and wouldn't totally kill your pocket book. I have been upgrading to larger tanks, and have many tanks that I am getting rid of, let me know if you are interested, we'll get you a great start at Marine fish keeping! Good luck!
My email is [email protected] if you are interested in a larger tank.

 

[Gman]

Wow tetra sucks. LVT you have been missled by your lfs, if they are telling a begginer to set up a nano syst and cram in fish like this, stay away from them. Most stores in my neck of the woods are staffed by teenage kids with little to know expieriance and are telling you what the boss said to tell you.They have no clue . The people on this site have been doing this for years and are not trying to make a $$ off you. Listen to experiance not advertiesments.

 

[Equalizer]

I thiink this is a joke.

He knows this will stir up peoples tempers,and get a reaction.

5 gallons is way toooooo small.

If this is not a joke,buy a used 29 gallon. They are very cheap.

Please read as much info before buying anything else.

Good Luck

 

[akhtar]

i bet u have scared him off

good luck and i hope u learn from ur (small) mistake

 

[mrV]

I have no reef and I don't know anything about them, but thinking to get one someday. All reef hobbiests have said that it's better to start with tank that is big enough, at least 200 liters and with good equipments.

I just bought a book that is good and cheap: The coral reef aquarium - Ron Shimek

Some www pages:
http/reefkeeping.com/
http/reefcentral.com/FindingNemo/ ( http/reefcentral.com )

You should really check those www-pages and read some books (e.g. The coral reef aquarium (Shimek)).

 

[Landlocked]

Another good book is "Marine Aquarium Problem Solving", by Nick Dakin.

 

[bonjo]

Hey man , do you know why your clowns dont mind about anemone
because jail is smaller than house !!!!!!! would you like to live in a 7x5x10feet empty tank for your rest of you live ???
at least you must have a circulation of about 50g/h and a good mechanichal/chemichal filter