17-Year-Old Water

[mikenegue]

I'm a newbie, so I don't know very much about salt-water tanks. But my trip to the lfs was a bit shocking.

I just visited a small local fish store, and the owner who had done business in the same spot for over 20 years tells me that his water is 17 years old. He occassionally tops of the aquariums when evaporation drops the water levels, but he hasn't done any water changes in that 17 year span. Is this possible? (By the way, most of his tanks either have no filtration system or the filters are about 17-years-old and are crusted over.)

He also showed me a small one gallon tank with a "Nemo" swimming happily inside. Below the micro-tank, there was a piece of masking tape with a date inked on it: 9/17/03. Sand, water, an air pump, and this little clownfish in a one gallon tank -- Can this work for me too?

Finally, he informs me that the industry has duped its unwary customers into believing that all these high-tech devices are necessary for a healthy salt tank. He tells me to buy a simple setup with nothing more than a tank, an air pump, some regular sand, a few cleaner crabs and shrimp, and possibly a macro-algae to take care of the Nitrates. After cycling for 6 weeks, he says to add some fish. That's all. What do you think? Have we all been duped?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mike, welcome to reefs.org.

High tech is NOT necessary, so the old coot can't be argued with on that point (I got my first job with an old coot).

He may not have done purposeful water changes, but if he sells fish outta that system at any appreciable number (and one would have to assume that he does to stay in business) then he's doing "water changes by proxy". That is to say that he's got to use water to bag the fish, and he can't just be using freshwater to replace that or he'd end up with a freshwater salt system in rather short order, right? Your most telling sign, however, is your own eye. Visit more stores, check the animals in his tanks online - see what a prime specimen really looks like.

As for the nano, that's going to be VERY hard for a newbie. The clown will be fine for a short period of time, but it will grown, and will soon outgrow a 1 gallon tank. If he had animals that don't grow that large in it I'd be more inclined to say that it could work, but honestly, the smaller the system, the more prone to catastrophic failure it's going to be.

As for his advice, he has GREATLY simplified what he's telling you (or he doesn't fully understand the processes), but it is possible to set up such a simple system. However, in my opinion the most difficult aspect of doing so is going to be acquiring the knowledge to set it up and keep it going than anything else.

No, I have not been duped, and many of us can explain to you more fully what needs to go on in there. I strongly suggest you go to our library ( http://www.reefs.org/library ) and look up our suggested reading - beginners. Books are going to be your bestest friend in this endeavor.

 

[taikonaut]

I agree with Ms. Orange, FWIW. I also go without water change for years, but I will never making such suggestion to newbies. The fact that the LFS is suggesting you get an air pump for a saltwater tank already says a bit about his/her knowledge. Think about it... air bubble will make lots of salt deposit on the top of the tank, and unless you carefully wash it back down into the tank, it is going to decrease the amount of salt in your water if you only top off with water.

Another thing that I noticed is that he advocate against hi-tech gadget. I feel that the LFS is in LA area? Well, unless he use RO/DI filter for the LA water for top offs, I don't think he can have anything better than a Dead Sea tank after 17 years without water change.

 

[ricky1414]

what's the name of the fish store where the owner doesn't do water changes. I can also point out some lfs in the LA area that will not rip you off.