how hard compared to freshwater fishtank...is it gonna be to start a saltwater?

Question

i have had several freshwater tanks throughout my lifetime...along with several different styles of fish....i wanna know how hard it would be to start a salt water tank...i have a beautiful 70 gal tank that is currently freshwater with tropicals...but im just not happy enough with it....well and my son wont shut up about wanting nemo fish....:-D

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 that 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. Fortunately, if you already have the tank and much of the equipment that goes with it, you'll have less start-up cost than someone starting out from scratch.

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.

A 70 gallon is a nice size - I usually suggest that someone start with a 29-55 as a minimum, because everything will be more stable nd you'll have more flexibility with the types and number of fish you want to keep. This is because 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. At the leasy, you'll want to research the types of 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 any additional 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, if you have a metal or particleboard 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 (and some of these you may already have):

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 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. Liquid reagents are more accurate and have a longer life than the paper strips. I like the API saltwater master kit which contains all the tests listed here.

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 damsels, 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, and these will be the types most compatible with the ocellaris clown (Nemo). This is also a species that can be kept as a pair, provided you buy two fish as juveniles (any two will do - the larger and more aggressive fish will develop into a female, the other will be a male). Some of the ones I would recommend as starters that you could keep with the clowns are the chromis, Bangaii or pajama 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. Or, you could keep with the "Nemo" theme and get a yellow tang (Bubbles) or a hippo tang (Dory) but not both. For the tank size, the yellow would be better suited - 70 gallon is the minimum size for a hippo. You could also get a Royal Grama (Gurgle) or Jaques (cleaner shrimp). The others from the movies would be unsuitable (Disney was a good movie company, but the people who work there don't keep marine aquaria!). If your son liked Gil, Moorish idols are very difficult to keep, but there's an almost identical species called Heniochus or Bannerfish that are far easier. Just be careful not to overstock your tank. Saltwater fish should be stocked far more lightly (about 1/3 the number of fish) that you keep in freshwater because they're more sensitive to water conditions (and territorial/aggressive).

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/
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

anyone that thinks keeping a salt water tank is difficult just didn't buy the appropriate equipment, or got advice from people that have no idea
it is very similar to fresh water when it comes to water chemistry with a few exceptions -salinity (easily checked with hydrometer or refractometer) and the pH should be 8.2 - 8.3 (not neutral as it is for most fresh water)
i have been keeping salt water fish since i was 14 (i am now 30) the advancements that have been made almost make it too easy -live sand and live rock with decent fresh water filters (canisters) make very successful habitats with a little Patience on your part

clownfish and anemones do not need to go together -both will live just fine with out the other; however if you want a clown to live in an anemone the clown has to be wild caught and not captive breed/raised -there is no magic there, if the fish knows what it is and wants to go into it, it will happily swim into the anemone

Answer 3

Extremely harder. Make sure you do as much research as possible to learn about them. I have had fishtanks for a very long time and I really really want a saltwater aquarium. I already know what I am putting in it. I have worked at pet stores and even talked with people who service saltwater tanks and have done alot of research and I still dont think I am ready for one yet. Do your research, talk to people who have them, do everything you can.

If you get clownfish(nemo), get some anemone. It is however extremely hard to achieve the relationship between clownfish and anemone outside of its natural habitat(home aquarium). I knew a guy who biult and serviced saltwater aquariums and he said there are only people in the tri state who had achieved this and he is one of them. The rest are experts just like him.

Answer 4

Its really difficult. Read read read... and you have to have alot of patients b/c no matter what ... a good bit of your fish will die, to either stress, disease, or the water. Anything will cause stress.