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Coventry

Feeding the Addiction

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Coventry
, 02-17-2011 at 10:07 PM (1550 Views)
I haven't had a fish tank since I was a child and that was a simple tropical tank. Quite boring. So when the boys begged for a puppy at Christmas, I convinced them into getting a fish tank with the promise of having Nemo and Dory. Thinking this would only cost me around $700, I jumped in. OMG! Two months and over $2500 later, we have a pretty decent set up. I have become totally addicted and only in the last week have I stopped fretting over the water and testing on a near daily basis. Although I must say, I am quite pleased. And so are the boys. In fact, that they have both convinced me to help them set up a ten gallon for their bedrooms. . . each his own. What can I say, it didn't take much persuading. Now maybe I can, umm, We can get a couple of the more aggressive creatures that I don't want in my / our main tank. Although, I do need to know if you can put the ornamental type of decorations in a saltwater tank or will they do any harm? The sales person told us that we could not put SpongeBob's house or a volcano in a saltwater tank as the paint would, over time, contaminate the water. Is this true or was he just trying to help me out when he saw my face as the boys picked out a skull they wanted for MY tank? Here is a picture of the new tank... I love my little gobies and pistol shrimp! I went a little overboard with the gobies. There are five in all, two twin spot, one high fin and two yellow clown gobies. Adorable!
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Updated 02-24-2011 at 01:26 AM by melev

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Comments

  1. chbix's Avatar
    I would be very careful about what you put into a saltwater tank as far as decorations. The guy at the fish store wasnt lying, if you look at pictures of tanks they dont have any of the freshwater type decorations like the spongebob house for that reason. Also if you look into people who have durso type overflows that are painted PVC pipe there is alot of debate about the correct type of paint to use for this very reason. Saltwater fishtanks have only live rock and corals in them. The saltwater is corrosive and will do things to materials and paint that fresh water doesnt. water quality is a huge issue as im sure you aware and why take the chance of wiping out your entire tank by adding an unknown. You go to all the trouble of getting quality water from an ro/di setup just to eliminate the bad stuff in the water, why add something back in thats just as bad?
  2. Coventry's Avatar
    Thanks - that just helps my case! And where might I find some power compacts to fit 10 gallon saltwater aquariums?
  3. chbix's Avatar
    What is the length width of the tank? Your probably going to look at nano tank lighting. Not sure if PC lights come in that small. Look at some of the nano tank forums or do a search for nano tank lighting. Ebay is always a good source for items.
  4. melev's Avatar
    You might even opt to get some PAR 38 LED fixtures to point into the 10g, since they are small. They aren't cheap ($79 to $119 each) but it would look good, provide nice color and give your livestock enough light to grow. In one of the previous podcasts, I talked with Lindsey about her nano tank and posted some pictures of the LED light she used.

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  5. Coventry's Avatar
    The tanks are both 20 inches long by 10 inches wide and after spending hours on the internet, it doesn't appear that T5s come any smaller than 24inches. The power compacts, although smaller, are quite expensive. So I went over to Bermuda Traingle and John helped me settle on 2 - 24 inch Coralife T5s. They are sitting directly on top of the tank and overhang on both sides about 2 inches. Not a perfect fit but sleek enough to still look attractive. And in order to keep the heat down, I have removed the glass lids. He suggested that I go to Home Depot and purchase some screen similar to gutter guards to prevent the jumpers from escaping. That sounds like a good idea and it may help to keep the yellow clowns from being washed down the overflow box. Twice I have had to pull one of those little guys out of the sump.