I just saw this thread and it is awesome. I think once I learned about it, alot of reading on water conditions and the ammonia/nitrate cycle - saltwater was actually easier to maintain than freshwater. I have lost more fish in a marine tank than fresh, but once the water and bio-filters (including your substrate and live rock) stabalize - it pretty much takes care of itself (of course, you need to monitor and make adjustments, and do some partial water changes). The main thing is to spned some time setting up your tank to let the water stabalize. I once set up a reef tank and spent over six months just letting the water stabalize before adding any corals or "real" fish. I did keep a few damsels in there to keep the nitrate cycle going, so the rocks and sand and all that would continue to grow bacteria that would eat the nitrates.Originally Posted by fisheater
Losing power can wipe out a tank. I lost a great deal of valuable fish in my fish only tank. I had a cat, that I guess stepped on the power strip shutting it off while I was out of town for a few days. I guess it overheated. My lights were plugged into an outlet directly with a timer. They kept cycling on and off - however, my filters were not running, and my fans I built on my hood to help cool all the lights were not running either. I lost a puffer, an austrailian harlequin tusk (my favorite), a few tangs, a full clown trigger, an adult queen angle, and a few other small fish - it really added up. I sold my 180 gal. and filter after that. The only thing that lived was my zebra morray - I guess they are tougher.
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