What do I need to do to get ready to have a salt water tank?

Question

what do I need to make a tank a salt water tank?
what are easy fish to start out with that are salt water?

Answer 1

I keep both saltwater and freshwater tanks (several of each, actually), and once you get the tank set up, they're not much more difficult than freshwater if you've planned it properly. It's good if you have some freshwater fishkeeping experience first, or all that I'm about to tell you may seem a bit overwhelming. There is a little more equipment, the water chemistry is a bit more involved, and any of the "specialized" materials (and the fish) for saltwater tend to be more expensive.

I would strongly recommend that before you go too far in planning, that you do some research into the different types of tanks (fish-only, which is the easiest and cheapest; fish-only with live rock, which give you added biological filtration; and reef, which is the full-blown marine set-up with corals, anemones, shrimp, etc., which can be the most difficult and IS definitely the most expessive type). That's not to say you can't start with a fish-only, then add other items to the same tank as you get some experience and want to try more organisms.

Obviously, you'll need a tank, unless you've kept freshwater in the past, and already have one you're planning to convert to salt. The larger of a tank you can use, the better - saltwater fish tend to be larger and more territorial/aggressive than traditional freshwater "community" fishes and more like cichlids in their behavior, so some planning is necessary on just what you can keep together. The larger the tank you have, the more options that are open to you. I would suggest starting with something in the 29-55 gallon range at least, unless you already have a larger tank for use. The best way to determine the size, though, is to research the fish you want first, to be sure they are all compatible, their adult sizes, and the minimum tank size needed for each, and plan the tank and equipment from there.

If you need to get a stand for the tank, try to get solid wood. The particleboard stands won't hold up if they get wet and the glue separates, and the iron/metal stands will corrode if any salt gets on them (or, you could get a metal stand, just use a flannel-backed tablecloth under the tank to protect the stand from splashed water).

Some of the other items you'll need:

FILTER: You'll want to get one that's properly sized (filters 5x-10x the tank volume per hour - check the gallons per hour rating). 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 type 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. Have at least two for a larger tank.

HEATERS: For a saltwater tank 30 gallons or larger, 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 heater gives out. Figure the correct size as 5 watts per gallon (for a single heater) divided by 2 (if using 2 heaters). If you need to heat the water more than 10 degrees above the room temperature, go one wattage 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, which is preferred for a reef tank).

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% necessary for fish-only 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 (some are jumpers), 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 (shrimp, snails, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sea stars, etc.).

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.

There may be additional items that you could need, such as kalkwasser to raise your pH if you can't get it to 8.2, but you won't know these until you get the tank set up and running, and test your water.

You may decide that you want to use a UV sterilizer, but in my opinion, these are unnecessary. They don't necessarily kill all the parasites and disease-causing organisms, and they only affect free-floating algae, not any that's attached to your glass, rock, or substrate. The bulbs also need to be replaced yearly. Rather than pay the high price for one of these, you'd do better to buy an inexpensive 10 gallon setup kit and a heater and use these as a quarantine tank.

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/marsetupez.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marineSetUp.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

As far as the fish, what species are good for starters will depend largely on the size of your tank. Even though they are hardy, I recommend against damels, mostly because of their aggressivness - add one of these, and they'll terrorize any fish you try to introduce later. The exception I'd make here is the green reef chromis.

You'll want to add the smallest and most peaceful species first, and this will reduce some of the aggression in the tank. It's a general guideline that you shouldn't mix fish of the same color or body shape, or different species from the same families to prevent any of the fish from seeing another as a potential rival. There are a few species that can be kept in schools or in mated pairs, but this is the exception rather than the rule. I prefer the smaller semi-aggressive and peaceful species myself, but your preferences might be different. Some of the ones I would recommend as starters are the chromis, a pair of ocellaris clown (the "Nemo" fish - any two juveniles will work because the dominant one will become a female, the other a male), Bangaii cardinalfish (if you have a good saltwater person at your fish store, they should be able to pick out a male and female for you), longnose hawkfish, canary blenny, jawfish, clown goby, scissortail gobies, and firefish. That's more than you should keep in a 55 as adults, so you'll need to so a little choosing of which you like, or you might want something completely different. Here are a few links to look at, so you get an idea of care level and prices:

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/
http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pcatid=15
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/

I do recommending that you buy your fish locally - you get a better idea of the size and health of the fish, plus you won't have to pay for shipping. If you do decide to buy online, only buy from a company that guarantees live delivery of the livestock (some also extend the guarantee for a few days after arrival, which is even better!).

Good luck with your tank!

Answer 2

Salt water tanks are very expensive to keep. The life involved is more delicate and generally respond much worse then freshwater to improper care or neglect.

So, since you will be dishing out a lot of money to keep a saltwater tank anyway, the best thing you can do is invest in a good book to get you started. A good book (not the 6 dollar kind that's 30 pages with half of those pages pictures, but a good book) will give you more and more reliable information then you'll find on the web.

Answer 3

more research, please dont go rushing into saltwater.

Unless you know the basics and are a pro with freshwater. And research.

Certainly it isnt as easy as add water and salt and fishes. The process of setting up a good saltwater reef can take many months.

You will need to use your hydrometer very carefully to get the sg to 1.020-1.024.

It depends on what type of tank you want. FO, FOWLR, or Reef. All have different needs and different expenses.

It seems to me that you are rushing into it and frankly dont know enough or anything about saltwater.

You will need saltwater mix, live sand, hydrometer, HOB and powerhead system, heaters, a coral life lighting with lunar lights, live rock(around 7.99 per lb)

You shouldnt stock until the tank is fully going, then get inverts. Then you can stock smaller fish like a damsel and maybe a false percula clownfish. But you will need to wait a few months for the live rock to cure, and then if you plan on getting corals, then another 6 months for the tank to be esatblished.


again it doesnt sound like your ready, and from your other post about a 35 gallon freshwater, saltwater should be put off for you. Research it much more more. And until you know the basics of freshwater on lock down then you shouldnt try saltwater.

from your other post, if you are looking for a small budget tank, saltwater isnt it. my light system alone was about 200 dollars, and the live rock again is 6.99 per lb and about 20 lbs. The sand and tank can easily cost around 400-500 dollars and my tank is a 20 high.

Answer 4

i'm now decrease than the impression that with time and attempt you're able to do something; i'm unsure in case you purely have been given the tank or the tank with each and every of the aspects; sand, salt, clear out, heater, easy , piece of stay rock approximately 6.ninety 9 a chew or 6.ninety 9 a pound consistent with form of rock; hydrometer to objective the salt point; try kit to objective for nitrates etc ; de-chlorinating chemical; water evaporates , salt does not so once you're making water variations you do no longer upload new salt; small crab/snail to freshen up the sand; protein skimmer; I in basic terms bought 2 clown fish(Nemo) for 12.ninety 9 each and every and damsels 3 for 9.ninety 9 ; it will be a cost to establish ; in case you pick it undesirable adequate , provide it a attempt; cut back the style of fish to 2 ; I actually have a 29 gallon tank and have 4 fish , a million crab and a starfish ; wish this facilitates ; i admire mine !!