Fishkeeping

I love fish. I always have. Until a few years ago- I never tried my hand at saltwater tanks. I always thought you needed special tanks and filters. The truth? Any tank can be saltwater. My first saltwater was a 5 gallon tabletop set up.

First you need “live sand” this is sold st pet shops- they call it “live” because it has living organisms in it- that is a good thing, it helps with the nitrogen cycle, which I will explain in a bit. You will need enough to have 2-3″ on the bottom. Next, you will need “live rock” (pet store should have it) same concept, but you may get lucky and find a little hermit crab or snail hitchhiking on it. You will need 1 pound per gallon. (that can be either a lot of little pieces or one big chunk)

There are two ways to do the water. Mix your own or buy it. I started out by mixing my own- I used the Oceanic brand. It worked great. It is time consuming, though. Now- we buy it. It’s 50¢ a gallon, but I understand everyone doesn’t live here.  After you have your water ready-(read directions) make sure you add a dechlorinator. I swear by Amquel.

Add the water to your sandy-rocky tank. Now the hard part. Waiting. It may take 3 days for the tank to settle and clear up- it may take a week.  I know it’s REALLY hard to not buy fish right now- you gotta wait. Get a few hermit crabs- 2 per gallon. NOT the land ones with the pretty shells. Get the saltwater-underwater ones! Blue-legs are good. There, now you have something to watch for the next 3 weeks.  Because, the nitrogen cycle is occurring. (don’t believe ANYTHING that says “instant cycling”/”just add fish) I know the live sand bag says that- you still need to wait.

While this is happening, check your bulb. If it’s incandesent- you will want to upgrade. They make bulbs that can fit into the screw in sockets that are flouresent. Get yourself one of those.

To put it simply the nitrogen cycle is a natural process where wastes are converted to ammonia, the ammonia is converted to nitrate and the nitrate converts to nitrite. Bacteria do the converting, but the bacteria needs some time to grow and do it’s thing. That being said- take good care of your bacteria. The “bio-media” part of your filter, especially. Don’t rinse it. You want that funky. That’s what keeps your tank alive.

After about a month, take your water (a small cup) into a pet store for testing. Personally- I bought the test kit and do my own tests, but I like chemistry. If your levels are good- get a fish or two. Damsels are hardy and cheap. They are territorial, though. Clownfish are in the damsel family and are great to have- just a few suggestions. In my first 5 gallon, I had a camel shrimp, a domino damsel, 10 hermit crabs, 4 snails, and a chocolate chip starfish.

Water changes should be done every 2 weeks. 25% of the water replaced with new saltwater. For a 5 gallon, that would be 1 gallon every two weeks. It’s good to have a hydrometer- to make sure your salinity levels are good, and a ph monitor- Ph should be in the 8-8.3 range.

If you want to do corals… that’s another post. Kepp on the lookout.

If you want to do freshwater..that’s another post. Keep on the lookout.