A few newbie questions

Echosgold

Echosgold

AC Members
Jan 6, 2005
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Hello all. I have been looking around the net for info and by the looks of it I have found the correct place. I am currently in the process of getting together everything I will need to setup my very first saltwater tank. I have a 30 gallon tank and plan to have just a few saltwater fish, no coral. I have bought two books on marine aquariums yet I still have a few questions that hopefully someone can help me with. Sorry for being such a newbie! :sad

#1. Should I place real plants in my tank or is not neccesary? Does anyone use the fake ones or are those basically just for freshwater tanks? I haven't seen plants mentioned anywhere when it comes to saltwater.

#2. When adding tap water is it required I purchase a reverse osmosis unit or is there another option?

#3. Do I need to have a powerhead or airstone in my tank? If so, do I have to buy a seperate pump for that or can it be run by either the skimmer or cartridge filter? Do the powerhead and airstone do the exact same thing?

I am sure there will be many more questions to come but this is it for now. I had a freshwater tank back when I was a kid but this is a whole new hobby for me. I have a two year old and a baby on the way who I know will get a lot of enjoyment out of these fish if dad can just get everything figured out! ;) Thanks in advance for any help.
 
1. There are not a great number of plants that will survive in a marine tank. There are a number of attractive algae options--different varieties of caulerpa, but they will have similar needs to plants and corals--mainly, more light. They are not required, though can be used to help reduce nitrates. I don't like the fake stuff--it really looks bad IMO, and in a SW tank, impossible to keep clean without herioc efforts. But then, I also don't have fake plants in my FW tanks. Other than trying to keep it clear of tubeworms and coralline algae, there's no reason why you can't use fake stuff if you like it. You will need to make sure there's no exposed metal--it will rust quickly in saltwater.

2. Depends on your tapwater. Check with your water utility and see what is in the water, and decide from there. Tapwater often contains stuff that promotes problems in aquariums, including nitrates, phosphates and copper. You will want to check this out before using straight tapwater--it's easier to start right than try to clean up after the fact.

3. Yes and No. Powerheads to increase water movement and prevent low flow areas are a good thing--I like having one every 2 feet in my tanks. An airstone is totally unneeded, increases evaporation and salt creep. The aeration provided by a good skimmer is more than adequate.

HTH
 
OrionGirl said:
1. There are not a great number of plants that will survive in a marine tank. There are a number of attractive algae options--different varieties of caulerpa, but they will have similar needs to plants and corals--mainly, more light. They are not required, though can be used to help reduce nitrates. I don't like the fake stuff--it really looks bad IMO, and in a SW tank, impossible to keep clean without herioc efforts. But then, I also don't have fake plants in my FW tanks. Other than trying to keep it clear of tubeworms and coralline algae, there's no reason why you can't use fake stuff if you like it. You will need to make sure there's no exposed metal--it will rust quickly in saltwater.

2. Depends on your tapwater. Check with your water utility and see what is in the water, and decide from there. Tapwater often contains stuff that promotes problems in aquariums, including nitrates, phosphates and copper. You will want to check this out before using straight tapwater--it's easier to start right than try to clean up after the fact.

3. Yes and No. Powerheads to increase water movement and prevent low flow areas are a good thing--I like having one every 2 feet in my tanks. An airstone is totally unneeded, increases evaporation and salt creep. The aeration provided by a good skimmer is more than adequate.

HTH
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Thanks for the super quick response. I don't care for the looks of the fake plants either. Maybe I will give the coral a try after all. If the tap isn't any good, is their yet another option instead of buying the RO unit? Maybe an additive or something?
 
There are a couple of options. Depending on what is in the water that needs to be removed, you can try other filters. My own tapwater is decent, just lots of chlorine and a few other easily removed compounds, so I use the household style filters, plumbed together, with a good filter and haven't had any problems. It's a bit cheaper than going with RO, doesn't create the waste water, and is a bit quicker as well.

I would not advise going with any of the additives--keep in mind you're trying to remove impurities and anything that you add to the water may bind the impurity, but it's still in the water. Outside of chlorine and chloramines treatments, most are not a good choice.

You can also look into purchasing the filtered water. Many places sell RO filtered water, not too expensive depending on the size of your tank. I use that for my 5 gallon tank at work, but would hate to deal with that for my 120's!
 
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