Saltwater Aquarium

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January 13th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Saltwater Aquarium
Wanting to start saltwater aquarium, what do I do?

Within the next 2 months, I may purchase a 55 gallon tank. What tips and what 'must haves' do I need to know about starting my first saltwater aquarium. What accessories do I need to purchase? Would it be harder to take care of than a freshwater tank? Do I really need a seperate tank running for emergency quarantine? Thanks!

Hi,
There is 100's of possibilities. It will be easy is you take the time to learn about saltwater tanks and chose equipment and live stock well.

What ever you do, you will need:
1) A light. The type of light will depend on what kind of live stock you will have. If you want to save a little, Power Compact light can do a great job for fish and soft corals. Before to buy corals, make sure your light is strong enough (and not too strong) for each species.

2) An hygrometer (cheap but not reliable) or a Refractometer (a little more expensive but much more reliable) or a salinity monitor (expensive but super reliable and great to use).

3) some kind of filtration system. Most people will go with a protein skimmer. Look online for hang-on protein skimmers. They are easy to set up. Some are great, some are crap. So before to buy a skimmer, go on a forum and ask people what they think about it.

4) Heater

5) Power Heads. Saltwater organisms will need some current. for that, you will have to buy a couple power heads. It is good to know what fish and/or coral you will have so you can buy power heads that will provide the right flow for them. Once again, before to buy, ask around to make sure this is a good one and make sure it will provide enough current for your live stock.

6) A salt mix. Try to go with a good quality salt mix.

7) Additives. A good salt mix will provide most of what you need for a good marine Water. However, protein skimmers are known to remove trace elements and starve corals. So you might have to use some kind of additives. I personally hate to use additives so I don't use a protein skimmers. I only rely on water change to keep my tanks clean and provide all elements needed. In your case, the tank is a little big to do this (that will cost you Lot in salt). When I have to use additives, I go with what's call "Trace element block" (see link bellow) and use what's call "pH adjustment rock" (see link bellow). Both together provides all I need and I don't have to dose additives and it's cheaper. It's actually more expensive at first but it's cheaper on the long term.

Stuff you might need:

1) Live rock and live sand:
Live rock is great to have. It will provide hiding places for your fish, will make your tank look much more natural and will be part of your biological filtration (yes, it help keep your system healthy). I would say that 1 pound of Live Rock per gallon is good. So I would go with 55 pounds of live rock in your tank. Unfortunately, Live Rock is not cheap. It might cost you from $5 to $10 per pound. Most of the time, this is the biggest expense in saltwater tanks. To reduce the cost, you could use 50% live rocks and 50% base rocks. Base rocks are "death" Live Rock. With time, live will establish in it. That's what I do and it work well. Remember: the less live rock you use, the longer it will take before your base rock becomes "live".
It's the same thing for Live Sand. It will be part of your biological filter. 3 to 5 inches of live sand is a good average. To keep it stir, you will need snails and other detritivores. You don't have to use Live Sand. Some people preffer to not have sand at all. If you use "pH rocks", you don't have to use Live Sand.

I hope I don't forget anything. If I do, please, someone add it to the list.

Once you'll have everything, set up your filter and all other equipment, add sand and or/rocks and add saltwater. Make sure your live rocks don't dry before you add the water.
Your tank is now ready. Let it run without fish for a good month. If you don't mind to wait, you could even wait 2 or 3 months before to add fish. Slow is best. During that time, procede to small 10-15% water changes every week.

Once your tank will be cycled, that will be time to add fish.

I recommend you to read and ask before to do anything. The tips I gave you will help you be on track but there is lot to know. Have a look at the link bellow to find some good source of informations: