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Home Aquarium for livies.. - Ausfish Australian Fishing Forums
Just wondering if anyone has setup an aquarium specifically for livies?(eg.
Mullet)
Or is it too expensive/high maintenance?
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G'day Frank, I used to work in the aquarium retail industry and personally I would think it not worthwhile.
If you definitely want to go through the exercise I am happy to send you a PM to share all that I know about setting up saltwater tanks and what test kits you will need and filtration.
Poodroo
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Yer just run two powerhead filters depends on tank size..and change quarter to half water weekly.
you dont need all this over priced junk they all tell you you need.
as long as the water is clean and circulating they will be happy
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Quote: : G'day Frank, I used to work in the aquarium retail industry and personally I would think it not worthwhile.
If you definitely want to go through the exercise I am happy to send you a PM to share all that I know about setting up saltwater tanks and what test kits you will need and filtration.
Poodroo Hey Poodroo - If you could tell me the basic items I would need, that would be fantastic mate!
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Quote: : yer just run two powerhead filters depends on tank size..and change quarter to half water weekly.
you dont need all this over priced junk they all tell you you need.
as long as the water is clean and circulating they will be happy Yalta - Thanks Mate!
- I can live with changing the water once a week....Do I just go into an aquarium shop and ask for "powerhead filters"?
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Marine systems are not very stable in terms of the ammonia cycle when you are always changeing the biological load on them.
I had little luck with a bait holding setup using the same gear that kept a mixed reef and fish system for years
Cheers
Neil
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Quote: : Yalta - Thanks Mate!
- I can live with changing the water once a week....Do I just go into an aquarium shop and ask for "powerhead filters"?
Not likely to work I have to say!
I don't really need to blow Poodroo's trumpet because he is my brother, but trust me, he knows what he is talking about.
I share the common interest in aquariums and keep a little salt tank with very minimal expense.
I don't have test kits, but I do partial water changes regularly.
Where I think you will come to grief is going out and catching too many live baits than the ecology ( bacteria) in the tank will support.
If you don't have enough bacteria colonies and filtration to support a sudden increase in the number of fish, it will tip the balance of the tank over the edge.
If you think you can start a tank from scratch, come home with a bunch of livies and two powerheads to push water around, it won't take too long before they are all floating
Scalem
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Yeah, but only for short term.
I keep shrimp for up to a month in a 80litre tank.
Just throw em in to tap water (leave it sit for a day or so first), bung in an aerator.
As I am only keeping them short term that is all I do.
Dont bother trying to feed em or anything
With my Redclaw tank (which are the kids pets) I do partial water changes weekly, use proper filter, vacuum it etc etc.
Just like a real aquarium!
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G'day again Frank.
Here is just a basic setup for you to think about.
Remember that the larger the tank size the more bacteria you will be able to support in there and the more stable the tank will be.
Firstly you can invest in a 3ft tank (or bigger) and get a Hagan under gravel filter for it.
These are the best brand under gravel filters trust me.
To increase water flow you can buy any brand powerhead that pumps around 1000 litres an hour or greater.
To cover the under gravel filter plates you can either look for shellgrit or buy it.
Make sure it is coarse so that it won't fall through the under gravel filter plates.
If you intend to try setting the tank up without investing in the necessary test kits you will be steering blind because you will not be able to tell what is happening in the tank's cycle and the possibility of introducing fish into the tank whilst it is going through an ammonia surge is pretty high.
Ammonia generally means dead fish.
The long you leave the tank to settle in the better.
When you finally do introduce a fish make sure you do it gradually.
Add one fish to start with and see how it goes.
Then a few days later add another one or two.
If you add too many too quickly the backteria will not be able to cope with the load of waste the fish are producing and once again it will create an imbalance and ammonia levels will crash the tank and kill everything.
Basic way that it all works is there are many different types of bacteria that live in the tank and the good bacteria you want basically feed on fish waste products so there have to be enough of those bacteria living in the tank to support the number of fish.
Test kits will tell you when the water is suitable.
The bacteria also are living organisms and if they are feeding on fish waste then they themselves produce waste in the form of nitrites which in turn break down into nitrates.
The only way to remove the nitrates is via partial water changes.
Now remember that if you go too overboard with tank cleaning you also wipe out a lot of bacteria so do not do tank cleaning like some people would do with a freshwater tank.
Recipe for disaster with saltwater tanks.
There is a whole lot more I can tell you so if you want to know more feel free to PM me.
As I said earlier it is a bit of work to set up saltwater tanks in order to sustain life in it.
Test kits you can consider to buy can include a Nitrate test kit, one for Nitrites, Ammonia test kit, Hydrometer, PH, and hardness.
Regards,
Poodroo
PS.
And thanks Scalem for not blowing my trumpet.
Lol
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Mmm all good advice there, but the undrgravel filters are well past there use by date theses days, they are just an area where sh!t gets trapped.
to keep it simple as its not a display tank of sorts,
1) powerhead with sponge for mechanical filtration ( removing debris, suspended crap in the water)
2) 'live rock' for your biological filtration (pretty cheap and far superior than any other type of bio filtration for salty setups)
3) a protein skimmer (essential, google it to understand what it does)
4)once you have these few things in place and water in the tank, everything up and running, get a bit of pilly or squid and throw it in the tank.
Leave it for around two weeks let it fester and all the different bacterias will do there thing.
After that two weeks do a 1/3 water change and your set to go.
You can buy the test kits but you dont really have to, I used to have them but dont use them anymore.
I keep feeding to a minimum and do 1/3 waterchange fortnightly.
The more stable you keep tank parameters by not f***king with the water so often, the better of the tank will be.
its a whole other hobby and I have been keeping fish for years (fresh and salt) it can get as technical as you want it to be or as simple as you need it to be.
Even all this is overkill for keeping livies, just get a 200litre plastic drum and throw in an airstone or powerhead if they are only gonna be in there for a few days
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Quote: : mmm all good advice there, but the undrgravel filters are well past there use by date theses days, they are just an area where sh!t gets trapped.
to keep it simple as its not a display tank of sorts,
1) powerhead with sponge for mechanical filtration ( removing debris, suspended crap in the water)
2) 'live rock' for your biological filtration (pretty cheap and far superior than any other type of bio filtration for salty setups)
3) a protein skimmer (essential, google it to understand what it does)
4)once you have these few things in place and water in the tank, everything up and running, get a bit of pilly or squid and throw it in the tank.
Leave it for around two weeks let it fester and all the different bacterias will do there thing.
After that two weeks do a 1/3 water change and your set to go.
You can buy the test kits but you dont really have to, I used to have them but dont use them anymore.
I keep feeding to a minimum and do 1/3 waterchange fortnightly.
The more stable you keep tank parameters by not f***king with the water so often, the better of the tank will be.
its a whole other hobby and I have been keeping fish for years (fresh and salt) it can get as technical as you want it to be or as simple as you need it to be.
Even all this is overkill for keeping livies, just get a 200litre plastic drum and throw in an airstone or powerhead if they are only gonna be in there for a few days Well everyone knows there are better filtration systems like Eheim canester filters and wet and dry filtration systems but keeping it in perspective it is only for livies after all and I was just keeping it to the cheapest setups that will work.
The whole idea of undergravel systems is to store all the waste under them which is where all the biological activity occurs and if they were past their useby then they wouldn't be still on the market.
It is hard to beat something that works for that kind of minimal outlay.
Poodroo
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I am not the expert, but I seem to remember the saltwater advice from an aquarium shop going something like "Aeorobic" and "Anaerobic" bacteria are both something essential for healthy saltwater tanks.
The Anaerobic bacteria don't depend on oxygenation, which is why it's good to stick an undergravel in there, then a couple of inches of rubble on top for the Aerobic bacteria.
Works for me!!
Scalem
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Thanks guys REALLY appreciate all the info!
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