Salt Water Tank

[Jay_Bunny]

I have always been fascinated by those beautiful saltwater tanks you see in petstores and in the movies. I know that eventually, I want one of my own. I know they are hard with the upkeep but I do want one.

So for those of you that have one (or several) show me what you have, about how much it costs a month in upkeep, and if you have any helpful links, please post them as well.

I'll have more questions and I'll be doing some research tonight, but for now I'm late getting ready for work.

[jknudson]

I don't currently have a salt tank set up. I was running three at one time. Quarantine tank, 12 Gallon Nano tank, 75 Mixed Reef tank.

www.reefcentral.com
www.reefsanctuary.com
www.nano-reef.com
www.reefs.org

That should cover you for all your research needs... BUT there are also incredible books out there, and I would recommend picking one up to learn "the basics".

Hope this helps!

Jason

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the links. I'll definatly check them out. I've heard that small tanks are harder to maintain than larger ones. If I were to get a tank, the largest I think we could manage to fit in our apartment would be a 30-40g, so not much to work with there.

Mostly I want to see something start off simple and grow to be very beautiful. There is a salt water store right down the road from me so I'll be checking them out. I've been in there once, but only to look. I saw rocks with very small little corals on them. Do those grow up to be the colorful ones I see in the large tanks?

[jeffjr464]

i was taling to a very experienced saltwater keeper the other day, i was asking him about getting into salt, he says to start off right and avoid alot of problems your gonna have to spend 2,000 to start, ouch!! but i still wanna do it, it's like anything else learn before you attempt it

[Jay_Bunny]

I'm doing a lot of research before I get into salt. I joined a fish forum and am getting tons of info. I have a salt water store nearby that I can go to with questions and ideas. I'm currently saving up for the tank. A 34g with filter equipment (no other equipment or lighting included) and that alone is $350.

[cpx_20o5]

I want a saltwater aquarium too, right now i have 1 coldwater community aquarium with 1 fantail, 1 shubunkin and 4 zebra danios.
Eventually i will up myself to Tropical Freshwater, such as Siamese fighters, gouramis, chilids and what not.
And then i will go ULTIMATE! saltwater.
Theyre hard upkeeping, and you need everything perfect!
However, i hear clownfish are relatively simple to keep.
Also, you can go mega basic and work your way up!
you can start an anemone aquarium, then add fish that are compatible with anemone's.
Or a living rock aquarium.
Then once you've got that going, you can move onto keeping the actual saltwater fish!

[Ginevive]

My friend has several saltwater tanks. They do take a lot of time and commitment in my experience through her, but once her tanks were set up, they were relatively easy to care for. I love looking in and seeing all of the little crabs, blennies, and weird creatures! I do know that she had problems with parasites that would tag along from when she bought live rock.

[Halfdawg]

Jay
I had a 75, 55, and 29 gallon setup at one time and like Jen Said once they are setup they are not that hard. You just need to do a 25 % water change once a week and vacuum 1/3 of the gravel. I had 2 of mine set up with wet/dry filter systems. The 29 had a fluval and did fine. You just have to keep your temps constant and watch you’re saliently level as water evaporates you need to add some to keep your salt level in check. Also find you a local fish guy that knows what he is talking about. As you do your research and learn, you will be able to tell who does not know what they are talking about. Now if you want corals and live rock you are going to need actinic lights and maybe a uv filter. But overall I had fun when I did it.
If I get back into fish I am going with Tropheus from Lake Tanganyika

[new-be-do-be-do]

Here are my tanks...
34 gal cube, metal halide 150watt, skimmer and closed loop

72gal bow, T-5 lighting, skimmer and sump

[slither9192]

It can cost 2k to start but deffinately doesn't need to.

The biggest turn off to most unexperienced slatwater keepers are algae outbrakes. Make sure you let the tank cycle before you add any fish or inverts. Things that help you get started....
Deffinately get live rock and live sand
DO NOT USE TAP WATER! use RO or DI or RODI water. (you can buy a RODI unit or buy distilled water)
Let the tank cycle for at least 2 months gradually increasing lighting.
Snails and hermit crabs are great just make sure you have extra shells in the tank for the hermit crabs or they will kill the snails for shells.
A protein skimmer isnt a must but I feel it helps alot.
A good size tank to start wold be 30-50gallons.
Think about what fish and inverts you want to put in the tank beforehand to make sure they are compatable.
I made the mistake of getting 2 black striped damsels that are extremely aggresive and have killed lots of fish (and I cannot take them out because they are in a 120g tank which would be impossible without taking all the rock out to get the fish). RESEARCH FISH AND INVERTS BEFORE BUYING.
A fantastic book is Marine Fishes by Scott W. Michael.
A sump and refugium will cost more but will only help the overall health of the tank.
Think about wether you want to keep just fish or also corals.
if you choose to also keep corals/anemones you will need to think about good lighting.
Do at least 25% water changes every month. 15%-25% every week or other week is best.
I will probably think of some other stuff later but if you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Heres a picture of my nano cube (12g). I only have one fish in this tank. I don't recommend a small tank (under 20g) to start even if it is cheaper, it is much harder to maintain.