Hey everyone, not really sure where this goes but since I want live rock and coral, I figured this was the best spot for it. I'll introduce myself a bit first, I'm very experienced with fresh water tanks and working an entirely all natural setting. I want the same for a salt water tank, but before I even start worrying putting water in a tank, I've spent the past few months doing some research. Or trying. The problem is that everything on the internet is highly contradictory and I've followed you guys on Facebook for awhile now. I figured I would just go to a place where the information is going to be correct, there's people who vary in levels of experience, and I'm not going to be led astray. These are my requirements for my tank that I know first hand:
1. MUST be captive bred fish. I don't want some poor little guy that someone went diving for and may or may not have had permission to take. I want a fish that was born in a tank and has never known any better. I'll choose different fish if the one I want can't be found captive bred before I take the little guy out of his home. So I want to know how you can tell *for sure* that the fish you are buying is captive bred if you don't have any salt water fish stores within 200 miles of you? It's super easy to slap the words under a picture of a fish, but it doesn't make it true on the internet.
2. I want to have everything natural, from the live sand and rock to the corals and the plants. The only artificial thing in the tank should be the tubes for their air and such. What are some things that I should watch out for with this, any concerns, and what is the best (and legal) corals to do this with? Again, I don't want to go killing anything off just because "I gotta have it". Also, do I need to worry about sellers having chipped a chunk off of an ocean coral or are all corals sold done like the captive bred fish?
3. Going from fresh water to salt water tanks, and having no experience with salt water tanks, what is some advice you would have for me? Keep in mind, I'm not actually planning on even picking out the tank for at least another 6-12 months. I want to have an exact idea of what is going into the tank, research the fish and animals for the tank, make sure everyone is going to like everyone and their living condition requirements/likes/dislikes/enemies/etc. I am not in a rush to do this because I want to make sure I am "measuring twice and cutting once" so to speak.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and if I think of anything else I will post it.
1. MUST be captive bred fish. I don't want some poor little guy that someone went diving for and may or may not have had permission to take. I want a fish that was born in a tank and has never known any better. I'll choose different fish if the one I want can't be found captive bred before I take the little guy out of his home. So I want to know how you can tell *for sure* that the fish you are buying is captive bred if you don't have any salt water fish stores within 200 miles of you? It's super easy to slap the words under a picture of a fish, but it doesn't make it true on the internet.
2. I want to have everything natural, from the live sand and rock to the corals and the plants. The only artificial thing in the tank should be the tubes for their air and such. What are some things that I should watch out for with this, any concerns, and what is the best (and legal) corals to do this with? Again, I don't want to go killing anything off just because "I gotta have it". Also, do I need to worry about sellers having chipped a chunk off of an ocean coral or are all corals sold done like the captive bred fish?
3. Going from fresh water to salt water tanks, and having no experience with salt water tanks, what is some advice you would have for me? Keep in mind, I'm not actually planning on even picking out the tank for at least another 6-12 months. I want to have an exact idea of what is going into the tank, research the fish and animals for the tank, make sure everyone is going to like everyone and their living condition requirements/likes/dislikes/enemies/etc. I am not in a rush to do this because I want to make sure I am "measuring twice and cutting once" so to speak.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and if I think of anything else I will post it.