salt water tanks

[dwarf-puffers]

how hard are they really

 

[TexasPadreSurfer]

sup josh, my names josh too and i have a 75 gallon reef/fish saltwater aquarium
this is adifficult question to answer whithout more info of your aquarium keeping history. if you are an experienced aquarist who is succesfully keeping a freshwater aquarium(which i assume you are ) then keeping a saltwater aquarium is not much harder if you are planning to have a fish only. on the other hand reef aquariums can become difficult because you have to worry more about things such as pristine water conditions, that means your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph, salinity, and alkalinity. corals, anenomies, clams,and some invertibrates require trace elements like calcium, strontium, molybdenium, iodine and others depending on what you have. keeping a fish only sw aquarium is simular to keeping freshwater. the main differences are keeping up the salinity levels a hydrometer is used for this. certain fish require more care although, such as special diets different water conditions and temperature. saltwater aquariums are more expensive to keep because of more supplies needed and the fish are generally mor expensive than fw fish. the best thing to do is to reaserch and read before you buy, be sure you are knowlegeable about sw aquariums before you start one. and read up on your inhabbitants before you buy them. if you do this then you will do fine. if you have other questions you can ask me.

 

[parker313]

They aren't *hard*, they're just more time consuming and way more expensive! With the proper research though, and knowing what you're getting into, they are extremely rewarding

 

[gadazobe]

Moving to saltwater section - it will get more responses there.

 

[sammydee]

I would sort out your other 120 gallon fresh water first if I were you . It would be a pain trying to run two projects at once.

It isn't hard as such, but you need to really do your research. I've been reading reading reading for about six months and I'm still not ready yet.

 

[leon]

The main problem with marines is mainly expense!, they can be very expensive, and theres a limitless array of gadgets and gizmos available. The other is when things go wrong, they go wrong with a vengence, marines tend not to slowly get ill like fw fish, it usually comes on very quick and usually too late, and this can all to easily affect everything else in the tank (ask navarre!, he has a post on here somewhere showing how bad things can go!) and alot of treatments are not suitable for reef tanks, and can be hard to come by, and the expense of losing things can be great, esp when you can pay £50 and up on 1 fish . I got a fish last week, one that i'd ordered ages ago, and that cost me £80, it lasted 2 days, luckily the shop are fantastic and have said they'll replace it, but not all shops will!.
leon

 

[tff]

I have a virtually maintenance free tank...... the first year I bought the gizmos,stressed and tested,now I keep it simple, keep it natural,The best thing I did was innoculate the gravel with substrate from a healthy show tank. Go slow, dont over populate (I have never had more than 4 fish in 72 gal but many invertebrates) I find that my reef tank causes me way less grief than my FW or Cichlids ever did!

 

[Navarre]

I agree with tff. Marine tanks can be very low maintenance indeed. follow a few simple rules and dont overstock and you should not find the need for fancy gizmos.

 

[superman]

I gotta throw my two cents in as well.
IT's the initial start up that is the most daunting. Creating a tank that is low(er) maintenance is the goal of many people, but on the other hand there are people that don't mind a ton of maintenance, for example: instead of using skimmers and such for filtration they may do weekly or bi-weekly water changes of up to or over 30% (which can be a pretty tough maintenance schedule depending on the size and location of the tank) If you are going to set up a tank that you want to become low maintenance, the best way to do it is to be dedicated to that end from the very beginning. Every inhabitant should have it's niche, possible problems should be addressed before they happen, and a good quarantine tank should be utilized. Once you get over the initial start up period, which can take months upon months, and if you keep that end goal in mind, you will create a successful tank that doesn't just keep it's inhabitants alive, but makes it's inhabitants THRIVE.