HEY GUYS PLS HELP ME I DONT KNOW THE THINGS SHOULD BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION IN STARTING A SALTWATER FISH TANK. WHAT ARE THE GADGETs? THE MAINTENANCE? THE IDEAL FISH FOR STARTERS AND THE THREATS? THANKS....
HOW TO START A SALTWATER TANK WITH A SALT MIX?
- Thread starter herocajumban
- Start date
SWEET! clean slate!
ok what you want to do is start off with a good sized tank. 55 is good but i wouldn't do anything smaller than a 30 on your first try.
then you need salt mix. if you don't plan on keeping inverts like coral and anenomes, that just instant ocean slat mix is fine. it's pretty cheap and gets the job done.
then a heater and lights and all that jazz. probably a cainster filter if the tank isn't going to be big enough to warrant a sump (100 gal+) the lighting is NOT important unless you plant on keeping inverts.
when the tank is setup and filled with saltwater and the filterantion is going, you next need to buy some live rock. depending on how big the tank is and how long you're willing to wait, there are two options.
1) you can buy all of the LR that your tank will ever need in one shot
2) you can buy about 10-20 lbs of live rock and the rest can be base "not live" rock. this step takes longer for the cycling to complete as the nitrifying bacteria have to actually grow on the "dead" rock, first.
after that, maybe a week or two you can add a few damsels to your tank. dosen't really matter what type just know that some can get pretty big (6")and two species can get really big (1'6")
after another 2-3 weeks you can start adding more sensitive species, like clowns, firefish, tangs, etc, etc.
if you do a tank bigger than a 30 i would recomend that you get a protein skimmer. they help remove wastes before the can decompose and become nitrates.
another (more optional) peice of equipment is a UV steralizer. it'll kill little nasties in your water than can cause ich and other disease. BUT it will also kill anything free floating in the water, like algea and nitrifying bacteria.
kinda long-winded already but let know if there's anything else you need to know.
SW is totally worth the work!
ok what you want to do is start off with a good sized tank. 55 is good but i wouldn't do anything smaller than a 30 on your first try.
then you need salt mix. if you don't plan on keeping inverts like coral and anenomes, that just instant ocean slat mix is fine. it's pretty cheap and gets the job done.
then a heater and lights and all that jazz. probably a cainster filter if the tank isn't going to be big enough to warrant a sump (100 gal+) the lighting is NOT important unless you plant on keeping inverts.
when the tank is setup and filled with saltwater and the filterantion is going, you next need to buy some live rock. depending on how big the tank is and how long you're willing to wait, there are two options.
1) you can buy all of the LR that your tank will ever need in one shot
2) you can buy about 10-20 lbs of live rock and the rest can be base "not live" rock. this step takes longer for the cycling to complete as the nitrifying bacteria have to actually grow on the "dead" rock, first.
after that, maybe a week or two you can add a few damsels to your tank. dosen't really matter what type just know that some can get pretty big (6")and two species can get really big (1'6")
after another 2-3 weeks you can start adding more sensitive species, like clowns, firefish, tangs, etc, etc.
if you do a tank bigger than a 30 i would recomend that you get a protein skimmer. they help remove wastes before the can decompose and become nitrates.
another (more optional) peice of equipment is a UV steralizer. it'll kill little nasties in your water than can cause ich and other disease. BUT it will also kill anything free floating in the water, like algea and nitrifying bacteria.
kinda long-winded already but let know if there's anything else you need to know.
SW is totally worth the work!
