Salt water aquarium

[creeper]

Hey - I'm looking for some info on starting a salt water aquarium. I've had lots of aquatic pets before, like fish and a turtle, and I'm looking to expand a little.

I'm trying to buy a huge tank, about 90 gallons or more. More rectangular or "deep" than most, as opposed to the regular long, narrow style that most of the places sell.

Anyways, can you recomend some stores in Calgary that have good aquarium supplies, aimed more at the salt-water hobbyists, I've noticed places like Petland & Petcetera have more fresh water supplies (I guess because its alot cheaper & easier to get into). I'll need an aquarium, pump/filter, lights & anything else - an entire set-up. If you know of a website that offers good beginner information that would be great.

I'd also like to know a good place to purchase fish, I'm looking for the following: lobster, crab, starfish, turtles, frogs, sharks, snails, shrimp & some very colorful fish. Also looking for somewhere that I can buy coral and other live plants that will survive in the tank.

Thanks for the help!

[cycosis]

Try River Front, its near the drop in center right on the river downtown, (on the south side of river). can;t giove you an exact adress but its really asy to find. its a white building and a gravel parking lot. they have a huge selection of salt water fish, corals and supplies. u wont find a better selection or cheaper prices then there. good luck in your endevours. oh, they also sell a huge array of aquariums

[missblondie]

Oceans Aquarium on center street or Gold's Aquarium on 17th ave NE... both have great prices on live rock and supplies

[Ripper]

First, if you haven't, research lots on www.reefcentral.com

Second, order dry goods from www.jlaquatics.com and save lots on most products.

For local forums hit up www.canreef.com

Oceans, Golds, and Big Als sometimes for marine stuff.

Heres a couple older shots of my 10g nano tank.


http://www.telusplanet.net/maddison/dec23.2%20001s.JPG


http://www.telusplanet.net/maddison/dec23%20002s.JPG

[Ripper]

Here is RC's intro guide into marine...

http://reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=&name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1

[thinmyster]

ripper thats only 10 g wow!!!
i cant seem to get rid of all my algea
any suggestions
upgraded light?

[Impreza]

Ripper,
Where'd you get the frags of those zoo's? Do you want to sell any frags of them?

[Ripper]

Originally posted by thinmyster
ripper thats only 10 g wow!!!
i cant seem to get rid of all my algea
any suggestions
upgraded light?

Well the algae grows from light, and phosphates. If you use tap water this is a likely source. Use of RO/DI is highly recommeded.

You can try reducing the amount of light your tank gets until it subsides. (ie 8 hours/day opposed to 10)

Also how old is your tank, every new tank normally goes through some annoying stages such as algae and diatmons the first few months of it's life.

Lastly algae will never 100% go away. I have a magnet scraper in my tank and give it a sweep every day. During water changes I use a razor to scrape anything more off for crystal clear glass.


Originally posted by Impreza

Ripper,
Where'd you get the frags of those zoo's? Do you want to sell any frags of them?


I got them from a member named Bob_I (I beleive) on canreef. He has lots of different zoos and sells frags every couple of months. You should contact him, good prices too. I -think- I payed ~15-20 per frag, and they are very nice colors.

[Weapon_R]

For everyone running a salt-water tank:

What would you say is the startup costs of getting a good 10g going, and how much maintanence is invoved?

[Ripper]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
For everyone running a salt-water tank:

What would you say is the startup costs of getting a good 10g going, and how much maintanence is invoved?

It depends what type of tank you want (check out the RC starter thread I posted for tank types). FOWLR, Reef etc.

Basically if you want corals you need to buy some better lights, and depending on what kind of corals you want will dictate how much you need. Corals are broken down into 3 categories, softies, lps, sps. Softies generally require less lighting and SPS the most.

The smaller the tank, the tighter your maitenance needs to be. Small changes in water conditions have a larger effect on the life in the aquarium.

For my 10g, I feed and scrape algae daily (this takes like 10-15mins). Then every weekend I change the water and clean the glass etc (You can probably get this done in 1hr when you good). Then once in awhile I spend a bit more time and clean pumps and anything else that crops up.

I'll give you a price breakdown on my 10g when I get a bit more time.

Also I'm not entirely happy with the dimensions of my 10g. I like longer tanks, but that is all personal preferences.

[Impreza]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
For everyone running a salt-water tank:

What would you say is the startup costs of getting a good 10g going, and how much maintanence is invoved?

Depends on the lighting you want, etc. I would say ~$600 for a well equipped 10g. You need live rock(~$150), sand($30), powerheads($40), good lighting(~$200 for PC's), salt($60 for a pail), hydrometer ($20), heater($40), + misc stuff like cleanup crew(crabs and snails) and livestock like corals and fish. It should be around $600. It is also best not to skimp on this stuff.

http://www.inspiral.ca/Picture%20068.jpg
http://www.inspiral.ca/Picture%20091.jpg
http://www.inspiral.ca/Picture%20081.jpg

[Weapon_R]

Imprezza I LOVE your tank :drool:

Ripper: I asked a question about this about 4 months ago, and everyone recommended I start with fresh water fish. So far, i've done a pretty good job of keeping them all alive :) I think i'm ready to take on something bigger, which is why i'm interested in starting a saltwater tank.

I'm only looking to have 1 clown fish in there and thats it. Not really interested in anything else. What would I need?

[thinmyster]

clown fish are pretty hardy aswell as damsel fish
hey where is the best place for supplys coral and live rock
ive just been going to big als?

[Impreza]

buy EVERYTHING from gold's and you'll be ok! Also, check out canreef.com for good used equipment like heaters etc. Often times, you can get live rock pretty cheap off the board as well.

Thanks for the comment weapon_r.

You could get an anemone and a pair of clowns to host!

The key to the hobby is PATIENCE! I cannot stress that enough. Alot of people get over anxious and excited and make uneducated purchases. As long as you do your homework and take your time, you shouldn't have any problems.