Tossing & Turning Thinking About...

[Led By Dreams]

So after recently finding out that one of my friends dad's ran an Aquarium shop here, & maintains over 50 or so tanks on the island.
I've been spending countless, sleepless nights contemplating starting a SW tank.
of course I don't really have much space in my house for a huge tank I've been reading about Nano tanks.

The whole concept confuses me a bit, like how some people can have a 10g Marine Tank, but for a FW tank even that is pretty small.
So my question is what makes a Nano Marine Tank do-able and viable to strive.

There's a really nice 18g tank that I've been eying... was thinking about a FW setup for it, but decided there's not too many FW fish that excite me
My Father's also been coming to the shop with me, and he's been thinking about getting a marine tank as well...
a unit that comes with built-in features & such. He's willing to get 24g+ , but he's somewhat stuck on getting that whole built-in deal.

Won't be getting anything until we both can afford it...

Getting a substantially bigger tank would be a bit less maintenance & cheaper in the long run it seems, but we just don't have the room.



So sorry about the life-story
Posting in Forums always makes me nervous, so my apologies if I've rambled too much.

Here are my questions:

Is an 18g tank feasible for a beginner like me.

Do I need a hood for my tank (the tank I'm looking at has none, but has an overhead light system. If I need to have a hood I'm willing to look for another tank.)

Are built-in units/kits a good buy, as opposed to buying everything yourself and setting it up.

What fish can you keep in Nano tanks. ( can you keep Clown fish, Royal Gramma, Firefish at all ?)

as a side note my LFS owner said that we can't have Corals and such here in Hawai'i so I'm unsure if that goes for Live Rock as well.

in advance!

 

[Trod]

Here are my questions:

Is an 18g tank feasible for a beginner like me.

Bigger is better, but with a good maintenance routine it is possible. If you can I'd try to go for minimum 30g (uk)
Do I need a hood for my tank (the tank I'm looking at has none, but has an overhead light system. If I need to have a hood I'm willing to look for another tank.)
A hood is not neccessary, just watch your choice of fish, as many are jumpers

Are built-in units/kits a good buy, as opposed to buying everything yourself and setting it up.
Plug 'n' play systems are a good beginning (I have an orca tl550) but you might be able to get cheaper by buying things separately

What fish can you keep in Nano tanks. ( can you keep Clown fish, Royal Gramma, Firefish at all ?)
18g is quite small and will limit your choice of fish, with no hood a firefish might not be a good idea as they jump, I think tank is to small for clown fish or royal gramma. Look at small gobies.
as a side note my LFS owner said that we can't have Corals and such here in Hawai'i so I'm unsure if that goes for Live Rock as well.
You could keep a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) tank if you can get hold of some LR if not you will need an external filter

in advance!

 

[Led By Dreams]

Here are my questions:

Is an 18g tank feasible for a beginner like me.

Bigger is better, but with a good maintenance routine it is possible. If you can I'd try to go for minimum 30g (uk)
Do I need a hood for my tank (the tank I'm looking at has none, but has an overhead light system. If I need to have a hood I'm willing to look for another tank.)
A hood is not neccessary, just watch your choice of fish, as many are jumpers

Are built-in units/kits a good buy, as opposed to buying everything yourself and setting it up.
Plug 'n' play systems are a good beginning (I have an orca tl550) but you might be able to get cheaper by buying things separately

What fish can you keep in Nano tanks. ( can you keep Clown fish, Royal Gramma, Firefish at all ?)
18g is quite small and will limit your choice of fish, with no hood a firefish might not be a good idea as they jump, I think tank is to small for clown fish or royal gramma. Look at small gobies.
as a side note my LFS owner said that we can't have Corals and such here in Hawai'i so I'm unsure if that goes for Live Rock as well.
You could keep a fish only with live rock (FOWLR) tank if you can get hold of some LR if not you will need an external filter

in advance!

Such a coincidence that I just spent about 30 minutes or more reading yours & your sisters thread about this stuff...
Appreciate the reply, really, and I've learned a TON from reading your thread.

 

[Trod]

Such a coincidence that I just spent about 30 minutes or more reading yours & your sisters thread about this stuff...
Appreciate the reply, really, and I've learned a TON from reading your thread.

Thank you, always glad to help

Oh and I'm not jealous at all that you are in Hawaii.

 

[bagu]

hmmmm i havent done marine, and am hoping to do so soon, and i am in the same tank situation as you

you should keep LR ideally, IMHO. you will need a good flow, as your LR acts as the filter etc.

like Trod said, you can have jumpers, but i dont see a problem if you kept a perspex piece; but im sure you could make a hood

You could think about mail order etc, you can find some real bargains!

good luck!

BAGU

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side.

I'm very curious to know why you would not be able to have lr or corals because you are in Hawai - do let us know, it's always really interesting to hear about such things

Read, read and then read some more - start a note book or a computer file with all the info and knowledge you gain over the next few weeks, months - in the salty world going slowly and patience along with a fair amount of money is required

Also do a search on the forum to see if we have any members from Hawai, non spring to mind but you never know

We are all very friendly so never worry about asking - the only stupid question is the one not asked

Seffie x

 

[Led By Dreams]

hmmmm i havent done marine, and am hoping to do so soon, and i am in the same tank situation as you

you should keep LR ideally, IMHO. you will need a good flow, as your LR acts as the filter etc.

like Trod said, you can have jumpers, but i dont see a problem if you kept a perspex piece; but im sure you could make a hood

You could think about mail order etc, you can find some real bargains!

good luck!

BAGU

I was thinking about making a temp. hood for when I'm not around the tank & stuff... but I might just help my father get his set up, and just admire his, as oppose to spending money on another tank.
I really would like a firefish, and Trod's suggestion that I check out Gobies led me to some neat looking guys

thanx Bagu, I'll look into some stuff for sure.

welcome to the salty side.

I'm very curious to know why you would not be able to have lr or corals because you are in Hawai - do let us know, it's always really interesting to hear about such things good

Read, read and then read some more - start a note book or a computer file with all the info and knowledge you gain over the next few weeks, months - in the salty world going slowly and patience along with a fair amount of money is required

Also do a search on the forum to see if we have any members from Hawai, non spring to mind but you never know yes

We are all very friendly so never worry about asking - the only stupid question is the one not asked good.gif

Seffie x

Thanx for the kind welcome!

I'm curious to know as well, why we can't have Corals and stuff... but my guess is it's because we're on an island, and people might think they can go out and pick up stuff out of the ocean and try to sell it, or they don't want it messing with what we have here... as for LR, what is it exactly?
I'm not sure if we can't have them in our tank (I know my LFS told me what was in his tank, but I forget whether he said he had LR in his tank )

I'll ask him the next time I'm there why we can't have certain things.
Try to look it up online as well.

and if you're curious, we also can't have FW shrimp (the only 'shrimp' we can have is prawn), & a huge assortment of plants.
I asked him about it, and was very disappointed.


I'll be doing research on 'plug 'n play' systems as that's what my father was interested in.
As for myself, well it might be awhile for my funds to pick up.

I don't remember reading this, but what size our your tanks Trod & Seffie ? (Gallon wise if you know)
They look like a decent size.

thanx for the advice guys

Keep you all updated very soon.

p.s. Hawai'i is nice, but it's expensive!

 

[seffieuk]

Hi

Our tanks are 26 gallons

Seffie x

 

[bagu]

Hi Led By Dreams,

Thanks for saying thanks to my post, i feel special now

I like your idea ;P, make him dish out the cash haha.

May seem far fetched, could you pop down the ocean and take some rock from there? or am i just in my own little world? Firefish also do look stunning dont they! I love their little spike they flick up; its brill!

anyway, good luck mate

Bagu

 

[Led By Dreams]

Hi Led By Dreams,

Thanks for saying thanks to my post, i feel special now

I like your idea ;P, make him dish out the cash haha.

May seem far fetched, could you pop down the ocean and take some rock from there? or am i just in my own little world? Firefish also do look stunning dont they! I love their little spike they flick up; its brill!

anyway, good luck mate

Bagu

Fire fish are excellent indeed!.

I am still thinking about getting a tank, and I'm actually interested in Neon Gobies... they're nice fellas. not as exotic as fire fish and such, but great color.

So I confirmed that LiveRock and Corals are illegal here. and you can't get them shipped to you, or go down to the beach and take it out of the water.

But, my LFS said that I can get a certain amount of LiveSand from the water... and anything that's washed up on the beach (which wouldn't be Live would it?)
and for a small tank, he suggested we go and pick up a few small pieces of LiveRock anyway.

but since I'm not going to have a decent amount of LR, what are the benefits of having LS?

p.s. thanx for the reply Seffie! my father is making his mind up what he wants to get

 

[bagu]

Hi Led By Dreams,

Thanks for saying thanks to my post, i feel special now

I like your idea ;P, make him dish out the cash haha.

May seem far fetched, could you pop down the ocean and take some rock from there? or am i just in my own little world? Firefish also do look stunning dont they! I love their little spike they flick up; its brill!

anyway, good luck mate

Bagu

Fire fish are excellent indeed!.

I am still thinking about getting a tank, and I'm actually interested in Neon Gobies... they're nice fellas. not as exotic as fire fish and such, but great color.

So I confirmed that LiveRock and Corals are illegal here. and you can't get them shipped to you, or go down to the beach and take it out of the water.

But, my LFS said that I can get a certain amount of LiveSand from the water... and anything that's washed up on the beach (which wouldn't be Live would it?)
and for a small tank, he suggested we go and pick up a few small pieces of LiveRock anyway.

but since I'm not going to have a decent amount of LR, what are the benefits of having LS?

p.s. thanx for the reply Seffie! my father is making his mind up what he wants to get

hey!

well nice to hear you are thinking about it But shame about it being illegal =/

I'm not being funny, couldn't you just go down to the beach and take a bit and take it back or something? those rules sound very strict!

From what I have read, LS in the packets isn't really "live", but as its from the sea then it should be ALIVE !
Reason being why ive heard LS isn't really needed, its just dead organisms etc so its going to cause ammonia
But LR is the actual filtration in a FOWLR, but you could have a external filter, and put a bit of live rock rubble, but then i think the tank might look a tad bare

Anyhow, please don't take my word on it 100% this is just my knowledge from lurking around

Keep us posted!

BAguuuuuu

 

[fishtankkid]

Man! and there was me thinking that my 15 gallon to be would get at least a clown and a neon goby