Saltwater tank...?

Question

i have a freshwater tank and i want to make it saltwater.. do i just add salt from my salt shaker?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there's a lot more to saltwater tanks than just adding salt.

You already got some of this in previous answers. You need to use marine salt, since ocean water contains more elements than just sodium chlorine (table salt). It also has buffers to change the pH of the water, calcium, magnesiun, iodine, strontium, and others. And you have to mix it to the correct strength, measured by specific gravity (using a hydrometer) or light refraction (refractometer) - there's not an easy # cups per # gallons since salt compacts as it absorbs moisture.

You don't mention what size your tank is, bit it should be fairly large (29 gallon would be the smallest I'd suggest for a beginner) since the larger the tank, the more stable the water temperature and water chemistry will be. This size also dilutes the wastes of the fish better, because marine organisms are less tolerant of poor water quality than are freshwater. The animals also tend to be more territorial (aggressive), so they need more space per individual, so you can't keep nearly the number of fish as you can in freshwater in the same sized tank.

If you already have a tank of this size, you may also have an appropriate filter and heater already that you can use. If not, or if you want to upgrade, here's what you'll need in the way of equipment:

FILTER: It's possible that you may want to just use your old filter if it's properly sized (filters 5x-10x the tank volume per hour - check the gallons per hour rating). 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. Unless you're using a fine sand or oolite substrate, 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. This also helps circulate dissolved oxygen to the bottom of the tank.

HEATERS: For a saltwater tank, 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 gives out. 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 or a 50/50 actinic. 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.

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. Here's an idea of the materials available: http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/dry_aragonite.html While it's possible to keep a marine tank with regular aquarium gravel or no substrate, the aragonite will keep the pH from falling below 7.8 (it should be 8.2-8.4).

SALT MIX: If you're only keeping fish, you can go with one of the less expensive brands of synthetic sea salt. If you get any invertebrates (shrimp, snails, crabs, corals, anemones, etc.), 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.

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. Not 100% necessay for FO tanks, but will be handy if you have inverts to keep up good water quality by removing organic materials that become nutrients for algae.

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.

CHILLER: If you use metal halide lighting, or the water temperature regularly gets above 85o (for corals or anemones, fish can take a little more heat), you may need to invest in a chiller to keep the tank cool. The water temperature should run 76-80oF.

Before going out and buying all this, I would suggest some reading to see what you're getting into by keeping saltwater. I did research for almost 2 years before I set up my first tank, and I had about 20 years of freshwater aquarium experience already. Rushing into a saltwater setup usually doesn't give you good results, and the equipment and fish are a little too expensive to be finding out in a few weeks you got something that's not appropriate for what you want for your tank. I'd also recommend a good reference book for some research. Either of these would be a good one to start with: 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

Some web sites you can check out for more info on keeping saltwater are the following:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marsetupii.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm

Answer 2

No you cannot simply do that

1)you need special salt from a pet or fish store and the right amount. You also need to measure the salt level.(it has to be at the right level not too high or low)
2)you need a fairly large tank(at least 20 gallons)
3)If you want corals, you have to buy a high powered light
4)A filter is definitley needed and if the tank is fairly large, a protein skimmer(which is basically another type of filter)
5) When the water evaporates, the salt stays in the tank. If you let the water evaporate too much, the salt level can get too high and could kill you fish/corals.
6)Live sand/rock is also recommended.


Theres a lot more but you should go to the nearest store and ask them about it.

Answer 3

LMAO
Start reading
http://saltaquarium.about.com/

Answer 4

lol
I sent a link to Copperhead



EB

Answer 5

I get this funny feeling you are joking i dont know what it is , just a gut feeling.

hooch you crazy. :)