Setting up a salt water fish tank is as easy as a fresh water tank!

A: Before we jump into this lets just sort out the terms a bit. The amount of salt in sea water is measured to as "salinity". When it comes to the Aquarium its most commonly referred to as a marine or brackish water tank or aquarium. The fishes themselves as marines or marine fishes.
Ok, so what about the equipment for the fish tank?

• Fish tank
• Filter ( protein skimmer )
• Pump
• Thermostat
• Lightning
• Water and salt mix
• Sand, decor, buckets, test-kits, fish traps...
• ...and not to forget -the fishes!

The termostat are there to keep the right water temperature, most are fully automatic so you won't have to worry about that. The filter are there to keep the fish tank clean and the pump to keep the filter running. A fish tank could come handy, and when it comes to its size: the bigger the better applies, it will make it much easier to maintain a good water condition. Abow that we'll need some lightning, sand and rock for the decor and well, that's about it. Virtually the same equipment you need to set-up your ordinary fresh water tank. Almost...

What differs is two things, in addition to the regular filter you use in a marine setup is the protein-skimmer and instead of sand or gravel on the bottom of the aquarium you should use coral sand (or the cheaper chrushed tufa rock covered with a thin layer of coral sand).

If you would fancy having a coral reef of your own, a more complex one, you also might have to add a pair of flouroscent lamps and do a little reading on the subject as some corals (also known as: marine invertabrutes) is very dependent on the lightning.

 

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Q: So, is it expensive?

Of course it dependes on where you live. These are approximate prices in the US 2006 and for new equipment. All prices are "and upwards" starting with what you'll have to pay for something descent in its class. Buying used could also be an option.

Gallon/liter converter can be found here (New window)

Equipment	Estimated minimum Prices
Salt 50/150 gallon bag	$ 15/45 ->
Pump under/above 75 gal	$ 15/25 ->
Heater 100/300 W	$ 16/30 ->
Lightning fish/living reef below 75 gal	$ 30/70 ->
Filter canister/wet and dry	$ 35/150 ->
Protein skimmer under/above 75 gal	$ 100/180 ->

Notes: The protein skimmer is optional, when it comes to the fish tank itself its hard to say anything about costs as it depends very much on fabricat and if your'e willing to buy second-hand. If your on a tight budget you might want to consider using another option then the (expensive) wet and dry filter or why not make one yourself, it can be done! The fishes themselves, as corals and inverts, also range extremly but if we look at one of the most popular species, the Clown anemone (Amphiprion Apallopisos)...

...it would be about $15-20 a fish.

If you would go with a canister filter and attempt to stick to strictly fishes you should be able to set-up a 35 gallon tank for less then $130. There's also "starter-kit's" out there for less that price, it could be an option but look out for the filter and the pump...If going cheap I prefer choosing myself.

 

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Q: Can I have sharks in my tank?

You can do a lot of things, but that's necessarily won't mean its such a great idé. Unfortunately some people deal with endangered species and often the prices for marine fishes is set after their rarity. So for keeping sharks in a fish tank, whom many are endangered I woulden't even think of.

Maby this is scary enough for you?

"Radiata Lionhead."

 

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Q: How much time do I need to put in?

Once the set-up is done it ain't that time-craving of a hobby, unless you want it to be of course but chances are pretty good you might, I'd say.

• Daily: Check the temperature, health of your fishes and that equipment functions alright. Feeding at least once preferably three, unless you host some very rare species.
  
• Weekly: Change at least 20% of the water and check the nitrite levels.
  
• Monthly: Clean the graval and the filter, check nitrate levels.

So this is what you could count on in maintanance way for a all-fish-tank without any to spoiled invertabrutes (corals).

 

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Q: What kind of bate can I feed salt water fish? Is flakes ok?

Some prefer frozen, others live and surprisingly many accepts beeing breed on flakes. There are some vegan species like the rabbit-fish (Siganidaee), but when keept in captivity they tend to transform into meat eaters (as some other familiar species I guess...)

Even though most manufactured foods are good, quality wise, this is one of the downsides I guess. You could however cultivate your own (white worms for example)and for more info on that and what specific fishes like or don't like to eat look in my choosing fish selection.

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Q: How to use ocean-water in a fish tank.

Sea water contains of a lot of living organisms such as plankton. Most of them wouldent be able to adjust to an aquarium and die away causing pollution. To get rid of these you'll have to prepare the water. Filter the water and then keep it out of light for a week to kill of the organisms. After one week, filter it again and then do your regular water test's. Done!

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Q: Brackish and marine, what's the difference?

Brackish and marine could be said of both aquaria and fishes. The water of a brackish aquaria has a lower SG, (specific gravity) which is the measure of the amount of disolved salts in a water while a marine tank obviously has a higher. That said, both can host different species of fish. The marine aquarist got more species to choose from, partly beacuse of a greater demand but the brackish aquarist can more easily host plants without the same equpiment needed for the salt water aquarium.

 

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Q:Whats these nitrite and nitrate levels? Do I need to worry?

Well, Actually they are products, unwanted products, of a cycle that's going on in your fish tank. To make thing even more difficult we should also add Ammonia(NH3) to that list as that is the substance both Nitrate and Nitrite and origins from. Nitrate, you see, is made of Ammonia when excreted by fishes and produced from de composing organics in the tank. When ammonia been made to nitrate, nitrite is what's been made out of the nitrate. Do you follow? Well, it's not that important to know unless you really want to, the important thing is to know they are all bad and how to prevent them which is by using a good filter system and do regular testings.


An ammonia testing kit.

 

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Q: Are there any other other no-no's I'd should be aware of?

Unfortunately there are, first of all:

• Never use metall object's in your aquarium. It might seem strange since you could use some in a fresh water tank but in the marine one it's banned because of the corrossion the high level of salinity could cause.
  
• When using tap water to fill your tank, always use a water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine that's commonly beeing added by the water company's.
  

...And don't forget to check the temperature and you're good to go! So, just move on to my salt water fish selection where I've added the best fishes for the beginner, such as the clown fish and the cardinal, welcome and do your picks, good luck!

 

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