How hard is it really?

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Wolf-Keeper1

New Member
How hard is it to have a saltwater tank? I hear some people that have them say they wont do it again. Then i hear some people say, "It isnt as hard as some people think". I mean how hard is it to setup and maintain? How much time does a saltwater tank take compared to as freashwater, as far as upkeep? I would love to do one, i plan on having a few tanks, but I if it is time consuming maybe it isnt for me. Not that i dont want to, but cause i dont have the time. I work in a hospital we rotate weekends and and I personally work some jacked hours. Would it be somethingthat is do-able with minimum time or is it something i need to constantly watch.


Anyway any info would be helpful. I know I'm all over this board but i want to learn!
 
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lilfishie

New Member
Your question really depend on what you are keeping. What fish you want determines how big of a tank you HAVE to have for them. Do you want to keep soft coral, large polyp coral, small polyp coral or just live rock? Are you going to use a sump system, which IMO is the only way to go.
Fish only with Live rock, you will see this abbreviated FOWLR, and having the appropriate fish for the size tank, once the tank has cycled and the bioload is not overwhelming the system, I would probably only do a 15% water change every 4 weeks. Even keeping some soft coral probably 20% water change every 4 weeks.
I keep all coral and a small 6 fish in a 75 gal tank. It is fed quite a bit between the coral and the fish, yes the coral needs to be fed. I still only do approx 20% water change every 4 weeks.
The maintenance is not really the hard part, as it is getting the right equipment to help the system self maintain. It can be some what expensive. There are places to get this equipment at a fraction and a lot of people to help out new SW enthusiasts.
Water is another factor in maintaining the tank. You CAN NOT use tap water. Too much TDS. You will have algae up the you know what!

Now, you here it a lot, but If I can do it, any one can do it. I have three salt water tanks running and doing great. I started my 1st one in april 2009. If you think you want to try it, just do it. It can be very rewarding. I love my salt water fish and critters and coral.
 
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Wolf-Keeper1

New Member
lilfishie said:
Your question really depend on what you are keeping. What fish you want determines how big of a tank you HAVE to have for them. Do you want to keep soft coral, large polyp coral, small polyp coral or just live rock? Are you going to use a sump system, which IMO is the only way to go.
Fish only with Live rock, you will see this abbreviated FOWLR, and having the appropriate fish for the size tank, once the tank has cycled and the bioload is not overwhelming the system, I would probably only do a 15% water change every 4 weeks. Even keeping some soft coral probably 20% water change every 4 weeks.
I keep all coral and a small 6 fish in a 75 gal tank. It is fed quite a bit between the coral and the fish, yes the coral needs to be fed. I still only do approx 20% water change every 4 weeks.
The maintenance is not really the hard part, as it is getting the right equipment to help the system self maintain. It can be some what expensive. There are places to get this equipment at a fraction and a lot of people to help out new SW enthusiasts.
Water is another factor in maintaining the tank. You CAN NOT use tap water. Too much TDS. You will have algae up the you know what!

Now, you here it a lot, but If I can do it, any one can do it. I have three salt water tanks running and doing great. I started my 1st one in april 2009. If you think you want to try it, just do it. It can be very rewarding. I love my salt water fish and critters and coral.
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Thank you for your info! I will do some more research and see if it is for me. I would love one though!
 
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sandnuka

New Member
Wolf keeper.... I have been wanting to do a saltwater tank for awhile now.... but really the biggest thing that is stopping me is the cost.... You need to invest allot of money in a good saltwater tank.... if you have the money, upkeeping it is the fun part :) ..... someday, when I get rich, I will do one.
 
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lilfishie

New Member
Really, yeah the cost of equipment can be expensive. But I started with a 55 gal tank off craigs list. It does not have to be a reef ready system. There are overflows made for this. Also your sump does not have to be one of those expensive sumps. I made mine out of a glass aquarium and used aquarium silicone to add glass baffles. You can pick up pumps cheap. I have one that is originally 160$ new approx that I am selling for 60$. I can get you hose for cheap from where I work. The expensive part is the skimmer and you can find those for sale on other sites. Get a couple things at at time, before you know it, its all set up. Now your rock on the other hand can be expensive. I paid 200$ for 30lbs, 4 rocks. But people are selling it at around 3$ a lb. You do want good pest free rock.
 
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larry.beck

New Member
I'll say this; if you can keep a saltwater tank successfully, you can certainly keep a freshwater tank. I read the saltwater forums religiously because all of the advances in this hobby happen there. The most advanced tank builds, lighting, water treatment and monitoring, etc. It's fascinating stuff!
 
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regan24

New Member
Okay, here's my opinion:

FOWLR tanks are pretty simple. My biggest problem was setting up in the beginning, my phosphate level was WAY too high, which I have since fixed. If it were up to me, I'd ONLY ever have SW tanks and maybe an Oscar tank. The biggest problem that I still have now is that it is WAY too expensive for me. If my income were more/I had less bills/costs, etc, it would be WAY easier.

Keeping the levels has been easy for me.

Keeping my fish alive, feeding, water change, etc, has been extremely simple.

A reef would DEFINITELY be harder due to the calcium levels etc in the water that you have to watch out for. I am about to take the brave leap into reefs, you have to also pay attention to LIGHTING. Lighting is the #1 most expensive part of running a reef.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON STARTING ONE,

START
WITH
A
BIG
TANK. I cannot emphasize this ENOUGH. I started in a twenty, I wouldn't recommend doing anything under a 55 unless you're prepared to lose a lot of life/money.

DO NOT CYCLE YOUR TANK WITH DAMSELS. Cycle it with live rock, and then pick your hardiest fish that you want to KEEP in your tank, and then test it out like you would freshwater. DO.NOT.KEEP.DAMSELS. I'm telling you do not listen to ANYBODY ELSE about cycling. Number one, it's morally wrong, number two, damsels are EVELLLLLLLLEVILEVILEVILEVILEVIL, number three, you'll have to rehome them, and that's just a PITA.
 
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regan24

New Member
I'll break down my starting cost for you, and this is CHEAP mind you:

1) I got the tank second hand, with a tank/filter/heater/aragonite sand bedding included for 60 dollars. Expect to pay MUCH more than this, up to about 300 depending on the size of the tank.
2) Lightbulbs-My lightbulb costs about 30/40 bucks, and I have to replace them every few months-if you go for an LED fixture, or even metal halide, you can get away with a little longer, but for now I'm just running a power compact.
3) Live Rock: Expect to pay at a LFS about 6 or 7 dollars per pound. I've got about 10 pounds in my tank now, so that's about 70 there.
4) Stock: Saltwater fish are MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE. Luckily I only had a puffer (RIP) and molly, the molly was 7 bucks and the puffer 14 I think. But saltwater fish can run into the hundreds for the really pretty ones.
5) Food: They need a mix of flake/frozen/live, so be prepared to spend, depending on the food/how much, a decent amount a month.
6) Salt FOR the water: Petco has some really good prices, and there's LOTS of places online you can buy in bulk, but I got a 25 pound box for 20 bucks.

Calculate in an extra 100 or so for your mistakes (because you WILL make them, I promise you, don't be worried, EVERYONE does it) and you'll look at a few hundred to a grand of charges to start it up.

Figure the salt for water changes/if you want to use RO or RODI water/food costs, and livestock, you'll be looking at quite a bit. PLUS electricity.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GOOGLING GFCI UNITS...
 
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lilfishie

New Member
Food is not all that expensive. Dont feed flake. There is not enough nutritional value in it and it increases phosphates and cause algea problems. I feed raw table shrimp, raw scallops, mysis shrimp. Package of mysis is about 20.00, shrimp about 2.00 worth and scallops about 2.00 worth and cut it up in small pieces, rinse it refreeze it in freezer bag and this lasts me a good two months. I also feed Nori, which you can get at the grocery store and the container I have has lasted me a year. I am feeding three saltwater tanks and three large fresh water tanks for a total of about 35-40 fish

Yes start with a bigger tank, 55 gal or larger. Its much easier.
Lighting is essential for sps coral AND anemones. soft coral and some non photosynthetic coral eat nutrients out of the water and dont need hight lighting. I have a full reef tank and I am running T5s. My lights are only about 25$ each and they dont need to be replaced more often than every 16-18 months.

Instead of using a fish for cycling, use a piece of table shrimp.
And yes Damsels are EVIL like Regan says. So are the gold stripe maroon clowns. They get big and nasty. They bite.

You can get RO water free from some of the lfs's and salt mix you can get from http://www.drsfostersmith.com/ for 9.00 shipping. You can buy it in 200 gallon boxes for like 35$

If you know where to look, you can find all the equipment and what ever you need for a lot less than retail.

If you do your research and dont buy things you dont need, and dont buy something just to find out you have to upgrade it, it wont cost as much.

And you can find good live rock for around 3$ a pound.
 
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regan24

New Member
I had NO IDEA about the salt mix. INSANELY CHEAP.

I haven't been able to find live rock for 3 dollars a pound, like I said 6/7 dollars at a LFS, not through Craigslist or anything.

And I feed flake mixed in because I have a molly
 
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lilfishie

New Member
regan24 said:
I had NO IDEA about the salt mix. INSANELY CHEAP.

And I feed flake mixed in because I have a molly
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Okay, the 200 gal mixes run about 50.00 but with my three tanks totaling 150 gals, I dont use a box but every 6 months maybe.
I do feed my freshwater fish flake food, but they also get vitamin enriched mysis shrimp too. Their color just burst from the nutrients.
 
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Wolf-Keeper1

New Member
Wow that is alot of info to take in. I appreciate it. First things first i guess. RESEARCH lol.

I obviously have quite a bit to look into. I appreciate all of you who replied I gives me huge insight, thank you.
 
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Wolf-Keeper1

New Member
regan24 said:
Just know that no matter the cost/stress that you begin with... It is ALWAYS worth it in the end.
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I can appreciate that. I'm a finished product type of guy for the most part. I love to see hard work pay off.

Thanks again!
 
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