# small fry FINALLY GOES SALTWATER!!!



## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

Hi guys!

I just got my first Saltwater aquarium! Got it from CL. It is a 29g tank w/ 10g sump, lots of LR, some coral stuff, hood (bulb burt out, but they say the hood works fine), 2 damselfish (oh, great!:-?), some way cool inverts, and a bunch of other stuff.

I haven't posted anything on this matter before right now other than in my visitor's comments because I wasn't sure if I would get the tank or not. I have the tank now. It was a really good deal off craigslist with some really nice people. Got the entire setup for...$150!!! He and his family have to move Tuesday, so he was eager to get the tank sold. I check CL everyday, and I found it just 3 hours before someone else made a deal!

The tank is really neat! I love it! Right now, the water is too low because I didn't bring enough buckets. I will mix my first batch of salt here in a minute. The fish rode in a bucket for 3 hours (as the people lived 2 1/2 hours away) before I got home and got them an air-stone. Hardy fish!

Anyway, I will get some pics up soon I hope!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

good luck mate.


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Woot!! Congrats. Can't wait to see pics.


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## aunt kymmie (Jun 2, 2008)

Romad said:


> Woot!! Congrats. Can't wait to see pics.


Same here! Congrats and get those pictures posted. ;-)


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

Congrats on the great deal! And again were are the pictures? LOL


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

Sorry it took me so long to get back on the thread. I was busy with school all morning. I finally got to bed last night after everything critical was fixed (water level, tempreture, sump working, etc) at about 4:30am, and I woke up at 7:25am. Anyways, that is besides the point!

This is a pic of the tank last night. I think the tank has cleared up abit since I took the pic...








My, I think Blue Devil Damsel (the guy said it was a yellow tail, but I don't think so)















My Humbug/3 stripe/humbud damselfish








This is my shrimp. I don't know what it is. It is red with a black tail.








And a handful of un-identified inverts...














and about 12 more types I don't know about. I can't finish uploading the pics right now.

I will upload more in a sec. I am so excited to have a saltwater setup now!:-D


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*hoorah*

awsome..keep us posted as i am a reefer myself..at a glance that looks like a peppermint shrimp..but cant see the whole body.how about the coral stuffs.


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

Sorry for the late response. I haven't had much time at all on the computer today.

Anyway, idk what any of the coral stuff does, but I have pics. If you can explain it, please do because I don't have a clue.









I have a Coralife fixture, and I was wondering if there was a bulb type that would work. What kind of bulb should I get? What should I be looking for (e.g. kelvin rating, lumens, wattage, color of the box, etc.)? I don't know if I will be able to support coral (as I have done no research), but maybe if there is live coral in the tank already, it can grow. Who knows (I don't)?

I'll try to get better pics of the humbug damselfish. Before I got him, I thought it was hard to sna a pic of Swordtails. lol

Anyway, probably more pics later!:-D
Thanks!


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*inverts*

well dont dose anything untill you know whats in your tank...any pics of the corals in the tank.


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

I don't know if this coral is alive, or even if it is a coral. The guys said all his corals died a while back. This one is the only one that looks alot like a coral. The next 2 pictures are of the same...thing.















I don't know what this is either. It looks more like a strange piece of LR, but I just want to make sure.








I also have a 36" Coralife 50/50 fixture. The bulb is burt out. The light says it is a 96W bulb. I think the bulb for it would cost about $45, but I have heard they are strong enough to support coral. idk, though.

Just a fish update. I learned that the Blue Devil Damsel is a female. I believe the Humbug is a male. They have gotten along pretty well. I am wondering what tankmates would be suitable with damsels in a 29g tank. I know the damsels can get abit nasty, but I can't find out what will go with the damsels.

Unfortunately, I think I am going to drop the Yellow Watchman Goby from my stocking list. There is only about 1/2" of live sand in the tank, and I don't want the YWG to be attacked by the Damsels. I think I will start another stocking thread later.

All for now.
Thanks!


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## badxgillen (Aug 20, 2010)

*ahh*

looks like some nice coral skeletons..these will be key placement points for encrusting corals if you so choose .


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

I might get a Tuxedo urchin in afew months (when I get some more algae growth). Someone said that the urchin might knock over anything that isn't secure. Would the skeleton anchor, or will I just have to put it in a safe place where the urchin wont tip it over?

I think I might try to find an emerald crab, and get one of those. There aren't any SW LFS within 60 miles of here, and I have never been to one.

I think I will take the damsels to my lfs. I love the damsels so much, but I want clowns, cardinals (I haven't done much research on cardinals) gobies, and a Royal Gramma. I will work more on the stocking later, but I think I will just use the damsels as "practice fish" over the next month or more. I'll figure something out. It is the humbug that I am really going to miss!


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## Jbb421 (Oct 30, 2010)

Hey small fry thanks for linking me the tank looks great  now im going to have to get one and some clowns etc lol how much is upkeep etc also does 1 inch of fish = 1 gallon still count... Thanks for the pics


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

Thanks Jbb421!

Getting started, of coarse is the biggest cost, but there are afew things that you have to buy every once and a while. Price Synthetic Marine Salt. I use InstantOcean brand salt. It can be kinda expensive, depending on how you look at it.

Also, alot of people you only distilled water from the store or RO unit. I have used distilled, and I used tap when I was in an emergency. I know alot of people who just use tap, and some of them have the nuisence algae under control.

1" per 1g doesn't count the same with SW. If you want to develope a stocking list, AqAdvisor.com is a great site to do it on. They have a Saltwater Advisor as well as a freshwater. This is the saltwater advisor; AqAdvisor - Intelligent Saltwater Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

For clownfish, alot of people say 20g is possible 25g is the lowest they would like to see clowns in and 30g is good.

If you want to start a thread on Saltwater stuff, I'd love to help! Just PM me the link.;-)


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

I went to a fish store that sells Saltwater fish for the first time today! It was incredable! I loved the store! They had TONS of SW fish! Lionfish, triggerfish, clownfish, damselfish, eels, gobies, dragonets, blennies, hawkfish, starfish, cucumbers, etc.! It was great!

Anyway, I _bought _SW invertebrates for the first time! I got some kind of turbo snail ($2.50) and a Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab that is SO cute! I will try to get some pics of the inverts up later.:-D


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