Want To Start A Saltwater

[Gurglar]

So i'm wanting to start a salt water tank but only have the room for a 20 gallon tank and am fairly confident in trying it out, I know a bigger tank is better but this will make me concentrate alot more and hopefully keep my fish alive.

So what do I need to do to set it up? Do I NEED a sump or can I get away with running one?

I really have no idea on saltwater so if i'm being a complete idiot let me know I really do not want to go all out with a sump and everything if I don't HAVE to as i'm only on a casual job at the moment which doesn't allow the funds but am wanting to try this stuff out

So let me know what to stay away from and how to get a really basic setup going I don't mind if I run everything in the tank and then slowly upgrade and get it all out of the tank into a sump sometime in the future.

 

[VictorMeldrew]

I run both my 10gl and 100gl tanks without a sump, If you want to hide all your equipment away a sump is ideal but you can run a marine set-up without a sump, no problem.

 

[Knox213]

its a hard hard job buddy trust me.

Been there done that.

Mom owned a marine tank for two weeks.

she thought it was Too much work

( And it is tbh )

So i would give it a pass unless your 100% sure to go through with it.


( I Feel abad now cuz im telling you you cant do alot of things )

 

[aly_starh]

What are you looking into FO or FOWLR or a Full Reef?

 

[Gurglar]

thats alright knox I want to atleast try it out and if it doesn't work I can change it back into a freshwater setup

I want to atleast have some live rock and fish/invertabrates don't want to go all out though with corals and everything.

 

[aly_starh]

OK,
so then heres a little list:

-Tank
-Heater
-Live Rock (approx. 5KG for filtration)
-Salt (they are salt water fish )
-Refractometer (to measure salinity)
-Test kit (API MAster Test kit, i would advise)
-Sand (either CrushedCoralSand or AragoniteSand)
-Powerheads (to create movement in the water)

With lights you will be able to get away with anything, as you wont have corals.

And you wont need really need RO Water as you dont want corals, although using Tap Water will most probarly give you algea.


EDIT: TO ADD POWER HEADS

 

[Gurglar]

what about protein skimmer or do you not NEED them?

 

[aly_starh]

IMO, you dont need them... but if you want to run one then go ahead, it will make your water more clear...!

 

[Gurglar]

Ok thanks for that betta I should be able to order everything through my work hopefully so i'll have to check that out on saturday when I work

While i'm here I might aswell ask what inhabitants I could put in and how many?

 

[aly_starh]

Cool!

Well im not to clued up on inhabitants yet, so just check on this site;-Click Here

 

[VictorMeldrew]

A skimmer is a must imo, I would not run a marine tank without one and powerheads are also needed, marine tanks require a fair bit of water movement.

 

[aly_starh]

Whoops. Yes, you will need powerheads too. Approx. 1125/LPH

 

[Gurglar]

Was just about to say don't I need powerheads i'll most likely get a skimmer anyway as I want all the main stuff nearlly every person uses

 

[VictorMeldrew]

What are you planning on keeping in your tank?

 

[-Nemo-]

yes, definitely a skimmer.
Livestock: smaller clownfish species (like percula, ocellaris etc); gobies; blennies; cardinals; hawkfish (be careful with them if you want inverts). Just to name a few.