Some Questions About Marine

[cuticom]

Well I'm looking at trying either a brackish or marine set up and had some Q's.

Firstly I really don't like the idea of fish being taken from the wild for our enjoyment, one of the major factors in going brackish over marine is I don't need live rock, which is taken from the reefs and I'm more likely to find captive bred fish in brackish.

But can I do a marine set up like you would a freshwater except use some type of porous rock/ceramic item in the filter instead of a sponge and bypass the need for live rock?

What fish are commonly captive bred?

I know some people have done a fish only set up so there's gotta be a way LOL.

The tank size I'm looking at is somewhere between 5g and 20g, obviously if I go with 5g it'd be brackish.

I'm aware that I'd need to go through a long cycling process if I bypass the live rock, but am happy to do it.

Oops forgot to add, the other idea I had was to get a 50g tub/indoor pond type set up and keep some inverts, but I'm unsure as to what would be captive bred and what wouldn't, it'd be awesome to do something like those touch pools you find in aquariums.

 

[leecara]

when you say tank bred fish do you mean brackish or marine bred fish

 

[cuticom]

Well since its in the marine section, I mean marine. I think I've got a pretty good grasp on what fish I could use for a brakish tank

 

[Lynden]

Very few marine non-coral invertebrates are bred in captivity. You can however buy aquacultured live rock.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, aquacultured live rock is becoming more and more popular these days. As far as non-coral raised livestock you're going to be limited with fish to clownfish, and some gobies or pseudochromis. Corals are very ommonly aquacultured.

 

[cuticom]

Clownfish are tank raised? Hmmm I've always liked the idea of a nemo, but thought they were wild caught, will look into it...

I was thinking of making my own live rock, what can I say I'm a DIY kinda gal LOl.

I read somewhere that hermit crabs were bred? yes, no? any other inverts that are bred? I have my doubts about star fish but maybe some type of shrimp?

I'm not prepared to go into corals, more the expense of it really, for the lighting etcetera I'm only 15 so doing it cheaply is always best.

Could you explain more on the gobies? I only have one LFS that sells marine stock so am pretty limited. It'd be easier to cross reference exact names with what they have in their tanks...
Edit- would anyone know if these 4 fish are captive bred or wildcaught?
http/www.livefish.com.au/index.php?main_...p;cPath=1_21_43

From memory the LFS that sells marine fish has the obligatory tank of "nemos", some type of small cheap greenish/silver fish, six line wrasse, Some Dory's I believe their called regal tangs? the tomato clowns, now and then some black clownfish which I've seen wild off the eastern coast of Australia as well as some bigger fish.
Thanks for your help
Emma

 

[cuticom]

Just had a look at a few sites and the green/silver fish are green chromis, only get to about 3". They were very cheap $10 each, would that mean their captive bred? A single one of em and a hermit crab'd be nice..

 

[cuticom]

Lol new question sorry.

I've been looking around and it seems the main problem with smaller tanks is the evaporation which leads to increased salinity, which in a smaller tank can be fatal, am I correct?

But if you used a small tank and placed a solid piece of glass on top, with no room for evaporation except for a small 5mm hole where cords go, is it possible to keep a small tank? especially without extra lighting and all that that increases evaporation?

As I was just thinking I could do a small nano with just a hermit crab (still need to find out if their captive bred) and a small powerhead.

Some local shops here sell these airtight clear acrylic containers, I think their meant to be cookie jars or something like that but they'd make a great tank, and then if I drilled a couple of small notches for a heater and power head and made sure they wedged in pretty tight, that should stop evaporation correct?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

evaporation is a big problem in marine nano tanks.

however don't let it put you off, it can be done, it will just take careful planning and very regular maintenance, if you've not already read them have a look at the pins in the nano section which should start you off well

 

[cuticom]

Yah had a look at them, am still working my way through them lOL. Can a single hermit carb live in a tank somewhere between a 1g and a 5g? Obviously with weekly water changes etc

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Takes a fair bit of reading doesn't it!!

i don't think i'd put one in a 1g, but maybe in a 4/5 gallon it'd be ok

 

[cuticom]

Okies thanks

Hmmm I've just been staring at my tanks and suddenly realised a perfect idea was staring at me. Athena my Yabby lives in a 20g all to herself, but since I live in the yabbies native habitat she should survive perfectly fine if I moved her to a pond/tub outside. Then I could take her 20g for a marine tank. Its a Mirabello 70 so looks quite good, the heater and filter on it are totally bust but I do have a new heater for it and then I'd just need to buy a good pump/filter. Some nice fake liverock scaping some chromis and a few hermits would look good....

I also have a 6g that Gavin my Paradise Fish lives in, but it wouldn't be hard to find him a new small tank.