Any fishkeepers here? Saltwater or freshwater

[The Bunk]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Saltwater tanks are the biggest pain in the ass.

Sure, the fish look cool.....when they're alive. An owner of a hotel I worked at decided to put an aquarium flush in the wall in the lobby. He and I took care if it.

JFC....I would never own one of those things. Keeping the PH balance right is a hige pain in the ass....and even if you do that right, they still die.

IIRC, we've killed Tangs, Angel Fish, Puffer fish (at least 2 of those i think). There were a lot more that I can't remember right now.

We had a good sized Lionfish too. He was hardy and all, but he made it no fun trying to clean the tank.

If all you were checking was PH, that was your problem. That actually matters least of the harmful stuff that can be in a saltwater tank. Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Phosphate are all much more critcal. Keep those in check and your problems will be minimal.

Also, if you have a good clean up crew of snails and the right bottom feeders, cleaning is a minimal task also. I rarely touch the inside glass of mine, unless it's to remove a smudge or something. The snails keep it looking almost completely clean.

[Lumpy]

Originally Posted by The Bunk

If all you were checking was PH, that was your problem. That actually matters least of the harmful stuff that can be in a saltwater tank. Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Phosphate are all much more critcal. Keep those in check and your problems will be minimal.

Also, if you have a good clean up crew of snails and the right bottom feeders, cleaning is a minimal task also. I rarely touch the inside glass of mine, unless it's to remove a smudge or something. The snails keep it looking almost completely clean.

Very good points... especially about the parameters!

Ammonia and Nitrites should read at 0ppm and Nitrates should be >40ppm. As far as your pH, as long as it stays constant, there's no need to try to adjust it. A lot of people purchase the crap that increases or decreases pH only to find their stock dead shortly after dosing the tank.

Also, API makes a great liquid kit to test your parameters. When we were cycling our tank, we screwed up and bought the strips that you dip in the tank. Never trust those damn things! The parameters were reading wrong and we thought our tank was cycled. Then, when we added our first batch of fish, they were getting Ammonia burns and many of them jumped out of the tank.

[The Bunk]

Originally Posted by Lumpy

Very good points... especially about the parameters!

Ammonia and Nitrites should read at 0ppm and Nitrates should be >40ppm. As far as your pH, as long as it stays constant, there's no need to try to adjust it. A lot of people purchase the crap that increases or decreases pH only to find their stock dead shortly after dosing the tank.

Also, API makes a great liquid kit to test your parameters. When we were cycling our tank, we screwed up and bought the strips that you dip in the tank. Never trust those damn things! The parameters were reading wrong and we thought our tank was cycled. Then, when we added our first batch of fish, they were getting Ammonia burns and many of them jumped out of the tank.

The API kit is the best one I've used.

If you want to browse different types of fish, check out this site. Really cool stuff on there. I just got underway with my new tank after moving a few months back. So far, I've got a black and white clown, a kole yellow eye tank, diamond goby, and lawnmower blenny. I'm trying to go for more original stuff than the standard blue tank, orange clown, etc. It's hard to do though, as some of the really cool looking fish will tear up your coral.

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/