Any One Else Have a Salt Water Tank?

Tooloe

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
3,293
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Texas
does anyone else have a salt water tank?

i just got a new fish a Socpas Tang and this little guy trips me out.... if i walk into the room he hides....peaks around the corner and see i'm gone then swims around like a dummy.. but i can poke my head around the corner and he see it back to his rock! lol.... anyway just thought i'd share my "other" hobby i guess you could call it

so far i've got your standard 30gal tank
Fish-arrow head crab "Grumpy" -clownfish "nemo"- an this socpas tang we don't have a name for it yet



he also love to terroize the crab......so anybody else got one?
 
Tooloe said:
does anyone else have a salt water tank?

i just got a new fish a Socpas Tang and this little guy trips me out.... if i walk into the room he hides....peaks around the corner and see i'm gone then swims around like a dummy.. but i can poke my head around the corner and he see it back to his rock! lol.... anyway just thought i'd share my "other" hobby i guess you could call it

so far i've got your standard 30gal tank
Fish-arrow head crab "Grumpy" -clownfish "nemo"- an this socpas tang we don't have a name for it yet


he also love to terroize the crab......so anybody else got one?

I have a yellow tang that is scared shitless of the lens (I guess) on my video camera. He thinks Cyclops is coming for him...
I had to stop taping before he did himself some damage...
How long have you had your tank?
 
Last edited:
I've had lots of marine friends over the years. My guess is your scopas is wild caught. They tend to be much more afraid of people than captive bred fish. Give him time, try not to startle him too much in the beginning, and he'll come around. Some of my skittish mandarin fish took months before they'd show themselves with me in the room. But after that all was good.

Try tempting him with some lettuce on a clip at the side of the tank. Tangs are algae eaters in the wild and lettuce is a good treat. Mine tangs preferred the hydroponic stuff best. If you can lure him out with it, he might start to associate you with food, and then you're good to go.

Congratulations and good luck!

-Adam
 
Ive had lots of saltwater fish too, my favorite was a Mantis shrimp ( check out youtube) I plan on getting another one when I get a house again
 
Tekhaus said:
I've had lots of marine friends over the years. My guess is your scopas is wild caught. They tend to be much more afraid of people than captive bred fish. Give him time, try not to startle him too much in the beginning, and he'll come around. Some of my skittish mandarin fish took months before they'd show themselves with me in the room. But after that all was good.

Try tempting him with some lettuce on a clip at the side of the tank. Tangs are algae eaters in the wild and lettuce is a good treat. Mine tangs preferred the hydroponic stuff best. If you can lure him out with it, he might start to associate you with food, and then you're good to go.

Congratulations and good luck!

-Adam

Adam-

Nothing against what is working for you but those extraordinarily expensive books from the experts say, without exception,- DO NOT FEED LETTUCE to the salt water critters. I had a 210 for a number of years.... I thought SRT-10s were expensive to stay on top of...;)

Ronnie
 
Does this count, it had lots of salt water?:D

100_6411.jpg
 
Ron, you are totally right. I must be tired or something. I was thinking of my wife's terrarium and the snails. Tooloe, NO LETTUCE! I used Nori (basically dried seaweed) with the tangs. Thanks for calling me out, Ron.
 
Tekhaus said:
I've had lots of marine friends over the years. My guess is your scopas is wild caught. They tend to be much more afraid of people than captive bred fish. Give him time, try not to startle him too much in the beginning, and he'll come around. Some of my skittish mandarin fish took months before they'd show themselves with me in the room. But after that all was good.

Try tempting him with some lettuce on a clip at the side of the tank. Tangs are algae eaters in the wild and lettuce is a good treat. Mine tangs preferred the hydroponic stuff best. If you can lure him out with it, he might start to associate you with food, and then you're good to go.

Congratulations and good luck!

-Adam


To answer a few questions. i've had my tank for a little over 7 months... i've had the clown fish since the 2nd month and just added the crab and tang..... my only fear with the tang is i don't see him eat.. so i don't know if he is eating enough.... i don't want to starve him to death.. my clownfish almost jumps out of the tank when i give him shrimp...why not give the little guy some lettuce? is it bad for him?
 
Tekhaus said:
Ron, you are totally right. I must be tired or something. I was thinking of my wife's terrarium and the snails. Tooloe, NO LETTUCE! I used Nori (basically dried seaweed) with the tangs. Thanks for calling me out, Ron.

I'm not calling anyone out with regards to keeping a thriving s.w. tank, believe me. I'm still 3/4s insane and several thousand dollars upside down from the last go 'round that was 4 years long...:(
Just when I thought I was learning something, more spores from outer space came into my tank and a severe micro algae bloom would happen overnight; or the nicest fish in the tank would take a one-way trip to Davy Jones' locker. Or the anemones would crater. Or the clam wanted to see his departed relatives.
Yes, I had the recommended protein skimmers, sumps, reverse osmosis system for changes, mangroves, the good salts, live rock, live sand, testing kits, metal halide lighting, timers, chillers, custom foods, high output jet pumps, books, CDs, DVDs, the works. AND, I was told a good s/w setup was less "maintenance" than fresh water. I never came close to seeing THAT was a true statement. And.., in the end, they all died...

Now I look at nature's saltwater wonders on TV on the Oasis channel...

I might try it again one day, but I seriously doubt it. I think I would rather jack-off with a cheese grater....

my 2 cents..and to those that HAVE figured out these things out- "I'M NOT WORTHY !!, I'M NOT WORTHY !!", etc.....

Ronnie
 
Last edited:
Tooloe said:
does anyone else have a salt water tank?

i just got a new fish a Socpas Tang and this little guy trips me out.... if i walk into the room he hides....peaks around the corner and see i'm gone then swims around like a dummy.. but i can poke my head around the corner and he see it back to his rock! lol.... anyway just thought i'd share my "other" hobby i guess you could call it

so far i've got your standard 30gal tank
Fish-arrow head crab "Grumpy" -clownfish "nemo"- an this socpas tang we don't have a name for it yet

he also love to terroize the crab......so anybody else got one?

I have had saltwater tanks for over 15 years, sounds to me he is wild caught, and will need awhile to adjust to large objects that move. Once he realizes you are the source for food he will most likely warm up. Also wild caught fish are very sensitive to water quality, make sure you check the salinty daily and add fresh water as it evaporates, esp with a small tank, leaves can change in a matter of hours. my tangs love spinich, dark lettuces, and dried seaweed. Since he is from wild, if he gets big enough he might make that crab dinner, or he is just trying to establish territory in the tank.
 
Tooloe - Nori is many times more nutritious than lettuce. I've also heard that the balance of minerals in land based vs aquacultured greens is significantly different. And as I think Ronnie eluded to, you can also get some unexpected hitchhikers with lettuce. Will a little bit kill the fish, probably not, but its not good practice.

If you put Nori in the tank, you should be able to tell if the tang is eating. Tang sized bite marks are hard to miss. Even my shy purple tang would dart out once he knew what Nori was all about.

Ronnie - I've run through thousands on gadgets on my tanks too. One the that worked the best had a small display tank (55 gals) and a huge backend (160 gallons with just live rock and acropora (for fun), 50 gallon mangrove, 50 gallon with just algae and 24/7 lighting, and another 50 gallon with just live sand and some sea slugs). Display tank was mostly corals, inverts and only 2 fish. The system was pretty self supporting at that point. It could absorb the fish waste in the ecosystem and the ph, calcium, nitrate, CO2 levels never budged. And it never needed a water change, unlike all my other tanks. It was great, had that setup for 7-ish yrs, I think. Then came the NE blackout... lost it all after several days when the generator finally gave out. Never could bring myself to start another one. Some of the tanks still haunt me when I got into the attic. But I think that setup only worked because there were so few fish and so little waste.
 
Tekhaus said:
Tooloe - Nori is many times more nutritious than lettuce. I've also heard that the balance of minerals in land based vs aquacultured greens is significantly different. And as I think Ronnie eluded to, you can also get some unexpected hitchhikers with lettuce. Will a little bit kill the fish, probably not, but its not good practice.

If you put Nori in the tank, you should be able to tell if the tang is eating. Tang sized bite marks are hard to miss. Even my shy purple tang would dart out once he knew what Nori was all about.

Ronnie - I've run through thousands on gadgets on my tanks too. One the that worked the best had a small display tank (55 gals) and a huge backend (160 gallons with just live rock and acropora (for fun), 50 gallon mangrove, 50 gallon with just algae and 24/7 lighting, and another 50 gallon with just live sand and some sea slugs). Display tank was mostly corals, inverts and only 2 fish. The system was pretty self supporting at that point. It could absorb the fish waste in the ecosystem and the ph, calcium, nitrate, CO2 levels never budged. And it never needed a water change, unlike all my other tanks. It was great, had that setup for 7-ish yrs, I think. Then came the NE blackout... lost it all after several days when the generator finally gave out. Never could bring myself to start another one. Some of the tanks still haunt me when I got into the attic. But I think that setup only worked because there were so few fish and so little waste.

what is nori fill me in :D so far i havn't had to do a water change but i've only had one fish.. with the new tang an crab things could change but everything is looking good so far..on day 2 lol
 
Nori is that dried seaweed that's around sushi. You can find it in most supermarkets nowadays. Just be sure there's no additives or funny enough, salt. Pet food stores or aquariums also have dried seaweed. But honestly good Nori is better regulated as its a human food product. They can get away with a lot in pet foods so beware.
 
Tekhaus said:
Tooloe - Nori is many times more nutritious than lettuce. I've also heard that the balance of minerals in land based vs aquacultured greens is significantly different. And as I think Ronnie eluded to, you can also get some unexpected hitchhikers with lettuce. Will a little bit kill the fish, probably not, but its not good practice.

If you put Nori in the tank, you should be able to tell if the tang is eating. Tang sized bite marks are hard to miss. Even my shy purple tang would dart out once he knew what Nori was all about.

Ronnie - I've run through thousands on gadgets on my tanks too. One the that worked the best had a small display tank (55 gals) and a huge backend (160 gallons with just live rock and acropora (for fun), 50 gallon mangrove, 50 gallon with just algae and 24/7 lighting, and another 50 gallon with just live sand and some sea slugs). Display tank was mostly corals, inverts and only 2 fish. The system was pretty self supporting at that point. It could absorb the fish waste in the ecosystem and the ph, calcium, nitrate, CO2 levels never budged. And it never needed a water change, unlike all my other tanks. It was great, had that setup for 7-ish yrs, I think. Then came the NE blackout... lost it all after several days when the generator finally gave out. Never could bring myself to start another one. Some of the tanks still haunt me when I got into the attic. But I think that setup only worked because there were so few fish and so little waste.

I had a fair number of critters but not an overload, according to the info I read and people I talked to. It was an experience to say the least and like I said, to those that have it figured out, my hats off to them. That's a great idea having a HUGE support tank like yours...
MAYBE the fact the critters had to be transported much further to Canada than say a destination of Florida, put them at a disadvantage??....:dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow:
 
Last edited:
Tekhaus said:
Nori is that dried seaweed that's around sushi. You can find it in most supermarkets nowadays. Just be sure there's no additives or funny enough, salt. Pet food stores or aquariums also have dried seaweed. But honestly good Nori is better regulated as its a human food product. They can get away with a lot in pet foods so beware.


it's not eating anything cause were in the room :(
 
Be patient. Try pulling up a chair and a newspaper and hang out in the room reading. He might get used to you and peak out more often. :D
 
I had a 72 gallon bow front with triggers a porcupine puffer and a saddle grouper they were beautiful. I went out of town for about three days and came back and all of them died (600 dollars worth of fish). I sold it all. I still have my 55 gallon fresh water tank that I have had for 8 years with one of the original fish.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Support Us

Become A Supporting Member Today!

Click Here For Details

Back
Top