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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / April 2005Beginner - unconventional ?
Hello guys, Freshwater keeper for many years, wanting to move into salt water, haven't got huge piles of money but I love the shrimps and hermit crabs. My question is this, has anybody ever kept a tank with some live rock, and shrimps, hermit crabs and snails but no fish or coral ? Are these guys easy to keep in salt water aquarium terms or should I avoid them and go for fish instead ? I can spend ages at the fish store watching these guys and as much as I love the fish (and corals) I'm wondering if this is an easier way to get into sea critters ? Also do they need the same intense lighting like a full blown reef tank ? Any help you can give me would be very much appreciated. Cheers Martin Cambridge, UK Martin, The good news is that shrimps, snails and hermits do not need reef type lighting (nor do fish for that matter). It is only photosynthetic corals and some other invertibrates (clams etc) that need loads of light. The only requirement is that you have enough light to grow the algae that the snails will live on. A standard tube setup will probably do that. You still need to keep good water parameters (possibly comparable in quality terms to keeping discus) although nowhere near as tight as if you are growing corals. There's no real reason why you couldn't build a fish only (FO) system and keep the afforementioned inverts in it (with a few fish). Make sure you do the research before you start. I suspect most people start this way, thinking fish-only and end up going the whole hog into reefs (I certainly did). I think the best advice is to read, read and read more until you decide what you want to do and what you can afford and then stick to the plan. It's much easier to build a reef from scratch than it is to upgrade from a FO once the thing is set up - unless you start new tanks! I also spent many years on FW before taking the plunge and find the marine environment so much more involving, interesting, diverse and bl***y expensive! Come on in, the waters lovely! (but tame your bank manager first!). Regards Mark Thanks very much for the reply, I really appreciate it, have been reading a lot but find a lot of conflicting information, most stuff now seems to be about reef tanks and I prefer to start with the simple stuff rather then jump in head first with corals that could end up dead, which isn't cheap but more importantly ethical either. One thing I don't quite understand is why is it so difficult to introduce coral to a FOWLR system ? Obviously I understand that people may have fish that are not reef safe but if you've planned ahead does it make it easier ? Initially I thought set up a tank with some live rock (which intrigues me to start with) and some hermits etc like I said because I thought this a good place to start to get to grips with things, am I wrong ? Many thanks Martin Not at all. Invertebrates are great fun to watch, and there truly is no limit to how many you can add to a tank, unlike fish. Fish need space, create waste and need to be fed often. Inverts are rather self-sustaining, and are often times part of the 'clean up crew' used to maintain the tank. You can buy a 20g Long with a single normal output light bulb and get a bunch of neat looking critters, and not add any fish at all if you like. You do need to set up the tank and let it cycle for 3 weeks before adding any livestock, but once you've done that and tested the water, it would probably be ready. Read over this, as parts pertain to what you hope to do: http://www.melevsreef.com/overview.htm Marc > Thanks very much for the reply, I really appreciate it, have been reading a > lot but find a lot of conflicting information, most stuff now seems to be [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Martin  SignaturePersonal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com How much filtration will I need ? Is a big powerful skimmer necessary if I'm not keeping coral or fish ? Am planning some live rock and some normal rock. Personally, I would add a skimmer but I've seen plenty of similar setups (including those with fish) that don't use one, so it's not necessary for what you want to do. I agree that just watching live rock develop is the most amazing thing. You won't believe the flora and fauna that comes to life! (although some you'd rather not have, i.e. aiptasia and mantis shrimps are common undesirables). You have to be strong though. Many find that they see a few desirable things develop - various soft corals or other inverts - and think, 'if only I had a bt more lighting and a skimmer I could develop this into something better'. It probably happens to us all! It is massively fascinating. If you are planning on using plenty of live rock (say 1 to 1.5 pounds per gallon) and adding suitable lighting (T5's or Metal Halides) and a skimmer there is no reason why the system couldn't be developed into a reef if you felt so disposed (the skimmer and lighting could be added later if you decided to go that way). I don't know if you've seen it, but try a google search on 'wetwebmedia'. There is a vast amount of information and knowledge there. Regards Mark Thanks ever so much for your help, one more question, the tank I'm going to use has a metal hood, now I've heard salt water and metal are a definate no-no, is that the same for the hood ? What if I have a plastic condensation tray between the water and hood ? Should I replace ? Ideally, I would replace it. Most of the metal hoods are aluminium which will corode quite badly in the salt laden environment. I shouldn't imagine that the corrosion would be very good for the inhabitants if it gets mixed with the water. You can probably get by for a while if you keep the hood as dry and clean as possible, but I would certainly aim to replace it as soon as you can. Regards Mark I just sat up my tank about three months ago. We have a few corals, but I would say that the shrimp are by far my favorites so far. Each type has its on personality. Great fun to watch. |
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