Anyone here keep tropical fish as a hobby?

Had cichlids years ago.

2 nano reefs now. Love them.

I did......it's a lot of maintenance. After about year 3 I stopped maintaining it and it crashed a few months later.

Only have a 30g tank with some goldfish at the moment but I have kept cichlids in the past. I dearly miss them.

I had a 55 gallon set up about 15 years ago. Leaked while I was on a skiing trip and never went back.

It's a really rewarding hobby, but I don't recommend it for people that are not patient or meticulous.

Best thing you can do for a tropical setup is spend 6 months cultivating a live rock and reef environment with no fish, then add them. Most people won't wait for that.

For the less patient and detail oriented, you can make a gorgeous fresh water setup these days with live plants and cool invertebrates.

I set up a saltwater tank about a year and a half ago. It's actually easier than you think.


I will say that it's not particularly cheap, even just to get up and running, before you put fish and critters in it.


Mine is has live rock (it's basically limestone pieces that are kept underwater and have all the little polyps and microscopic things still growing on them. This is particularly expensive.) I ordered mine online. Got 80 lbs of it and you can sort of "aquascape" as you want but be aware that there could be things in holes in the rocks that are still alive, even after shipping. One thing I read about constantly were mantis shrimp. They can split your finger open bad. I never had one though.

Second thing was the time it took for the tank to cycle. I had to have it cycle for at least a month. Maybe even five weeks. This is sort of the maddening part because you want to see stuff in the tank, animals and stuff.

Get a water kit and test follow the directions for testing the water. It's self explanatory. You just don't want a high level of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate before you add fish, otherwise it'll be all for nothing.


As far as water goes, I buy mine in boxes. All you have to do is pour it in the tank. My filter is an Eheim canister filter that works perfectly. I added little corals here and there but nothing like what you pictured.

I'm happy with just the live rock and fish. I have a few invertebrates, a cleaner shrimp for one, who is really cool. My fish swim right up to him and stop, he does the work. Like when you drive up to a gas pump. He'll even clean your hand if you hold it out to him. He also works as a part of "a cleanup crew" if one of your fish should die, he'll take care of it, thus reducing nitrite and nitrate levels.

If you choose to do this, I highly recommend some emerald crabs too. They're small little green crabs that eat bubble and other type of algae. They are crabs too, so they are also part of the "cleanup crew."

I get small fish, they all get along. I have a clownfish, a neon dotty back, 3 bangaii cardinals and three pajama cardinals a tomini tang, a blue and yellow pygmy caribbean angelfish and a couple of brittle starfish that hide for the most part. A few snails to eat the algae that will grow on the glass and a pincushion sea urchin, for the red algae.

You'll have to get a really bright light too. Mine is a fluval light, with remote for different settings. But it's all LEDs. Really bright. I have it hooked to a timer so it'll turn on even when I'm not home.

You'll find that usually you can only have one of a certain type of species in the tank. Clownfish are ok but be sure you have a pair and add them at the same time.

I read that angelfish it's supposed to be one per tank (mine is 55 gallon). Same with the dotty back, one per tank. But all my fish get along great. I feed them frozen mysis shrimp that you can get at any pet store.


Also, when your water level drops, just from evaporation, add distilled water. That way you're adding just water. No chlorine in it, no nothing. It's simply water. The salt in the tank will remain, even after evaporation so you just need to add water to get it back to your water line and your specific gravity will be where it needs to be again. (It should be around 1.021-1.024).


Sorry so long but I wanted to help you the best I could.


Good luck!

I wanted 2 moray eels.

I ended up not

Got some pics?

I'd like a tank with jellies, but never have found the time to get serious about it.

55 gallon at my office. 4 or 5 cichlids. about 12 small schooling fish--Danios and a plecostumus. Undergravel filter and a standard top side filter. People love it. tank does very well. Don't find maintenance to be a chore at all. Tank does fine with only occasional work on it.

great post, thanks for the info.

if I went salt water it would definitely be a FOWLER tank.

anyone here kept discus?