How Hard Is A Marine Tank?

[catfish_mad]

While at work (bored) i was thinking of changing my 36"x12"x15" into a little marine tank. but i've heard that they are alot more hard work than a tropical tank, is this true

What type of gear would be involved with a little tank like this one.?

Any help would be greatful.

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. The best thing to do here would be to check out the marine forums on this site. Once you read down there more you'll get a better idea about why everyone doesn't go the marine route. As far as difficulty goes, the way i understand it (having never kept marine) is that everything as far as water quality goes has to be kept at very constant, exact parameters or you will run into trouble. This goes for temperature, salt content, etc. etc. etc. If anything changes dramatically from what is considered normal then trouble results.

Another deterring factor for marine tanks is the sheer cost. The fish cost more, the water changes cost more because you need to use reverse osmosis water and you have to buy the salt. There is different equipment involved, and if you want to get into live rock and invertebrates then lighting becomes an added expense as well.

Obviously people do have successful marine aquariums so i don't want to deter you from having one too, i just wanted to stress that research is very important before getting started. If you think you have the patience, skill and money to do it properly then i say go for it because i am sure that it is well worth it.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[catfish_mad]

Thanks cujoho78. I understood that there would be alot of work. But i dont think i have the time and money to look after it too that extent. But on the other hand they are amazing to look at.

I'll do a bit more research and chose at a later date.

 

[xJake]

If you're a beginner marine aquarist (or freshwater aquarist for that matter) you should never start small. Bigger tanks are easier to care for (with a large tank you can do less water changes; unless you're keeping corals/anenomes), put less stress on your fish, are a more salvageable investment if something should go wrong and are fun to play with and experiment with as a beginner tank. With a small tank like yours if something goes wrong you'll most likely lose your entire investment and eventually get boring after awhile as you'll quickly run out of space to put things in it. Also, don't have the mind set that running a small marine tank is all that less expensive than running a large one, because it's not.

As for gear for a saltwater tank:

Required: Wet-dry or canister filter (power filters get clogged too easily with the waste, crust and algae build-up from salt water aquariums, and the tubing in canister/wet-dry filters is much easier to clean and cheaper to replace if they do get clogged or damaged), protein skimmer (if keeping corals and anemones), compact fluorescent lights (if keeping corals) and finally salt water mixing equipment (large tub (garbage tubs work nicely), pump or power head, salt/marine mix (obviously) and a hydrometer/refractometer; I would also recommend running a heater to get the temp up to your tank's)

Recommended: UV Sterilizer (generally helps protect your investment by killing off any bacteria/parasites in the water)

 

[andywg]

The usefulness of UVs in saltwater is hotly debated as to whether it really works, so I would have trouble recommending it.

Also, a wet dry isn't really encessary until you are looking at keeping some seriously messy and sensitive fish (such as sharks). Cannisters and power filters can be used to house carbon and other chemical media, but are by no means necessary on a modern SW tank.

For the average SW tank the berlin method is fine, around 1kg of Live Rock ("LR") per 2 gallons and a protein skimmer. put that on the tank with powerheads to make around 20x tank turnover per hour and you are well on the way to a successful tank.

SW generally costs more, but that is usually the LR. Also the lights get costly once you are into the more sensitive corals or nems.

SW is as costly and as much hard work as you make it. My first tank was an 18x15x15 frogfish species tank. Great fun. Second tank is a 21x21x18 reef. so long as you don't mind keeping an eye on the tanks, and above all have PATIENCE then SW isn't that bad. Find some second hand LR (or make your own) and you have a tank that isn't that much more to set up than a FW.

 

[xJake]

Also, a wet dry isn't really encessary until you are looking at keeping some seriously messy and sensitive fish (such as sharks). Cannisters and power filters can be used to house carbon and other chemical media, but are by no means necessary on a modern SW tank.

A friend of mine who owns one of the major saltwater (and freshwater) fish stores in my local area and who has been keeping saltwater fish in his store for over 30 years told me that he has tried using standard H.O.T./H.O.B. Power filters in saltwater tanks in the past and he said that it ended up being more of a pain to clean it out of the crust/waste/algae build-up and keep the flow decent than saving up/spending the extra money for a decent canister/wet-dry filter.

 

[PaulEbs]

Find some second hand LR (or make your own) and you have a tank that isn't that much more to set up than a FW.

Sorry I'm a complete SW noob - but can you really make your own live rock? How is this done?

Paul.

 

[andywg]

Also, a wet dry isn't really encessary until you are looking at keeping some seriously messy and sensitive fish (such as sharks). Cannisters and power filters can be used to house carbon and other chemical media, but are by no means necessary on a modern SW tank.

A friend of mine who owns one of the major saltwater (and freshwater) fish stores in my local area and who has been keeping saltwater fish in his store for over 30 years told me that he has tried using standard H.O.T./H.O.B. Power filters in saltwater tanks in the past and he said that it ended up being more of a pain to clean it out of the crust/waste/algae build-up and keep the flow decent than saving up/spending the extra money for a decent canister/wet-dry filter.

Yes, but even that is NOT necessary in a standard SW setup.

The Berlin method (the most popular one of recent times) requires only live rock, a skimmer and powerheads. Nothing else. For most people cannister filters are not maintained often enough and end up being nitrate traps.

Paul>

DIY LR is made from cement and crushed oyster shell (mixed 1:5) with a little water. There are articles on making it throughout the web. It just takes a while to cure the cement and stop the pH rising into double figures and then for the required bacteria to colonise it.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

we've just got our first marine tank, and it's hard work but very rewarding. Ours was a mature set up, someone wanted shot of it and we got the tank, all the equipment, LR, fish, corals etc for £150. There's a link to the topic about it in my sig. We thought doing it this way would be loads easier than starting from scratch and it may well have been, but even this hasn't been at all easy, or cheap!

But on the other hand, the excitement when we first saw our bristleworms, or the coral's opening up, or the anenome's eating has been great. We've found it much more interesting and rewarding than the tropical tanks and we're both really chuffed that were starting to get results.

So yeah, if you've the time money and patiente then go for it, you'll love it

 

[Chac]

Hi there

I would either get this moved or repost in The MArine Section as some of the info you have received is outdated &/or Incorrect

 

[catfish_mad]

Cheers guys for the help but i think i'm going to leave the SW set-up til i have a bit more money behind me and just concerate on my FW tanks.

 

[Lynden]

Setting up a marine tank was the best choice I ever made.

The variety, colour, diversity of life forms, ect. pretty much puts freshwater to shame. You get more life on one piece of live rock than you could cram into a 55 gallon planted tank.

With freshwater, you can have a beautiful tank; with saltwater, you can have an absolutely stunning tank.

Reef tanks are decidedly a little more difficult than freshwater, and more costly. But I think it's worth it

-Lynden

 

[Araxen]

I really wish I could go marine but it's just out of my price range. Hopefully down the line I'll be able to afford a marine setup.

I've always wanted a clown fish!

 

[Lynden]

I'm broke as a hobo, not to mention a young kid (14). I still scrape by, but barely. It would probably be a good idea to wait until one's funds were more stable. But it's too late for me

-Lynden

 

[bassboy]

Setting up a marine tank was the best choice I ever made.

The variety, colour, diversity of life forms, ect. pretty much puts freshwater to shame. You get more life on one piece of live rock than you could cram into a 55 gallon planted tank.

With freshwater, you can have a beautiful tank; with saltwater, you can have an absolutely stunning tank.

Reef tanks are decidedly a little more difficult than freshwater, and more costly. But I think it's worth it

-Lynden

what a stunning tank m8