what do I need to start a salt water fish tank and how much would it cost. to strat.?

Answer 1

Congratulations! At least you are starting on the right foot. Figuring out what you will need to get started. First and I would like to stress this one word, PATIENCE.

First step for your tank is figuring out where you are going to put it. Remember with a salt water tank, you are going to have to leave room behind the tank for access, filters etc. About 8-12 inches. (This will also help to protect walls from salt evaporation. I'll explain later) Once you have that, we are ready to start.

Do you have a local fish store to trust? One that relies on good fish keeping and good advice to stay in business. Find one even if you have to drive a few miles out of your way. They can be a large asset when it comes to fish.

Do you have any ideas on what you might want to keep? Or is this a "we'll start with a blank canvas and see where it goes?" thing?

To start, a regular hood, no special lights will suffice for now. (until you see if this is what you really want to advance to)

To start, you do not NEED a skimmer. They are prefered but, my 30 gallon has never had a skimmer or power heads and still doesn't. I hate to use the word cheap, just less expensive. And you can still have a healthy tank.

A rear whisper filter designed for a 75 gallon tank will suffice for now. This will run around $50 at walmart of all places. Your best bet is to shop around. You can if you choose to go with a back pack filter which come preequiped with a protein skimmer for around $150.00. This could save time and money later when upgrading.

For a beginner, I would suggest dolomite (Crushed coral) for the bottom of your tank (Easier to care for). If you are not going to be runninga protein skimmer, this will make cleaning much easier. You will also want to get a gravel siphon for cleaning (these can range from a couple of bucks to upwards of $50. You don't need anything fancy, just a siphon). A heater is a must $10-15), thermometer $1.95 In the tank only a floater of one that attaches doesn't matter. It should be placed the farthest from your heater as possible.) A hydrometer These can run from a few dollars and up. Just a floating hydrometer is fine. around $4.00. Some packages of salt you will purchase sometimes come with a hydrometer, so this may help. Instant Ocean makes a quality synthetic salt. ($22.00). (When you start moving up in the salt water I would suggest switching to Red Sea Salt.) Power heads are beneficial, but at this point not necessary. They can be added on at any time. Get a quality Dechlorinator. (DO NOT USE start right or stress coat in your marine tank) AquaNova + is a good dechlor and it also adds back trace minerals to the water. One or two 5 gallon buckets. $2.29 each at home depot.

Ok I think we are ready to start. Be sure your tank is clean. You can use a salt water mix to clean your tank. There is also an aquarium cleaner you can buy but for your tank, a mix of 1/2 cup of salt dissolved in a gallon of water will do. (no specifics here.) Clean the tank rinse and let's get started.

If you chose to use the dolomite you do not want to use more than will cover 1 1/2 - 2 inches across the bottom. (Sand will require the same) Use a kitchen sive and clean the gravel by rinsing it. Dump the gravel into the bucket and swish the heck out of it. Drain and rinse again.

(You will only do this if you are using dry dolomite. LIVE dolomite and live sand do not get rinsed)

Pour the gravel into the bottom of your tank. Doesn't need to be flattened yet since you are going to be dumping water into your tank and this is going to dislocate it anyway. Using your 5 gallon buckets, fill just about 4 gallons or 4 1/5 depending on how much you can lift. Add the required amount of Dechlor and then the salt. (Usually 1.5 pounds or 24 oz per 5 gallons, however I have never used that much to obtain a 1.022 gravity in my tank.) I start by adding a cup mixing to disolve (and I use warm tap water here) I will check the hydrometer to see how far off I am and either add more salt or more fresh water. Since you are setting up your tank, obtaining an exact 1.022 is not that important right now, getting close is. Continue dissolving salt and new water until your tank is about 3-4 inches from the top. Attach your filter (be sure it is rinsed well as well as the filters) if you choose to use a rear filter. Even so a back pack filter also needs rinsed. Now we have water movement.

I did not mention anything about live rock or any other items for your tank yet. At this stage since you REALLY should not try to cycle your salt water this early with live rock. If you only knew what things grow on and in the rock, don't waste your money now. It really isn't needed. Now that your tank is running. Check the water with the hydrometer. you should be pretty close to your 1.022 range. Slightly higher or lower isn't going to matter. Turn your heater on and set it for around 78. Finish topping off your tank with salt mixed water. Don't forget to add dechlor to every bucket. Congratulations, your tank is now set up. Now comes the waiting. And you will wait. To aid in the tanks cycling, but does not replace cycling, take a few pieces of raw fish or shrimp, chop them up and toss them intothe tank. This will help the bacteria establish more quickly leading to a healther tank later. Get a notebook. Markdown the day you set your tank up and what you did and what you used. Do this with water changes and tests. This way you have a record of what was done.

Let it run. Continue to run the lights during the day and off at night. After about a week, check your water quality. I would suggest a really good test kit, and strips. I use the strips (I call them dummy strips since they are very broad ranged and are not accurate enough for fishkeeping) to initially test. Then I compair them with what I get from my water tests. I mark the results down in my note book with the day. If you don't trust yourself enough to read the water, take it to your LFS. They will do it for you. Your tank will have to run a minimum of 6 weeks with nothing in it. Do not try to rush this process. Salt water is not the same as fresh water. Shrimp, anemone or even fish are less tolorent of water conditions.

If you really MUST have something swimming around, after 3 weeks, you can buy a black mollie or a couple of guppies. They will live fine in your tank at this time. They are the only fish to attempt. Placing damsels would kill the damsels since they are not the same kind of fish mollies and guppies are. You really do not need to do any water changes during the break in time. If you are showing spiking of nitrates, you may want to do a 20% water change. After your 6 week break in period, test your water. If all the parmiters are ok, you can begin with the lower end fish. Damsels. DO NOT TRY to place triggers or tangs or puffers into your tank. The bacteria is present, but not established and it will kill these fish. If your damsels are doing fine in two weeks, you can start adding live rock to build up your substraight. You can buy as little as pound or ten pounds. You can buy dead corals, fake corals, or whatever you want to decorate your tank. Your tank will need to sit for a minimum of 6 months before you can attempt the higher end fish.

I test my tanks every three days. I only do a water change of 25% once every three to four weeks. My tanks are established however and are pretty much on their own.

A few rules of thumb when dealing with salt fish. Keep your hands out! The more your hands remain out of the tank, the better your fish will be.

DO not spray anything in the room your tank is in.

Now you can start thinking about breeding brine shrimp, and what other fish you are interested in getting. Remember to do your research, since fish require different lighting, water paramiters and are or are not compatable with reef, invertabreas etc.

Good luck. If you have any additional question feel free to email me.

Answer 2

Like you've heard already, it is prety expensive, but not any harder to keep than a freshwater tank. I had a freshwater tank for awhile and decided to tackle the saltwater tank. I did everything backwards, so it's costing me much more than normal. First you need to decide what you want to keep. Corals, fish only, inverts? Then how big you want to go. I don't recommend anything less than 40gal. Then for the filterration, you'll need a protein skimmer and live rock. The live rock is the bioligical part of the filtration. You'll also need lighting (saltwater needs different lights), powerheads for water flows and movement, salt, a hydrometer to measure the salt, and the chemicals to test for ph, ammonia, nitrate & nitrite. You'll need several weeks to let the tank set up and the live rock to do it's thing. Then after all that you can get your fish, but do research on that as well. I currently have a volital lionfish in the tank with two true percula clownfish and sooner or later the lionfish will eat them. A lot of research need to go into doing this before you jump the gun like I did. a lot of money won't be wasted on fish if you set the tank up prior to purchasing them. That is just a myth. The skimmer and the live rocl is where you will probably spend the majority of your money. if you have any other questions you can e-mail me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

You're going to need a 30 gallon tank at the least. Plus all the water treatments. A boat load of cash for starter fish. Another stash of cash for replacement fish while you test and treat your water until you get it right.

Live rock will help you get the tank established. It's pricey though.

For the cost and time involved in Salt water, you could have yourself a very nice 100 gallon fresh water tank with colorful African Cichlids.

Salt water is very tempermental, and the fish will run you $30 or more each. The fish are not hardy like freshwater fish, and suffer from shipping stress after they have reached a store.

If you have money to throw around, go for it. If you're on a budget, start out with fresh water and see how you like it. If you get a large enough tank you can convert it to saltwater later.

Answer 4

No you don't need a 30gal or better tank, you can buy a nice 28 gal. nano cube that would do just fine.
I don't know what WATER treatments some people are talking about but RO water will do just fine(don't add ANY CHEMICALS)
IF you cycle your tank with fish, they only run around $4 each.
You should NOT need replacement fish.
After the tank is established, I find that it takes up LESS of my time than with any freshwater tank I have ever had.
Saltwater is NOT tempermental, In fact it is probably LESS tempermental than SOME freshwater setups.
Fish Cost from $2 to over $1000, hmmm sounds like some freshwater fish to me.
Most saltwater fish are now bread in tanks and some are A LOT hardier than SOME freshwater fish.

All said and done, Do some research, Be patient and let mother nature take over some of your work and do her job.

This is a very good web site for the beginner and advanced.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/
Good luck and enjoy.

Answer 5

Depends on the size tank you are going to have, whether or not you are going to have live rock, anemones, what kind of fish you will be purchasing, how much live sand you will need, protein skimmer, but I do know that it adds up fast! Plus the glass tank itself and the stand! Filters, heaters.....My friend just started a 180 gallon salt water, and he has spent about $1000, and he doesnt even have his fish yet....and is not done purchasing all that he needs

Answer 6

Depending on what kind of creatures you want and how many, you might need a large tank (quite expensive) or you could have an itty bitty tank! Talk to the fish person at your local pet store! It always helps, and friends in the business are always nice!

Answer 7

Here is a really good link that tells you what you need and how much it can cost. Have fun!