Anyone into saltwater aquariums?

four six · Dec 20, 2008

Its my other obsession the past year.

Black_02_GT · Dec 20, 2008

Stark77 · Dec 21, 2008

I have several freshy tanks with Cichlids/Oscars and a brackish tank with Green Spotted Puffer fish. Enjoy watching the fish late at night or when it's feeding time. The majority of my hobby funds, though, are split between the car and R/C Airplanes / Helicopters. Gas/Nitro/Electric. Love those things.

DLFD911 · Dec 21, 2008

I had one for awhile. I got tired of cleaning up the dried up salt that ran down the back of the tank onto the floor, so went back to fresh water tropicals.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 21, 2008

I am into freshwater planted tanks. I don't even have a lot of fish, but the look of a 75 gallon aquarium bright green with live plants in my living room is very relaxing. I have the entire thing jammed with live plants, and just a few choice small fish that you can only see darting among the plants if you look carefully. I like the natural look.

Stark77 · Dec 21, 2008

What types of plants are you farming in there? I tried keeping plants in my Malawi Cichlid tank and they uprooted them all and pushed them to one side of the tank. They do similar things with gravel.
I had small success with keeping plants in the brackish puffer tank, but the salt levels - I believe - caused them to stagnate. I have a 55gallon with the cichlids, a 40 gallon with the puffers and tiger barbs, and a spare 55 gallon. Those planted tanks do look good. Maybe ill give one a go. Have any pics of your set up?

four six · Dec 21, 2008

I'll be picking up my new 75 gallon (perfecto) RR tank tomorrow. I currently have a 29 gallon salt tank that I love.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 21, 2008

Stark77 said:
What types of plants are you farming in there? I tried keeping plants in my Malawi Cichlid tank and they uprooted them all and pushed them to one side of the tank. They do similar things with gravel.
I had small success with keeping plants in the brackish puffer tank, but the salt levels - I believe - caused them to stagnate. I have a 55gallon with the cichlids, a 40 gallon with the puffers and tiger barbs, and a spare 55 gallon. Those planted tanks do look good. Maybe ill give one a go. Have any pics of your set up?

No pics right now. Every time i try to take pics, i have issues with the flash off the glass or motion burr from the rocking plants and/or fish. So it's been tough for me to take pics worthy of showing off.

Cichlids are tough to keep with line plants..mainly because its in their nature to dig and uproot them. In their natural habitat, they prefer their territory plant free, so they try to do the same in the aquarium. I bred convict cichlids before (Easiest fish to breed...just take a pair and add water and you'll have eggs) and tried to keeep a planted tank and it was impossible. I ended up getting rid of them.

I have a mix of plants, swords, grasses, java fern, moss, water lillys, i've changed it up over the years. I get most of my plants at local stores, but i get a lot of the exotic hard to find ones off ebay. I've gotten some VERY healthy plants off ebay...better than some i get at local stores, so don't hestitate to try a few sellers on ebay. I've gotten some nice large high quality plants from there.

Stark77 · Dec 21, 2008

Yeah - I pick up different types of snails on eBay and all have gotten here alive as well. The pet stores around here normally have several tanks filled with plants, but probably nothing really rare. I've seen those Cichlids before. The ones I raise are Mbuna's, and the tank is about 75% male, so no eggs yet.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 21, 2008

I have my tank filled with Malaysan Trumpet Snails.

During the day you see maybe 1-3 of them in the tank. At night, flip on the tank like at 3AM and you'll see thousands of them! COme daybreak, they burrow into the media and are out of sight. They do a great job keeping the tank clean and don't feed on the plants

ADRENLN · Dec 22, 2008

i also have a 55 gal african cichlid tank that has become a big hobby for me this past year. i will be moving up to a 90 gal soon. right now i have 9 africans and one american in the tank. they are getting along for now but are real nippy at each others fine. thats just the way these fish can be i guess.

i have tried some plants as well. i bought 3 live plants 3 weeks ago. 2 java ferns and one onion plant. the onion is getting eaten but the africans do not seem to bother the java ferns too much. not enough to kill them.

so if you want plants with africans i would say try java fern.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 22, 2008

Java fern is awesome when you get it to cover a log or rock, but the downside is it grows SLOW.

I had one log that took 3 years to fully cover, and when it did, the leaves were just too long at about 12" in lenght. So i ripped them all off and left the roots attached. 2 weeks later, tiny java ferns sprouted up from the roots and provided a shorter thicker cover.

screamin gt · Dec 23, 2008

I used to work at a pet shop that was big into salt water. the owner was a really good guy to work for too so I got sick deals (lots of free) and that made it really easy to have a ton of cool stuff.

I had a 72 bow front with about 2 dozen corals and a just a few fish. my favorite piece was an elegance coral and it was just beautiful, it was about a foot long and 6 inches across. I even got started with cutting and growing one kind of soft coral, but I forget the name. it was sort of purple-ish and looked something like a tree. you could cut it at the base and split one into 2 and it only would take about 6 months for it to get back to the size they were before splitting them.

I had alot of trouble keeping the temp down in the hot part of the summer and eventually just through in the towel. now I have a 125 with a ton of drift wood and a chain pickerel, a yellow perch and a pumpkin seed. the 72 gallon sits empty for about 6 years now.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 23, 2008

My next tank will be a 125+ gallon tank.

I want to fill it with a school of 200+ neon tetras and heavily plant it

screamin gt · Dec 24, 2008

Mustang5L5 said:
My next tank will be a 125+ gallon tank.

I want to fill it with a school of 200+ neon tetras and heavily plant it

I had that same idea

but I couldn't justify $3 a piece for neons. I have too many other hobbies so I went with the freebie fish from the local waters. lol + I don't need a heater with these guys.

Mustang5L5 · Dec 24, 2008

I've wanted to do a smallmouth bass i've caught, but i can't imagine them being very neat fish and liking a well manicured tank.

BTW, neons are $1 each where i live

GDawg · Dec 24, 2008

I've had Saltwater aquariums for many years. Only recently did I sell off my last 60 gallon tank. I just don't have the time for it anymore.

screamin gt · Dec 24, 2008

Mustang5L5 said:
I've wanted to do a smallmouth bass i've caught, but i can't imagine them being very neat fish and liking a well manicured tank.

BTW, neons are $1 each where i live

yeah pet shops around me are way overpriced. I could probly find em close to that but I'd have to drive an hour.

screamin gt · Dec 24, 2008

I want a smallmouth too. that would be a good addition. I had a largemouth but it was a little too small and the pickeral ate it after about a month.

he was pretty good at staying away from the pickeral for a while.

four six · Dec 25, 2008

Pic of new tank

Anyone into saltwater aquariums?

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