New Saltwater fish tank, help!

by **raulgocubs** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 1:51 am

So I have a 36 gallon tank of freshwater fish. I'm moving my fish to a 20 gallon tank and using the 36 gallon bow front tank for saltwater (new to saltwater). How many fish can my tank have? what do I need besides a filter and and heater? Since I'm new to saltwater, I'm going with a fish only tank, no coral reef for now. What kind of fish can I get also, any advice?

by **heredia0223** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:34 pm

First the amount of fish also depends on the amount of filtration,but rule of thumb is 1 inch per gallon capacity. if you are going with fish only and no live rock at all, then go with a wet dry system. if you are planning to use live rock, then use a plain sump for filtration and the live rock will take car of the biological filter. My suggestion is if you are not sure of what you are going to do in the future then go with a sump and live rock. because if you ever want to put corals later it will be beneficial to not have a wetdry in your tank. As far as lighting goes, you can go with a set of 2 X 39 watts t5 ho lamps and that will be suffice if you want some corals later. Your tank will look very nice with these lights even if you go with ornamental rock (dead coral rocks).

by **jerimeb** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:29 pm

i agree, but dont forget about a protien skimmer and refugium, with grass in it. when u add fish dont add thems all at once too much of a bio load in a new tank. set ur tank up with ro water let it cycle for a month or two. check ur amonia, nitrites, nitrares etc.. definetly get live rock! its a must!!! do ur homework on the fish u want. dont get excited and see a fish u like and just get it. good luck, im not on everyday but ill answer as often as i can.

by **raulgocubs** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 2:09 am

Why live rock? does it look good? or is it good for the fish?

by **heredia0223** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:03 pm

Oh yeah i forgot about the skimmer and the refuge. The live rock will work as your biological filter, you dont have to go with all live you can save money by buying dead base rock and add a few pieces of live rock to seed it. it may take a little longer to cycle the tank but with saltwater you must take your time, it's not a race, and the final product will be rewarding. Now, if you are sure that you are only going with fish only then you dont need live rock and can get away with just a wetdry filter, but like all saltwater hobbyist you think you just want that and then you end spending more money because you want to add corals later.

by **jerimeb** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:05 pm

like they said its more filteration, fish only tanks in my opinion are harder than reefs. reefs have their own eco system, inverts, in fish only more h2o changes. i have a 110gal reef and a 55 gal fish only, and a 45 gal fish, soon to be seahorse tank. everyone stairs and talks about the reef and cheaks out the fish only. theirs soooo many different coarls that are so pretty and calming to watch. cycle properly! time is all you have, defenetly dont rush. if you have the$ live rock helps cycle faster, purple coralines pretty also. just my opinion...the fishtanks rock! but i love my reef! good luck

by **raulgocubs** » Sat Nov 13, 2010 6:17 am

Thanks a lot guys!!! I do not want to get coral because it is more expensive and harder to maintain on a smaller tank like mine. I'm happy with fish only and I did add some live rock to help the water cycle faster, I might end up using that live rock for decor, looks kinda cool :DD

by **heredia0223** » Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:02 pm

actually corals are not all that expensive or hard to keep, only if you go with the exotic aussie stuff, but all in all maybe $20 to $30 dollars is about average piece and as for as care its just adding a few more additives nothing much. Here is my formula and you you can see my tank how it flourishes ( c balance by two little fishies (daily) and sea element by two little fishies(weekly) and for coral food dr. g's live plankton. Yhat will cost you about $30.00 a month. and size doesnt matter just filtration. NOTHING SPECIAL

by **itsanono** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 1:07 pm

I'd have to agree. Being a small tank, it would be harder to balance keeping fish than coral although I wouldn't want to talk somebody into coral if they are without confidence. He seems to be ok with his plastic wal mart reef. My tank, being 46g with 2 fish and a shit ton of coral runs filterless besides skimmer.

http://007chan.org/m/

by **blueshoes2208** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:12 pm

ok let me add some veteran advice to this topic, im not somebody that will post on here regularly, but ive posted a few times on here as this was my forum for 2 years when i had my tank, im a marine biology major at texas a&m.
First thing you need to do, being i havent read the replies to this thread, is to buy yourself a good book on saltwater aquariums and get aquainted with how they work, how the cycle system works, and the necessary maintaince they require.
If you do not make sure your chemical levels are in check, your NO3 , NO2 and NH3 in specific, and your salinity/ specific gravity, your tank could slip into a crash. It happened to me when i didnt watch my salinity and i was hot mixing my salt, i let my sg pop up to about 1.030 for a week or so and i bleached some of my corals, and my anemone which never recovered and i had to give up.
Know what you are doing in particular with this hobby as it can be a very educational and fun hobby yet it is easy to kill things.

New Saltwater fish tank, help!

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