Hi guys,

I have a saltwater aquarium (4ft) that was given to me as a present about six months ago. I have a basic rock formation which is rather dull. It looks very much like dead sea rock if that is the proper term.

I was toying with the idea of having coral put in but what is the proper way of going about it? Surely its not as simple as dropping them into the tank?

Currently I have only fishes but I would consider adding a shrimp or two but what do they feed on? How will I know they will take to the aquarium?

I'm fairly new to all this but I have tried to make sure the aquarium is maintained properly. A guy comes over to clean the tank and change the salt water as well. Would there be more to do in the event I added live corals to the tank?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Sorry, made mistake on size is actually 3ft.

Will post pics later

I'm thinking of moving into corals having had my tank for a over a year but I was wondering about the daily/weekly/monthly maintenance if I do go down that road both in terms of what needs to be done and how much it would roughly cost. At the moment, the tank costs me about RM200+ a month in maintenance whereby I have someone come and do my water changes, cleaning and even bringing fish food when mine is about to run out. The fish are fed using an auto feeder and the lights are on a timer however the pump is one of those that continue to run if there is a blackout. I don't have a chiller but there is an aircond directly above it blowing downwards with another aircond about 6 feet away but facing my dressing room. Both run 24 hours a day but only when I'm at this house.

Given the fact that I split my time between several houses, I suppose a chiller is necessary for corals and I think I need different lights as well. However, what do you guys do if there is a power outage? I don't have a generator at this house so how do people with corals address this problem?

As for maintenance, the tank is cleaned daily and the fish are constantly monitored by the maids however if I were to add corals, would I need the maintenance guys to come more frequently? At the moment they come every 3 weeks or so unless the maids notice changes in the tank so I'm not worried about them having to monitor pH levels etc. They've proven quite competent so far as they also look after my Koi downstairs and liase with the other company that maintains the pond. Anyways, would the costs of maintaining the tank be more than RM500 a month? I don't want to spend too much on something that isn't really my hobby. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy looking at the tank but it could look better I guess.

I'm getting rid of my 3' tank as I don't see the need to keep one anymore since anytime I feel like enjoying SW fishes I'll just head down to Melaka's Sea World and make myself at home LOL.

So looking for someone to take my tank off my hands; offers welcome and I can deliver to your house but Klang Valley only lah.

You can see the tank several posts up. You get the whole setup with pump, filter, cabinet, etc. The fishes have found new homes but you can have the live rock, auto feeder, the Aquatic magnetic algae cleaner - just basics to get you up and running.

Have you guys ever had to leave your tanks for a few days? Say balik kampung etc? Lights, food all can be automated.

But if blackout how?