I have looked throgh here and I just have to throw my 2 cents into the mix. Part of the reason that I have a saltwater tank. For a while I had wanted a tank but it wasn't until my wife and I and our 3yr old started watching tanked that my wife saw the beauty in the tank. I did my research and didn't just go for what I saw on the entertaining TV, and so far I think I have had a successful experience with saltwater tank keeping (except for my own stupidity, which looking back I should have known better).
I will share a Tanked! story of my own. As stated prior, my family are avid watchers of the show. Not too long after I started the cycle my wife said that I had to watch this episode that they had watched earlier. It was a community tank that had a dog-faced puffer. I was still new to the world of salt so I checked on live aquaria and saw it was semi-agressive...and immedialy jumped the gun and thought like lionfish agressive. After some persuasion from my wife I sent them an email about it as well as my question about cycling...and I got a REPLY (actually 2 of them).
The reply was specific, drawn out, and customized not a canned responce. Seemed genuine, and like they truly cared about my question. Here is what I sent and what they sent back.
Here is what I sent:
Gentleman,
I am not sure who to direct this question to, so that is why I have sent it to multiple people. My 3yr old and I LOVE watching the show and being able to share our love of fish together. Other then in college I cannot remember a time in my 33yrs that I have been without a fish tank in my house, heck my sons first word was fish...ya, did not make mom happy at all. What your show has done for the aquarum world has been invaluable, no longer are fish tanks considered not cool. My love for the lionfishm runs about as deel as Waydes love of the octopus, sadly I cannot get my sone to join this love...he is more interested in the sharks and the bright fish like the chromis. Combined, our love of fish and your show has inspired me to venture into the world of saltwater and out together a tank for him for Christmas. This is not a move I have taken lightly, I have spent countless hours reading books and articles as well as being a member of multiple saltwater/reef community boards on the internet. I have 2 questions when it comes to the tanks on your show, one is specific and one is general.
On the show that aired last week, the realitors community tank, one of the fish that you put into the tank is the dogfaced puffer. Can you please explain to me how this fish goes along with a community tank? From what I have found on puffers (a fish I LOVE too) they are not what I would have thought of as a community fish. In checking liveaquaria it shows it as a semi-agressive carnivore. Am I missing something here when it comes to this fish, or is it all about the introduction to the tank??
My other question is general. On the show it looks like you show up with the tank, put the sand and coral insert in, fill with the natural sea water, and then put the fish in. Is this process done throigh the magic of tv or do your tanks not cycle? I am guessing that since you are using the livesand with the premixed salt water that there would not be a salinity issue and since you are using a coral insert and not live rock there is no ammonia or nitrogen issues....thus solving the problem of the home aquarist.
If I have sent this to the wrong person please accept my apologies. Thank you for your time and we LOVE the show.
From Jacque King (ATM Retail Manger)
"Exceptions to all rules but the general thought is that dogface puffers eventhough they are carnivore they will no bother fish that are round in shape and are not small. Anything it can fit into its mouth it probably will. Secondly what you see in 45 minutes really takes us around 150 hours of filming so you do miss the cycle process on the show for the most part. You still have to cycle the aquarium and depending on how you want to cycle it will take from 2 weeks to 6 months. Please feel free to contact me with anything that I may not have answered for you and with any other questions as well. Have a wonderful thanksgiving and thanks for watching the show"
Other anwer came from a guy named Nick, no idea who his title is. In the email chain you can see where Brett forwarded my email to him.
"The answer to your first question is a fuzzy answer but it should shed some light on the subject for you. Puffers can be agressive yes, especially when they get to a large size, if they are under 10" long then they are normally ok but occassionally you get an agressive one. I personally recomend a porcupine puffer for most community tanks as they are less agressive and will tend to leave other fish alone. Again this is only opinion and you will have the occassional one that will kill and eat everything. Get one that has been in a store for a couple of weeks and has been eating well.
Your second question is a little easier to answer. A lot of the setup is "movie magic" but it is done rather quickly, we install the aquarium and use the live sand ect... We also add a concentrated bacteria that cycles the tank almost instantanously. After the fish have been added and all of the filming is complete we have maintenance check the tank daily for 2 weeks after install to ensure the water is stable and the fish are healthy. This is not the ideal way to setup a tank but it is what we have to do for he show. Patience is always best when it comes to building a miniture enviroment in your home.
I hope this answers your questions but if not please feel free to contact me and I will help you the best I can. Have a great thanksgiving."
