marine tank difficulty..

SimonWoodstock

SimonWoodstock

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Sep 14, 2003
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ok, I will most likely be setting up a fw 55 this summer, as you have probably read if you go to the fw forums. but....mainly out of curiosity....i was wondering how hard it is to keep up a marine tank compared to a fw tank.

just basic stuff like: price, difficulty, needs of fish...stuff like that.


again, i doubt i will even try my luck at salt water...but i thought i would as since alot of marine fish are so much more colorful thank fw. fish.
 
Hello Simon, Im currently in the process of setting up a 55 gallon saltwater, and the price is around the same hundred


Saltwater
------------------------
1: Skimmer $160 (roughly)

2: Substrate 80$ (roughly)

3: 2 powerheads $30 (roughly)

4: salt $15 (roughly)

5: test kits $20 (roughly)

6: Heater $25(roughly)

Freshwater
----------------------
1: Filtration $120 (roughly)

2: Substrate $80 (roughly)

3: Heater $25 (roughly)

4: test kits $20 (roughly)



So the price difference aint much

but then comes LiveRock

For 55 gallons I'd say 70 l/b for commonly in most areas $5.99 a l/b

But I found it online for $2.25 a l/b

the fish prices between freshwater and saltwater is about the same for what you could keep in 55 gallons.

it's not too much of a difference in price, GO SALT!
 
what about lighting

Your pretty much right on the money. But I didn't see the lighting in there at all. If you want to go salt, with corals and anemones, for a 55 gallon tank, look at spending around $300 for lighting. And of course, if you live in a really hot climatic area, a chiller would be needed($400+). And, don't forget the live rock(4.99-6.99/lb). Not too mention also the additives for your corals.
I believe it's a bit more expensive, and more challenging. But, that's what makes it worth the while. Well kept and fully stocked reef tanks are a pleasure to the eye, though i've heard of some die hard keepers spending as much as $8,000 on thier rig, but that's by choice of course. I'll keep my tank small for now. But of course, if ya just want a fish only tank, it's about the same. The picasso(humu humu) triggers are a pretty cool lookin non-reef fish. Go for it, go salt!
 
I just bought 440 watts of pc lighting on ebay for about 120 bucks. According to everyone around here and books I have read that is more than adaquate for most corals 3 watts per gal. min. I have 100 gal tank. As far as chilling, what I am going to do this summer is buy a "dorm" refrigerator, drill a hole in it, put my canister filter in with extra tubing coil up. I have a friend of mine that has done this, and it keeps his tank around 70 deg. Obviously he uses his heater to keep his tank up to 78, but you get my point. You are looking at about 120 bones for that DYI
 
Liquafaction,
Why run a chiller to keep your tank at 70* if the desired temp is 78*? I'm not sure I understand the logic behind that...
 
Originally posted by SimonWoodstock
ok, I will most likely be setting up a fw 55 this summer, as you have probably read if you go to the fw forums. but....mainly out of curiosity....i was wondering how hard it is to keep up a marine tank compared to a fw tank.

just basic stuff like: price, difficulty, needs of fish...stuff like that.


again, i doubt i will even try my luck at salt water...but i thought i would as since alot of marine fish are so much more colorful thank fw. fish.
Click to expand...

I've never kept freshwater tanks simon, but I can say that over the 2 years I've kept my 125g saltwater tank I have found that it really isn't that difficult.

There are things you have to learn, but if your like me you'll enjoy learning about them. I think however that it's not a lot more then you have to learn about freshwater. maybe a little more though.

The only problem I've experienced is algea control. But up until the last few months I haven't been able to keep algea eating invertabrates like snails and crabs because of the fish I had (triggerfish snack on them!!!).

Some initial tips that I can offer for starters are this...

1.) Decided what kind of tank you want first and foremost. Do you want to keep a Fish only tank or would you like to have a reef tank with corals? That will dictate what kind of equipment you need.

2.) Like freshwater, you should keep an eye on your water chemistry. After you cycle your tank and it's been up and running the main things to watch are pH (8.3 is ideal), Alkalinity (I use dKh which is the same, between 8 and 11), Nitrates (lower than 20ppm is ideal), and possibly Calcium (for corals and live rock atleast 350ppm but 400 to 450 is ideal). Ofcourse you watch Ammonia and Nitrites during Cycle.

3.) Some equipment you'll want for saltwater that you probably don't need for freshwater is a Protein Skimmer, a lot of water movement from Powerheads (or a closed loop which I like better), Live Rock and a Deep Sand Bed for filtration or a Wet Dry Filter, and Higher out put lighting for corals (Power Compacts atleast, Metal Halide if your keeping more light intesive corals).

A lot of people don't recommend a wet dry anymore because it has the potential for food and debris to get caught up in it, causeing nitrates to raise higher than desired without regular water changes. This is true, but I'm off the opinion that if your keeping a fish only tank with a fairly heavy bioload and your not doing a reef, the price of all the live rock can be cost prohibative in a larger tank. It depends on what direction you want to go, what look your trying to achieve, and so on. Live Rock is however a fitration mechanisim and decoration all at once!

If you are seriously considering starting SW, and I do highly recommend it, feel free to ask some more questions.

Guy
 
Why run a chiller to keep your tank at 70*

I was just mentioning the capabilities of useing a refrigerator. We are in Texas, and it is not uncommon for us to have outdoor weather of 101-105 deg. for six weeks during the summer. When we have weather like that, it is all my A/C can do to keep my house at 78-79 deg. My house must stay 74 deg. in order for my tank to stay 79-80.

When my friend uses a refrigerator for cooling, the refrigerator is capable of pulling the temp down to 70 deg. Not that this is the most effecient way, but it does work. Obviously you could turn the temp up in the refridgerator for fine tuning, and run your heater as little as possable. What I would rather do is keep the temp without using a heater at 75-76, and use the heater to keep it 78-79.
 
I'm considering setting up a similar chiller system, but instead of a filter, I was going to use lines of tubing with a powerhead that's on a temperature regulation switch. When the temp hits a max point, the powerhead would kick on and push the water through the tubbing coiled inside the fridge. Once it gets down to a specified level, the powerhead would shut off. This way there's no need to run a heater and the chiller at the same time, and the fridge can still easily be used for storing fish foods and such.

But, on the topic--I've found that while the initial setup cost is higher for a SW tank, with live rock being the 'big' item, a planted FW tank can run to similar costs, and requires much more maintenance than the SW tanks. I spend time each week cleaning, pruning, planting and doing water changes on my FW systems, while the SW tank only needs a quick swipe at the glass and water changes every other week.
 
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