My very first saltwater tank!?

Question

When construction on my basement is finished my dad and I really want to get a saltwater tank. We have kept tropical fish and goldfish successfuly and we really want to get started. What will we need what are some easy fish to take care of and what are some good books? What starter tank size would you recomend. We do not want to keep chilichids and are looking at tangs and clownfish as two we really like.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Do you have an existing tank you're planning to convert, or will you be buying a new one? It's always recommended to start with as large of a tank as you can, since the added volume will keep the temparature and water parameters more stable, plus it allows you a better selection of fish. A 29-55 gallon would be the smallest I would suggest to use.

If you're planning to convert an old tank into a saltwater tank, you probably have most of the equipment you need already (filter, heater, cleaning supplies). This will definitely save you money over a whole new setup. Here are some of the additional items you'll need:

SUBSTRATE - you want something made of aragonite to help keep the pH from changing, I like the smaller shell material that Carib-Sea puts out - it doesn't have to be live sand, either. Some folks like crushed coral, but the particle size is bigger than I like, and it tends to have a lot of dust that never rinses completely out. Another very fine grained material is oolitic aragonite (looks like small white balls) and aragonite sand. If you're going to get any fish or inverts that like to burrow, the size of the substrate is important so it won't collapse, or scratch them. This link will help you decide on a good type for your tank: http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html

SALT MIX: If you're only keeping fish, you can go with one of the less expensive brands of synthetic sea salt. If you're planning invertebrates, switch to a better quality mix before you add them. These cost a little more, but you won't need to be using additives for the trace elements they need either.

HYDROMETER: This measures the amount of salt that's dissolved inwater. There are two kinds you can get, one made of glass that floats on the surface (more accurate, but easy to break) and a plastic container that has a needle that rises and falls as the amount of salt changes (less accurate, bubbles attaching to the needle gives false readings). For fish only, you want the specific gravity to read 1.020 - 1.026. If you're keeping inverts, you want it to be 1.024 - 1.026.

FILTER: It's possible that you may want to just use an old filter if it's properly sized (filters 5x-10x the tank volume per hour). If you need a new one, or are looking to upgrade, there are lots of choices, and what you'll need will really depend on budget, what you're trying to keep, and personal preference. I'd consider the best to be a refugium or wet/dry trickle filter. Next best would be a canister, followed by a biowheel, then a standard hang-on-tank. You want to be able to filter at least 5-10 times the volume of your tank per hour, so check the GPH rating for any filter you consider. Unless you're using sand or oolite, you can also use an undergravel filter to supplement filtration, but I'd suggest powering it with a reversible powerhead to blow the water up through the substrate (prevents stuff from building up under the filter and clogging it).

POWERHEAD(S): To provide more water circulation in hard to get to places. Marine organisms have more current, and it changes directions a few times a day (tides), and this is important to try to replicate if you are going to keep any filter feeding organisms. It also keep debris stirred up so that your filters can remove it more effectively.

HEATERS: For a saltwater tank over 30 gallons, I'd suggest getting 2 and putting one on each end. This will provide more even heating, and your tank has a back-up if one dies. Figure the correct size as 5 watts per gallon divided by 2 heaters. If you need to heat the water more than 10 degrees above the room temperature, go one size higher.

LIGHTING: If you never want anything but fish, you can use the standard lighting and hood made for your tank. You might want to upgrade the lamps to a 10,000K tube, since this approximate what lighting an underwater reef around 30 feet or so deep would get. If you're going to try corals, anemones, etc., go with a compact fluorescent, metal halide, or combo system - these will provide more intense light that they'll need for photosynthesis.

WATER TESTING KIT: minimum of pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

CLEANING SUPPLIES: elbow length gloves, gravel vacuum, 5 gallon bucket, large plastic container and powerhead for mixing the salt (to be done well ahead of water changes), algae scraper, razor blades (for coraline algae and diatoms that like to attach to the glass).

WATER CONDITIONER: for removing chlorine or chloramine from your tap water (unless you plan to use a reverse osmosis filter or buy RO water).

The following are optional, but strongly suggested:

PROTEIN SKIMMER: This removes dissloved and small organic materials that would normally contribute to the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in your tank.

GLASS COVER: This reduces evaporation and keeps the fish inside the tank, although with a metal halide lighting system, it can overheat your tank.

LIVE ROCK: This give the tank a more natural appearance, provides hiding places for the fish and inverts, and increases the biological filtration. Not to mention, you get all kinds of cool critters that hitchhike into your tank.

I'd also recommend either of these as a good reference book for saltwater tanks: The New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-52-1 or The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-02-5

One thing to realize about saltwater is that the fish are more territorial than freshwater community fish (they're more like cichlids in their personalities), although there are a few peaceful species. Given their behavior and intolerance for poor water quality, you aren't able to stock as many fish per tank as in freshwater. Some general recommendations would be to choose fish that are from separate families, and that don't have similar colors or body shape. This will prevent the fish from seeing one another as "rivals". The exceptions would be those species which can be kept as a pair, and the few schooling species.

Some of the species that I like, are clownfish, green chromis, longnose hawkfish, cardinalfish, clown gobies, scissortail gobies, canary blenny, jawfish, and firefish. You can also add some snails (turbo, trochus, nassarius, nerite), hermit crabs (I like the scarlet and blue-legged), shrimp (cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp), a sea star (sand sifting star, fromias, or brittlestars), feather dusters, or other non-photosynthetic organisms without much extra work or equipment.

Tangs get to be very large (8-14") and are very active swimmers, so these need a very large tank. They're also sensitive to low oxygen conditions, and seem to be the one fish that will pick up any disease or parasite possible. If you should get any fish that develops a problem, this website is one of the best I've found for diagnosis and treatment: http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/disease.html

Here are a few good websites that you can look at for saltwater tank info:
http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterBeginners.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Answer 2

The bigger the tank is easier to keep clean. So, I am going to recommend a 55 gallon or up. Set it up just like you would a freshwater tank, the only thing different about it is, that you will have to put some sea salt in it, the store that I work at carries the instant ocean sea salt....one bag of it will do a 55 gallon. Was yall looking at doing Corals? If, so you will need a really good lighting system on it to keep the Coral colorful and alive. When you first set your tank up, unless it is RO water, which is saltwater that is already made up, let it sit about a week or two, before you add any fish to it, and then when it is time to add fish to it, start out with the damsels..the cheap saltwater fish, and then gradually move up to the clowns and tangs okay. I hope I have been some help.

Answer 3

Tangs are great for very large tanks, but way too many people try to keep them in 55 gallon tanks. If you and your dad are getting a tank that is 6 feet long or longer, then I say get some tangs. Anything shorter, and your fish won't be very happy. Clowns are great for any sized tank. They will pair up and often will host with a sebae or carpet anemone. There are many different kinds of clowns as well. Most people forget about the orange and pink skunk clowns. They stay smaller and are more peacefull than most of the others. They also tend to host with a larger variety of anemones than other clown species. Anemones are not essential to keeping clowns though. A 55 gallon would be a great starter tank for a fish only tank. Fish only tanks are usually cheaper and easier for the beginner. There are hundreds of good books out there, as well as internet sources. There are too many to recommend.

Answer 4

no damsels, they are mean ugly fish. as for research wetwebmedia.com has alot. tangs get really big, dwarf angels may be a good bet for you, but they can be aggressive with they're own kind, best to add all at once. a 90g would be a good start, if you want to start smaller a 29 is ok as well. copper seems to have laid alot out for you, so use his advice as a launchpad. books conciencious marine aquarist, by bob fenner. no beginner or dummy books, if you dont pay $30 or more it agarbage lol.

Answer 5

Well, i would suggest 100 gallons (very pricy though) if you want to keep like 10 saltwater fish. saltwater tanks are very hard to balance.., its pure chemistry. if you're willing to take the risk of it, its really fun. i love watching the fish in the petstore. i especially like saltwater ones..... so pretty!! sometimes i just go into a petstore for hours on end watching them... lol...no joke tho!