Want to start saltwater tank soon...

[MHarris9252]

Hi everyone, I've been into aquarium for only about a year or so and currently have three tanks. 75 gal., 55 gal. and a 29 gal. They are all freshwater right now but I am thinking of converting the 55 gal to saltwater.
I had a few questions and concerns that i was hoping someone could help me with.

1. Overall, how much more difficult is it to maintain a saltwater tank?

2. Do i need a hydrometer, powerhead and protein skimmer?

3. Would a normal tank heater do, or do i need to invest in a high dollar one?

4. Is a 55 gal tank sufficient size for saltwater tank?

Any general advice before i get started?

Thanks a lot!!

[bichirboy]

1. It is alot of work to get setup and running, but once you get things on track, not really any harder than FW, just different.

2. Yes. You need all three. You need to hydrometer to check salinity, the powerhead(s) to create current in the tank the skimmer to remove protiens and waste. SW tanks require alot of water movement. If you end up trying corals, you will need in the neighborhood of 20 times turnover rate.

3. Yes, you can use the same heater as you would in a FW tank, which should be of decent quality as well.

4. Yeah, failry common size. You should have a tank as big as you can afford as it will minimize and mistakes you make.

You will need atleast one pound of LR per gallon and ALOT of light is you go corals. You should also use sand instead of crushed coral. Do TONS of research before setting anything up. If you start your tank before knowing what you are doing, you are in for a VERY expensive mistake. Also, a great investment would be a RO/DI system for filling the tank and water changes. It will go along way in helping prevent algea. A great site to learn about SW tanks is EDIT by TOS: oh no it's not! Don't send him to THAT place. That place is a menace to the entire hobby. Oh sure, a few of them know a thing or two, but good luck getting any of it out of them without a flamewar breaking out in the process, or worse, having accurate info go unmentioned because of the bullying from the loudmouths who give bad advice. What a bunch of jerks. ( and I should know, since I used to be one of their moderators )

[TheOldSalt]

1- The differences between freshwater & saltwater are about the same as between softball & baseball; they're essentially the same with only a few tiny rules changes. In some ways saltwater is even easier than freshwater.

2- Yes, you'll need a hydrometer, but luckily it's cheap. powerheads are optional, ans so are skimmers, although skimmers sure do make your life easier.

3- Any heater which is listed as either fully-submersible or otherwise saltwater-safe will do fine. These do tend to cost a bit more, but not really all that much more, and they're better units anyway.

4- A 55 is a great size for a saltwater tank. Bigger is always better, of course, but for your first attempt 55 gallons is a good choice.

General advice?
Read at least 3 books on the subject before setting up your tank. After that you should have a good understanding of what to do, and more importantly, why to do it. The questions you've asked here demonstrate that You have a pretty good idea about a lot of things already, so after just a little reading you'll be able to ask even better questions and understand the answers.

There is no cardinal rule about saltwater, but if there was one, it would possibly be this:
no cutting corners!
The saltwater aquarium provides much less room for error & sloppiness than a freshwater one. Many beginning hobbyists try to save money by cutting corners on various things related to saltwater aquaria, and they pay dearly for it in dead animals. Do not make this mistake. Do things right the first time even if it means you have to wait a bit longer to get started.

The next best advice I can offer is that you listen to & heed good advice given to you. That may sound a bit odd, but all the time I see people rush to set up a saltwater tank because they just have to have some particular species in their home. Unfortunately that desired species is very often one of those which beginners, and often veterans as well, should never try to keep. I've seen it time & time again; somebody just HAS to have an anemone & some clownfish, or just can't live without some seahorses or mandarins or an Emperor Angelfish or whatever, and they just won't listen to the warnings against trying them, ignoring all advice until they come crying & begging for help with the problems they could have avoided if they had just listened in the first place. I usually ignore such pleas for help; if they didn't heed my advice before, they don't deserve it later; maybe they'll listen next time.

Oh, one more really big thing-- you'll need TWO tanks, not just one. The second one shall be a quarantine tank. Ignore this at your fishes' peril. The Q-tank can be as simple as a plastic Sterilite tub with a little filter hanging on the side.
ALL marine fish are completely infested with numerous nasties which will kill all your fish if you let them into your tank. Your job will be to keep those parasites & pathogens out of your main tank at all costs. It's not as hard as you may think, and certainly a lot easier than trying to fix the problems that arise from skipping this step.

[leveldrummer]

i havent looked into a q. tank yet tos. what size of a tub would you recomend for small fish? would just a hang on filter airate and circulate enough to be ok? no substrate, no lights, just fish and saltwater is ok? (and a heater i assume?)

[AshleytheGreat]

IS this in the wrong section?

[bichirboy]

Originally Posted by leveldrummer i havent looked into a q. tank yet tos. what size of a tub would you recomend for small fish? would just a hang on filter airate and circulate enough to be ok? no substrate, no lights, just fish and saltwater is ok? (and a heater i assume?)

Depending on the size and number of fish being quarintined, something in the 20 gallon size range should work. I simple HOB filter should work fine and maybe a small powerhead depending on the size of the tub. Of course oa heater and simple shop/strip light and it wouldn't hurt to have some LR and/or LS in there too. It will help with bio-filtration and also help with reducing the stress of the fish which is the cause of alot of fish illnesses.

[bichirboy]

Originally Posted by bichirboy EDIT by TOS: oh no it's not! Don't send him to THAT place. That place is a menace to the entire hobby. Oh sure, a few of them know a thing or two, but good luck getting any of it out of them without a flamewar breaking out in the process, or worse, having accurate info go unmentioned because of the bullying from the loudmouths who give bad advice. What a bunch of jerks. ( and I should know, since I used to be one of their moderators )

Sorry OS about the bad plug. I used to post there and never had any problems or otherwise I wouldn't have recommended the site. It has been sometime since I have been there so maybe it has gone downhill, and of course if you used to be a mod, you would know best.

[MHarris9252]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will be sure and heed it. I'm really looking forward to getting into the S/W picture, any good fish combos I should go for?

[flamingo]

WEll im not really good on recommending fish for people but usually firefish, clownfish (most), jawfish (most), flamefish, pseudochromis, and similar fish are good starters.

Don't personally know what you look for in a fish and if you want a bunch of little fish or bigger ones so not much help there.

If you are just starting out you may not want to go straight into corals and similar things.

Also saltwater is harder to start up and definitely costly but after a while it's quite simple (in most set-ups) to maintain. My freshwater tanks need more work than my saltwater tank, suprising to me but it's true.
In saltwater I see disease and picking on a lot less, there aren't a lot of problems unless you start one up wrong and don't know what your doing.

Any other ?'s

[bichirboy]

Bad thing about SW tanks is you can't have too many fish in your tank. It is very easy to overstock. Also, many of the cooler fish are very aggressive or get very large. You need to do you research before getting your fish. I also liked clowns and Gobys are cool too. You can also get different crabs and shrimp and once you get your tank established you can get some really nice corals.

[MHarris9252]

What is LR, bicherboy said I would need one lb. of LR per gallon in my SW tank. Is this true and if so, what is LR and how is it started up and maintained? I may be getting in a little too deep seeing as though I haven't even filled the tank yet but I'm in the "research" phase and am thirsting for knowledge. Any replies as well as the ones already posted are very much appreciated. Thanks, have a good one!!

[bichirboy]

LR is live rock. Basicly it is chunks of dead coral that is harvested from the ocean. It is very pourous and is used for bio-filtration because it is filled with bacteria as well as hosting various other life. If you buy your rock from a good retailer, you will often get lots of little critters in with your rock that will enhance and help your tank. Bad is that it is pretty much a must have and it ranges in price from $4 to $10 per pound or more. I can give you a GREAT place to buy from if interested and in fact I have 75 pounds that I no longer need. You can also go half and half live rock/base rock. Base rock is either old live that is no longer living or it is rock that has never been live, such as Texas Holey rock or lava rock. You can use the live rock to seed the base rock and in time the base rock will become live. Good way to save $$$.

[leveldrummer]

you can do a fish only tank, but im in the same boat as you, im switching a tank over to salt water, ive been doing research for about 5 months, still havnt filled the tank, a fish only tank is do-able. but the live rock will make it so much easier and much more stable, look into it, it seems very worth it to me.

[bichirboy]

Here is a great example of base rock. You would get a bunch of this and put in your tank then put the live rock on top and the live rock will seed the base rock. Just like seeding filter media only your using rock.

Base Rock

[TheOldSalt]

A plain tub of 12-20 gallons is cheaply had at Walmart, and yes, a single little HOB filter is plenty for it.
NO Live rock or live sand in the Quarantine tank. it only gets in the way and doesn't survive the cleansing process. It's a complete waste, and besides, you'll have to make a bunch of water changes in quarantine anyway between phases of treatment, so biofiltration isn't all that important.

In the show tank, liverock & livesand are very handy. If you only want fish, they aren't needed, ( although very useful ) but if you want a reef tank full of interesting invertebrates, you will need it. It's not cheap, either.

I live about an hour from Eglin, by the way. In Niceville you can go to "Aquariums & More" & in Fort Walton you can go to "Fish Biz" which is near the mall on Mary Esther Cutoff. These are your only real saltwater options locally, and I'd recommend Fish Biz. Larry has been in business since he was a little kid and his dad ran the place, and he's one of the very tiny handful of people in this whole 100-mile radius area who has a clue.
I wouldn't buy my live rock from either one, though. Instead, I'd use either www.floridaliverock.com or www.tampabaysaltwater.com. Either one can get you fresh rock from the gulf which needs no curing and which has a LOT more bang for your buck. ( and NO blasted planarians ) Just browse those sites and see what live rock is really supposed to look like, an then compare it to the stuff in most stores to see the difference.

If you really want to be successful on your first try, then use the foolproof ecosystem filtration method. www.ecosystemaquarium.com is the place to go for details on it. The results you get with that system are vastly superior than with any other method.

Yes, Ashlee, this IS in the wrong place. I decided to leave it here to get the topic some exposure to folks who might otherwise not venture into the saltwater section, figuring we'd be covering a lot of the kinds of questions the casual reader might find of interest.