Tips For Sw Newbie

Hello all,
Relatively soon, I will be setting up a saltwater aquarium for the first time in my life. I’ve had freshwater aquariums for as long as I can remember, but I’ve always wanted to try a saltwater aquarium. What are some tips, must have’s, and anything you wish you had known when you first set up a saltwater aquarium. I’m nervous about the whole thing, and frankly it seems overwhelming, but it is something that I know I’ve gotta do. Any input to help me make this successful would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

 

First thing to know is that precious little from freshwater transfers to the salty side. I'm actually in the process of making a list and then I will do a youtube video once I feel that it's fairly complete.

The differences:

1) Treated Tapwater generally doesn't cut it with Saltwater. You need to go with an RODI system or have a reliable source of RODI water to do well long term with a marine tank. You can get the Aquatic Life RO Buddie 4 stage RODI system for $60 from Amazon.

2) Evaporation is a much bigger factor with saltwater. Water evaporates but salt doesn't so you have to top off with Fresh RODI Water to balance out the salt levels

3) You will need to use a refractometer to measure salinity levels (about $19 shipped from Amazon). The sweet spot for corals and fish measures 1.024-1.026

4) Filter media is the Biofilter in a Freshwater Tank, not so with saltwater. Your Live Rock (or Dry Rock to be seeded with bacteria to become live) is the biofilter of a saltwater tank

5) It varies by size of tanks and setups, but a good practice for water changes with a saltwater tank is a weekly 20-30% water change

6) API is sufficient for freshwater but generally fails you in many respects with Saltwater. Red Sea, Salifert, Hannah, Nyos are all better overall

7) Powerhead/Wavemaker is a must with a salty tank as you need a much higher turnover rate (20x or higher for corals) and if you don't you will end up with lovely things like Cyano Bacteria (Red Slime Algae that covers the tank).

8) If you choose to do corals, you need to be prepared to open up your wallet. Lights that might be great for a freshwater planted tank are woefully inadequate for coral growth or will deliver inconsistent results at best (ie one coral will survive but another won't). I always tell people who want corals to plan on spending a MINIMUM of $109 PER 24 inch cube of tank to get a light that will deliver consistent growth results. If you want some programming features better up it to the $200-$300 range PER 24 inch cube of tank.

9) Fish are much more territorial and need more space than freshwater fish so you will likely need to go with a lighter stock. Any notions of "inch per gallon, inches per gallon" are 100% false with saltwater. Also unless fish are mated pairs or one of the select few schooling varieties they don't do well in pairs or groups. One per species is the safe rule with the vast majority of saltwater fish.

10) Reef Safe means that the Fish will leave corals and inverts alone, With Caution means it may nip at Corals or Inverts (or both), Not Reef Safe means they will eat Corals or Inverts (or both). Hence why it is so important to plan your setup around what you are stocking as it's much easier to plan ahead then try and fix what is already done.

 

Biggest thing I wish I would have known is to just go big. Bigger tanks are leaps and bounds easier than smaller! This is especially true with saltwater.

I have also found that it is very easy to get overwhelmed with the technicalities of it. I have kept everything from bettas to seahorses. Saltwater tanks are NOT rocket science. Do you need to keep an eye on your parameters closer, sure. Don't panic over everything tho. Like for example, out of all of the salties I've had over the years I've never used anything other than good ole' tap water! I just added salt and declorinator as needed. Why you may ask do I never use R/O water or something? Because at one time I had 9 tanks including TWO 150 gallon tanks. I was not purchasing and hauling that much water each week for water changes LOL.

Just research any fish you'd like to get and how compatible they are with other fish. Like for example my very first salt tank I didn't really research that well. I really wanted a porcupine puffer! I knew they ate snails but I assumed I was safe with other inverts. Well I came home with a gorgeous puffer and a stunning $75 huge anemone.....released the puffer and before I could get the anemone out of the bag the puffer ate it through the bag.....that was probably my quickest and harshest lesson I learned.

 

Biggest thing I wish I would have known is to just go big. Bigger tanks are leaps and bounds easier than smaller! This is especially true with saltwater.

I have also found that it is very easy to get overwhelmed with the technicalities of it. I have kept everything from bettas to seahorses. Saltwater tanks are NOT rocket science. Do you need to keep an eye on your parameters closer, sure. Don't panic over everything tho. Like for example, out of all of the salties I've had over the years I've never used anything other than good ole' tap water! I just added salt and declorinator as needed. Why you may ask do I never use R/O water or something? Because at one time I had 9 tanks including TWO 150 gallon tanks. I was not purchasing and hauling that much water each week for water changes LOL.

Just research any fish you'd like to get and how compatible they are with other fish. Like for example my very first salt tank I didn't really research that well. I really wanted a porcupine puffer! I knew they ate snails but I assumed I was safe with other inverts. Well I came home with a gorgeous puffer and a stunning $75 huge anemone.....released the puffer and before I could get the anemone out of the bag the puffer ate it through the bag.....that was probably my quickest and harshest lesson I learned.

No need to purchase the water when an RODI system that you can run at home runs as little as $60 and a garbage can on rollers and a cheap pump can make the haul factor non-existent. Tap water also varies quite a bit from area to area and even from one part of town to another so it's really hard to say that it works other than in your particular area/neighborhood.

 

No need to purchase the water when an RODI system that you can run at home runs as little as $60 and a garbage can on rollers and a cheap pump can make the haul factor non-existent. Tap water also varies quite a bit from area to area and even from one part of town to another so it's really hard to say that it works other than in your particular area/neighborhood.

This is true, I still don't use it, never have, and very likely never will. I've lived in a few different areas due to the military. I do agree it is very dependent on the water in your area but I have had tons of different saltwater fish, inverts, corals, seahorses, etc and never found a need for it. I also use to work at a LFS that sold tons of very delicate saltwater fish and corals and we also always used tap water (we even sold R/O water too). We even had some fish there long term so it wasn't just a short term thing. I just really think the need for the special water really is a case by case basis and it isn't something that it THAT high on the totum pole for a newbie to worry about. Should they be checking their water? Heck yes. If there isn't a problem should they automatically jump on the R/O wagon? Nope, unless they want to.

R/O water can be great for those that need it. But I do think there is a big hype to it and the hype can be overwhelming to a newbie, especially when R/O water often isn't a NEED. Will it hurt your fish using it if you don't need it? Nope. Will it hurt your fish not using it if you don't need it? Also nope.

 

To me it's the other way around. I always recommend RODI and only tap water as a last resort given all the variables in municipal tap water (to say nothing of when your municipal water system does a flush to clean things out). Know of a lady who ran tap water for a year with no issues, then simply moved to a different part of town and used tap and killed everything in her tank within a week. So tap water can harm fish corals, etc. depending on what is in it and what levels of TDS it has. Even though my area has about an average TDS (about 180-190) I know for a fact that my tap has nitrates and phosphates in it and I don't need or want anymore of that then I already get from my fish and feeding. For that reason I never recommend tap water to folks unless it's their only option. For every success story I hear of with tap water I hear 2-3 horror stories about out of control algae issues, inability to keep things stable, etc. $60 is a pretty small price to pay to control your water source and take the guesswork out of what is in your tap water at a given time.