From Freshwater To Saltwater

[linux44]

Hi All,
 
I have a 190liter freshwater tank with 4 goldfish in it and I love them all.  They are really cute 
 
One thing I like about them is the fact that aside from excessive cleaning of the tank which requires a lot of effort, they seem to be fine most of the times with bad water quality or when I am away for few days then can use a machine to feed them or people say don't feed them at all.
 
In another word what I m trying to say is that they are tough( all goldfishes are ) and can resist illnes and have stronger bodies.
 
I have heard the opposit about saltwater and the fact that they are very sensitive and any small mistake or risk can kill them.
 
my questions are :
1.are they easy to keep or very sensative? for instance my goldfish are fine with wide range of weather temp from 18 to 25degree although i try to keep it at 21 most of the time but with the summer it is very hard.
 
2. are they expensive to keep ? requiring salt etc and 
3.do they require water change as much as goldfish which is around once every 2 weeks minimum ( i do it twice a week) ?
4.is there a rule on how many liter per fish as per goldfish which most people suggest 20 gallon for first one and 10 gallon for any additional one.
5.do they need filteration for 20liter or slightly bigger?
6.do they need protein skimmer or any other equipment to run ?
7.what is their preferred tempreture.
 
 
 
i like to fit 2 clown fish and one dory from nemo which is known as a Blue Tang i think
 
 
I apprecite your help
 
 
I want to mount it on the wall 
 
is that true?
I have a 20 liter tank and want to put 2 or 3 salt water fish in it but not sure if that is ok.
 
 

 

[SamB]

Hello - I am not a saltwater keeper myself, but as I understand they have a very high start up cost, and then a medium running cost. Depending on what type of salt water set up you want (Reef only, Fish only, Reef with fish), the cost varies and casual maintenance also varies. However, I can tell you that if your water quality currently gets bad that I would HIGHLY recommend against going this route. Your tank size is far too small for salt water fish, especially the ones you are talking about. Salt water fish have higher territory requirements. I would focus on keeping your goldfish happy and their water nice and stable

 

[Paradise3]

my questions are :
1.are they easy to keep or very sensative? for instance my goldfish are fine with wide range of weather temp from 18 to 25degree although i try to keep it at 21 most of the time but with the summer it is very hard. They can deal with a temperature range depending on what fish you want to keep.
2. are they expensive to keep ? requiring salt etc.  They are expensive to run. The initial set-up can go up into the 1000's and then running can go into the 100's depending on whether you keep fish only with live rock, reef, live rock and corals... And so on.
3.do they require water change as much as goldfish which is around once every 2 weeks minimum ( i do it twice a week) ? They need a 25% waterchange once a week minimum.
4.is there a rule on how many liter per fish as per goldfish which most people suggest 20 gallon for first one and 10 gallon for any additional one. Yes there is. The rule is that you only stock half in a salty tank as what you would in a freshwater. So say you have a freshwater 60cm long tank, you can fit 60cm of fish in it(theoretically) in the same size tank in saltwater you can only have 30cm of fish in it.
5.do they need filteration for 20liter or slightly bigger? They NEED filtration no matter what size tank they are in. All fish do. They also need a Skimmer and multiple other specialist equipment items.
6.do they need protein skimmer or any other equipment to run ? Yes.
7.what is their preferred tempreture. Depends on the fish you keep, just like it does with freshwater.
 
i like to fit 2 clown fish and one dory from nemo which is known as a Blue Tang I think?
 
is that true?
I have a 20 liter tank and want to put 2 or 3 salt water fish in it but not sure if that is ok.
 
No! You can't even keep one clownfish in a 20 litre tank. In a 20 litre tank you can only keep a CUC on it's own or ONE small fish like the Hi-Fin Banded Goby and a small CUC like tiny hermits(Red legged and blue legged but they tend to eat corals) or some snails.

 

[darksoul996]

Marine are a lot more sensitive than other fish types and it is imperative that the water is monitored regularly. In a 20l tank the expense isn't going to be that much. I do 2 x 10% waterchanges on my seahorses weekly so if you did the same you'd be using 4 litres a week so probably about 60ps worth of salt. The one thing I would never use with marines is tap water so it's best to either invest in an RO machine or check if a lfs supplies RO.  In a 20l tank you could fit a 4cm fish max. All clowns and tangs would be a nono. You could have small shrimp such as sexy shrimp and maybe a snail or a hermit, A skimmer isn't an absolute necessity however it makes life extremely easier especially if you've never kept marines before. Even smaller clowns such as perculas require a 60l minimum for a pair and regal tangs (dory) require 4ft + tanks with plenty of swimming room.

 

[Zante]

1.are they easy to keep or very sensative? for instance my goldfish are fine with wide range of weather temp from 18 to 25degree although i try to keep it at 21 most of the time but with the summer it is very hard.

 
They are very sensitive to variations. marine fish have evolved in the sea (obviously), and the sea is a VERY large body of water, inherently stable. My reef has the heater set for 24 celsius, but this summer it was pretty much constantly at 27 celsius because of the heat. I have chosen fish that would be fine in that heat, so that wasn't a problem, but if the temperature were to go up and down they would suffer more than freshwater fish.
 
 

2. are they expensive to keep ? requiring salt etc and

 
There is more equipment to buy, which is expensive, the salt is also an expense, and you use a lot more electricity.
Consider that my 90 litre minireef which used to be freshwater cost me upwards of £600 to convert.
 
You can save money, but you need the experience of knowing what you're doing.
 
Livestock is also more expensive.
 
 

3.do they require water change as much as goldfish which is around once every 2 weeks minimum ( i do it twice a week) ?

 
Not necessarily, my new reef is running since the 7th of june without water changes. It depends on your setup and your experience.
If you're just starting I suggest 10% changes twice a week to start with and once the tank settles down you can reduce the changes to weekly or even less, but you need to evaluate the frequency by testing the water, not only for nitrate, but also for kh, phosphate, calcium, magnesium at least.
 
The chemistry is more complicated in a marine tank.
 
 

4.is there a rule on how many liter per fish as per goldfish which most people suggest 20 gallon for first one and 10 gallon for any additional one.

 
Not exactly, but marine tanks are stocked more sparsely than freshwater ones. It is better if you draw up a stock list and post it on the forum. Expect it to be torn apart over several revisions of the list. Stocking a marine tank is very much an art and requires a bit of experience. The rule is "if in doubt leave it at the shop".
 
 

5.do they need filteration for 20liter or slightly bigger?

 
What what what?
 
Is it 190 litres or 20 litres?
 
If you're talking of a 20 litre tank then it's better if you drop the idea. 20 litres is a nanoreef, you shouldn't start with a tank that small, it would be a NIGHTMARE to keep levels stable in that little water.
 
190 litres is a reasonable starter tank, 20 litres absolutely not.
 
In any case filtration works differently in marine tanks. The Berlin method, which is the standard method nowadays requires high water flow (20x and upwards) and live rock for filtration.
 
 

6.do they need protein skimmer or any other equipment to run ?

 
Uhm... no equipment is NEEDED, but each piece of equipment will solve a problem with maintaining the tank.
A calcium reactor will keep calcium levels high
A skimmer will pull out much from the water column
An auto top up will keep salinity stable, etc...
 
 

7.what is their preferred tempreture.

 
If you keep a temperature of 24 or 25 celsius most reef fish will be happy. If in summer temperatures rise, more delicate fish like anthias will suffer and possibly die. You should research each species individually.
 
 
 

i like to fit 2 clown fish and one dory from nemo which is known as a Blue Tang i think

 
If you're talking of 190 litres the clowns will be more than fine. If you're talking of the 20 litres, no, no fish whatsoever. The ideal stocking for 20 litres is a colony of sexy shrimps, couple of crabs, couple of snails and a few soft corals. Maybe one larger shrimp, like a cleaner or a fire shrimp.
 
The regal tang (not blue tang) would suffer in your 190 litre tank for lack of space. Tangs need a minimum length of the tank to swim. In nature they swim miles and miles every day, and if they don't have enough room for swimming they suffer and possibly die. Regal tangs are possibly the most abused of these fishes, as they really need at least 8 feet of tank length.
 
 

I have a 20 liter tank and want to put 2 or 3 salt water fish in it but not sure if that is ok.

 
 
No, it isn't, sorry.
 
In your 190 litre tank you can build a very nice reef.
 
In 20 litres you're cooking up a recipe for disaster.
Who knows, you might be incredibly lucky, and you might get them to live, but trust me, for such a small tank, the effort is disproportionate.

 

[linux44]

thank you all for the effort put int to explain this
 
I think I am going to stay away from marine fish as it sounds like too much trouble etc
 
I am working all working days and by the time I get home, I don't have much time to start checking ammonia etc every day and change water if necessary.
 
I have had my goldfishes for a while and all seem happy . I change water once a week or more frequently if necessary . sometime I push it to once every 2 week if I am really busy but will check the water quality constantly
 
 
even after 2 weeks their water is fine, no ammonia, no nitrate etc but I still change it so they get a fresh water.
 
 
This is aleady a bit of work for me to do every week and marine seems like it is going to be 3x the current work
 
 
by the way if for goldfish the water ammonia, nitrate and nitrite is all low, would you change it or even keep it as is is for a month or two if it is always low ?