Is a saltwater aquarium right for me?
laverda
2500 Club Member
If your patient, do your research and willing to learn it should not be a big deal. Clowns and BTAs are hardy when put in a well established tank. Not just a cycled tank. I suggest you start reading the clown and anemones forum on R2R.
Hey all,
so I need a bit of advice. I’ve been on the fence for ages about setting up my own 30g clownfish and nem aquarium. I’m a huge lover of the ocean, and especially clownfish and this has always been a dream of mine to do!!
however, I am quite scared.
it sounds silly, but after reading so many people’s amazing stories and so many other tragic ones, it’s left me indecisive. I’ll be starting uni in 7 months which is fine, and I’ll still be able to look after my tank as often as needed, and I’m not too stressed about the costs associated, as it is a pet that needs to be looked after.
I’m worried that for whatever reason I won’t be an adequate carer, and my brain keeps overthinking it. I feel this is more my anxiety keeping me from it, and I’m scared about taking the leap of faith in buying the equipment and potentially hurting some poor clowns(
once again, I really really want to, and have a small freshwater tank, 5G for one betta and some plants which is booming and doing really well, but it’s just scary starting again with saltwater.
I don’t know what sort of answers I’m seeking? Perhaps reassurance that with time and dedication it will all work out? Confused n worfkex
sincerely, an anxious but hopeful aquarist
Just cycle the tank before adding them and buy clowns for a GOOD SOURCE, directly from a breeder if you can. A lot of times fish carry disease at the LFS which don't show up until you get them in your tank (LFS often run low levels of copper to suppress disease). Internal parasites is another issue. So if you walk into a random store and walk out with clowns, you may end up losing them. Select your source carefully!
If you can do these two things, it shouldn't be too hard.
laverda
2500 Club Member
There three steps in my opinion. Cycled, stable and established. The step can very in length depending on a lot of factors. One big one is the rock used. Dry rock typically takes 4-6 months longer to become established.
Cycled means that ammonia is beaking down to nitrate, which breaks down further to nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite are undetectable at this point. This can be a few days to 2 weeks depending on how you set up your tank.
Stable.Is when your water parameters are correct and steady. This includes salinity, Alkalinity, phosphate and nitrate. If your going to keep harder corals you want to add calcium and magnesium to the list. How long this takes depends on you understanding of the water chemistry involved. 1-3 months I would say.
Established is harder to define. To me it is when your tank has been through the ugly beginning stages. Has lots of ampapods and copapods coralline algae and sponges growing. The clean up crew, hardy fish and easy corals are doing well.
Clowns are considered hardy and can be added after your tank is cycled. BTAs are hardy generally do not do well at all in most new tanks. You can see
Sebastiancrab
2500 Club Member
Yanni, you want to set up your tank with a small amount of live rock, some Caribsea live sand and put in bacteria starter such as Seachem Stability (inexpensive compared to others). Ask your LFS if they will give you a couple of small pieces of rock. You will also need the first test kit for your water. I put in a pinch of flake fish food every day for two weeks and then tested the water. It looked fine so then I had the LFS test it too. I then was able to buy 2 clowns. You have to add your fish very slow to build up the bacteria load in your tank. I made my first big mistake with my next fish which turned out to have Ich. The ideal situation is to have a quarantine small tank set up and treat your fish before your introduce them to your main tank. Since I didn't have any coral yet, I ended up treating my main tank with Cupramine. I now have a quarantine tank for possible new fish.
https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/seachem-stability-water-conditioner-5024275--1
I think others have recommended a year before you add an anemone. Your tank has to be well established.
laverda
2500 Club Member
API test kits are know for false readings, especially their ammonia test kit.. Get some good quality test kits. Salifert, RedSea are proven kits. There are others as well. Some people find they like some kits from one company and another from a different company.
I highly recommend captive bred fish. If buying from a LFS make sure they are not putting them in the same system as their wild caught fish. Most tanks at your LFS will be on the same system. This just exposes health disease free fish to all the diseases and parasites in these system to which they have developed no immunity.
In most cases 6 months is long enough before adding a BTA anemone.
I highly recommend captive bred fish. If buying from a LFS make sure they are not putting them in the same system as their wild caught fish. Most tanks at your LFS will be on the same system. This just exposes health disease free fish to all the diseases and parasites in these system to which they have developed no immunity.
In most cases 6 months is long enough before adding a BTA anemone.
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