Anyone here have an aquarium?

[loud2004marquis]

Looking into getting a saltwater aquarium (90 gallon) sometime in the next couple of years and was wondering if anyone here has one and how they like it?

Any tips, advise or pics to share?

[RubberCtyRauder]

A friend of mine has a 90 gal. saltwater. It's alot of work to get set up and get the salinity and ph levels correct before even adding fish or other live habitats. and then have to do water changes like every two weeks ( I believe a 25% change) and feed the fish etc. daily. he has someone come and take care of it if he has to go away for more than one day. Yes, it is cool and there are many options such as fish, plantlife, liverock, crabs, anenomies, urchins..which he has a little of all that. I dont have any pics though. There is steady maintenance etc. to do just so you know. It may depend on the selections of items you select to have in it. But very colorful and great to watch!

[loud2004marquis]

I've heard there can be a lot of maintenance.

Hoping to mount it in the wall that seperates the living room and dining room. I live in a small house so the plan is to also open things up a bit. Gonna have to make up some kind of custom stand for sure.

Anyone have pics of their setup?

[Shaijack]

I have one. A Red Eared Turtle lives in it. Notsalt water. Onle three inches of water in it. His name is Magnitto.

[Ozark Marauder]

If you never had a tank before...go fresh. I have had both. As for saltwater, is it going to be a saltwater aquarium or a saltwater reef tank? I changed from fresh to salt (fish are more colorful), but was a bit of a headache with all the testing, water changes, etc, etc. Plus you need a fish sitter to maintain the tank while you're gone.

After three years I went back to fresh "non-community" tank, with just cichlids. I found enough colorful fresh water fish, i.e. African cichlids from either Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika.

All in all, African cichlids make for vibrant, colorful displays and are very active fish. When I had a large African cichlid aquarium, 58 gallons, people would often ask whether the aquarium was salt or freshwater. Plus you can set up automatic feeding devices that gives you the freedom to leave them for a while. Freshwater fish are less expensive.

The cost are quite different, here's an idea on the prices. (these prices are from 2007 and a 29 gallon tank) so add the appropriate inflation rates.

http://www.fishlore.com/saltwatervsfreshwater.htm

Do your research, go to some stores and talk to the people there, you'll end up with whats best for you.

I no longer have any aquariums, miss them now and then, but not the maintenance.

OZ

[SID210SA]

We have one of each....one 25gal fresh water and one 45 gal saltwater.

Saltwater: We bought the tank second hand for 150.00, we had it professionally cleaned (it was a fresh water tank and had been sitting dry for about a year) we filled it with live rock and live sand and had to let it cycle for about a month before we added any fish to it. The set up alone with water, sand, and rock was about 500.00 including delivery and lots of questions and answers.

We like our tank, but you have to stay ontop of its cleaning....make sure you purchase working fish to do this....we have a fish that cleans the sand, hermit crabs and snails to do their part, plus two fish to swim around....cant get anymore right now because one is very aggressive....it was just supposed to be a starter fish but he has lasted almost 2 years now.

Our tank has an intank filtration system. We have to regularly change the coal pack, clean the sponge and change flitler pad about every 2 weeks.....water changes are only when we have to add water about once a month.

For the most part, its nice...but when it needs a deep cleaning its a pain. But worth it I think.

Start up is what is gonna kill you.

[CBT]

I was hoping someone would have one and post pics. I really want another one (it's been years) but Amy is less than thrilled at the idea. I want one on a stand, bout 6 feet long and four feet high.

[stevengerard]

I have had both, having aquariums for over 30 years now. I will tell all newcomers to start out with freshwater just way cheaper and easier. Fresh water isn't necessarily effortless though, still need to monitor things and get the wrong Cichclid in the tank and the next day you have three dead fish.

The more you get into it the more freshwater variety you can find, I have one large tank with a green terror, Jack Dempsey (both almost 15 years old), tiger barb, a jewel and catfish, all very colorful, but at this point if I added another fish it would be chum in a minute.

We have another tank with Tanganyika's in it, less aggressive versions and very unique looking. Also African catfish are really cool looking, leopard, spotted striped, etc.

i once made a 120 gallon tank myself, had a turtle, bird, cichclids and a cayman in it (25 years ago when you could still get caymens). That was a fun tank.

I even have a tank of a variety of goldfish.

The larger the tank the more stable the environment but the more expensive it is to get into it. I wouldn't start out with anything smaller than a 30 but suggest a 40 or 55. Its like HP, the more gallons you have the more you want.

[Leadfoot281]

I have two 75's, a twenty and two ten gallon tanks.

Other than the the twenty, they're all planted. The 75's are "high tech". (High light, C02 injected).

The learning curve for planted tanks is very, very steep. Typical set-up costs of a high tech planted tank run around $5 to $10/gallon. Maintenance really isn't too bad though....maybe a couple hours/week for each one. A lot that depends on what plants you keep. Some plants grow an inch/day and require nearlly constant trimming.

On the upside though is the potential income from certain plants. A couple years ago I was selling $200 worth of plants per month out just one of my 75's.

This is one of my 75's. It doesn't look too good here due to a recent tear down and rebuild. Most of the plants here are just 'place holders' 'til I find the ones I want. Don't look for the fish. Haven't had any of those boring things since about 2004.

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/1911Kimber/MISC/024.jpg

This plant is "pearling". It is growing so fast that the oxygen it gives off has saturated the water completely. The water literally cannot hold anymore oxygen so bubbles of it are forming on the leaves.

Trivia! Did you know that plants love C02 and that global warming due to excess C02 in the atmosphere is a hoax? I do and so do my plants. ;)

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/1911Kimber/MISC/004.jpg

For more info on planted tanks, check these sites out.
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/index.php

http://www.plantgeek.net/