saltwater tank

[mrcrabbs]

I want a saltwater tank but my father says that it is a lot of work and I dont have enough time for it. Well I am thinking of a 10-20 gallon tank for saltwater so would that be enough and how much time per day or per week do you spend on your saltwater tank, and what maintnence is involved like water changes and such

 

[jams.alaskan]

The problem with saltwater tanks is that those smaller ones are VERY hard to do. Bigger is better and easier with the saltwater set up but the expense is what keeps most folks away from it...

ALASKA

 

[mrcrabbs]

I see. My father had a 55 gallon once and that failed miserable because someone bought fish for us and we didn't know. That might be another reason why he doesn't want it, but I am hoping to get a 55 gallon around the end of the year, would this be enough do you think so it would not be hard maintenance or time? And how much do you do for maintenance on your tank.

 

[leanne]

55gal would be better (I have a 20 gal - hard work - tank and would kill for a bigger one if I had space).

Another question is who is paying? My 20gal has cost me around £400 ($600??) on a minimum budget, not including the tank, filters etc. If you increase your size you also have to at least double your cost as you have to put more in it. You could be looking at around £1000 ($1500??).

I would give it a bit longer until you can get your larger tank - save up... You can always be buying bits of equipment in the mean time so its not as much of a shock when you do set it up.

 

[leanne]

Oh and if you're thinking of corals add another £1200 for lights...

 

[spanair]

Yep leanne is right, is not cheap never has been really. I've only started to do the tank and so far i've spent about 600GBP that's 1,053.30 USD on the tank, skimmer, salt, lights, sand, RO water, without the live rock etc...


Apart from that I know they are worth it no matter what

 

[mrcrabbs]

Hoping on getting a 55 gallon for christmas. Im sure my dad would pay for it but I doubt I can convinse him for saltwater. Another freshwater yeah... but not saltwater. How much work do you put into it?

 

[Hazmat]

Yup salt water (reef) tanks can be expensive. I have spent over $6,000 USD in my setup and livestock and I'm still not done. You can see what i have hereMy setup I need to add another full tank pic but you can get an idea what 6,000 will get you. You can also read my sig below to see what livestock i have.

Good luck on your new tank when you get it (and if you really want salt keep drilling your dad...... He will give in sooner or later, I always do for my son )

Hazmat

 

[spanair]

(and if you really want salt keep drilling your dad...... He will give in sooner or later, I always do for my son )

Hehe

 

[mrcrabbs]

Yeah but I just dont want to do it if I end up spending hours a week maintaning it. How much work is involved?

 

[Hazmat]

I'll tell ya....It's not as much as everyone thinks it is.
I spend about 5 min. a day for feeding. Water test about once a week or two (10 min.) and every 3 to 5 days i will give it a cleaning that last 15 to 20 min. Then once every 4 to 8 weeks i do a water change (about 30 min) So you see it's not that bad at all.

Hazmat

 

[leanne]

I'd say as far as maintanance goes; it isn't as hard as everyone makes out (unless thing start to go wrong), but as for the cost - yes it is expensive!

 

[mrcrabbs]

My father was saying you had to scrub the salt off of everything. Is this true?

 

[Surfer Dude]

Well what do you mean by scrubbing the salt off of everything? If he means the outside of the tank, yea some of the salt will get on the top from the splashing of the filter and some salt will get on the glass but it is not hard at all to get it off. For the top all I do is run my figer across the top and push the salt back in because it did come from the tank so its not gonna hurt it. As far as the glass goes all you need is a paper towel or whatever and some water to take it off. Make sure that if you do get a saltwater tank that when you clean the glass that you do NOT use windex or glass cleaner because it can get in the water and mess up the pH and everything thuss messing up the whole tank. So to answer your question, no you do not have to scrub salt off of everything. Good luck with your dad B)

Surfer Dude

 

[Great Lakes]

IT is not much more work than a freswater, and by the time you get a full blown reef going, it is more rewarding IMO.

And it is real addicting.

GL