Deep Sea Creatures

so, i've been reading up starting a saltwater aquarium. i'm thinking if i'm going to do it, i might as well do it all the way and start a coral reef tank. right now i'm thinking some soft coral (mushroom coral), a clown fish, a tang, a butterfly, and maybe some gobies. i'm also think of a hermit crab and some cleaner shrimp.

this seems to be a relatively easy to care for set-up for n00b. if i'm able to get this setup established, i'll add an anenoemae for the clownfish. they're a little more difficult to care for from what i read.

anybody have experience with saltwater aquariums? any tips?

MUTHA FUCKIN' COWBELL! YEAH!

Yes, watch out for yellow tangs or sea urchins that get too big because they're clumsy and constantly damage live rocks. Clownfish were pretty easy to maintain in my experience, I guess they might get ick every once in a while. Uh, get some cleaner shrimp or algae eating snails to help with cleanliness. Never squirt calcium at anemones unless you want to see something cool. Also, gobis FTW!

yeah gobies are amazing

clownfish and the the anenoemae i also love

clownfish are not easy to look after they are fucking lame to keep, they piss and moan about everything

just get a big tank and put a jellyfish in it

idm as fuck

get a hose and fill up your basement with water then throw in a dolphin

get a hose and fill up your basement with water then throw in a bunch of jellyfish and jump in

just rub a jellyfish all over your nads, fuck the water

i'm thinking that you should invest in some DP creatures. they might be much more interesting to watch. especially underwater.

takashi amano is pretty cool too.

Oh yea, plop some geoducks in there.

My favorite saltwater tanks are coral tanks.

DO NOT GET AN OCTOPUS.  Unless your tank is sealed, 8-legs will find his way out every day.

Seahorses are novel, but mostly boring, since they just hook onto something and sit there for hours on end.

And don't rush setting it up.  It can take a month before your tank is actually ready for fish.

Be prepared to drop at least a grand.

coral's pretty fragile stuff. needs just the right balance of minerals, light, aeration and diet.

make a beach and add a turtle to it

  kaen said:

just rub a jellyfish all over your nads, fuck the water

word up!

An old aquaintance of mine had a huge sandy fishtank with mini rays gliding about with shoals of tiny fish. Pretty much the coolest thing I have ever seen.

  OneToThirtySix said:

My favorite saltwater tanks are coral tanks.

 

DO NOT GET AN OCTOPUS.  Unless your tank is sealed, 8-legs will find his way out every day.

 

Seahorses are novel, but mostly boring, since they just hook onto something and sit there for hours on end.

 

And don't rush setting it up.  It can take a month before your tank is actually ready for fish.

 

Be prepared to drop at least a grand.

i dont know man my friend had some and put a decoy feeder tank with a few morsels across the room. they would scale the walls on the hunt and return to the main tank to its house. totally insane, octo prints on the walls after work. lost one that fell behind a heater. expensive but amazing critters.

those eels look like they would be bored. edit : multi octopusses

http://www.noob.us/miscellaneous/why-the-c...-of-camouflage/

JUST WOW

bad ass

Lion Fish

Picasso triggerfish

Rainbow Trout

Have you ever had a large aquarium before, Alzado? Caring for saltwater is a whole 'nother ballgame verus freshwater. Do LOTS of research before even buying a single thing, and plan things out, otherwise you just waste time, money and the lives of the animals you wish to keep.

and when you finally decide to get your tank and fill it with the fishes that you desire... dip your nuts in the tank and let the fishes kiss your nuts!

the shimmering nuts!

whatever you do- DO NOT ROMAN HELMET/ QUEENSBRIDGE A LIONFISH

  Joyrex said:

Have you ever had a large aquarium before, Alzado? Caring for saltwater is a whole 'nother ballgame verus freshwater. Do LOTS of research before even buying a single thing, and plan things out, otherwise you just waste time, money and the lives of the animals you wish to keep.

no i haven't, but this is good advice. i've been reading a lot of different sources about what's required to get your tank going. from what i've read, there's a cycling process that's necessary first to achieve the proper water conditions (i.e., the proper chemical balance and bacteria level) before you insert a living thing. this process alone can take anywhere from a week to a month depending on what you want to do.

once you've properly cycled your tank, you've got to acclimate the fish that you purchase which again is not as simple as dumping the bag from the fish store into your tank. you have to acclimate them slowly to the tank water, which can take several hours.

i'm reading up on it now not really intending to get started any time soon. i just gave my 4 year old a small fresh water aquarium with two goldfish in it. i'm going to make taking care of that aquarium our little project and if she does well with it, i'll consider getting a saltwater tank when she's 5 or 6. we'll start with fish that are generally rated on the easy side in terms of care and then see where we go from there. i'm in no hurry as i understand it's something you can't rush if you're going to do it right. i'll keep reading in the meantime and get a good sense for exactly how i will need to care for the setup that i want to build.