Saltwater Tank Future?

38Gallon

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 16, 2005
8
0
0
51
New York
I have a 38 gallon freshwater tank(Hence the name)

I've been toying with the idea of starting a Saltwater tank.

What is the smallest size tank I could use as an effective saltwater tank?

How hard is the upkeep of such a tank?

I know freshwater thing but have no clue on saltwater-Can I pull it off & what will my initial costs be?

Thanks in advance for any help.

JN
 

Clay

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 28, 2005
1,047
3
68
Chantilly, Va
It really depends on your goals. Are you talking reef? What do you want to keep in it?
 

guppy

Small Squiggly Thing
Apr 15, 2005
11,582
87
0
confused, lost, and lonely
Hiya 38g and Clay, welcome to MFK. I have always been scared of saltwater tanks but the threads in the sw forum have got me thinking about a live rock and fish nano (12g) except for the rock it doesn't seem that much more expensive for the type and number of fish I want.
 

lizardfishman

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2005
1,150
2
38
Oregon
its easy. i have a 12 gal. sw tank. you dont need a protein skimmer unless you get a big tank and a lot of fish. i would recommend getting a damsel fish and a watchman goby. then once you get used to sw sell the damsel and get a dwarf basslet or some other fish that doesnt grow over 3". or you could just get a clownfish and name it Nemo :screwy:
 

frontosa_man

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 21, 2005
138
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43
queen creek AZ
do LOTS of reading before you take the plunge. you dont want to rush it. but before all that, what type of tank are you looking into doing? fish only with live rock(FOWLR)? nano reef? reef and fish?
 

38Gallon

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 16, 2005
8
0
0
51
New York
I was thinking of a 15-20 gallon type to house some Clowns,Starfish & some Coral? Is this doable? What equipment would I need with something like the above?
 

rweedon

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 23, 2005
535
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pullman washington
I don't know about corals in a 15-20, I would say go a lil bigger maybe a breeder of somesort because it is all about surface area... and the lighting requirements are crazy for corals... start with just the fish, that is what I did and now I am way bored of it...
 

spryandspringy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 7, 2005
271
0
0
The Lone Star State!
I changed over my 40g breeder to saltwater not long ago and I am completely and hopelessly addicted!

I set up a 70g saltwater last weekend. It's FOWLR (or at least it will be when I'm ready to add livestock). The 40g is a reef tank.

I'm getting ready to post a description of my experience setting up the 70g in the saltwater section. Read that for some idea of how complex it is. Also, my biggest advice (courtesy of bluedempsey) is LOTS of live sand and live rock! It makes all the difference. :)
 

jenBLKAROWANA

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 22, 2005
773
4
0
52
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I am wanting to start a SW tank also......I have been thinking of converting my 29gal tank....BUT, I need to run it past the B/F first....We both love fish, and we have been toying with the idea for awhie now....Just gotta let go of the FW fish in that tank....And start to convert it!

Jen ;)
 

Ornatapinnis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 28, 2005
595
2
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54
Dayton Ohio
A salt water fish tank is so much easier than what most people think. If a person genuinly understands the in's and out's of a fresh water aquarium, they will do fine with a salt water fish tank. They are almost identical, fish produce waste, bacteria brakes the waste down, we do water changes to remove the left overs. It really is that simple.

I think one of the big reasons that salt water has such a bad reputation is because there are many lousy freshwater aquarist out there who don't know they are lousy aquarist.

Example; A guy buys a cute little oscar, put's it in his 55 gallon. He feeds it alot, adds water when it evaporates, cleans the tank every once in a while when it looks nasty, basically doesn't do all the things the aquarium and oscar really need. Why should he, the fish is doing fine and is growing real big.

Let's face it, oscars and many, many other fish would survive in a bucket with an air stone and bread crumbs.

Well this same guy now thinks he's a good aquariust. Why shouldn't he? This fish has been alive a long time, grew it up from a baby. Everything has gone great. He sets up a salt water aquarium, treats it the same as he did the oscar and everything is dead in a week or two. He blames his failure (like many others have) on "Saltwater".

It's not saltwaters fault, it's the horrible maintenance and filtering pratice many people have and the un qualified clearks at LFS that offer lousy advise. I guess ultametly, it's the aquarist fault for not educating them selves before getting an aquarium & fish.
 
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