u/saltwaterfish_com

Rimless aquariums have become popular over the last decade or so but I prefer a lidded tank. I know there are options where you can keep a screen or egg crate over the top to prevent jumpers from a sealed fate, but there are other negatives as well.

I'm curious what your preference is and why? I'm not sure someone could sell me on a rimless tank.

I've talked to quite a few people who have a "nano" aquarium. I'm not sure exactly what the specs are for that, but generally speaking, it means a small aquarium.

In my opinion, it is harder to keep a small aquarium because of the difficulty in maintaining consistent water quality.

I know with all of the modern day equipment, anything is possible and I've seen and heard of 1.5 gallon aquariums...but...what is the goal when having a tank that small?

My smallest is a 28 gallon and I don't think I want to deal with anything smaller. What are your thoughts?

Did all aquarists grow up wanting to train dolphins and become a marine biologist?

So....we all enjoy a nice aquarium or two or three, but what did you end up doing career wise?

I will go first. I wanted to be a marine biologist, OR a veterinarian. I'm a customer service director for arguably the top aquarium fish provider in the US. I've been working for saltwaterfish.com for 15 years.

I've had aquariums since I was a kid. I remember waking up one time to an empty tank with a fish flopping around. We had a modest 2 story house and my bedroom was upstairs...I'm sure you can see where this story is headed........Well my sister had the bedroom below mine and you guessed correctly, the water from my cracked aquarium went through the ceiling and the rest is history.

So here's my question. Have you ever had an aquarium leak or is this a fairly unrealistic fear to have?

What do you do when tank mates instantly become enemies? I have two butterflyfish that were fine yesterday but are clearly distressed today and both have bite marks and to make matters worse, neither would eat their normal diet.

My Serpent Starfish hover about an inch above the rock the live in. They are all adult size and have nice healthy bodies with great appetites but why do they hover like that?

I'm just curious if my methods are outdated. I've used Instant Ocean salt since the dawn of time. My aquariums function under the assumption that I'm using the best available. What do you use and why? Thanks!

Many years ago I had a pair of Lyretail Anthias that did great. The only negative was having to feed them frozen Mysis Shrimp 2-3 x a day. It isn't like that's a problem until you need to go out of town/vacation, etc. Anyways, they did very well and it was decades ago, so I can't remember what ever happened to them long term.

So here's my thought/question. Has anyone kept a school of them (5+) successfully for a year+? If so, which kind, and how did you make it work? Diet? Tank size?

I'm considering setting up a 4th aquarium. Yes, I may have a problem...hence the title. I have 2 reef tanks and a fresh water tank. So here's the problem. I like fish that you can generally only keep one of. But I'm also considering setting up this 4th tank to be species specific and to attempt to keep a school of fish. Any suggestions or advice? It's a 120 gallon.

In my experience I'd say the easiest fish to keep are clownfish, damsels, and some gobies. Having said that, it's all relative to tank size, whether the tank is brand new or established, and tank mates. All of these "metrics" can go very wrong or very right quickly. When I started reefing ages ago, I had a great mentor and I asked thousands of questions. Everyone says start a tank with damsels. Well yes, they are easy to keep generally speaking, but they are also inexpensive, so if you have losses, it doesn't hurt as much as say a $100 tang. In those new set ups or learning stages, the clownfish were very forgiving and so were other fish like Shrimpgobies, or even Pajama Cardinals. I think the reason they all do so well is because they will adapt to most environments but also because they accept basic common fish foods like flakes and pellets. What was your first fish and was it easy to keep?

Tangs are notorious for being bullies to new additions. That's why we always say "add the tang last" or if you want more than one, "add 3 all at the same time". Fast forward to today, well yesterday actually....I added some new fish to my tank that has several many fish already but the dominant fish is a big bully Powder Blue Tang... I got it when it was the size of a quarter thinking ah well I will be lucky if it lives. They are well known for ich and just being high maintenance in general. Well this guy is anything but (and he's a good 4" at this point)! So I got some fish delivered yesterday and did my acclimation. 2 enormous Latticed Butterflies, a Heniochus Butterfly, and a Copperband Butterfly. Well as expected, the Powder Blue Tang went at it bullying them all. But my goal (which worked) was to add multiple fish to break up the animosity and spread the hate around a little bit vs adding one fish and sentencing it to immediate death. Anyhow that became a long short story lol. Happy Friday! TGIF!! Do you have a bully fish (that you secretly love)????

Do you think Clownfish are still the most popular fish? Ever since Finding Nemo came out (2003!), clownfish topped the charts for the most sought after fish. I wonder if that remains true or if something else has taken over. I know when I'm talking to our customers they still frequently reference the movie or want a "Dory" fish. I will say that clownfish are one of the most adaptable fish out there, so thankfully they are the popular ones instead of the Moorish Idol lol. Clownfish still number 1?

I'm curious what everyone's maintenance looks like. Do you have all of the gadgets and gizmos, top of the line equipment, monitors with alarms and all that, or are you a minimalist like me? I've been doing this for so long now I can look at the tank and know what it needs. I don't mean that like my way is the best way (because technically it is not) but it works for me. The lazy version. What is your method of madness?

Do you belong to any "fish groups?" Group buys? Monthly meetings? Is that a thing anymore? Do you have "fish" friends you met along the way and still stay in contact?

It seems that in the reef aquarium hobby, the majority of the customers I talk to despise Xenia as a nuisance. Same can be said about Green Star Polyp. What are your thoughts? I personally love it as long as it doesn't take over the tank of course. It makes a great back wall scape.

In your experience what is the best species of hermit crab that will rid a tank of a variety of algae?