SuIcIdAlPoNtIaC

iTrader: (2)

Just purchased a 30 gallon salt water aquarium set up and has set me back $750 I dont really know anything about this hobby but I can done tell its going to be very expensive and is going to require alot of maintenance. Just for this coral thats the size of a quarter I paid fifty dollars and man I have a long ways to go. Does anybody know were I can get good deals on any corals or reefs or maybe even fish? Right now I just have a star fish and clown fish. If anyone knows were I can get the salt stuff for cheap let me know.

Grimlock

iTrader: (5)

Check the newspaper classifieds. There's always people spending $$$$ for that stuff and selling them for $ because they're moving etc.

2 SLOW

I have a good friend that is into/works with that stuff, I'll let him know about this thread

BizZzatch350

iTrader: (33)

I work with salt water all the time at work, all of our tests are run using salt water, thus we have to maintain two 1000 gallon salt water supply tanks. We also have to make our salt water in house using D.I water and aquarium salt, you don't even want to know how much those 80lb boxes of salt cost and how fast we go through them and those 1000 gallon supply tanks. Always check the salinity and keep things very clean. We started fresh water stuff also but I honestly like the salt water stuff more, find it a lot easier to deal with. Good idea to run regular parameters on your tanks, temp is important, so is the PH, desolved oxgen and of course salinity.

Super28Sport

Thats gonna be alot of work. Sorry, but I don't know of alot of fish stores in Texas or surrounding states but if I were you I'd look for some of the smaller stores and see what kind of deals they've got. Be careful though when you go to buy anything live (i.e coral, fish, etc.) and make sure they have NO DEFECTS! They are very, very expensive and very sensitive to water changes and such.

Trust me... you'll feel the pain the first time something dies.

alexv6camaro

iTrader: (1)

Hey man its not to bad... but some helpfull information dont start your corals now... they wont last you need to get just liverock and some damsels and maybe a yellow tang to let your tank set itself up.. you can add a few fish as the weeks go by but in a 30 gallon never put more than 4 medium fish.

As for prices im not from that area but what i did down here in houston was go to google maps and print up all the local stores then on saturday drove around to the stores and found wich ones had the healthies fish and the best prices...

Gilbert@Ace Racing

Yeah.... I felt the pain back when alot of peoples pet dogs and cats were getting sick and dying because of contaminated pet food.

I opened a fresh can of floating pellets for my Cichlid tank one morning... that night I came home to a bunch of dead fish. Both of my Jack Dempseys were dead... basically lost about $800.00 worth of fish that day. The only ones that survived were my big Plecos, another cat and all the little fish that were too small to eat the pellets. Everybody had to go into my hospital tank for a day or so until I could recover the big tank.

But **** happens I suppose.

g

97LT1

iTrader: (3)

I just sold all of my 20 gallon reef tank inhabitants(had the tank for 2 yrs) You really shouldnt be adding stuff untill the tank has fully cycled. Make sure you have good liverock. Make sure you use RO/DI water for changes and top off. (you will get nasty algae if you dont.) Tanks need to mature to support the proper bio load (so add reef safe fish slowly). Your not going to be able to hold many fish in a 30 BTW.

Decide what kind of coral you are going to keep, and then choose your lighting to cater to those type. I liked LPS corals, some like SPS, some like softies. By doing this your corals with thrive and not just survive in your tank. I used a T5 setup with great parabolic reflectors that did the job.

Look on local area online forums, and check for meets where everybody trades coral frag's. This is a way to build up on coral variety without spending a fortune. (frags will only grow with the right lighting)

They saying is nothing good happens fast in saltwater aquariums This is very true.

Stability is the key with the hobby.

Get a refractometer to check salinity,(it is the only way to check it that is accurate) and top off your tank accordingly daily. 30 Gallon will require topoff more often, to maintain stability.

Before you buy anthing, research the species to make sure your not getting something you cant take care of. Ex. Some coral you have to feed their mouths individually.

Go here to read up more Reefcentral.com

I could go on and on about this subject.


check out some pics below

jawsk2

Also read up on marshreef.com
They are local and people frag and sell their corals much cheaper than the stores.

Randy_S

iTrader: (1)

97LT1, that is a very nice looking tank you have.

I am to cheap for that. I plan on setting up a fresh water 30-50gal tank and getting two oscars. Once they are big enough, I am going to feed them gold fish just to see big fish eat little fish.

I would love to have a saltwater tank but don't really have the time to take care of it as necessary.

Mr.Klean

iTrader: (1)

I buy majority of my things I need through Petorama in Bedford. They usually ahve a really good assortment of coral, live rock, and fish etc. I would definitly like was mentioned above and cycle your tank with a cheap hardy fish like a damsel to start out with.. Here are some pics of my 30 gallon..

Bruser's LS1

iTrader: (20)

^^^ NIce! I miss having my fish collection. Who knows maybe one day I'll pick it up again.

97LT1

iTrader: (3)

I have been bummed about having to get rid of all of it.

SuIcIdAlPoNtIaC

iTrader: (2)

Well thanks for the info guys!!! I guess I should of told y'all that the tank has been established (running) for 2 years. I had bought it from a guy who was going bigger. Both my liverock and sand has been in there since the beginning so it should be fine. I got several purple and brown mushrooms, green open brain coral which is badass watching it swell up like a balloon when it gets hungry, and a regular thing of GSP(green star polyp) with another seperate thing of GSP but its neon which is crazy looking too. Right now I lack some rock I need 30 pounds in my tank and right now I only have around 12-15. The tanks above are really nice and already make me jealous!!!