newbie looking for suggestions

[zwoodward]

Hi,
My name is Zac. I have had various freshwater aquariums throught my life but never salt water. While wondering through the LFS a couple days ago I saw some beautiful saltwater shrimp. I am extremely limited on space and have fantasized about having a .75 gallon tank for shrimp, I would love a reef tank but know I am definitly not ready for that. Before anyone tells me that its impossible for a beginner to have a small saltwater tank, I have read that Brandon429 never had a reef tank over 1 gallon. Could you make suggestions for a shrimp tank, how to go about aquascaping it, what kind and how many shrimp, and other possible organisms good for a beginner in a .75 gallon tank.
Thanks,
Zac

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Dude.

Don't be afraid of saltwater. It's not harder than FW, but it is more expensive
Also, don't fear the nanos. I recently set up a nano tank for myself and it's the best one yet, easy to maintain and all that.

How much livestock you put in your tank is limited by stuff like filter capacity, water volume, existince of competing lifeforms, existence of predators...

So, if you are making only a shrimp tank, I think it might be hard to have a lot of the same one. You might do well to get a small tank, get one "centerpeice" shrimp like a coral banded, and then maybe some smaller shrimp that it won't fight with (bumblebee, perhaps?). Stock it with some hermits and very small snails, and you're good to go. A tank like that with a low bioload will be easier to keep clean and maintain

As far as landscaping, if you're going to get a nano, get really small rocks. Think of how small they should be, now think smaller. Stuff looks small in the large aquariums at the store but trust me, get stuff that's barely larger than rubble rock. Not only is it easier to aquascape, lots of smaller objects in the aquarium will give the visual impression of more volume.

I dunno what kind of aquarium you were thinking of. I like the JBJ nanocube. It's 12 gallons and comes with a filter. Join the 5% nation of JBJ nanocube.

Good luck and don't fear teh salty nano. It's fun!

 

[brandon4291]

You know I couldn't agree more Hwarang, the nanocube is just too good to pass up for a beginner because of it's size and included parts. Each of my sub-gallon reefs costs much more than 100 to get started (nanocubes on sales go for $99 or so, maybe 125 tops) not counting several hours of design, build and experimentation as well as the few hassles that are associated with small reefs. All you do is add water to the nano cube...

I wouldn't worry about dosing all that much until you want corals, and then a simple two-part liquid additive like C-Balance will be fine. In a nanocube, I would add three capfulls of part A one morning, then three capfulls part B the next morning. Skip two days, then repeat cycle. This is an easy and effective way to keep simple corals right off the bat after you get the hang of keeping salinity between .024-.026 or .027.

Salinity control is the first major requirement in nano keeping, then it's bioload control. What we are used to dealing with in a freshwater tank is very different from the requirements of a small marine tank, everything that is made of protein (feed/animals/waste) has to remain accounted for, to be removed from the system before it breaks down. Freshwater tanks can handle a little brown sludge here and there, but proteins that are not removed from a nano reef tend to accumulate quickly and foul the aquarium--it's the equivalent of cleaning out a freshwater tank every single day, imagine how clean that would be. In nano tanks we simply keep few if any fish, but we also know to always feed the system a little fresh protein because you want the reef to have hundreds of copepods all around the live rock, they are an asset to any reef system.

I think your idea of a shrimp-only reef is just fine, and on that note it is also very easy to construct coral-only systems which are easy and cost-effective to maintain, barring any major mechanical failures (such as the time my AC went out and fried my reefs on a 100 degree spring day)

I suggest you get a 2.5 gallon all-glass aquarium for 10 dollars if you are going to custom-build your own pico setup. Or, the reefbowl was easy to build and maintain-- just lookup that thread and build one from the pictures, we'll help out in here anytime. I would suggest leaving out deep live sand from a nano tank, although myself and others still have nanos with them. none of my future tanks will have them...


All the experimentation can be greatly reduced by getting a nanocube or similar large nano--I know guys who are going two weeks in between topoffs which just blows my mind. Sub gallon reefs are a great venture into pure biology and small footprints, but not worth it IMO unless that is what you are after. Most people want an easy and affordable way to keep a few fish and corals without all the technical hassle, enter NanoCube stage left.

But if you ever want to make a custom job, hang out with us and we'll find a way to get it done. Nice to meet you!

B

 

[Anonymous]

I think your idea of a shrimp-only reef is just fine,

I don't just agree, I think a shrimp only reef is cool.

Have you considered a mantis shrimp? They are fun, colorful, highly evolved, very intelligent, have lots of personality, playful, active ... and predatory!

Check out this site about mantis shrimp, which most people consider a pest hitchhiker.
http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/

Also, if you want to see a great example of a mantis shrimp tank check out this thread at nano-reefs
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthr ... adid=27762
* sorry mods, not trying to plug another site, but you gotta admit this is cool as heck.

One note though ... if you have a mantis, you can't put anything else in the tank. it will be lunch for the mantis. i'm going to make a small mantis tank though ... too cool!

 

[Juck]

I was thinking about changing my nanocube into a Mantis tank,,,, would probably go with a slasher than a smasher though,,, I'd be paranoid about it breaking the glass.

 

[tazdevil]

I think slashers can just as easily break the glass as smashers can, just a slightly different appendage, but tough as hell. Either way, keep your hands out of the tank, they have the fastest motion known in the animal kingdon! (their slash/smash speed has been recorded to be the speed of a standard 22 rifle round).