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Posted by Your name on April 27, 2005, 5:46 am
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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
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Posted by on April 27, 2005, 3:23 pm
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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
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Posted by Martin on April 28, 2005, 3:48 am
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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
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Posted by Marc Levenson on April 28, 2005, 5:08 am
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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
Martin wrote:
> 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
--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
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Posted by Martin on April 28, 2005, 5:12 am
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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.
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> 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