Saltwater Aquarium...newbie, tips and tricks?

[k9handler]

So I am going to set-up a saltwater tank and looking for your input. I am going to start with just fish and then eventually work up to reef and fish.

I will be using a 35g hex tank. Looking for your knowledge on what to stay away from, tips for testing and such, products you like, etc.

[DonDavis]

Didn't Bell build a rather large L shaped tank before he moved to Fla?

[bell]

Never finished the river tank, instead built a 6ft x 4ft x 24” tall tank......
But I never messed with saltwater......just freshwater tiger Oscars.....

[k9handler]

Originally Posted by bell

Never finished the river tank, instead built a 6ft x 4ft x 24” tall tank......
But I never messed with saltwater......just freshwater tiger Oscars.....

Love Oscars...had about 5 of them over the years. Currently have one, just want to start up a saltwater tank after looking at them more and more.

[Chocaholic]

The "Pelican" of marine aquariums:

Saltwater Aquarium Forums

[k9handler]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

The "Pelican" of marine aquariums:

Saltwater Aquarium Forums

awesome! Thanks.

[LENELSA]

SW Gen Index

I have a 160 gal. Saltwater setup
Fish only with live rock

[Nine, Frau!]

Nice call on setting up a salt aquarium. Its like having art in your room that's alive and changes. Thirty five gallons is a nice size where you could keep tangs without them darting around. Most people like different colors of fish and its hard to beat a yellow tang.

What kind of filtration are you thinking of using? Planning on using a skimmer with it? Lighting is another consideration, too. I have an LED tank and enjoy good results growing soft corals with it and the water doesn't get too hot using them.

My only input would be to use high quality synthetic sea salt like Tropic Marin which is my fave. It has high calcium so you don't have to buffer that element up if you do regular water changes. Buying RO water from your local fish store and mixing your salt in seems to be the best way to go. A lot people just buy salt water pre mixed from them, but they sometimes use low quality salt like Instant Ocean. Another tip would be not to go too crazy with the depth of the sand bed.

Reef Central is another great online resource. Please post some pictures of the new tank if you can.

[Nine, Frau!]

Probably the most important thing to do is regular water changes. People seem to want to dump chemicals into their tanks to combat various problems, when water changes would be solving most of them. Here is one of my little tank.

[vash]

have you seen what the aquarium world is doing with "plant tanks"? these tanks focus on water plants, and very few actual fish. they look amazing. IMHO,, done right, they look more spectacular than reef tanks. has to be much easier too..as far as maintenance.

just giving you options.

[herr_oberst]

My bud has a large tank, many, many fish, lots of plants and corals and it's really fun to watch the interplay. (the cow fish cracks me up, especially at feeding time. Swimming around with a big cube of food in his mouth - hah!)

One thing to think about, he has had to train his grown son to watch the tank every day when he goes out of town - the level of maintenance is huge, but I'm sure you've been made aware of that.

[Rusty Heap]

been there, and am still a reef-a-holic.

Been keepinig reef tanks 15+ years.

Was a wholesaler / seller of Live Rock for a couple years.



started with a standard 55 after my Oscar croaked.

That grew into a 135 that I've kept for the last 12 years. Must have 250-300 pounds of live rock in that one. Yup.

A 180 is in the garage waiting to be plumbed with some major pumps and closed loop system, tear down the 135 and move everything into the 180. Should be fun





Sooooooooo, in a nutshell for a noobie salt tank person, for fish only, really, there is no real difference between a fresh tank and salt tank, than the salt. As a rule of thumb in the fresh world, you can run about an Inch of fish per gallon of tank water, in Salt, 1" to every 4-5 gallons of tank size.


Honestly I wouldn't run that 35 hex as a reef tank. or even a Fish only, "maybe" with a light bio-load, but they don't have enough surface area of water surface to really have good gas exchange and o2 levels. I used to have a 35 hex, and honestly I don't like the viewing angles and in a corner location they're a pain to care for with limited access.

You're on the cusp of a slippery slope, so buy the best NOT cheapest gear you can NOW, instead of doing it right the 3rd time and have that cheap powerhead / heater / skimmer collection dust in the garage........I have thrown out so much crap gear from over the years........do it once do it right. Don't buy three 30 dollar heaters over the years, but buy the $70 heater once.

So, my advice, is read read and read. Learn about the total package, filteration, skimmers, sandbeds, bio-load, lighting, and make the right investments in your time and gear.

Reef Central Online Community

Reef Frontiers - Welcome to Reef Frontiers

BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Home



In a nutshell, there is no one magic bullet or equipment, no magic liquid in a bottle, no one answer.


You might check your local Craigslist and buy someones used reef tank for .25 cents on the dollar.


As a suggested solid fish only starter tank, with future reef potential, I'd go no smaller than a standard 4 foot long 55 glass tank, an over-flow box, going down to a ~30 gallon long sump, with the biggest baddest Skimmer you can afford, and don't skimp on cheap return pumps or powerheads. till you get corals, the lighting could even be a couple of 4 foot tube shop light fixtures with the right bulbs.

in your 55, put about an inch of Aragonite sand in the bottom, and get 2-3 Blue Damels to cycle the tank with. Join your local reef clubs, bum some live sand off of someone to get your tank cycled quicker by seeding your tank.

I'd get a Via-aqua titanium heater, digital display.
Indoor Ocean salt is rock solid and proven.
MagDrive pumps/powerheads.
I love my Beckett style skimmer from MyReef Creations.
Buy a refractometer for measuring salinity, not a swing-arm hydrometer.



bored reading my tips yet?


These guys have way too many $1000's of my dollars. One of the best mail order firms out there IMHO. MarineDepot:


Aquarium Supplies, Fish Aquarium Tanks, Fish Supplies, Aquarium Lighting and more!


Above all, don't listen to me, or the pet store guy, or even anyone else on the web. Form your own opinions from the whole brain-trust, not just one person saying "my way is the only way"

Patience is key, marine livestock isn't cheap. And not many fish are aquacultured so 95% of fish are wild caught. Don't kill things and just say I'll buy another if/when one dies.


You don't have to spend a ton of money, just spend it wisely and buy the best gear you can when you can.

For fish only, heck like I said a 55 tank, a couple of shop lights, a shallow sand bed, couple of powerheads, and a good quality non-glass heater. add salt to water, let it cycle slowly over the first month. Right now, you don't need a sump or skimmer for a couple of hearty damsels/tangs/angels. DON"T RUSH IT and fight the itch to buy too many fish too soon.. Maybe a couple of hunks of "base" quality live rock the first couple weeks. NO zoo's or soft corals for the first 4-5 months, and then you could step up to Power Compact Florescent bulbs for the corals. A single 250 watt metal halide bulb looks nice over a 55 too as long as your tank doesn't have a plastic center cross brace.


2-3 months after you've gone through your FULL Ammonia, Nitrite/Nitrate cycle, then you can start to add a couple more fish. READ up on how big those fish get, and their reef friendliness. Some tang/angels will grow up to 12-14" long. Some Butterflies will eat future soft corals, Some Trigger fish will make it an aggressive tank and are not reef friendly.

Soooooooo, make your long term plans now, then build towards them.


Did I mention to read read read and learn learn learn about the whole biological needs?

Honestly, I DON'T DO MANY WATER CHANGES on my heavily loaded 135 gallon reef tank. Why? Because after 12 years of it being set up and WELL established, and me leaving my mucking around hands out of it, and not yanking it's water chemistry up/down with chemicals, it's stable stable stable. I lose almost a gallon a day in evaporation alone, so I only keep it topped off, and maybe 5-10 gallons water change once a month, maybe every 2 months.

You are your own enemy, don't become a "tinkerer". Some gadgeteers always seem to want to change something. My tank is healthier the more I leave it alone.


Hope this novel helps, and motivates you. Cheers and Happy bubbles.!


'nough said............now go forth and read, and let us know how it's going months from now.

Here is a picture of my 135 gallon slice of the ocean: 6 foot long, 2 foot high.

[Les Paul]

I had freshwater for 25 years and saltwater for the last 10. Not really that complicated. Salt levels, good filtration, a good skimmer, preferably a sump filtration system, lighting, and you can leave them for days at a time. There is enough stuff that grows naturally that there is always good grub for them. I do partial changes 2 to 3 times a year on an 85 gallon tank.

[k9handler]

wow...thats a load of info. Thank you for the info and YES this is an attempt to read up and learn as much as possible ahead of time. Plans have changed to keep the hex tank as it is, will get a new tank for saltwater setup.

[Rusty Heap]

K9

I like your Avatar, looks like a honda 400ex or an old school Yamaha Warrior ATV.

PM me if you have any questions or want an opinion on your future saltwater hobby, it's very very rewarding, and I especially appreciate it as I'm both a scuba diver and scuba Instructor, so I get to share the underwater world, and fish tanks, with people like you............frustration sucks, and my goal is to make everyone have fun, while learning, and doing their own thing.

PM me if/when needed, glad to help you out.

[dhoward]

Don't keep messing with it.
I've kept a 135 with a 55 sump for the past 9 years. Cheap skimmer with Metal-Halide and HO T-12 tubes for light. I keep hard and soft coals, a few Tangs and clowns, and right now a Volitans Lion. Don't under stock your 'clean-up crew', crabs, snails, brittle stars, etc.. A while back, I tossed in 10 littleneck clams from the grocery store to help with filtration....

[k9handler]

ended up going with 75 gal...the cycle has began with Ammonia spike.

[Rusty Heap]

Great start!!!

Aim that right powerhead more up and to the rear, and the left a little more down and forward, as I'm a firm believer in creating a circular water flow pattern, keeping any film on the surface non-existent, so push the top water column towards your overflow skimmer.

Keep up on 5-10 gallon water changes very very frequently during the ammonia spike, otherwise any of your "pretty bare" live rock, or lower stacked base rock, will just lose any of the little life it has on it.

Try to spread your rocks out in a more open pattern, bigger voids and use flat pieces as shelves. Stacking rock takes time and practice so you don't wind up with one big lump/clump of pile o'rocks.


But once again, great start!

[Hugh R]

Question?

I have a 50 gallon fresh, it has two powerhead things that are connected by tubes to a bed under the gravel. I clean the screens, but doesn't poop build up under that plastic bed under the gravel, even thought I vacuum the gravel once a month?

[Hugh R]

The thing on the right, after taking the pic and posting it, I went back and better seated it in the tube, I saw a gap at the top.