I have a question. I want to try sal****er. What can I
expect? What type of hardy animals? I heard Damsels.

I want to set up an EASY sal****er with fish and maybe
invertebrates. Can I run a setup that cleans itself like my
plant tank, so I hardly need filtering except to wash out the
sponge and add/change water every few months?

Should I forget the whole thing and just stick with plants?
Thanks for the advice.

BillT wrote:
I have a question. I want to try sal****er. What can I
expect? What type of hardy animals? I heard Damsels.

I want to set up an EASY sal****er with fish and maybe
invertebrates. Can I run a setup that cleans itself like my
plant tank, so I hardly need filtering except to wash out the
sponge and add/change water every few months?

Should I forget the whole thing and just stick with plants?
Thanks for the advice.

Like a planted tank, forget the fish and focus on the inverts. IMO, the
"set it and forget it" sal****er tank is a Berlin reef. Sort of the
equivalent of the Dutch Aquarium. Live sand, 1-2 lb/gallon live rock,
good water circulation, a big, efficient protein skimmer and bright
lighting. All evaporative top-off water should be kalkwasser, dripped
in, and you supplement the corals weekly with trace elements (strontium,
molybdenum, and iodine) much like a FW planted tank. This sort of
system can support many, many interesting corals and invertebrates and a
few fish depending on the tank size.

As per your request, there is no filter to clean. ;-) Much like the
plants in a planted tank, the live rock and sand convert ammmonia to
nitrate, but live rock and sand do one better and denitrify so you end
up with nitrogen gas. The skimmer is crucial because it strips
dissolved organics from the water before they enter the nitrogen cycle.
As long as you don't exceed the filtration capacity of your rock and
sand, the tank will stay healthy. I did 10% weekly water changes on my
tank but it was only 10 gallons so it was easy. You could probably do
less depending on fish load.

There's still a bit more work than with a planted tank.
- Near daily additions of kalkwasser, but you can hang a dripper above
the tank. Some folks use bottled calcium and RO for topoff but you
won't get as much coralline algae and have to monitor pH more carefully.
- Water changes are with salt mix that has to be made up the day before
- Protein skimmer tuning. Skimmers can be fiddly things and flood your
carpet if you don't have a nice, large sump.

Pretty much any reef and fish compatible invert does well in a Berlin
style tank. Fish good for liverock filtered tanks are small ones.
Royal grammas, clownfish, damsels, Centropyge angels, yellow tangs,
anthias, and yellow-headed jawfish all come to mind. I probably missed
a bunch. Ask about fish compatiblity because SW fish make African
cichlids seem downright friendly.

HTH. I've been thinking of a tiny fish free tank with live sand, live
rock and bright lights myself but I'd have to give up one of my precious
planted tanks to do it!

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Thanks. Looks like a lot of work; all those additives and
chemicals, and caring is something I can't do every week. I'll
enjoy my plants a bit longer til I get some time. Thank you
for your help.

Like a planted tank, forget the fish and focus on the inverts. IMO, the
"set it and forget it" sal****er tank is a Berlin reef. Sort of the
equivalent of the Dutch Aquarium. Live sand, 1-2 lb/gallon live rock,
good water circulation, a big, efficient protein skimmer and bright
lighting. All evaporative top-off water should be kalkwasser, dripped
in, and you supplement the corals weekly with trace elements (strontium,
molybdenum, and iodine) much like a FW planted tank. This sort of
system can support many, many interesting corals and invertebrates and a
few fish depending on the tank size.

As per your request, there is no filter to clean. ;-) Much like the
plants in a planted tank, the live rock and sand convert ammmonia to
nitrate, but live rock and sand do one better and denitrify so you end
up with nitrogen gas. The skimmer is crucial because it strips
dissolved organics from the water before they enter the nitrogen cycle.
As long as you don't exceed the filtration capacity of your rock and
sand, the tank will stay healthy. I did 10% weekly water changes on my
tank but it was only 10 gallons so it was easy. You could probably do
less depending on fish load.

There's still a bit more work than with a planted tank.
- Near daily additions of kalkwasser, but you can hang a dripper above
the tank. Some folks use bottled calcium and RO for topoff but you
won't get as much coralline algae and have to monitor pH more carefully.
- Water changes are with salt mix that has to be made up the day before
- Protein skimmer tuning. Skimmers can be fiddly things and flood your
carpet if you don't have a nice, large sump.

Pretty much any reef and fish compatible invert does well in a Berlin
style tank. Fish good for liverock filtered tanks are small ones.
Royal grammas, clownfish, damsels, Centropyge angels, yellow tangs,
anthias, and yellow-headed jawfish all come to mind. I probably missed
a bunch. Ask about fish compatiblity because SW fish make African
cichlids seem downright friendly.

HTH. I've been thinking of a tiny fish free tank with live sand, live
rock and bright lights myself but I'd have to give up one of my precious
planted tanks to do it!