How do you start a 50 gallon salt water tank?

Question

I own a freshwaater tank and now want a saltwater tank.
I have no budget and will splurge if need to. The fish i like are butterflyfish, clown fish, angel fish, and tangs. If you have any info on fish that would be good in the tank about the fish i want oranything to do with starting the tank would be great.
XOXOXOXOXO

P.S. for stupid people out there their is such a thing as saltwater angelfish

for these fish i like about how big of a tnk should i get

Answer 1

If you want a saltwater tank... do get ready to splurge, lol. The salt alone costs about $20 a bag and one bag will last you about two or three changes depending on how much water you take out. Salt tanks take/demand patience. If you rush it you will lose fish and get really frustrated quick. You start by buying live sand and depending on if you are doing a fish only tank versus a reef tank will determine what you do next. The butterflyfish (and I agree, my favorite is the copperbanded butterfly fish, but we have corals) are beautiful, but eat corals, so you can't really have them in a reef tank. The tangs are reef safe. The butterflyfish, angel and tangs get huge for a 55 gal. If you are only going to do the 55 gal, I would suggest sticking with smaller fish. Unfortunately the cool ones are the ones that get huge, lol. The clown fish are great and don't get big, but really need an anemone to live in.
Back to how to start it... get your salt water testing right (you will need bags of salt and a hydrometer=about $70 for this stuff), then add live sand and live rock if you are going to do a reef(sand is about $25-30 a bag and you will need about 4, rock is about $4 a lb on average-you would need about 50-60lbs = approx $350) . You need to let that cycle for at least 4 weeks!! That means don't put anything in it. You need to let the biologicals in the live sand and rock do their thing. You will need test kits (approx $40-$60) so that you can test every other day to monitor that it is cycling. Protien skimmer ($100), heater ($10-$30), fluval or something equivalent ($150-$200), Lights (again, depends on the tank... for a reef tank you need whites, actinic and led's to simulate night, dusk/dawn and day light) lights will run you anywhere from $50-$400 (I have even seen light systems for over $5K, but that is for a huge hobbiest, lol), Jets for current ($20-? depending on how many). (And this is a real simple set up - real simple and on the cheap side for salt tanks) At about 3-4 weeks you can add a very simple cleaning crew of nazarus snails to clean the sand, shrimp to clean the reef, turbo snails to clean the glass, and hermit crabs to clean the top of the sand and reef. You can drop in a frozen brine cube about once a week to give this stuff something to eat. Then at about 6 weeks if your tests are coming out right, then you can add fish. Fish average anywhere from $10-$200 depending on the fish. At our local fish store the copperbanded butterfly fish is $49 and he is only about 3 inches... they get to be about 8. You can start with hardier fish like damsels for much cheaper that will help cycle your tank and get it all going. Salt water fish are much different than fresh water as they are delicate in terms of...well... it is easy to kill them. But if you are patient and take it slow, it is a very rewarding tank to have. We got a book on salt fish and found that all the fish we wanted were going to outgrow our tank quickly, so we had to modify what we were going to put in it.
Just take it real slow.. do your research on each fish before you buy it. Also BIG tip... never ever buy from a chain store like walmart, petsmart or petco. Go to a local fish store. When you select a fish ask the owner if you can pay for it but have them hold it for one week first before you take it home. Any respectable fish store will have no problem holding it. This is very common practice. It gives you a chance to go in a couple times over the coarse of the week and see how the fish is doing. This gives you a lil more security than if you don't be patient and rush it right home and it dies in a day or two. Salt fish are never garuanteed, so if it dies you are SOL. You don't know if the fish is sick or too stressed from its trip to the store from God knows where. Leave it in the store for a week... if something is going to happen to it, it will usually happen that first week. If it is at the store and dies, you aren't out any money. Also.. try to only buy your fish from ONE store. That way you can garuantee with some certainty that your fish are healthy. If your fish gets sick and you can't go to the store that made it sick because you don't know what store.. you again would be SOL. If you build a reputation with one specific store and you lose a fish and call them up and they also lost some, they usually will work with you.
Anyway... as I ramble on... I really hope this helped!!! Good Luck and have fun with your new tank!!

Answer 2

50 Gallon Saltwater Tank

Answer 3

The best advice I can give you as a marine keeper is do not start a marine tank unless you can do it with at least 30 gallons, that is the minimum that most fish can be kept, there are few that can go in a 10 gallon such as a fire fish neon goby, well most will be a goby of some sort. The biggest concern is how difficult it can be to keep proper water parameters.

Answer 4

there are such thing as saltwater angel fish, they look different though... go on google search then press images and type in saltwater angel fish, it will show you. The following section briefly explains what you need to do to initially setup your tank.

The first thing you need to do is to place the stand in it's final position. Make sure the stand is level in all direction. Next, place a piece of Styrofoam or rubber on the top of stand where the tank will sit. This eliminates small gaps between the stand and tank reducing pressure points which might cause the tank to crack after being filled. After the stand is positioned, place the tank on the stand. Make sure the tank is level in all directions. Note, a tank that is not level has a great chance of cracking after it is filled.

Where ever you place the tank now is most likely where it will remain for its lifetime. You should never move a tank that has water in it since this is a sure way to crack it.

Once the tank is placed, install the filtration. If it is an UGF, then place the filter plate(s) on the bottom of the tank. If it is a wet/dry, then connect the prefilter and all the hoses.

Prior to adding the substrate, rinse it with plain water until the water runs clear, and then add it to the tank. On top of the substrate arrange the decorations. Now the saltwater may be added. The easiest way to add water to a tank is to place a plate on the substrate and pour the water onto the plate.

When initially setting up your tank it is okay to fill the tank with dechlorinated water and then add the salt mix. However, subsequent water changes need to be premixed. Pre-mixing saltwater is done for two reasons, it gives time for the salt to thoroughly dissolve and also allows the water parameters to stabilize. Adding 10 gallons of freshwater and then an appropriate amount of salt to an established tank is a big mistake (and an excellent way to kill your inhabitants).

One note on making saltwater. The source water you use for mixing is extremely important to the overall success and health of the system. There is more to be said about this later, but for now, realize that tap water probably won't be good enough for your tank.

When all the water is in place, start up the filter system and check for any leaks (of both water and air). Let the tank sit for a day or so to clarify (with the filtration running). Now you can add fish.

How many fish you add for the cycling process depends on the size of the tank and the cycling method you choose. You can cycle a tank without any fish at all. In this case, you add ammonium chloride to simulate fish waste and an initial source of nitrifying bacteria. It is best to get a bacteria culture from an established saltwater tank. This can be in the form of some substrate, old filter media, or some macroalgae such as Caulerpa spp.. Live rocks are also an excellent source of nitrifying bacteria.

If you choose to cycle your tank using fish, which is infinitely more interesting than a tank full of circulating water, the number of fish needed depends on the size of the tank. In any case, two fish are preferable to one. If one fish dies, you will still have one to finish the cycling. Of course the second fish may pass on too. If all the fish die, then you have to remove all the contaminants from the tank and introduce more organisms (read this as start all over).

Cycling doesn't have to be limited to fish though. Crabs and mollusks can also be used. However, since these organisms don't produce much waste, it will take longer to cycle the tank.

Answer 5

Don't forget a bottom feeder like a starfish. They always look very cool in saltwater aquariums.

1) I would make a list of favorite fishes, and/or coral and after setting up the aquarium for your "most favorite" make sure it lives and is doing well before adding fish/coral/plant species #2.

2) Then research fish/coral/plant species #2 to make sure they can coexist harmoniously.

Your local pet store would probably love to get someone started on a saltwater tank. Since it's in their best interest, check the one nearest you with the best reputation and best looking tanks and healthiest fish.

Answer 6

yes you are correct there are many species of saltwater angels. just to let you know in a 50 gallon tank i would reccomend only keeping one angel fish for they tend to fight. Besides from stcoking here is a list of thing you will need a protien skimmer a canisterfilter sump wetdry filter or any filter of your choice that will turn over enough water for a 50 gallon tank. you will need salt to mix befor you add it to the tank with any live stock in it, a hydrometer to measure how much salt is in the water. a master test kit to test pH amonia nitrite and nitrate. you may want to upgrade your lights to have more power such as VHO or metal halides depending if you plan to keep corals or other light dependent creatures. if your budget is unlimited then you can really spend over 2000 dollars on a setup. What you wish to keep in the tank depends on how crazy you need to go. Marine aquariums also need live rock and a live sand bed witch has beneficial bacteria for the tank to breakdown waste. the rule of thumb is about 1lb of live rock per gallon and in your case thats 50 lbs and the sand bed should be 1.5-2 inches deep. I forgot you will also need a heater. sorry for jumping around but there is a lot to setting up a marine aquarium. as far as the fish you choose there are many species of the ones you named some get to large for your tank so research the exact fish and how compatible it would be with other fish you plan to get befor stocking your tank. clownfish for example may get aggressive twords each other so if you want more than one its a good idea to buy them together so you can see they arent to agressive with each other. read about the nitrogen cycle as well for its very important to know about when first setting up the tank. here is a link on the nitrogen cycle and if you have other questions feel free to email me. http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bionitrogencycle/a/aa073199.htm

Addition: a great fish to start with are green chromins let the tank go through the nitrogen cycle with these fish befor adding the angel tangs clowns or whatever else you choose. they are hardy fish that arent agressive so addibg fish later will not conflict with them unless adding more agressive species. They are also cheap so if you lose one its not a huge loss cause some marine species can get VERY expensive and is a major loss if it doesnt live.

Answer 7

you start with getting the tank and a pump then fill it with water than put in your chemicals to keep the tank clean and than your Fish if the temperature for the water is wright,than get the Fish .Filter and lights fixture

get a book about Saltwater fish than you can reed up before you do all this,Good luck

Answer 8

ok for u morons out there......there is a saltwater angelfish...
goggle it .....
http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/photos/blpicfishangelclarionkeoki.htm...

thats a picture of a saltwater angel fish

ok as for the tank.....im totaly against it and i think u should leave these fish on the reef.....why do u want to capture them and cage them up .....just my thoughts....

Answer 9

My aunt has a 50 gallon tank and i really dont know how she set it up

Answer 10

follow the big answers lol and wetwebmedia.com has alot of info, yahoo groups have alot of people who work one on one and give really good advice