Faq – About Water Aerator Tank
John asks…
what can i put in a 5 gallon salt water tank?
it has no special lighting just a normal light ,an aerator, and a filter….anything just it has to be cheap… thanks
umm ok it dosent gotta be cheap so just tell me gezzz
Staff answers:
Here is a fish that you can put in a 5 gallon but you can only have one fish in a 5 gallon
Yellow Watchman Goby
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2124+228&pcatid=228
James asks…
how to maintain a salt water tank?
I am thinking about making one of my fish tanks into a salt water tank, and I need any and all advice/tips you can give! I tried googling it but I want real world/real people advice. I have about 10 years of experience with freshwater tanks but I think having saltwater would be a new and different experience. Is there anything I need other than the filter/aerator, other than the obvious (salt) what do i need to add to the water to keep my fish healthy? do i REALLY need live substrate/coral? is a protein skimmer necessary or can I live without.
I don’t want to invest a lot of money off the bat, and I’m thinking about starting small, like 10-20 gal just to see if I can handle it. That way if it turns out that I can’t I’m not out a lot of money.
also, I think it would be neat to have a sea horse, can I buy one at a pet store or do I need to look @ specialty places?
why wouldn’t you have a sea horse? are they particularly hard to care for?
Staff answers:
Ok, marine aquariums are very easy to keep but can be very intimating to beginners. Starting off with the tank i suggest using a 20 gallon long or 30 gallon minimum, as the benefits would be much better then owning a 10 gallon or pico aquarium. The really only hard part of keeping smaller marine aquariums is that the benefits of the larger aquariums is gone, such as natural filtration, controlled parameters and a lot more growth for beneficial bacteria. The thing about marine aquariums is that the standard filters aren’t always good for example the canister filters promote algae growth, the power filters are just power choices for marine aquariums because there isn’t enough flow but for beginners i dont recommend sumps. Sumps are another tank under the main tank that contains different slots with bio media, refugium, protein skimmer, heater and other equipment. As for aerators dont use them in marine aquariums as they disrupt everything. As for the water, you can either make it yourself in 5 gallon buckets or buy it from the store which is called r/o water which is made by water distillers which of course is much better. Onto substrate, live sand is optional but recommended because it helps the cycling of the aquarium as well as increasing the beneficial life within the sand. What i suggest buying standard marine sand then buying a smaller bag of live sand and making a thinner layer of live ontop or in the middle to save money. For crushed coral/shell substrate i suggest not using it as this will promote algae and waste build up as well as not allowing you to get some benthic fish such as dragonets,blennies, jawfish and some gobies. Protein skimmers in most aquarist eyes are necessary, because it removes organic matter that isnt needed and this will make your water much more healthy and prevents algae break outs, there are plenty of protein skimmers that are cheap and very efficient. As for the parameters you tank water should be:
8.2 ph
1.023 salinity
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
0 nitrates
1300 magnesium
8 alkalinity
390 calcium
cycling your aquarium is very important. For my 3 marine aquarium i cycled them for 2 months without the lights on. Also only buy very hardy fish such as dottybacks, chromis, damsels and cardinals.
As for sea horses, i highly recommend not buying them as they are very hard to keep. They are considered expert to care for which means very difficult. I been keeping marine reef aquariums for 4 years and i still do believe i can keep sea horses. Stay with hardy fishes.
Robert asks…
How much damage can/does smoking around a fish tank cause?
Does cigarette smoke enter the water of the fish tank. I have an aerator with an air filter connection; will this work or should i just leave the aerator off? How bad will it affect the fish? On another note can u kill a fish by getting it high (feeding or blowing pot smoke in the tank)?
First obviously I’m talking about my fish it says so in my ? Its not like I sit and blow cig smoke into my tank. And my fish are not my children they are animals which I take good care of and is why I’m asking the question. As for the pot smoke question I know someone who sits and blows hits threw his aerator tube; that obviously affects the water but doesn’t seem to affect the fish; wasnt sure though.
John you obviously didnt read my edit. I do smoke cigs around my fish not pot. My buddy forces smoke in the tank I’m asking not really on his behalf but more to be like hey man this is what other people say. Please read before posting answers. TY
Staff answers:
My roommates constantly smoked weed in the livingroom with 2 decent sized fish tanks in it. Neither one seemed to have any noticable health problems from it. Strangely, they wouldn’t smoke cigarettes in the house, so I don’t know how that works out. Considering all of the tar and crap that will accumulate on the cieling from cigarette smoke, I can’t imagine it would be that good for your fish.
Its probably not a great idea if you have fish you want to keep for a long time. If their disposable like guppies, who cares, but I don’t think you’d want to subject a nice big fish like an oscar (the type you can get attached to) to that sort of thing.
Courtesy of Y!Answers