Salt Water Fish Tank???

Question

It is my first time having a salt water fish tank and i need to know how different is it from a regular fish tank. What more do you neeed.

Answer 1

Congrats on the new tank. 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 (and this is the bare minimum you should know). 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. If you're converting a freshwater tank to saltwater, you'll be likely to already have some of the items you'll need, such as a filter and a heater. 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 you will have. 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 or blue 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 gallon tank as adults, so you'll need to so a little choosing of which you like (depending on the size of the tank you're using), 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 as well as the minimum tank size each needs:

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

I do recommend that you buy your fish locally rather than on the internet - 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

I am now under the impression that with time and effort you can do anything; I am not sure if you just got the tank or the tank with all the supplies; sand, salt, filter, heater, light , piece of live rock about 6.99 a piece or 6.99 a pound depending on type of rock; hydrometer to test the salt level; test kit to test for nitrates etc ; de-chlorinating chemical; water evaporates , salt does not so when you make water changes you don't add new salt; small crab/snail to clean up the sand; protein skimmer; I just bought 2 clown fish(Nemo) for 12.99 each and damsels 3 for 9.99 ; it will be a cost to set up ; if you want it bad enough , give it a try; limit the number of fish to 2 ; I have a 29 gallon tank and have 4 fish , 1 crab and a starfish ; hope this helps ; I love mine !!

Answer 3

before going saltwater, you really need to have the freshwater concepts down pact.

Saltwater is more involved. Where freshwater, you can just add more freshwater water....Saltwater you must get the levels right before adding to the tank during water changes.

You must also measure your specific gravity, which should remain between 1.020 and 1.024 . This is a must. And a hydrometer is used. This is a new concept that isnt found in freshwater.

currents also play an important role. If your going reef set-up you will need to heavly research currents. And the use of powerheads with or without UGFs.

Lighting. Again if you go corals you will need lunar lights, they have systems which are on 24/7 and the lighting system goes from light to dark blue lights or lunar lights. These are a must for corals.

Calicum, it does play an important role in inverts and corals. Where it doesnt play that big a of a role in freshwater.

You will also need to research what goes into the tank, I.E Saltwater inverts and live rock. You should but dont need live rock. It does help with filteration and provides cover.

It depends on what type of tank you want. FO, FOWLR Reef. They are all different and get harder when you go to the right.

Certainly if you want reef you must be patient. Waiting 6-8 months for the tank to be established before you add corals.

And tank size plays a super role. in stocking anyway.

So you must really research saltwater before you get one, and again if you dont master freshwater and i mean really master not 1 tank that is stocked wrong, saltwater should be waited on.

Answer 4

you will need pounds of live rock the amount of gallons you have sand to you will need specific lighting filter um protien skimmer net salt so much more its hard to maintain you also need test kits hyro meter

Answer 5

money usually salt water fish are way more expensive

Answer 6

it's VERY expensive to maintain !
the fish are more expensive.Get professional advise before you even begin !
I have seen some very small fish up to $35.00

Answer 7

all you need more is salt for the "salT"water. & salt a=water fish are liek $10 more.



-DFK

Answer 8

You will need a lot more equiptment and I have seen fish over $100.00 but since you are going into saltwater I am guessing that price does not really matter, when I started I found a local fish store (privately owned is best and it was). I had many questions I read many books (over 200 pages each), did lots of internet research took me 6 months to feel sure of myself. I still have questions, but I must say you turned to the wrong place to start. Again research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research!!!

Answer 9

There is so much more. Not enough time to explain it all.