New to the salt water aquariums

Hammersparx

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 13, 2012
49
0
6
Waldorf,MD
So I have been reading and considering trying to do a salt water aquarium again. The first time I failed miserably because I didn't know anything about it, I didn't have the right equipment and I tried to rush the process. I have been thinking of taking either my 10gal or my 30gal and trying again. I'm not interested in do corrals or anything like that right now I just want to be able to keep the fish alive. Does anyone have any pointers for getting started?


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RWaltman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Aug 19, 2009
494
1
16
Warren, PA
Yeah, get a bigger tank! Seriously though, a larger tank will allow you more leeway with water parameters, smaller systems like the 10 gallon are near impossible to keep balanced without daily maintenance. For your 30 gallon, I would go with a FOWLR setting, meaning using live rock as a means to filter the setup. Depending on what type of fish you want, you'll need to have other equipment such as lighting and protein skimming. My honest suggestion would be to use the 10 gallon as a sump for the 30 gallon just to get the additional water in the system, but then you'll need an overflow. Go get a good marine book, I like "the new marine aquarium"...if you avoid inverts and corals the system will be fairly simple. You'll need a decent power head. You should decide NOW what fish you HAVE TO HAVE in the system, then work around it. Unlike fresh, you really can't mix n' match fish, they need to be specific to the regions/setups. Good luck! I miss my salt tanks, I'm going to get them back going when I buy a house...I have a 29 gallon that I'm going to use for a frog fish setup once I get it going!
 

Jrob

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 7, 2011
709
1
33
32
Michigan
he has good advice...however, if you don't want to buy the book just google every question you have or ask us... some of us are pretty knowledgeable. . .

30 gallon is the BARE minimum that i would start a tank... i jumped in reef first...i'm going to advise against this greatly. FOWLR is the best way to start off. Using the ten as a QT is another option but a fuge is the second best...avoid mechanical filtration...consider skimmers MANDATORY.

liveaquaria.com has tons of info on the fish that you will think you want...although it isn't always accurate it's a good basis for reference.
 

mattstevens1

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2012
553
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31
deer park ny
I started a 30 gallon saltwater tank and rushed into it and didn't think I NEEDED a protein skimmer.. Yeah it was horrible. Went alright for a little while... but after a bit the phosphates and everything just sky rocketed and my algae problem was disgusting. So now I redid everything with a skimmer and everything and It makes everything better. Like he said above me, I would find the fish you ABSOLUTELY NEED to have and work around that. And as for questions I know a lot of people on here were very helpful and GOOGLE will be your best friend throughout your whole saltwater experience. But I'd say start off with 30 gallon tank with my general rule of thumb i like to have at least a pound of live rock per gallon. Yes it could be pricey but don't buy it all at once just check into LFS and pick up nice pieces when you see them. As for filtration I have an Aquaclear 110 on mine and honestly. It seems to do the job perfectly for what I hope to accomplish. but if you could make a nice sump out of that 10 gallon that would be ideal :p anyways good luck and enjoy yourself!
 

Hammersparx

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 13, 2012
49
0
6
Waldorf,MD
I have been told for both salt and fresh water that the aqua clear 110 is the way to go. I know as far as supplies i need:

Obviously the tank
Lighting
Filter
Heater
Skimmer
Power head
Hydrometer
Sand or some other substrate
Live rock

Is there anything else that I will need and I have been reading a lot of articles and videos and most don't say anything about what chemicals are used.


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CanadianKeeper

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2012
1,252
72
66
Ontario
aquaclear 110 on a 30 gal ? lol

Id say your missing salt on your list lol... I ran a 35 gal for a year with only a canister filter problem free... Reef tank.
Definitly look into getting chemi pure... Stuff is amazing.
I started my salt adventure with a 125 then got a 10 then got a 35... all ran for bit over a year till i moved.

Check out "live sand" and big alls "bio support". I found they helped witrh the cycle ALOT! (add both AFTER you have mixed the water with the salt) If your not using RO or RO/DI water I use the stuff called PRIME it works amazing for fixing the water up nice before it goes into my tank for w/c's.

Even when I set up this 125 about 4 days ago. I dont have an RO/DI unit, so filled it, dumped in some PRIME... waited a day mixed the salt, waited a day, put in sand, waited a day, dumped in some Bio support and now waiting for the tank to clear. (sand mad it very foggy so waiting for it to settle) then When a week is by I will dump in more bio support, then add live rock, then wait another week dump in more bio support, and wait a week then add a little fishy see how he does... (all while I have a shrimp in the tank lol... store baugh frozen shrimp)
 

bigtanklvr

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2008
105
0
0
Toronto,Canada
I was on the forums for at least a year every day too before I started my 15 gallon, 1st thing: learn,learn,learn, 2nd: make sure you have everything you need before you start the tank, I had 2 ac's on my tank a 70 and a 30 the 30 was for carbon the 70 for equipment both were used for circulation not mechanical filtration, if you put a sponge in one you have to clean it once a week if you don't you could crash the tank, 3rd:learn,learn,learn, I could go on for ever but I won't, you'll learn, check out my tank in my sig, it's a great basic setup, P.S, Hope you have money,LOL!
 
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