Starting SW; What do i need to know?

M

maverick_8teen

Do your fish talk to you too?
Jan 20, 2006
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I Live in Canada. Calgary, AB
Ive been doing FW tanks for 3 years now and would like to look into a SW tank but im really not sure where to start. When i started FW i got lots of information about it at multipal LFS's. The thing is there is only one LFS that sells SW Plants and Animals so that would only be one opinion. I would like yours.

All i can tell you right now is that i want it in a 20Gal Tank. Its what i have avalible and not too interested in going much larger (lack of space avalible).

I would like to know things like a filtration system, different types i can do. Ive been told 2 different ways of doing it.
Plants...can i use plastic, of do i need live SW Plants.
What types of a base (do i need Sand or can i use rocks)
And one of the more detailed things...Mantanince, what is the up keep like.

In Short i know nothing about SW but would like to know everything. Help me please.
 
Wow! Pretty broad subject.
Best advise I can give is pick up a copy of a good SW book such as "The conscentious marine aquarist" by Bob Fenner. It'll give you loads of good solid information from a seasoned pro.
 
Read through some threads here--including cycling.

And, while 20 gallon tanks can work, I really don't recommend them for a first time tank. The smaller tanks are much harder to stabilize, and you'll end up having more problems and much less options for stocking. I do understand limited space--but for something like this, it makes a huge difference. Topoff for FW is a daily chore in a smaller tank, and tiny changes that a larger system could work through may crash a smaller tank. So you have to be committed to providing daily attention to the smaller tank.

Also, decide what you want to keep. There won't be many fish choices--gobies, some pygmy angels or hawks, damsels and chromis, and only 2-3 fish total. Shrimp, crabs, snails etc will all be fine. For corals, you'll still have to provide good lighting, and the difference in lighting a 20 versus a 40 is pretty small.

In terms of filtration: live rock and sand are your best bets. Both will host the bacteria found in a traditional filter used in FW, and offer better habitat for the animals. 1.5-2 pounds of rock per gallon is best. Powerheads/pumps for water movement, a protien skimmer, and a heater. Lighting will depend on what animals you want to have. Sand is a good substrate, because it hosts bacteria and detrivores, and the smaller grained stuff is best. Larger size thngs--like gravel or crushed coral--can cause more problems and be harder to keep clean.
 
I have all the essentials for the 20Gal for FW. Would the Heater be sufficient enouph, would i need a more powerful one? Can i use the Filtration system it comes with (minus the carbon filter itself)? Im other words just have the pump running to "cycle" the water but nothing in it to act as a filter. As for lighting, i will change that because the light in it is what came with the set-up and doubt it will be proper for SW.
 
The heater should work fine, as the temp of a SW tank isn't different than a tropical FW setup. Yes, the filter can be run sans media for water movement, possibly with a powerhead for targeting areas that otherwise would be low flow.

Lighting will depend on if you want corals. If you don't, pretty well anything that's pleasing to you will be fine for a few fish, shrimp, crabs, etc.
 
So i need approx 30-40lbs of live rock. How much sand would you suggest to add to it? Do i layer the sand with the live rock or mix it together? This is probably gonna sound kinda stupid but does the live rock "die" so to speak. By that i mean, does it need to be changed on a regulay basis like Carbon in a FW Tank. Is so how often and would you suggest a "proper" way of doing that?

Do i need a source of air for the Tank? Will Live Plants take care of that for me? If they do, What kinds might you suggest and how many will i need?

I appologize about the # of Q's but i don't want to screw anything up. I want to know everything i need to and then some before i even start it. As for the types of fish i still need to go to the LFS and find out what my options are and if i can order fish and plants through them to open my # of options.
 
No, live rock is just rock with beneficial bacteria living on it. It never has to be changed.

For air, you'll want a good turn over in your tank with a couple of powerheads agitating the water surface. This will introduce all of the oxygen that you need

I would spend some time researching what type of fish that you would want before you go to the LFS. With a 20 gallon, your going to be limited on the number of fish you can have.
 
Sand will be on the bottom, like gravel is in a freshwater setup. You'll want 2-3 inches of sand, at least. I prefer to have some base rock--something porous, lace rock works well--buried in the sand to serve as a platform for the live rock to sit on. Live rock can die, in the same way the any bacterial filtration can. otherwise, it's 'good' for the life of the aquarium, no replacement needed.

Agitation from the current and a good protien skimmer will be all that you need for gas exchange. Bubbles and such aren't a good idea, since they increase both evaporation and salt creep. Live plants in SW basically means macro algaes. They are beneficial, but not required. There are only a few true plants that will survive in SW, and they, like FW plants, would have higher lighting requirements.

:) Research is a great thing! You'll find out that you literally can't know everything in advance--there's always something new. For fish, look at gobies, smaller clowns (percula and oscellaris, sometimes called false percula), pygmy hawks, pygmy angels. Damsels and chromis might work, but tend to be too aggressive for a small setup--they harrass everything else in there. Basslets would be another option, too. some wrasses--but make sure you check the adult size for any fish. I wouldn't go with anything that gets larger than about 3 inches. If you have one 3 inch fish, you could also add 2 smaller fish, like clown gobies. Or, 2 3 inch fish, like a pair of perculas.
 
Thanks for the imput so far. As it turns out i have found a way to increase my tank size. I am told by many people that a smaller tank is harder to keep so i have decided to build a custom tank thinking that i am likley to spend just as much on a smaller tank if it were to fail. As of right now i don't know how much its going to cost to build it and to add to it i need a stand as well which i am capable of building out of wood. Anyway i am trying for a 100Gal tank. Its a nice number to work with...it keeps my options open and its not getting out of a bobbiest level (as far as im concerned). I don't think this will likley be done till the spring giving me time to aquire information, get the best equipment my bank can afford etc etc.

Any objections? Imput? Pro's and Con's of a 100Gal SW to start?
 
If you are patient and cycle and take care of testing regularly, change the water, and pick hardy critters, you can do a 20 gal fine. My first SW was a 1 gal nano! The biggest problem I had was I had to test daily, and when green algae attacked there was no space to stick my hand in to clean it. I moved my one fish (a yellowtailed blue damsel-a very hardy fish that is aggressive, so it's fine by itself) and my inverts to a 10 gallon I've run for about 7 months. I keep plants and corals, etc. (see my signature) and check water parameters once a week now. I do a 10% water change every two weeks (every week is recommended by almost everyone). My tank is not designed to be a showpiece of reefkeeping, but a habitat much as I kept in FW days, with fish, inverts, corals, plants, and yes, algae. I use all stock FW equipment with some filtration aids, such as a surface skimmer (not a protein skimmer) connected to a small nano power filter, a 100 micron filter pad, and Poly Filter Mesh, in addition to the standard carbon filter. I have a Kent barebones RO unit which produces water without phosphates, which is very helpful, but not essential to a "dirty" tank like mine. Lighting for corals needs to be intense. With a small tank that can be handled much more cheaply. I have a 65W single tube daylight/actinic hood with moonlight, Sattelite brand, which seems to be ok with my corals. The only problem I've had with corals is keeping xenias and acroporas (sps), as they seem to be picky with water quality, and mine have done badly. All other corals are thriving and my zooanthid polyps are multiplying fast.

My clean-up crew is great, and my nassarius snails are reproducing like rabbits. I have a problem snail, a bumblebee, which I got for my one gallon and still lives in my 10...it kills and eats small inverts, so all my feather dusters and a very neat vermatid have been his victims...I wish I hadn't adopted him, but now he is at home and living the good life and I let him be (bee?). I have a pencil urchin and an emerald mithrax crab that are on the too-large-for-a-ten side, but seem fine for now, and help a lot in cleanup (especially the crab with bubble algae).

I find that most SW advice I get is from much more serious hobbyists with purity standards much higher than mine, as they keep much more expensive fish/corals and have much more invested in the hobby than I do. Maybe I'll be like that someday, but now I am happy and proud of my tank, which gives me many hours of relaxing observation of a miriad of life-forms. It's been a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants effort, but I've been lucky, I guess...

BTW, I still keep a betta in the 1 gal nano and a 30 gallon FW coldwater tank.

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