Salty Tank With Reefs In Public Place

[joeskandal]

Hi folks, I've kept freshwater tropicals for a few years now and I'm dying to make the switch to the more beautiful, elegant and graceful saltwater tanks.

My wife and I are opening up a body piercing/modification shop and we want a huge (maybe 5/6ft) tank for the shop, and maybe a nano or certainly a smaller one for at home.

What are peoples thoughts on establishing a new tank in a public place, is this a bad idea, as people will be coming up to it quite a lot, no doubt.
There will however, be big signs telling people not to touch, or tap it etc, or fingers will be removed!!!

Hopefully though, if all goes well, we will get the keys a couple of months before opening, for refurbishing the shop, etc.
This will allow me to set up my tam, stock it with the rock and coral I want etc, and cycle it.

I have been reading quite a bit on here, and it seems everyone seems to do a fish in cycle, rather than a fish less cycle seen in freshwaters...
Is this the case, I imagine so, as we don't want to be flooding live Rock with ammonia etc.

Thanks for reading, I look forward to a response.
Joe.
Apologies if there are spelling mistakes etc, as I'm using my wides iPad, and frankly, it's a nightmare!!!!

 

[sorgan]

mate it could be done easily but you would have a sterility issue from the tank and i know you guys need to be super clean to avoid people getting infections.

its a lovely idea but i imagine in a buisness such as yours the risk outways the gain.

EDIT- if you could have the body of the tank in a locked room and just have a section people could view from the shop then that might work, obviously your staff are gonna be scrubbing themselves before a pierce/tattoo/implant and as long as they havnt been swimming in tank then that should be alright. just be aware that a marine tank is VERY diiferent to a freshwater tank, there a things in our tanks that can and will kill you if they are not handled properly.
i know this only to well as i am a clumsy git and i poison myself on what must be a monthly basis

please let us know what you decide to do

BTW coral goes in after a cycle or it dies, quickly and we dont do fish in cycles, our LR produces enough ammonia from die of to get a cycle going if its needed at all. LR contains alot of bacteria so it doesnt need to be colonized like a filter sponge.

 

[ozzie2011]

A lot of people do use things like chromis to help cycle, personally I dont like it and consider it cruel as almost everyone who does lose some or all of the fish by the time the cycle is complete.

As for having the tank in a public place you wouldnt want it near a doorway or anywhere with a lot of foot fall, the constant movememt in front of the tank would stress the fish too much in my opinion.

 

[joeskandal]

The tank will be in the big waiting area of the shop, so this will not be an issue.
Also, I will be the only one touching the tank, and as an ex-nurse, hand hygiene is firmly lodged in my brain.

But thanks for the advice, I shall bear it in mind...

A lot of people do use things like chromis to help cycle, personally I dont like it and consider it cruel as almost everyone who does lose some or all of the fish by the time the cycle is complete.

As for having the tank in a public place you wouldnt want it near a doorway or anywhere with a lot of foot fall, the constant movememt in front of the tank would stress the fish too much in my opinion.

That's what I was thinking about mostly, yeah.
It was gonna be opposite the main entrance, but out of the gangway, so people wouldn't really walk past it...

 

[ozzie2011]

Ok cool, the other thing is you dont want direct light on it either, but you probably know that already

 

[kj23502]

I think it's a good idea. As long as people don't run up pounding on it, the fish should be fine. As said, keep it away from direct light, direct foot traffic and you might want to consider drafts such as from the front door open/closing all the time.


With the live rock, you won't need to do a fish cycle. Get some good quality wet live rock and some dry base rock. That will begin the cycle for you. You may not even get much of a cycle depending on where your dry rock is from.