Salt water fish tank owners?

[jdoggg12]

I could think of NOTHING to ask for christmas from my mom. Everything i want is way too much money (I buy all the little stuff myself).

Well i stopped in a fish store the other day and thought it might be cool to have a small saltwater tank in my room. ~12-20 gallon. I dont have much in the way of decoration so i thought this could help the fung shui. :lol


Anywho... what are some things i should be aware of for a salt water tank? I find fresh water fish/plants boring, so i'm not interested in that.


This is what i'm looking at:
http://www.jbjlighting.com/sys_12gDX_nanocube.html

The local place is selling them for $250... seems like a great deal for a system that you just add saltwater and fish to.

Input?

PS: I've had freshwater tanks before, but they were so dull and colorless I didnt think they were worth keeping for aesthetics. So i'm not a complete noob to fish, just a normal noob

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12


The local place is selling them for $250... seems like a great deal for a system that you just add saltwater and fish to.

Input?

PS: I've had freshwater tanks before, but they were so dull and colorless I didnt think they were worth keeping for aesthetics. So i'm not a complete noob to fish, just a normal noob

If you think a saltwater tank is just add salt water and fish then you are indeed a complete noob.

 

[jdoggg12]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
If you think a saltwater tank is just add salt water and fish then you are indeed a complete noob.

I'm familiar with ph balancing, 7-10 day microbe growth before your fish enter the system, temperature monitoring, reef/non-reef fish, etc.... i'm talking about how its all inclusive for what you need to get started sans fish, plants, and food.

I'm looking to get input on the less obvious differences between fresh/saltwater. Exactly how much more maintenance is needed etc.

 

[spidey07]

There is a TON of work invovled. Go here and read all the beginners stuff before you decide. Saltwater is completely different than fresh. THen go back and read again.

http://www.reefcentral.com/

Word to the wise, smaller tanks are actually MUCH more difficult to keep because the volume of water is so small. If you want just do fish only with live rock. No corals.

 

[JeepinEd]

I would not keep saltwater fish in anything smaller than a 40 gallon tank.
Starting up and maintaining a saltwater tank is very expensive and time consuming.
You will need, at the very least:
40 Gal min.tank
Wet/dry filter
Full spectrum lighting
Test kits to check nitrate/nitrite + ammonia + PH + salt level

This is just for keeping regular fish, like Damsels.
If you want to keep corals, anemone (sp), or other exotic fish, prepare to shell out thousands of dollars.

Don't forget that saltwater fish also cost much more than fresh water fish.
Then there is the getting the tank cycled, part. You don't just fill it with water, salt and toss in whatever type of fish you want.
The tank needs to cycle and create the right balance of bacteria. For the first few weeks, you will only be able to keep hardy fish, like Damsels. If you put other, more delicate fish.... well they'll be belly up in no time.

I've had a salt water tank for about 20 years. It took me many years of learning and experience to be able to keep fish living for several years. I don't have corals, for environmental reasons, and I try to purchase farm raised fish.

If you really want a salt water tank, I would recommend you spend several weeks doing research. Visit some of the fish forums to learn more.

Edit: Wow, I can't believe all these people responded by the time I hit Reply (Guess I'm slow)

 

[gururu2]

at the minimum get something 30 gallons or more. anything below that would be not only difficult to maintain a proper condition (salt, pH, nitrates, etc) but would also be bad for the fish which require as much space as possible (most marine varieties of fish swim all day, opposed to cichlids and other fresh water fish that hide under a rock all day). 30-50 gallon tanks arent too bad. you will need an overhang carbon filter, and possibly a protein skimmer if u have a 40+ gallon, thermometer and a couple of expensive UV bulbs. the most work is spent is cleaning the substrate, which u will do by vacuuming it weekly and replacing the lost water with new clean water. the salt mixtures arent too expensive, and they buffer the water so you dont have to worry so much about pH. because the temp of salt water systems hovers 80-90 F, you will be adding new water often, like every couple days. of course, there is also the whole substrate seeding process, so you wont be able to put any expensive fish until about 2-3 weeks after you setup.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

A saltwater tank of that size is going to be more of a hassle than anything else and so I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Doodoo]

I'm going to go against what everyone else here says and say go for it. You just have to keep a closer eye on a smaller tank since any fluctuations in water chemistry happen much quicker due to a smaller water volume. Saltwater tanks are not as expensive as everyone makes them out to be...more expensive then freshwater? Sure...but not thousands and thousands of dollars unless you go all out. And do not get damsels unless you want all your other fish to be constantly harassed. Cycle the tank with some cocktail shrimp and when the tank cycles you'll be ready for some hardy fish...like a clown, gramma, or a blenny. Since you've had freshwater before, you should know all about cycles and water chemistry. First off do your research...find out what you want to keep for fish and coral and then see if that tank will work. If you want tangs or angels...then obviously that tank won't work. For a tank that size, check out Nanoreefs. Plenty of people with that exact setup...though i think they get rid of the bioballs.

Theres not much more work compared to freshwater...ive kept both for years. Saltwater is a bit more complicated in the initial setup...but after that its pretty much the same....water changes...feeding...cleaning pumps every few months....

Edit: By the way they have the JBJ with free stand here for a bit cheaper if you wanna order online...Marinedepot

 

[imported_cambit69]

leave the nano-reefs / FO tanks to the experts.

for a beginner you should start big, 100-225 gallons. if it comes with a stand/canopy at a good price then take it, otherwise just go for the tank and stick it on a sturdy table that can withstand at least 800 lbs.

Make sure the tank has built-in overflow boxes ( to connect to bottom sump in the future ) you don't have to use them right away, just plug them up, However it's nice to have when you upgrade your tank down the road.

I personally would skip the wet/dry filtration system, that way you don't have to worry about a sump, and/or extra pipes going everywhere. another thing is if the wet/dry filter will be VERY loud like a waterfall because of the water splashing on the bio-balls.

instead I would go with strong bio-filtration with heavy protien skimming.

for bio-filtration get 3-4" layer of sand, and a lots of cheap porous rock, doesn't have to be live rock, just porous so bacteria can live inside. i'd say about 1/2 pound of rock for every gallon size of your tank, so if 50 pounds for a 100 gallon tank.

for protein skimming, buy a cheap backpack skimmer that'll hang behind your tank. later on if you have more money you can install a sump and buy a stronger in-sump protien skimmer.

buy a good heater and/or cooler if you live in warm areas, buy some cheap florecent lights since you're only going fish. if you have extra $$$ buy a cheap 3-stage reverse osmosis dionizer at home depot.

with the right type of macro-alge growing in your tank and the right load of fish, you wont ever need to do water changes since they will suck up any nitrates and/or phosphates in your tank.

again these are my suggestions, theres many methods to keeping salt-water fish, you have to choose which one to go, its going to cost you a lot of $$$ no matter what and if you don't plan ahead you will waste even more $$$ replacing your existing setup. once you addicted you will want to go bigger and better.

 

[I Saw OJ]

Its going to cost you more money and time to maintain it than you think, so watch out.

 

[spidey07]

What's the famous saying between us reef keepers? Only bad things happen fast.

OP - smaller tanks like nano-cubes you listed take a really good amount of knowledge to maintain. If you just toss one or two fish in there with some live rock and small cleaners you may be OK. But PLEASE research the fish and any animal before you buy them. You don't want to just dump a fish in there without understanding their environment. Most reef fish won't like what you're creating. You're looking at 2 fish max.

But if you really want to try then by all means give it a shot. Just take the part of your brain that deals with fresh water tanks and toss it completely out the window. It does not apply here. I'm not trying to scare you away from it because it can be a very rewarding hobby, but there a really strong base of knowledge will help if you spend about a month researching.

 

[Oceandevi]

I hate my salt tank, I do not advise you to get one.

 

[jdoggg12]

Thanks for the input guys... i guess i was assuming a smaller tank would be easier, i really dont want anything bigger than 24 gallons b/c it's going to be in my room and thats a LOT of space to dedicate to a tank. Very insightful responses. I KNOW that you have to learn salt water over time, which is why i kinda wanted a small cheap tank to learn in, but it seems like the consensus feels thats like starting with a sports car as your first car... i just need a huge old beater to learn the basics

The lady at the fish place made it sound like these nanos were not that much more work than a similarly sized fresh water tank... but i guess more dead fish = more $$ for them as i buy more.

I'll do some reading, and joing a fish forum (haha, just as nerdy as a computer forum) to learn some more about the process.

 

[spidey07]

Good. Just learn and read. Smaller tanks are MUCH more difficult to maintain, expert level really they are.

 

[keeleysam]

We used to have a 460 gallon tank.

Total pain in the ass, we moved out of that house for that sole reason.

 

[jdoggg12]

Ok... so how about this... say you have a roughly 50 gallon tank.. what do you have to do daily, weekly, monthly to keep it healthy?

 

[gururu2]

i once had a 15 gallon tank with 2 percola clowns and a banana wrasse. it was a pretty easy setup if you think you will be satisfied with only 3 fish. they are absolutely beautiful fish, so they were like my little pets. this did not require a lot of maintenance and I had it for about a year. inside i had volcanic rock and plastic plants. i was using coral substrate at the time. one overhang filter was sufficient for cleaning, and the fish never got ill. if you want to learn, I think this might be a fun kind of setup. If it comes easy, maybe you will want to upgrade the size. these fish are ok with a small size, because the clowns are pretty territorial and stay in their teritory and the wrasse is usually flittering about when not buried. wrasses jump out of tanks all the time though, so you will need a stainless screen.

 

[Oceandevi]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12
Ok... so how about this... say you have a roughly 50 gallon tank.. what do you have to do daily, weekly, monthly to keep it healthy?

well first off you have to add fresh RO/DI water as the tank water evaporates. This will keep the salinity at the desired level.

second: you need to go REEFCENTRAL.

serious

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12
Ok... so how about this... say you have a roughly 50 gallon tank.. what do you have to do daily, weekly, monthly to keep it healthy?

Honestly?

Time is about 20-30 minutes per day. You can add it all up to make weekly but that is what it takes.

What do you have to do? Weekly here's the low down.
Clean skimmer
Clean walls of tank
Water changes - takes about 30 minutes of work, don't have to do weekly but it helps.
Check levels - need to add calc/alk at least 2/wk.

If you don't keep up on the maintenance, it will bite you. I'm staring at my tank that is taken over by red slime because I didn't keep up on maintenance. And once you are in my hell it is almost impossible to get out.

 

[Doodoo]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12
Ok... so how about this... say you have a roughly 50 gallon tank.. what do you have to do daily, weekly, monthly to keep it healthy?

Heres my routine on my 60 gallon mixed reef. Mainly LPS, but i have a few SPS...montipora, birdsnest, and a cats paw. I have a 3 inch sandbed and am skimmerless. Many people have gone skimmerless with lots of success. I'm at about 5 years on mine.

Daily...feed fish.
Weekly...scrape down the sides of the tank, water change and top off tank
Monthly...soak the powerheads in a solution of vinegar and water to clean them, clean reflectors

Yearly...replace T5 bulbs

You only need to add calc if you have SPS or clams. I don't add calc and my sps are doing find and my clam has doubled in size in a month. Water changes only take about 10-15 minutes...siphon out water...dump it...mix new saltwater and pour it in.

 

[alien42]

fresh water tanks are only dull and colorless if you set them up that way. my last 55 gal freshwater community tank was spectacular with tons of natural plant growth.

 

[Homerboy]

get fresh water with live plants and some chichlids
love it

 

[Doodoo]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
get fresh water with live plants and some chichlids
love it

I use to love my tank with cichlids and clown loaches...i may setup another tank someday for them.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
If you think a saltwater tank is just add salt water and fish then you are indeed a complete noob.

I'm familiar with ph balancing, 7-10 day microbe growth before your fish enter the system, temperature monitoring, reef/non-reef fish, etc.... i'm talking about how its all inclusive for what you need to get started sans fish, plants, and food.

I'm looking to get input on the less obvious differences between fresh/saltwater. Exactly how much more maintenance is needed etc.

There is more maintenance. Salt buildup will need to be cleaned and pH should be around 8. At the aquarium we kept our Salinities between 31-33ppt. A bit saltier for reef systems (though it wouldn't seem that's your aim). Maintaining salinity will probably be your biggest PITA. If you can, have a separate circulating system with just ready made, clean saltwater to be used for H20 changes. Temps will depend entirely on what you buy. Asian tropical stuff hovering around 78-80F, Atlantic subtropical around 74F-76F, etc...

Remember to Quarantine first if you're gonna add fish to an existing population. Despite what people are saying you can get by with a small saltwater tank, and there are hardy fish and shrimp that will do fine so long as you don't overcrowd or get overly territorial varieties.

Other than that it's really not any different than freshwater on principle (feed, clean, check water chemistries and temp, scrub algae).

 

[Raduque]

I'd love a saltwater tank, the fish are quite beautiful.

But, I failed at my 10 gallon freshwater planted tank experiment. I can't for the life of me keep the water clear (I get a green algae bloom within two days of a water change), but the plants appear to be healthy (a single Crypto and a small "brazilian sword" that's not actually a peace lily) and the fish are happy.