I'm confused. Would be great to hear from some experienced people.

[Lennie]

Nitrite is irrelevant in salt tanks and not necessary to test for it. Ammonia and nitrates are all you test for when starting the tank. After that you need to test other parameters weekly such as phosphate. Monthly check calcium and magnesium...etc... make sure you get good test kits like Hanna.

I use Sera's liquid test kits

I understood the concept but my worry was regarding the quarantine tank as it is likely hard to keep ammonia in control without cycled media/(and I guess liverocks here), at least it is in freshwater as we always aim 0. I watched a saltwater qt tank video and as I guessed, it is frequent testing and water changes to keep ammonia in check in case of having an uncycled fish qt tank. That was my main concern, a fish spending time in a qt for a month being exposed to ammonia and having no biofilter in its tank

I literally read forums for a year before I started my own marine tank.

You are correct. Everyone has their own opinion.

And you’re going to have to make up your own mind about what you think will work for you.

I guarantee that two people could set up identical tanks and one would be successful and the other a failure.

Why?

No one knows.

It’s great to research first. But in the end you have to do what you think makes the most sense.

Some things will work out. Some may not. Either way, don’t give up and keep going.

Success breeds confidence.

Good luck.

Yes. Even at home, in one of my tanks a plant may thrive and die on another. You never know.


I will take my time to read and search A LOT. Ive started going over the recommended videos today under this topic.
Let's see how it will go

That moment will come, when you realise that salt and fresh have only glass and water and in common, and not much else lol. Many of us have been there.

and when the salt gets in your blood, many of those FW tanks will slowly transform into salt tanks lol

Well I don't think I will be able to do that, even if I wanted to . Besides me loving my freshwater tanks, they also seem more budget friendly overall. I can take a cutting and plant on another tank easily. I can use many sponge filters in my tanks with with one main air pump or so. Cheap lights are good enough to keep a low tech going. I love the jungle look and how peaceful those greens feel. Also, having fry is fun. Growing them, naming them, these are all very fun to me. Also Im a HUGE snail guy. I looove snails. I should check reef safe snails in depth further!

Reef tanks look insane. But I bet I would rather have a single beautiful one with decent investment rather than multiple tanks as there are many limiting factors for me to find myself having many tanks later on. But I watched some maintenance videos, and they seem to require much more time investment compared to fw tanks. That itself would be limiting for me

Thanks for your msg!

 

[Lavey29]

I use Sera's liquid test kits

I understood the concept but my worry was regarding the quarantine tank as it is likely hard to keep ammonia in control without cycled media/(and I guess liverocks here), at least it is in freshwater as we always aim 0. I watched a saltwater qt tank video and as I guessed, it is frequent testing and water changes to keep ammonia in check in case of having an uncycled fish qt tank. That was my main concern, a fish spending time in a qt for a month being exposed to ammonia and having no biofilter in its tank


Yes. Even at home, in one of my tanks a plant may thrive and die on another. You never know.


I will take my time to read and search A LOT. Ive started going over the recommended videos today under this topic.
Let's see how it will go





Well I don't think I will be able to do that, even if I wanted to . Besides me loving my freshwater tanks, they also seem more budget friendly overall. I can take a cutting and plant on another tank easily. I can use many sponge filters in my tanks with with one main air pump or so. Cheap lights are good enough to keep a low tech going. I love the jungle look and how peaceful those greens feel. Also, having fry is fun. Growing them, naming them, these are all very fun to me. Also Im a HUGE snail guy. I looove snails. I should check reef safe snails in depth further!

Reef tanks look insane. But I bet I would rather have a single beautiful one with decent investment rather than multiple tanks as there are many limiting factors for me to find myself having many tanks later on. But I watched some maintenance videos, and they seem to require much more time investment compared to fw tanks. That itself would be limiting for me

Thanks for your msg!

Well yes and no. QT tanks can have relatively simple HOB filtration and a heater. Yes they need to be cycled first but really there should be only one or two small fish in a 10g QT so ammonia should be quite manageable with a cycled QT and small water changes.

 

[Lennie]

So Lennie is back again. Hello everyone!

You guys were extremely helpful last time so I wanted to ask a few more questions. I did not create a new topic and continue from here as it is related to my previous questions.

At the time, setting up a 180 liter reef tank seemed pretty costy after calculating everything I gotta spend on. So I quit the idea for that time and got me two goldfish for that tank. Zero regrets, not gonna lie. They are actual water puppies I love them. Hoping I will keep themthem for a long long time and age together
Anyway,

I am also setting up a low end brackish tank for my figure 8 puffer and bumblebee gobies (1.005). While searching for what salt to buy, my biologist friend recommended marine or reef salt for brackish but not aquarium salt even if I enrich it with gh+. The price of 20kg box was wayyy too economic compared to any other version, last one in stock, so I got me 20kgs of this salt:

Now that I have a hydrometer, tons of salt, and a small wavemaker that I dont use which I bought for my shallow long tank(says 1000L/h but doesnt feel like it ngl) and a small HOB (230L/h), I am considering if I can try a shallow nano reef tank with an empty tank I have (with the dimensions of 50x40x25cmh /50 liters.)

Considering I already have an empty tank, an unused wavemaker, small HOB filter and reef base salt, it might be less costy for me to try a tank this time. And ofcourse, it is much smaller than a 180 liter so obviously it helps

Questions:
1) Can I utilise all the stuff I have on hand?( HOB filter, wavemaker, HOB, the abovementioned salt for easy reef tank-asking as it also has reef plus version but I didnt get it-, empty tank(50x40x25cmh)

2)Would dimensions of 50x40x25 too limiting for fish/snails/shrimp and easy coral selection, and/or hard to control parameters at. I am surely aware of the fact that the footprint is okay with 50x45 but it is shallow,which is my fav tank style, so it holds less water but provides okay amount of swimming space. Is it too limiting?

I see much tinier tanks being used at both my lfs and online, but the question is would it be ideal for small species? I want my fish to be happy not survive. Please note that I have no intention to introduce any big fish there anyway, I instead would like to know if it would be okay for small species

3) Light. I can't see any cheap light. Is there a way to keep this one budget friendly? If the shallow tank works, does having a shallow tank help with having easier time lighting as height is not a limiting factor here? The cheapest but good brand light I find has the following specifications, but still costs me a lot:

• 445nm Royal Blue
• 460-470nm Blue
• 20.000K White
• 660nm Deep Red (in their 10 month ago official yt video, deep red isn't mentioned, violet is mentioned as 430nm, and instead of red, there is "pink")
• 420nm Violet

Length: 31.6cm
Width: 11.6cm
Height: 1.8cm
20Watt
69 LEDs
Box opening video for F series light of the brand (the abovementioned one if F30, the smallest)


I would appreciate any help. Many thanks in advance

Lennie