Thinking of attempting 1st SW :)

Okay, so I really know absolutely nothing about sw tanks, nothing. We are thinking about getting a small 45g corner tank and making it sw. My question is, what do we have to do to have a sw tank? What kind of substrate is needed? What are the "must haves" for a sw set up? I don't know what kind of fish we want, definitely the cheaper ones to start out with simply because we are sw stupid. :) Thanks in advance for all the help!

If this is your first SW tank I recommend a FOWLR tank (fish only with live rock). You live in Waco right? You might want to stop by the Hurst Petco when Dennis is around cause he can meet you and show you all the right stuff and explain it really well... He's the one who got me started correctly and saved me from making expensive and fish deadly mistakes! You need a few things right off the bat:
1. Tank
2. Filtration made for your size tank (more on this later)
3. about XX lbs live sand for XX gallon tank (45 gallon tank = about 45 lbs of live sand)
4. about XX to 2 times XX lbs of live rock per XX gallon tank (same math as before)
5. Ready made salt water or salt mix and treated freshwater (meaning safe for freshwater fish)
6. Testing kit for saltwater (to check parameters- pH, etc.)
7. Hydrometer (to check the salinity/specific gravity)
8. Protein skimmer (removes organic wastes)
9. Heater and thermometer

For filtration for a first timer I recommend an undertank sump/refugium (adds to your total water volume, which aids in cushioning your tank against mistakes). This is basically an extra tank with several chambers inside that filters the water in stages and often times re-oxygenizes the water and helps establish biological filtration. In addition you will want to possibly add a H.O.B. filter (like a Marineland type one).

You will probably later want to add one or more powerheads to circulate your water...

saltwater is not hard it is just more time consuming but thats my .02

first of all, understand that people are always starting SW while others are quitting the hobby.... so there are lots of deals to be had with due PATIENCE.... also understand that most people fall out of the hobby early because they dont get the proper equipment to keep their tank running, but once you have everything set, the tank maintenance is relatively easy. you seem to already have your tank so you can work around that. if it is already drilled, then you can set up a sump system to hide your other equipment. otherwise, you would be relegated to a hang on back (HOB) style filter and HOB protein skimmer.

i agree to start with a FOWLR...
for substrate, use calcium carbonate sand or buy live sand. if you fish craigslist and local classified, you should be able to find some at a good price. also keep an eye out for live rock as these two will cut down your cycling time.

for water, you would need to mix salt and water quality is especially important so invest in a reverse osmosis (RO) or a reverse osmosis-deionization (RODI) unit. without starting with quality water, you risk adding phosphates to your tank, which bad algae like.. and you wont...

next comes a quality salt. I've always used instant ocean with success..cheap and does the job. and how would you measure how salty the water is? get a nice hydrometer or better yet, get a refractometer. the prices on the refractometers have dropped considerably in the last few years.

the most important item to purchase, IMHO, is the water testing kit.. it is imperative to allow your tank to cycle fully before you start to add fish. thus, test kits are necessary to monitor the progress of your tank. every new tank starts with a build-up of ammonia which needs to be broken down by denitrifying bacteria. but you need time for that good bacteria to build up... Depending on whether you start with live rock and live sand, you're looking at waiting several weeks to months before you are ready to add your fish and other livestock. this amounts to WEEKS with a boring, empty tank. some people start with a damsel as they are cheap and pretty hardy fish which people use to jumpstart the nitrogen cycle.

so at this point, you have the tank running with saltwater, live sand, live rock, and a damsel. you probably have lights also and a thermometer and a heater..

now you wait... and test... and wait... and test.... and wait.... and test.... once your levels of ammonia and nitrIte have gone down to ZERO, your nitrAtes will be elevated and you are ready for a major water change, in the order of roughly 75%... so go mix some SW in a bucket, let it sit for a bit, then do the water change... at this point, you may want to test again, but your ammonia should still be zero, nitrItes should be zero, and nitrAtes should be barely detectable if at all....

now you add your protein skimmer. they call it foam fractionation because the microbubbles have high level of surface area for removing excess proteins before they are given a chance to break down adding to the nitrogen in the tank... you can do without it, but it's like a safety net and i wouldn't do without it...

and you are ready to add fish...

you'll probably start with a clownfish or two....then add maybe a tang....then maybe a goby... who knows.. have fun with it...
BUT understand that you need to stock the tank slowly.. otherwise the denitrifying bacteria wont be able to keep up and you'll have dead fish.... and you'll be out of the hobby and out of several hundred dollars...
expect that soon you'll have brown tank from a diatom bloom that will soon go away.....
KEY TO SW IS TO HAVE PATIENCE!!!! NEVER RUSH INTO ANYTHING!!! AND RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUY!!! and dont forget, water changes are always helpful...

oh, and dont forget the cleanup crew... i went with astrea snails, and loads of nassarius snails... i htink you can do without the hermits and other crabs...but again, this is your tank...

tnguy86 wrote:

you seem to already have your tank so you can work around that. if it is already drilled, then you can set up a sump system to hide your other equipment. otherwise, you would be relegated to a hang on back (HOB) style filter and HOB protein skimmer.

I agree and disagree: you can use a sump even if you don't have a drilled tank, you would just need an overflow box and a u-tube along with some tubing and a water pump for a return water tube.

tnguy86 wrote:

for substrate, use calcium carbonate sand or buy live sand. if you fish craigslist and local classified, you should be able to find some at a good price. also keep an eye out for live rock as these two will cut down your cycling time.

You can also use aragonite. You can buy a little live sand and fill the rest of the tank with regular calcium carbonate or agagonite. This stretches your dollar further.

tnguy86 wrote:

KEY TO SW IS TO HAVE PATIENCE!!!! NEVER RUSH INTO ANYTHING!!! AND RESEARCH BEFORE YOU BUY!!! and dont forget, water changes are always helpful...

There is a reason I didn't mention lighting... if you aren't going to do reef or have an anemone, then there's no reason to buy expensive lighting. Regular florescent strip lights will work, but I do recommend 50/50 and or Daylight/Actinic bulbs to show off the fish's colors better... but that's just my 2 cents!

i never trusted the overflow boxes!!!ahahahha what i'm really trying to say is get that tank drilled already... lol

and CaCO3 is same as aragonite, but you are right that you can start with the base rock and aragonite and then seed with some live sand that you ideally *steal/beg for* from a local reefer... hahaah

if you have money to work with, try to look for an vortech mp10 or even a tunze. it'll put some serious water movement to your tank!!!

also, in terms of lighting, MH's are great but add a lot of heat to the tank. a lot of reefers here in louisiana go with t5's with lots of success. and i think the hobby may go toward led's but i dont think we're there yet....but if you plan on not going with corals, just stick with the flourescent tubes and i agree that you should go 50/50 daylight/actinic

I love threads like these. That way when I start mine in a few weeks I know what to do!

lol. . . glad I could help! ;)

very nice right up's

Great info on here guys. I'm thinking of starting a 10 gallon sw for the girlfriend. Is 10 gallon too small?

10g is alright!!
cant really have much in their though!!
prolly a pair of clowns! but i bet thats wat the GF wants right? lol
but yea! 10gs is a small body of water!! so the smaller the body the faster the peramiters can go outta wack!!
theirs alot of great stuff out their to start up a nano set up!!! u just gotta look!!!

I always herd with SW the bigger the better.

Yes the bigger the tank is the easier to keep in SW.

NEVER have a saltwater tank smaller than a 50 gallon. i had a 12 nano and it my a$$. you wanna start out with fish only and no coral until you figure it out. i just started back in the saltwater tanks. i have a 80 gallon salt tank now and it looks good so far. you sill need about 2 lbs per gallon of live sand for a start. then get some live rock, as much as you want to see in there. and of course you need some marine salt, protein skimmer. that about all you need to start one up. the maintenance is about the same is a freshwater, if not less. you live sand and live rock keep the water good. you just have to watch you salt level. that's why im selling my HOB filters because im about to build a sump. no more freshwater for me!! and i cant wait till its full of corals and beautiful.

there are alot of good ideas on here from everybody. GOOD INFO EVERYBODY!!!!!!

CHEVY!!!!
do u know how to build a sump out of a 10g???
im attempting a 20L mini reef and want to expand my water volume!!!

all you are baffil. like make 3 chambers. look on internet on how to build your own sump. thats what i did. i really need to sell filters so i can start. ill ship too

i had a 29 gallon and it was a pain in the a$$.
all i have to say is do tons of research before you start.

It's a pain in the A$$ if you don't research and have patience. They are alittle more expensive to set up and run but they are worth it to some people. Whatever floats your boat.

I'm going to be starting mine up in about a month as well. So the researching stage begins.

Good luck all!!, i will go sw in the future im not ready yet!!

you are, its eazyer than most make it out to be

Once you have your tank established, it's no more difficult than fresh water. The only reason I haven't set one up yet is the cost. When I can afford it, I'll be setting one up, too. It's really no more difficult than you want to make it. Just follow the advice given by the folks here, and you won't have any trouble getting one going.