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(mander.xyz)
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
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Since there's no community in lemmy, I have some questions. Do you have a freshwater or saltwater tank? Would you recommend it? How much maintenance or upkeep do you do?
Those my friend are some loaded questions! :)
But I’m happy to answer. In my opinion there are three types of tanks. Freshwater, saltwater with just fish (often called FOWLR - fish only with live rock), and a reef tank (has corals).
My tank is a reef tank. Freshwater and fish only saltwater tanks are cake. Mixing saltwater being the main difference. Corals add probably 2 or three orders of magnitude in challenge, knowledge, required maintenance, and money. Some corals are pretty forgiving and easy to keep, others are downright difficult.
My tank is a small one - 20G. Small tanks are less $, but in my opinion they are extremely hard. Everything about keeping corals is about stability - fish tolerate wide ranges of water parameters, but some corals die overnight if the temp rises a degree, or salinity moves just a bit, etc. Nanos are hard because of the small water volume, one drop of something in my tank moves the needle - one drop in a 200G tank is undetectable. On the plus side, I can “fix” a problem with a large water change (I can mix 20G of water, I can’t mix 400G).
I spend about one half hour per week doing water changes, scrubbing, and doing maintenance. I’ve gotten good at it, when I first started I probably spent 5ish hours a week. It’s worth noting I’ve spent considerable effort building mixing stations and creating a system to do maintenance quickly.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely-as long as you have a few things:
I’ve always wanted a reef tank. I could watch it all day long everyday. Long ago, I realized the $ and commitment required, and backed off because I wasn’t ready. As I got older with more disposable cash, I took the plunge and I’m super happy I did. But it’s been the hardest hobby I’ve ever tried to be successful at and at times it’s been heartbreaking. But I think I’ve figured it all out at this point, and I’d encourage anyone who has the fascination for these animals to take the plunge-it’s worth it if you enjoy these creatures.
Thanks so much!