marine reef fish tank

Pablo

Are there any big fish people out here? I used to have a marine tank (long since dried up), but now I want to re-start and go reef. I just put a 75gal in the wall (it's a show tank, so tall & wide, but just 13" deep). I'm debating reef vs just fish, but was leaning towards reef because I heard it's more self sustaining (when everything is right). The old tank just got to algiey to often. Filtration is my main concern. With a reef I would need a bunch of circulation. And with a tank so tall, it may be difficult.

Any suggestions out there? Anyone know of a good forum like this one for fish? (I've seen a couple but none as good as this. They had on a couple of catagories, and didn't seem to be posted to that often).

caseymou

I'm a major reefer:) Try reefcentral.com There is no larger forum but there are many other smaller, possibly local ones.

Mjr7531

caseymou wrote:

I'm a major reefer:) Try reefcentral.com There is no larger forum but there are many other smaller, possibly local ones.

Augh! I went there, and it looks fun, like something I'd like to do, you oughtta add warnings to links like that something like that!

organ

Hello Pablo,
I've been into fish for as long as I can remember. I have 3 tanks right now. A 50 gal, 20gal and 10 gal. The 10 gal is a cummunity tank while the others are solitary.

Are you set on a reef tank. Some of the most beautiful set up I've seen are amazon communities. This is with live plants, plenty of driftwood and the popular black water extract added to the water. A shoal of discus is so beautiful.

Here's a pic of one of my bad boys over at the piranha forum... http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=74178&hl=rhom

I also have a red belly that looks mean as hell.

Another great forum is www.aquariacentral.com

Maurice

gatemplin

I've had some salt water aquariums. Both reef and fish only. With a depth of only 13" I highly recommend fish only in this tank. It is too hard to do the maintenance and the coral will only be on a shelf at the top. And you should make your fish selections carefully.

One tip for fish selection is, never buy something you didn't go to the store to get.

In high school I worked for a salt/fresh water fish store for three years and have been invovled in the hobby for about ten years. The largest tank I had was a 130 gallon with 100 gallons in the trickle filter. Right now I just have a 33 gallon salt tank.

ND13

organ wrote:

Here's a pic of one of my bad boys over at the piranha forum... http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=74178&hl=rhom
Maurice

Maurice,

I spent about an hour on this forum last night. Very interesting site and a very cool forum "style". It has some neat features that would be nice to have here. Nice rhom, btw. Let's see pics of that red belly,also. It's been since I was in the Air Force, that I've had an aquarium . I had a South American cichlid tank, very fun and active little effers. Well off to a meeting :rolleyes: , will continue this later.

caseymou

Actually you should be able to do some decent rockscaping with only 13 inches of depth. The biggest problem would be purchasing the expensive lighting needed for maintaining coral in a tall tank. This, of course, depends on the type of coral you choose to keep. Also, I haven't had very good luck with salt fish survival. I believe most salt fish are wild caught and the catching techniques contribute to the low survival rate. Coral, IMO, is easier to ship and keep if you are committed to maintainence.

gatemplin

caseymou wrote:

Actually you should be able to do some decent rockscaping with only 13 inches of depth. The biggest problem would be purchasing the expensive lighting needed for maintaining coral in a tall tank. This, of course, depends on the type of coral you choose to keep.

Yeah he might need a metal halide lighting system to reach the coral at the bottom, unless he uses mushrooms etc on the bottom. I dont know how tall the tank is though.

Also, I haven't had very good luck with salt fish survival. I believe most salt fish are wild caught and the catching techniques contribute to the low survival rate. Coral, IMO, is easier to ship and keep if you are committed to maintainence.

Right, most salt fish except some damsels and clowns are wild caught, sometimes using very cruel techniques. Having taken care of salt water fish in a store for three years, I recommend you watch the fish and see how it does in the store for about 3-4 weeks before you buy. One sick fish can wipe out a tank. Sometimes it takes a while for problems to show up.