Tank SizeThe most important choice in your setup will be how large your tank is. Saltwater tanks vary from other situations in that the larger the tank you have, usually the easier it is to maintain, although more expensive. The reasoning for this is that the larger the volume of water, the more stable the water quality is. If you accidently over feed or add too many chemicals, the tank can take the "overdose" a bit better.
For a starter, I'd suggest a tank in the range of 30 to 90 gallons. Any smaller than 30 gallons and it becomes difficult to stabilize your water conditions.
Substrate
The substrate is what you put on the bottom of your tank, such as gravel in fresh water tanks. Saltwater is extremely different however.
In the past, crushed coral was deemed the best choice for a substrate. Crushed coral is just that. Coral pieces, clam/snail shells, etc crushed up into 1/2" to 1" pieces. The benefit to this is that it is aragonite based, meaning that it is made up of a calcium base. Calcium is very important in the buffering of your aquarium... it helps to maintain the pH of your water around 8.2 . Now come the problems with crushed coral; the particles are rather large and therefor have less surface area than such particles as sand. This does not allow bacteria to grow as plentiful, nor for such animals as worms, amphipods, copepods and other beneficial animals to grow and reproduce in it. Why is this important you ask? These small to microscopic animals are all great sanitation agents. They work as a filter in cleaning up left over food, decaying matter, etc (see better details in Filtration) This all helps maintain a healthier tank.
The best substrate you can use is a fine aragonite sand. At the local fish stores (LFS) you can find brand names such as ESV, Aragamax, and CaribSea. These are all pretty decent choices, but can be expensive. For a less expensive route, check out your nearest Home Depot. Look for Southdown Play Sand. It is a very good aragonite sand and has fine particle size. It will cost about $4 for 50lbs. as opposed to the stuff sold in the pet stores for $30 for 30lb bags! Below is a picture of two different types of sand that are calcium based for aquariums.
A mixed particle sandbed is best. Below is a chart of what the best possible mixture of particle sizes is. On average you would like your tank to be around the 1/8" particle size mark, stick to the Southdown Play Sand and you'll be good to go. For the other brands, look for the oolitic aragonite sand (oolitic is another term for small particle size).
http://www.rshimek.com/You should add enough sand to get a 3-6" sand bed. The deeper the bed, the better... however if you have a shallow tank, you may not wish to have too deep of a sandbed as it will limit the amount of room in your tank. For tanks under 30 gallons I suggest a 3-4" sandbed. For tanks over 30 gallons I suggest at least a 5" sandbed.
- 30 gallon tank with a 5" sand bed ~ 120lbs of sand
- 125 gallon tank with a 6" sand bed ~ 400lbs of sand
To calculate how much sand you will need for your tank go to
Reef Central's Sand Bed CalculatorThe only other thing I can suggest you do is to buy a detrivore kit (sometimes called live sand, sand activator, etc) Two companies with good reputations are:
Lastly, there is a myth going around in the aquarium hobby that you can use ONLY aragonite (calcium based) sand and that silicate sand is bad for your tank. This is extremely incorrect. Silicate based sand can be used in your saltwater tanks without having to worry about phosphates being released. The sand will not have the buffering capabilities of calcium based sand, but it certainitly isn't necessary. So if you like the way black sand looks... go ahead and use it, just make sure there are no metals in it or nasty chemicals.... most childrens play sand is fine, just be sure to check the particly size.
Water Quality
Water quality is another big problem for many saltwater aquariums. The water that comes out of our faucets is usually for the most part pretty horrible. It is high in phosphates. Phosphates are what algaes live off of and if you have phosphates in your water, chances are you will sooner or later get a bad outbreak of undesirable algae in your aquarium. Another thing to worry about, is copper. While copper in small amounts is not detrimental to fish, even small amounts will kill snails, shrimp, starfish and all other invertebraes. To see how bad the water coming out of your faucet is, check out this Water Evaluation Site . If your phosphates and copper are not zero, you may be in trouble (there are exceptions).
One of the best investments you can make in a saltwater aquarium is buying an RO/DI water filter. RO stands for reverse osmosis and DI stands for distilled. Most RO/DI filters are similar, they have 2-4 chambers and an adapter that screws onto your sink faucet. You then turn the sink water on luke warm (77 degrees) and the water runs through the filter, exiting from two lines; the waste water line and the pure water line. The pure water comes out very pure at 0ppm (parts per million) meaning that there are no chemicals, metals, etc in the water. This is the best water that you can use for ANY aquarium. One of the best brands of RO/DI filters can be bought from AquaFX . The filters are also good for drinking water and cooking. Pasta and boiled vegetables will taste much better using cleaner water. Also, it makes crystal clear ice cubes!
The next step of water quality is salt. To make your fresh water into saltwater you will need to buy a bag/bucket of synthetic sea salt. I use Instant Ocean and it can be bought at Premium Aquatics , Marine Depot , and That Pet Place . To see a analysis of different brands of salt, checkout this Salt Analysis . In order to get the correct level of salt in your saltwater, you will need a hydrometer or a refractiometer. A refractiometer is much more accurate, but also $75-100 compared to a $10 hydrometer. You can get either one at the links posted a few sentences back. When you add your salt water, add it slowly.... around 1 cup every 10 minutes. Stir the water while you add it and after you add it, this will help the salt dissolve. If you have an aquarium heater laying around, put it in the water and try to have the temperature around 80 degrees. After each cup, use your hydrometer/refractiometer to measure the salt level (salinity). Get it as close to 1.026 as you can. Then let the water sit for at least 4 hours before adding it to the tank. After adding it to the tank, make sure you tank temperature is around 82 degrees constantly every day.
The last part of dealing with water quality is water motion. A saltwater aquarium needs to have water motion for the health of the fish as well as for gaseous exchange so the water stays well oxygenated. This is best done using powerheads. A powerhead is a small submersible pump that sucks water in one end and spits it out the other. The best brand name I can suggest is MaxiJet. MaxiJet 1200s (MJ1200) is the best one to get. Also, do not buy RIO pumps! In the past few years they have been pretty shotty and many people have had them destroy their tanks. You can order the maxijets from the stores in the last paragraph.
Filtration
Filtration is a very debateable topic. Many people have their own views on what is right and what is wrong. I will tell you the views I have collected from experience as well as a lot of reading.
The primary filtration in your tank will come from your sandbed. It will contain bacteria, worms, copepods, amphipods and many many other critters to keep your tank clean. Their food is the equivalent of fish excrement. To visit Dr. Ron Shimek, the leader in the sand bed and fauna field please visit http://www.rshimek.com/ .
Another large source of filtration is called Live Rock. This is rock that has been collected from the ocean and shipped to you to be placed in your tank. It contains a lot of the pods, worms and bacteria also and should be placed in EVERY saltwater aquarium. You should aim for 1/2-2 lbs of Live Rock per gallon of aquarium. This will not only provide your tank with very needed bacteria, but also protection for your fish to hide in and make them feel safe. This will keep them less stressed and therefor healthier.
To see a few pictures of what live rock from Premium Aquatics looks like click here.
You need to put the live rock in your tank BEFORE you add ANY fish. When live rock is shipped, some of the bacteria and other critters on it die. When they go in your tank, they decay causing what is called the ANN Cycle. ANN stands for Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate. As the dead matter decays, the ammonia levels in the tank rise, then the nitrite. After a week or two these levels fall off and the nitrate level rises. Almost any fish you place in the tank during this cycle WILL DIE. Do NOT put a fish into your aquarium for at least 3 weeks and buy a test kit to make sure your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero before buying a fish. A lot of fish stores will tell you to place a fish ... probably a damsel, in your tank to "help" cycle the tank. This is not necessary and will most likely result in the death of the fish. To help the cycle along, go to the grocery store and buy a single uncooked cocktail shrimp. Add this to your tank. In two weeks, remove it. This will cycle your tank the same as the fish would, but you do not have to put the fish through the stress and most likely death of the cycle.
A few good places to buy Live Rock from are Premium Aquatics , Gulf-View , and Flying Fish .
The seconday filtration for a saltwater aquarium is a protein skimmer. A protein skimmer is a filter that produces air bubbles and removes waste from the water by collecting foam. For tanks under 55 gallons I reccomend the PRIZM skimmer. It can be purchased at That Pet Place . For larger tanks contact me at allern@rpi.edu for suggestions. To learn more about protein skimmers check out this Skimmer Intro , keep in mind most protein skimmers are much smaller, but I wanted to make this one large.
Some keynotes.... a UV filter should not be used in saltwater aquariums. They are sometimes used to kill "bad bacteria". However, they also kill all of the good bacteria, destroying your natural filter.
Another popular myth from fish stores and unexperienced reefers is that a wet/dry or trickle filter is needed. This is untrue and will actually become a nitrate factory, trapping debris and slowly having it decay fouling your water. The only man made filter you need is a protein skimmer. (the ocassional use of a bag of carbon is also reccomended to clean the water, but for no longer than 2 weeks at a time and replace the carbon after each use). Also NEVER place medicines or ANYTHING containing copper in your tank.
Fish Selection
Fish selection is a very long topic. The best thing I can suggest for this is to buy the book The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner by Bob Fenner (click on it to order). It will explain the different types of fish, which can be kept together, what they eat, etc etc etc.
The advice that I can give you is no matter how pretty or nice a fish looks, if it is going to get larger than 8" do not buy it. Only the largest of the aquariums can keep fish this big happy and healthy. Unless your tank is 6 feet long you should not buy a tang of any type either. Also, no matter what you hear, a mandarin should be placed in aquariums no smaller than 55 gallons and only after the tank has been setup for over a year! They will starve otherwise.
Please be sure not to add too many fish to your tank either. For every 3 gallons of water your tank has, you should only have a max of 1" of fish. For instance in a 30 gallon tank you could have 3 3" fish. More than this and you will begin to have trouble keeping your tank healthy.
Lighting
Lighting in a saltwater fish only aquarium is pretty easy. Most people use flourescent lights. However, if you want a very brightly lit tank that makes it much more beautiful and easier to see the fish, look into buying PCs (power compacts) or VHO (Very High Output flourescents). They can be found online at most of the stores I have listed in this article. (For aquariums with corals, I advocate using nothing less than Metal Halides..... email me for further details).
Maintenance
This is the only bad part about keeping a pet of any type... you have to clean up after it. If you follow my directions in this article though, your mainenance will be kept to a minimum.
The most important part of maintenance is the water change. A 20% water change should be done at least once a month. Once every two weeks would be even better. When you do a water change, the new water you add should be saltwater.... follow the details in Water Quality when mixing the new saltwater.
Each week, you will notice that water has evaporated from your tank. It is very important not to let too much water evaporate. When water evaporates, it leaves the salt behind. This causes the salinity (amount of salt in the water) to rise slowly, which is bad if it goes too high. So at least each week, if not more often, add pure water from your RO/DI (or wherever your water source is) to the tank... this is called top-off. Do NOT add saltwater for top-off, only freshwater.
Occasionally if algae builds up on your glass you will need to use a magnet-cleaner or another type of hand held cleaner to clean it off. Check out the stores above for such an item. The addition of snails to your tank will help keep the algae off the glass as well.
If a brown "dirty" substance start building up on your substrate... this is called detrious... try feeding a bit less and adding some snails as well as a cucumber. The only cucumber that should be added to a fish tank however is a tigertail cucumber, others if they die can release toxins into your tank killing all of your fish.
There will also be the need to empty the cup that collects the waste in your protein skimmer and to rinse the cup off well and scrub it with an unused toothbrush.
Don't worry, there is a fun part to maintenance and that is feeding your fish! A variation of a few frozen foods should be bought for your fish. Live foods should only be feed once in a while as a treat, not regularly.... and no matter what the pet store tells you, bryne shrimp is the equivalent of candy and will not keep a fish healthy.
A few of the foods you should pick up are Mysis Shrimp, Formula 1 & 2, Marine Supreme and a viatamin supplement such as Selcon (this is very important to keep your fish healthy). Another good food for certain grazing fish is Nori Seaweed. But before you go spending a ton of money on it at your petstore, go to an oriental store ... they should have dried UNFLAVORED (has to be unflavored) Nori for real cheap.
Safety
Whenver working with saltwater aquariums it is very important to think about your safety. The first thing you should worry about it electrocution. For this I recommend a GFCI (ground fault circuit interupter). What this does, is if the current from your power source (such as a wall outlet) begins to go though something other than the wall outlet (such as yourself) it turns off the power. Although it is not a necesitty it may one day save your life. Please ask an electrician to install one for you.
A grounding probe is also a good idea. It takes the stray voltage that may be in your tank and routes it back to the wall socket. This can also protect you from electrocution. It is inexpensive ($15) and you just plug it in.
While this is not the ONLY way to keep a saltwater aquarium, it is the best way. This is a "just to get you going" article and you should do a lot of research still. The best places to search for information are message boards such as Reef Central , Reefs.org , and Reefland . If you post a question on these message boards you are guarantied to have an answer within a few hours from an experienced reefer or two. I can't stress enough how much you can learn from these boards. Also, make sure to check out RPI's Aquarium Message Board and post any questions you may have there or email me at aquarium@union.rpi.edu .
Nicholas R. Allers
President of RPI Aquarium
