saltwater beginner?

Question

I have this new reef ready aquarium. It comes with a sump, pump, a few powerheads, a protein skimmer, lights, filter, heater, and crush corals. At first I wanted to turn it into a freshwater tank with a few frontosa, but all of the other equiptment will be wasted. Can you guys tell me what else im missing other than salt and live rocks. I dont know how much salt to put in it. Also can you guys tell me what is the annual cost of running a saltwater fish tank. I'm planning to make it a fish only aquarium with a few pounds of live rock and live sand. I prefer to have one or 2 lion fish only.

I have this new reef ready aquarium. It comes with a sump, pump, a few powerheads, a protein skimmer, lights, filter, heater, and crush corals. At first I wanted to turn it into a freshwater tank with a few frontosa, but all of the other equiptment will be wasted. Can you guys tell me what else im missing other than salt and live rocks. I dont know how much salt to put in it. Also can you guys tell me what is the annual cost of running a saltwater fish tank. I saw some other answers on yahoo answers and some people mention $40-$400 dollars. Can you guys tell me what goes in it to make it that expensive to run it. I'm planning to make it a fish only aquarium with a few pounds of live rock and live sand. No corals or anything else since I'm just a beginner.I prefer to have one or 2 lion fish only.

Pictures are on here http://s54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/supaflyz/

Answer 1

You've already got the most expensive part - the tank and equipment. About the only thing you're lacking is the hydrometer to measure the salinity. The floating glass types are the most accurate, but the plastic cases with the floating needles can work once you get the hang of using them (they tend to have bubbles collect on the moving arm, so the needle gives a higher reading than it should if you aren't careful). You want to mix the salt and water so the specific gravity is around 1.024. You can mix the first batch in the tank (provided you don't have the live rock in it), but you'll need a container to mix it in afterward. I use anything from 5 gallon buckets to a 30 gallon rubbermaid garbage can, depending on which tank I'm changing (I currently have 3).

The exact cost can vary - how often you do water changes and what volume you change each time will affect your salt costs for instance. And there are different brands of salt that vary from $10 - $18 for enough to mix 50 gallons. If you buy in bulk (in buckets) the cost (per gallon) will be lower. What and how much you feed the fish will affect your costs as well. I'd advise against feeding goldfish, as these are fatty and cause fatty livers and premature death in lions - give them silversides, or frozen marine fish instead. But other than some possible medications (if needed) or kalkwasser if you need to adjust your pH if your water is hard to get above 8.0, salt and food will be your major expenses.

If you want to keep your costs down, ditch the live sand. All you need is the live rock - it'll seed the substrate with bacteria, which is all that the "live" means. Depending on how much live rock you want, you can buy some dry "base rock" to use on the bottom and stack the better quality stuff in front and at the top. It looks just as good, and will save you some money. The substrate can be crushed coral or shell material as long at it's compositionis aragonite (calcium-magnesium carbonate) to help buffer your pH.

Here's a website that might help you out with your tank: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Answer 2

you need to try to get that water from your closeest store to your house like walgreen and get that bottle water