Saltwater Tank Basics

1. Buy a tank- a no brainer right? If you are new to his hobby though, the shallower and the bigger the tank the easier. 

• Why shallower? The deeper the tank the more light you will need to penetrate to the bottom. The more light, the more heat, (and expense in your electric bill), which will mean you will need to get a chiller. Chillers themselves are expensive and consume lots of electricity. Save yourself the headache and start with a standard "long" tank.

• Why Bigger? If something goes wrong in the tank, the water conditions will change. In a larger tank these conditions will be dilluted over more gallons rather than less, and the impact to the tank's inhabitants will not be as severe.

2. Add a filter - Protein skimmers are popular, there are also good hang on the back filters.  We use exclusively Emperor hang on the back filters and find they do an excellent job for us. However, protein skimmers are far more popular in the hobby, and there a lot of perks to using them. Getting a filter system with a sump is the best way to go.

3. Add Sand - Many people will tell you that you should get live sand. We say save your money and get dry or "base" sand.  Base sand will save you a ton of money that you can use for corals and fish later on. By adding some live sand "seed", (which is a handful of live sand), and spreading it around your tank, the micro-organisms in the live sand will spread throughout your base sand and make it live. Whether you go with livesand or dry sand it should be rinsed to get some of the cloudiness out. With dry sand just throw it in a bucket add water, mix it up and the pour off the top of the water. Rinse and repeat until the cloudiness goes down. If you get livesand you will have to use saltwater for this.

4. Add Rock - Many people will also tell you to buy liverock. Again we disagree. There are tons of liverock in this hobby that are plagued with pests from bristle worms, byropsis, and aiptasia. The best way to handle these pests is to never let them in your tank in the first place. You can do this by buying dry base rock, and then placing it on top of your newly seeded sand. It won't need to be cured, and can be added directly to your tank. Make sure you get an aquarium safe type of rock, such as aragonite. Again you will save a ton of money.

    As a general rule 1.5 pound of rock should be added for each gallon of your tank, so if you have a 30 gallon tank you should have 45 pounds of rock. Good dry rock goes for less than $3 a pound usually, good liverock goes for at least twice this price. With shipped liverock you will also have to worry about curing the rock, and that comes with its own problems. Trust on this one, your budget will thank you.

    When you place the rock in your tank try to make sure you arrange it in a way that will be stable, and won't suffer from rockslides.  It also helps if it looks good.

5. Add Water - Get some aquarium salt, and add the right aomunt of water- mix in a bucket. It is usually easier, (and more accurate), to weigh the salt out rather than to fill a bunch of cups of it. Read the directions carefully on the bag, and try to get the specific gravity (salinity) at 78 degrees to be around 1.024. To measure the specific gravity you will need a hydrometer. We like the old fashioned floating kind, but there are better ones on the market as well. When you add the water, do so slowly so as not to disrupt too much sand.

6. Add Current - When the sand settles turn on the filter, and get the water current going. Check each area in the tank with your finger, (it is best if you have aquarium safe gloves on), to make sure their is water flow in every area. If need be get a powerhead or two to add current to all the places in your tank.

 7.  Wait through the cycle -  The nitrogen cycle that is. When organic material in your aquarium dissolves (Such as uneaten food, fish waste, etc...), it first turns into toxic ammonia. When it turns into ammonia a special kind of bacteria grows and devours it. If you are testing for ammonia during this time, (and you should be), you will see a steady ammonia increase and then a sudden drop off. The bacteria that consumes the ammonia will leave toxic nitrite as waste. Again, bacteria will form to consume the nitrite, and you will see a steady increase of nitrite, and then a sharp decline. Afterwards you will see a buildup of nitrate. Nitrate is consumed by anaerobic bacteria deep in your rock, and by mangroves and macro algae. The latter is far better per pound and by volume for removing nitrate. You can learn more about natural nitrate removal here. To start the cycle throw a piece of food quality shrimp into your aquarium and remove it as ammonia and nitrite drop to undetectable levels.

8. Water Change - Perform a 50% water change to help reduce the nitrates. When the nitrates are stable at under 10ppm, then you can add your first fish. Add fish slowly, the larger the fish the longer you will have to wait until you can add another one.