Saltwater tanks

[jasper316]

If any one has any info on how to get started on saltwater tank,it will very usefull for me i want to get a tank up and going by summer but never had on before.

Fell free to send me a message at any time thanks.

[dannypd]

first of all, if it will be warm water, 25 celcius PLUS, know that salt will collect around the tank, on the lamps, etc.

Also, is your tank 55 gallons or more, or under?

55 gal + saltwater tanks are MUCH MUCH easier to take care of then 50 gal or less.  Just my personaly experience.

[yellowtang]

So I guess.you want to start a salt water tank by summer.
well. as A present salt water hobbiest..I can tell you to
slow down. First of all. Lets ask some questions.
How big of a tank you want.......the bigger the more forgiving.
if there is a sudden change of water  or if fish die off as
they certainly will at the begining the volume ofwater will
compensate that.
you got to cycle your tank first.......meaning it will be at least
8 to 10 weeks before you even think of putting fish.
what you want in your tank............soft corals or hard.
what kind of lights you want. Metal halides/power compact/
very high output lights.
what kind of fish you want...."not all fish are compatable
with one another.
What kind of skimmer you want? and how much you want to spend?
How much live rock you want to buy? the rule of thumb is
a 3 punds of rock per every gallon of water.
how deep of a sand bed or live  substrate you want.
how many power heads you are going to run?
are you going to have a sump/H.O.T skimmer,or trickle system.
what kind of salt you want?
I don't want to give you the wrong idea here.........it is always welcome to see new people getting into the hobby,but you must read before you jump into any expenses.
I too once dreamed of starting my salt water tank.
to put it into perspective my first tank was a 33g which is the
minimum to start with
to start the tank it costed me $1200. no rocks or sand bed.
just the power heads/skimmer/lights and chemicals. and some
ugly fish.
if you want more information on salt water systems and its cost.
here are few web sites you might want to go to.
www.canreef.com  www.aquaria.ca.  www.cyberreefguru.com give them a try..and welcome to the never ending hobby of
SALT WATER.
good luck........and have credit card/checks or money ready.          

[dannypd]

*grin*  start with a brackish setup, much more forgiving then a full-out salt system.

ALSO, you learn that guppies and goldsifh survive in heavy braskish water  (goldfish turn black...)

[jasper316]

Thanks everyone for all of your info and stips you all gave me
Thans again.....

[Cmarty01]

Take your time... thats the key. I am just finnishing up the cycle process right now and it has taken a lot of research. I suggest using this site (http://saltaquarium.about.com/) to start with and get a basic idea of the equipment you need. Then take all your questions to the chat rooms and see what peoples own experiences can tell you.

[FishPassion]

I have just started a 50 gallon salt tank about 3 mths ago and am giving myself 2.5 yrs to complete. The advice yellowtang gave you is so true, allow yourself plenty of time, money and above all "never" stop researching. If you are the impatient type of person then if I were you I would reconsider it. My wife keeps nagging me to get this fish and that fish, but remember a salt water tank can be very beautifull but can also turn into a nightmare if you are to hasty which I remind her of, research and time = success.
I still get discouraged at times, but I keep remembering as I gaze at some of the critters coming out of the live rock, and watch the growing pains of my tank that it is all just beginning to happen.

Good luck in your endeavour ........
research and time = success

plus dont forget the money aspect LOL

[PuddingTime]

I am also looking to setup a tank during the year and have spent the last few month searching the web.  It is how I found this site...
Another good site is thereeftank.com and for inspiration check out oregonreef.com what a setup this guy has.   :shock:

[Nelson]

I am also looking to setup a tank during the year and have spent the last few month searching the web.  It is how I found this site...
Another good site is thereeftank.com and for inspiration check out oregonreef.com what a setup this guy has.   :shock:

Oregonreef.com has no equal I'm sure!  I could only guess what his set-up cost.....$100,000 ?

[dpatte]

He says on his site that it would take US$20,000 or so to duplicate the one tank.

Id rather have a 150 gallon and a car

[TBarb]

That's not a hobby tank - more like a museum piece! :shock:  I wonder howmuch time he spends a week on maintenance?

[PuddingTime]

Yeah, I can't wait till I win the Super7 tonight so I can have a setup like that.

[dannypd]

Here's how a friend of mine setup HIS salt water tank:

We stole about 20 gallons of fresh SALT water from the beaches of portugal (1st trip)

Then, we stole about 60 -80 lbs of beach sand (inside the water, right after the drop) (2nd trip)

After that, we stole some more water and some rocks (we did NOT touch the corals, I dont believe in that...besides the rocks had lots of critters on it and seemed colourful enough to pass as coral)  (3rd trip...)

the NEXT day, we made another trip and snuck away from sea cucumbers, various plants, a whack load of clams, Lobsters (baby ones), and a small shark (but this didn't make it home )...

Total cost: $400 for tank, DIY filters, DIY skimmer.  He changes 15 gallons of water per week, PER WEEK, using fresh sea water.  He loads the new water in, as the old water 'flows' out.  .

He still has that damn ugly sea cucumber, lol.

This was in Armacao de Pero, Algave, Portugal.