So new, I don't even have a salt tank yet! I've got Qs!

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/octopus-350-gal-reef-dream-68123.html

I use this as one example - and apologise to everyone else with beautiful tanks

Secuono - beauty is in the eye of the beholder , and this tank goes beyond being pretty IMHO
if he sees this, Im sure he will be even more keen to be involved in the salt water hobby.

Steve

 

I'm only a beginner at salt water myself, I'm not a pro so ill just give you some simple answers to your questions.

First off if your planning on keeping corals you need certain filters e.g. protein skimmers etc..
Hopefully your starting with a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) tank, this will include getting a suitable tank around 15+ gallon, a basic filter and of course biological filtrartion e.g live rock which you can purchase from your lfs and live sand or media.You must then of course cycle the tank like every other aquarium this may take up to 6 months. Salt wise, you can purchase any reef salt from your lfs, most of the time it consists of half a cup per gallon of water, you check this using a hydrometer which calculates the specific gravity (sg) of the water which is the amount of salt in the water.You should maintain around 1.022-1.025 sg. Its best to use reverse osmosis (RO) water for your salt water aquarium this is completely free from chlorine etc.. it saves you from adding dechorination to the water and it also better for the fish inverts etc.. You can again purchase this from your lfs or you can fit in a reverse osmosis filtration unit into your house. Your also required to add a powerhead to the aquarium to maintain good water flow throughout the marine tank. Once everything is into place and your saltwater aquarium is cycled and ready to go you can add inverts (hermit crabs, turbo snails,starfish etc..) and fish that are recommended for a nano aquarium (e.g. percula clowns, damsels, basslets etc..)


Id recommending doing a little bit more research before setting up your marine aquarium.

Hope i helped
Good Luck
P.S: fire away if you have anymore questions

Conor

 

Well,I guess after reading the above answers you get the idea that it's a lot more involved than keeping goldfish,and it is.It's also possible to keep a small tank with just a couple of fish without great expense,however,a lot of people that start this way soon want to upgrade.One reason is that a lot of those beautiful small fish you see in dealers tanks are juveniles and will outgrow a small tank.Also,in a marine tank you are more limited as to the number of fish you can keep per gallon of tank size.So your first step is probably deciding if a marine tank is for you.

 

Ok, bearing in mind you DO NOT WANT TO HAVE A REEF we can simplify matters and maybe change your mind. You can avoid expensive lighting, large protein skimmers, reactors, supplements, and excessive rockwork.

My previous fish experience was with fresh water tanks, mostly amazon biotopes, in smaller tanks. My biggest tank was a 55 long for rainbows.

Between the cleaning and feeding and plants and one small fish dieing and killing everything else I finally gave up for about 10 years. Back then saltwater tanks were expensive, hard to maintain, and limited in species that could be kept by a home hobbyist.

Skip forward to april of last year (2009).... I got a 58 gallon "reef ready" tank. It's got a drilled bottom with a built in over flow. That alone has made my saltwater tank easier to maintain than any freshwater tank I ever had.

With the sump handling all my equipment the tank has little to distract viewers - heaters, pumps, filters, are all below the tank out of sight.

Cleaning is accomplished by using a turkey baster to "blast" rock work free of debis once a week, swapping the filter sponge for a clean one (I have two and cycle them, burning off the dirty one in bleach for a day) - you don't siphon the sand, it's a living ecosystem best left alone in a marine tank. You scrape algae off the glass, same as FW, and do a 10-15% water change monthly or bi-monthly. It's prwetty easy, takes about an hour a week + an extra hour once a month.

Something in the 50-70 gallon range is a great beginner tank, if you have the money up front opt for a drilled tank with the built in over flows. If you've ever used lily pipes the overflow serves much the same purpose - surface agitation and skimming of floating debris.

Marine tanks are still expensive - for a reef you're looking at about $45-50 per gallon to set up and stock a reef tank with basic fish and corals. For a fish only system you can expect to pay $25/gallon mainly because you don't have to invest a fortune in lighting for photosynthetic corals.

Filtration on either tank is pretty simple. the biggest differnce in SW vs. a FW tank is the common use of a sump. Water runs through an overflow, either built in of hang-on-back style, into a sump below the tank. A sump can be as simple as a 10g tank with a small filter, heater, and return pump, or as complex as multiple tanks and refugiums that total more water volume than the display tank. For a 50-70g fish only tank I would use a 20g tank with some live rock, MAYBE a small skimmer, and maybe a phosban style reactor/filter - this would replace a HOB filter. Total investment in a simple sump/filter set up would be $100-200 depending on if you use a skimmer or not, and vary by what you'd pay for good live rock.

Used equipment from the freshwater hobby is probably best avoided if you've ever used copped medications, but otherwise soaked in bleach water and dried out for a few days it can be suitable. The process is the same - carbon, bio media, filter floss or sponges, all play the same role in SW as they do in FW.


As for salt, mixing is critical, as is source water. You generally cannot use tap water - it should be treated via reverse osmosis or kold-steril, but for a fish only tank you CAN get away with tap water and commercial treatment solutions to remove chlorine/chloromine. Once you have your water you mix it via the directions. A $10 hydrometer is all I use, no problems so far... a $75 refractometer might be worth it, but I have my mix down to where I usually don't even check - I have a tuperware container marked with how much salt I need for my water volume.

Also, the "white/gray" stuff you mentioned... I'm not sure I follow. We all deal with an issue called "Salt Creep" where the salt comes out of solution and builds up on some areas on/around the tank, but cleaning up the salt creep and putting it back in the tank is part of my weekly routine, takes 1 minute. The other thing you might be seeing is coralline algae, a good sign of a healthy marine tank - but it's usually pink, purple, sometimes green, light blue - and yes, white and gray.... it adds color to a tank.

Anyways... I hope you reconsider. I'm really glad I got into this hobby - I've found it a bit easier and MUCH more rewarding than my Freshwater exploits of 10 years ago. I agree it's not for everyone, but if you've done freshwater and expressed some interest in saltwater I think you'd like it.

Anyways, ask any questions you can think of here, we're always good for debate, information, random teasing and light insults, etc.

I would also highly recommend a book on saltwater fishkeeping. I have both The Conscientious Marine Aquarist:
Amazon.com: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists (Microcosm/T.F.H. Professional) (9781890087999): Robert M. Fenner, Matthew L. Wittenrich, Scott W. Michael, Alf Jacob Nilsen, Christopher Turk: B

and Natural Reef Aquariums (I know you don't want a reef, I didnt either at first...)
Amazon.com: Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to Creating Living Saltwater Microcosms (9781890087012): John H. Tullock: Books

If you decide to expand into the hobby there are many good books available any of us can recommend.

Anyways... hope we can sway you back to the captive ocean

Oh, and welcome to 3reef!

-Doug

 

What doesn't sound fun about it? Aside from the same maintenance you'd do with a freshwater tank, minus vacuuming the sand, the only major difference is in mixing water and spending more on equipment up front.

Also, the 29 gallon BioCube was mentioned above... a bit on the small side for stability purposes, but otherwise a GREAT all-in-one starter tank you can set up for the cost of the tank plus maybe $100 for rocks and hardy starter fish.