ceylons - do they need full marine as adults?

[indie]

i have a question,
ive been hoping to keep 2 ceylons in an 80 gallon tank,
but im wondering, can they live happily in high end brackish, or will they need to be taken to full marine?

[RachelS]

They can end up in high end brackish yes. You do need hell of a lot of salt that's for sure. I'm holding my 3.5 / 4 " ceylon at 1.013 for a while now - doesn't need it any higher ATM and need to save on the salt. Obviously if you decided at full size to try some live rock, coral etc then it'd need to be hiked up to marine but then with a skimmer, water changes would be reduced and hence, less salt.


As a rough guide, in my 50 UK / 60 US gallon cube, I'm adding 2 heaped cappuccino large cups full of salt each week to 60L of water to keep it at 1.013. I go through a 8kg bag every 6 weeks or so at £20 a bag

[Pufferpunk]

The reason we suggest marine for Ceylons & GSPs, is because you can change over the filtration methods to live rock & a skimmer. Otherwise, large weekly water changes are necessary.

[indie]

ah ok. so it actually ends up cheaper setting up marine cos of salt and water changes.

but then u need a skimmer and a sump right?

[Pufferpunk]

Skimmer--highly recommended. Sump--good idea but not totally necessary. I will tell you though, I had problems keeping the nitrates in my reef tank <20, until I added a sump/fuge. Now, they're almost undetectable.

[Phaedrus]

Higher upfront cost, but less money spent long term on salt. Plus you get the benefit of much better filtration and water quality. Definitely the preferred way to go if you can manage it.

[JustinPSmith]

I would totally agree. More in the beginning but much less over time. And easier IMO! Just because if your bio load is kept down, you can do less water changes and with a good skimmer, your water quality will still be good. Just make sure you dont go too cheap on a skimmer or it will defeat the purpose. You get what you pay for!