# My other hobby...



## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

I just wanted to share my other hobby with fellow hedgehog lovers. This is my saltwater tank. . 




Let me know what you think.


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## shawnwk1 (Jul 8, 2011)

that's awesome, so beautiful. is it a lot of work to maintain?


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

That is gorgeous!

I've been meaning to set up my fresh-water tank for the longest time.. but I keep putting it off.

I find aquariums so beautiful and soothing ^_^ My cats enjoy them too


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

It's beautiful! I totally agree with Shae - aquariums and whatnot are so peaceful to look at. Sometimes I wish that I was a fish and could feel as relaxed as fishies seem to be.  

Saltwater tanks are so neat, but I am intimidated by them. They look like they would be so much work to maintain. I can hardly keep a beta fish alive.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

That's a beautiful tank, thank you for sharing it with us!



hanhan27 said:


> Saltwater tanks are so neat, but I am intimidated by them. They look like they would be so much work to maintain. I can hardly keep a beta fish alive.


 :lol: You're not alone! I'm intimidated by saltwater tanks as well, or just large fish tanks in general. I don't have the motivation required to take care of a huge tank. I do pretty well with betas, though poor Poseidon is past due for a water change...I've been so busy lately, I keep forgetting to.  He's in a 5-gal tank though, so he doesn't seem to be bothered much!


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## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

Saltwater requires a lot of knowledge of water chemistry and animal behavior, but anybody has the potential to learn how to maintain one. Honestly now I'm at the point where I spend maybe an hour a week cleaning, changing water, feeding, ect. So not so much time consuming.

Haha! I can keep the most difficult coral, but I can't keep a goldfish alive lol! :lol: I even have a tank, not a bowl.

My favorite part is watching it when I get breaks from studying, and the sound of running water at night. I can't sleep without it!! 

BTW if you are scared of large tanks, don' be! Large tanks are actually more stable because the swings in water chemistry are diluted due to the large water volume.


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## PRINCESSDANGER13 (Aug 17, 2011)

OMG that'z amazingly awesome and so cool!!.... Is the black fish a clown fish?... And its cute with the little orange on the face!!!..... How long did it take to grow?


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## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

Yep the black one is a clownfish  There are many color and stripe mutations nowadays with clownfish, but they're considered the same species still.

Not sure what your referring to exactly, but some coral pieces I've had for years and others months. On average my coral grows 1 maybe 2 inches per year. My fish I've had for about a year. I got them when they were young. They grew to be a mated pair, but no eggs yet. I'm going to try to raise them once I have a setup for them


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Daleo said:


> Saltwater requires a lot of knowledge of water chemistry and animal behavior, but anybody has the potential to learn how to maintain one. Honestly now I'm at the point where I spend maybe an hour a week cleaning, changing water, feeding, ect. So not so much time consuming.
> 
> Haha! I can keep the most difficult coral, but I can't keep a goldfish alive lol! :lol: I even have a tank, not a bowl.
> 
> ...


How did you learn? I'm sure I could find a website that would explain it to me, but I'd much rather talk to someone with experience than try to learn-by-reading. :lol:

You make a very good point about bigger tanks. I would love to have something so pretty to look at every day! It's so nice having projects that you can watch and feel proud of yourself for accomplishing. Yours is just beautiful (and so are the fish!).



Lilysmommy said:


> :lol: You're not alone! I'm intimidated by saltwater tanks as well, or just large fish tanks in general. I don't have the motivation required to take care of a huge tank. I do pretty well with betas, though poor Poseidon is past due for a water change...I've been so busy lately, I keep forgetting to.  He's in a 5-gal tank though, so he doesn't seem to be bothered much!


I have had 3 betas. The first one lasted 2 weeks. The second one actually lived a couple months. And the third one... well, it was floating in the top of the bowl for 2 weeks and was decomposing and whatnot and I was uber grossed out by it, so I had my boyfriend flush it... but when he dumped it into the toilet, it came back alive. :shock: I screamed and ran out of the bathroom, and my boyfriend FLUSHED IT. I was like, "What are you doinggg? It was swimming! It was ALIVE!" and he told me that my screaming made him think that I didn't want it, plus he wasn't about to reach his hand in the toilet to save him. *Sniff* Imagine how long that poor fishy could have lived??


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## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

I learned on nano-reef.com and now I'm moving to reef2reef.com. Both are saltwater forums. Reef2reef has a more friendly community but nano reef is directed more towards the types of tanks I keep (30 gallons and under). IMO buy a basic book on saltwater aquariums first. Books are organized and cover all the bases. I learned by taking bits of info on the forum an synthesizing it all. :/

That has to be the craziest fish story ever. Haha! Bettas are ridiculous sometimes. Larry is really into bettas too.


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## PRINCESSDANGER13 (Aug 17, 2011)

Sorry, I meant the say how long did it take for the coral to grow (but you got the idea anyways =)!).... Brain thinking quicker than typing..... Cool I so wanna see a clown fish that doesn't have white stripes..... Which fish is which (gender)?...... Its looks amazing and really interesting yet awesome... If I understood chemistry (not a big fan of math) I would totally start a reef.


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Love it!  So soothing to look at  I have 7 bettas and love to watch them it helps me relax.


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## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

The black and white clown is the female and the regular variety is the male. 

http://www.orafarm.com/products/fish/clowns/naked.html

Wow! Do you have different fin varieties, or all veil tail?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

hanhan27 said:


> I have had 3 betas. The first one lasted 2 weeks. The second one actually lived a couple months. And the third one... well, it was floating in the top of the bowl for 2 weeks and was decomposing and whatnot and I was uber grossed out by it, so I had my boyfriend flush it... but when he dumped it into the toilet, it came back alive. :shock: I screamed and ran out of the bathroom, and my boyfriend FLUSHED IT. I was like, "What are you doinggg? It was swimming! It was ALIVE!" and he told me that my screaming made him think that I didn't want it, plus he wasn't about to reach his hand in the toilet to save him. *Sniff* Imagine how long that poor fishy could have lived??


Awww, poor fishy! I've never had that happen to me, I imagine I'd react the same way! :shock: I've had three as well, Poseidon is my third. First was Angel and he was a tough little guy! Lived for two years in a 1-gal bowl that was usually changed once a week. He even managed to live through a freezing episode, where we came home from a weekend away to find the heat hadn't been working and Angel's water was _freezing_. I spent the next several hours with his bowl by a heater, trying to warm the water up without shocking him and hoping he'd live. He was completely unbothered by the entire ordeal. :lol: Second one was Apollo, who started in the gallon bowl, then was moved to the 5-gal tank. I used a filter at first and I'm still wondering if it was just coincidence (Apollo got sick at the same time I moved him) or if the filter killed him...He died only a couple weeks after the move. Now I have Poseidon in the tank, but I don't use the filter, just the little heater I have for it. He's been with me for...six months now? I'm not exactly sure, but he's a happy boy! Gets spoiled with freeze-dried bloodworms twice a week and loves it. :lol:


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

Daleo said:


> Wow! Do you have different fin varieties, or all veil tail?


1 Crowntail, 3 halfmoons and 3 reg. males(not sure what they were called).


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

Love your tank! Looks so pretty and relaxing. Those are some lucky fish! 

When I was in college, my roommate and I got a good-sized freshwater tank to keep in our dorm room, with three goldfish (all different varieties). They were fun to have, but over the course of the year we had 3 Chesters, 3 Enriques, and 1 Jamal (he was obviously very hearty) - several emotional fish funerals were held on the dorm lawn. :roll: :lol: Also, since we couldn't stay in the dorm over breaks, one of us had to take the whole tank home and reassemble it each time, which was really stressful for the fish. Still, though, it was nice falling asleep to the bubbling of the filter, and watching them gobble up their food was always fun.


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## PRINCESSDANGER13 (Aug 17, 2011)

Daleo said:


> The black and white clown is the female and the regular variety is the male.
> 
> http://www.orafarm.com/products/fish/clowns/naked.html


They look so weird without the stripes..... Could they have orange or black stripes instead of white?


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## tie-dye hedgie (Dec 19, 2009)

That's a gorgeous tank! I'd love to have a saltwater tank someday. 
Thanks for sharing with us!


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## shaelikestaquitos (Feb 2, 2010)

LarryT said:


> Daleo said:
> 
> 
> > Wow! Do you have different fin varieties, or all veil tail?
> ...


Halfmoons are so gorgeous ^_^

The regular ones are probably veiltails


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

I love aquariums. Right now I have a 66 gallon fresh water tank but have always wanted a saltwater one. Unfortunately where I live the closest place to get any saltwater supplies is a 6 hour drive one way, so its going to have to wait. Your aquarium is beautiful.


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## Hedgieonboard (Nov 15, 2009)

Your tank is beautiful, I love it  We have two fresh water tanks set up but have really been wanting to do a salt water. Me and my husband were just talking about this last weekend and talking with someone about the lighting. If you don't mind me asking, how much is it to set up the lighting? It's the one things we are still trying to figure out and it's hard because there is so many different opinions its been overwhelming when I've been searching.


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## Daleo (Jun 1, 2011)

Haha! That's an age old debate for saltwater. The first question you need to ask yourself is: 
"Am I going to keep coral?"
Then ask yourself:
"What is my budget?"

For Fish only tanks, you don't need any lighting, it's just for looks, so I'm assuming your going to keep coral.

I currently use 2 PAR30 bulbs, which are a form of strong LED lighting. Each bulb is about $70 USD. LED lighting is the most expensive on the market, but with save you tons in your electric bill and you don't need to replace the bulbs for 10 years. I chose LEDs because my metal halide tripped the breaker in my apartment every time it turned on...

Metal Halide is my favorite. It costs less to buy, but will cost a ton on your energy bill. Plus you need to replace the bulbs every 10 months to stay in the correct spectrum. Which I bulb could cost up to 100 USD, but usually ~50.

T5HO is the only other one I will mention (plasma is used, but is new and not readily available). T5 is similar to light bulbs in your office. These do nicely, and cost less to operate than a halide, but the bulbs need to be replaced every 10 months. However, there are usually 4-6 bulbs in each T5 fixture (for coral) and bulbs cost about 20 USD.

Everyone will prefer different types of lighting, but make sure you do your research to buy the right lighting for your tank. For example, fixtures with 1w LEDs typically cannot sustain coral, but 3w LEDs can keep the most light demanding coral.

For cheap, quality T5 or Halide lights, go here: http://www.fishneedit.com I have not used their LEDs so cannot comment on them.

Also, pick up a quality reefing book, and join a reef forum, it will make things go so much smoother


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