I finally got my fish tank

here are some pics of my tank(thanx NooNoo for hosting my pics)
<img src="http://ftb.dns2go.com/fishtank11.jpg" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://ftb.dns2go.com/fishtank22.jpg" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://ftb.dns2go.com/fishtank33.jpg" alt=" - " />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by snooper2:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by NooNoo:
<strong>Snooper, if you need a home for those pics, I can oblige for a while... I wanna see!</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">That would be great NooNoo just tell me where to send them.
Thanx for the site ILTU. Im not sure about the lighting but my friend said it would work, and the pumps are called the emperor 280 (2 pumps), I have 1 200 watt heater, and one of those pumps that shoot the water around the tank at the top.I still need to get some sand. Do i need a bottom filtration system or is this good enough? and what kind of fish i want to get im not sure just yet i know i want some colorful ones and maybe an eel oh and one of those porcupine fish those are cool.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In general I would say that no - it's not enough and to get an additional filter. It would just be enough for a freshwater tank. Now you will have a little bit of a problem with salt creep and fast evaporation from using those filters but hey - it beats using nothing and marineland makes excellent filters that rarely break down.

You will want some sort of biological filter (the bio wheels on the ones you have really ain't gonna cut it no matter what the manufacturer says). I'd recommend something like a fluidized bed filter or if you really want you can get an undergravel (the plates under the gravel bed) though I'd say go with anything else but the undergravel (pain in the rear with all the tubes). As for wet dry filters - well the expense is just awful. The rest of the alternatives really don't work worth a fig and I have tried them all.
<img src="http://www.thatpetplace.com/images/p380B.JPG" alt=" - " />
The fluidized bed filter percolates tank water up through a bed of sand. The sand acts as breeding ground for bacteria to live on and they eat all the fish waste for you. You will need a power head that has a variable speed to go with it (aquaclear with a sponge prefilter).

The reason I put so much emphasis on biological filters is that in a salt tank the Ph is very high. There is a correlation between ammonia (fish poop) and Ph. In low Ph ammonia is not very toxic - in high Ph it is deadly. With the bio filters you get to put in more fish and the waste gets "processed" faster.

Another alternative is to get a protein skimmer. it works by foaming up the water. In order to form a bubble in water you must have proteins and other organic matter available. As salt fish that we buy come from water that is often devoid of a lot of organic matter (mostly because there is so much life around them leaching it out of the water) it is nice to run something like this that will keep things very clean. With this device you may actually need to keep up with putting in trace elements and vitamins once in a while.

Finally - get some decent books (barrons makes some OK books - stay away from anything by tetra press) and learn a bit about the fish as many of them do not live very well together or eat special foods or have special requirements. For easy to care for fish to do your initial cycle (the 1st month of having just a couple fish) you may want damsels though they are kind of teritorial and a pain in the *** later. I cycled with a clownfish before but her got kind of bummed while it was going on.

Let me know how it goes!

That thing on the side moving surface water about is a marineland powerhead. You can get a sponge to put on the intake so it doesn't suck anybody up. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Looks like a nice place you got there snooper.

The tank looks great!

Thats one hell of a tank, Snooper!
$150, you got a bargain and a half!
How much was the stand (we love those wood stands)?

Looks awesome, and will probably be great when its full of fish! :D

thanx for the compliments guys. i just bought this house a year ago. and the stand came with the tank.

Damn snooper, the stand alone is worth prolly twice what you paid for the whole setup. I used to work in a petstore that had the salt aquariums too and the were a PITA...but gorgeous! Best of luck! Be sure to post pics when its up and running WITH fish! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by PuterGeekGirl:
<strong>Damn snooper, the stand alone is worth prolly twice what you paid for the whole setup. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Lets see, the stand would probably be $200-$250.
The cover (Yes, they're seperate) would be $100-$150.
The tank - $100-$150...

So, you got $400-$550! Nice deal! Congratz!

If you go fresh water, get some bala sharks. We had 2, when we got them they were about 1" long, when they were grown, they were 8" and 6.5"! (They're a school, so I'd say get 2 or 3)...

Good luck with it!

It also came with 2 filters, 1 heater, 1 light,and pump that shoots water around.