Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I have been talking to a guy at work about setting up a Saltwater tank and there seem to be many misconceptions about reefs. When someone overheard the conversation they said "wow aren't those expensive" and the next inevitable is "doesn't that take up alot of time" ? This happens so much it drives me crazy. After a tank is setup it only cost as much time as you want to tinker with it.
I probably spend 30 minutes total a week between all four tanks. Once a week i add water, add B-Ionic and wipe glass and the entire endeavor takes 30 minutes max. Money also slows down once the tanks are established and the money also goes as far as your willing to spend.

Those are the two things that I hear most too. Some people who have been in freshwater for years can't see spending more than $10 on a fish. I usually just drop the subject if they aren't wanting to change.

Well Rob seems pretty pumped up to get Shawns setup, and soon it seems. He came over and fell in love with my CBS and seems to like Black Percula Clowns. I told him i would try to get some club members to help donate anything to the cause. Alhough Shawns setup should have most anything he needs he is going to need an RO and critters.

I'm sure he will get quite a few donations. Is he coming to the next meeting?

Well i am trying to talk him into it.

snoopdog wrote:I have been talking to a guy at work about setting up a Saltwater tank and there seem to be many misconceptions about reefs. When someone overheard the conversation they said "wow aren't those expensive" and the next inevitable is "doesn't that take up alot of time" ? This happens so much it drives me crazy. After a tank is setup it only cost as much time as you want to tinker with it.

I'm the guy at work he's talking about and I always thought that. The fish always seem pricey at the pet store, fifty bucks for this, twenty for that and all of the living creatures in an established tank really give the illusion of being a time and money sink. Other than recently the only one I ever saw in action was a silty disaster that a college roomate threw together. Snoop has been feeding me information and more or less educating me on whats what and how it really is.

As far as what I'm going to put together, I've been narrowing down a loose list of what I'd like to have. Keeping it simple is the main goal here. At least for now.

There's really only 2 that I'd really like to have, the rest are open.
As Snoop said, the CBS and 2 B&W Percula Clowns will be the main focus when the tank is established. Snoop also had some sort of coral or plant that looked like a teal colored flower that I think would be nice to have on the rocks, but thats down the road.

Doing some reading and research I've found some other possibles
Scarlet & Blue Leg Hermits
Astrea and Nassarius Snails
Red Serpent Starfish (I've been reading about the mortality rate on this little guy and may lean towards the blue starfish, not sure yet)
A small sea cucumber and 3 or 4 small fish type to be determined later. Open to suggestions on those or anything else.

Probably sounds basic to alot of you old pros but I think it will look nice for my first try.

The red serpent stars seem to do ok for about 6 months - 1 year but after that mine seemed to go downhill.

I started in fw as well and can remember the days of a $10 fish being pricey. I can also remember the days of $1.00 for gal of gas being pricey. You will adjust. You don't stock sw tanks nearly as densly as fw so unless your setup like John or Terry you will only have to buy a few fish. Once your tank matures, you can expect fish and corals to live for years and sw fish have much cooler personallities that fw.

Joe

You will need snails and hermits. A cucumber can be a real benefit. All the rest of the livestock can and should be added over a period of time to allow the biological filtration to adjust itself to the additional load. Just keep in mind that the size of your tank determines what you can ultimately put in it. Always research before you buy something too. Not every fish or invert can be kept with corals or other fish and inverts.

~Scott

And i will have to say that SW fish are much more hardy than FW fish. I lost a shitload of FW fish and some of my SW fish have been with me since the start.

Welcome to the club!!!!!!!!

And, you can frag corals, you can't frag FW fish Well, you can, but they uhm, die and stuff (I have a 10 gallon FW tank too)

Welcome to the club, come to the meeting if you're free! People always bring frags to give or stuff to sell/swap. There's always people here to help out if you have any questions, concerns.

I have found I have done best by buying in bulk....buy several corals and make an offer.....SWF usually has the best price on snails ect.....but ck around.....size ect does make a difference.....buy and keep in stock ....do not wait till you are in a bind....catch the sales......these are just my opions...but do ck around.....bulk always gets you a better price....do it before you need it.....save on shipping.....other great ideas comming...