Interested in salt water

[ewurm]

I have been told that salt tanks aren't that much harder to keep than fresh. What are your opinions?

 

[Princley]

nope they aint...once they r going

 

[ewurm]

What are the big obstacles in getting these tanks going?

 

[jimk]

I set up my saltwater about a year ago and the biggest difference I see is money. Lighting is definitely a key element and something you don't want to skimp on. 4 watts per gallon should allow you to keep just about anything. Even if you don't want coral, the lighting will allow your live rock to grow coralline algae. The live rock makes a big difference, as the algae, which will be purple, red, etc and the organisms that live in it will really aid your filtration. You probably want at minimum a half pound of live rock per gallon. Live sand will do the same and the combination of rock and sand will really speed up your cycle time. A protein skimmer is the only other real essential and I would not skimp on this either. With a smaller tank you may not need any additonal filtration than the skimmer and live rock. Larger tanks will probably need wet/dry or canister. After initial setup, I really don't see any difference. You might scrape a little more algae, but I find the water does not degrade as quickly. Don't cycle with damsels either. They will dominate your tank and make it tough to add others. Tankraised damsels, although also technically a damsel, should be hardy enough to cycle the tank.

 

[Princley]

i agree with JimK

 

[rweedon]

It has been really easy for me, although not rewarding at all I have a 20L with an undergravel filter and some live rock I replace the evaporated water as needed and hardly ever do water changes but I only have 2 clownfish in there so there really isn't a whole lot of need for water changes...

 

[FishHeadSoup]

I find that it is much more expensive (fish, saltwater, and equipment) and if you mix your own water it can be a big pain vs. just buying it premade at your LFS.

 

[craig]

Very easy and rewarding.

 

[fishnthings]

not hard at all

 

[I3u11he4d]

Money is the biggest differance but if you research you can find good deals and ways around certain obsticales.lighting is your key expense as well a live rock.As far as keeping things going,if you can do fresh you can do salt,if youve ever done a planted tank you can do salt.The thing to do is research,if you go in blind your bound to fail