Marine fish tank setups

From the day you set up your aquarium until years down the road, testing your aquarium water should become an important aquarium ritual.

Proper lighting is important to the success of your reef tank. Corals are photosynthetic animals and need light to survive. When purchasing a light for your saltwater aquarium it is important to buy a light which is built specifically for this purpose.

When you first set up your aquarium, lights should be switched on for 6 — 8 hours per day. If you have a controllable LED light you can also reduce the light intensity. If you start noticing algae blooms decrease the intensity or length of daylight time. Depending on the size of your tank and rockscape you will create light zones in the aquarium with high and low lights.

As in nature, different corals need different amounts of light. Different light intensity zones are produced by the depth of the water and shadows created by the rocks. Light will be weaker at the edges of the tank and in the shadows of rocks. You can use a PAR meter to test light intensity. Flow is an essential part of a healthy reef tank. Flow is created why powerheads and depending on the size of your reef tank you can one more than one powerhead creating flow.

Read: Gyre Flow. There are three types of filtration required for a saltwater aquarium Mechanical, Biological, and Chemical. Mechanical filtration removed large particles from the water. Mechanical filtration is done by a sponge filter.

This filter removes free-floating waste before it decays. Biological filtration begins once your tank is properly cycled. Biological filtration is when bacteria in the tank breaks down dangerous ammonia, converting them to nitrites, and then the nitrites to less toxic nitrates. Biological filtration is also known as the nitrogen cycle. Chemical filtration can be achieves using activated carbon.

Activated carbon filter removes organic pollutants which cannot be removed by biological or mechanical filtration. Read: Mechanical. Once your aquarium has been running for six weeks or longer you can gradually add corals, invertebrates, and fish. It is important to start slow when adding livestock and we recommend starting with snails, hermit crabs, and peppermint shrimp.

When you are ready to add corals, start with hardy beginner corals like leathers, zoanthids, or mushrooms. These corals are perfect for filling up space in your aquarium and adding color. When making your choice, you should remember that not all animals are compatible with each other.

If there is one fish, in particular, you want to check their compatibility with other fish and work on that list. Regular water changes are fundamental to maintaining an aquarium. The volume and frequency will fluctuate for each tank but almost every reefer performs regular water changes on their aquarium.

Water changes are a method to remove nutrients and replenish elements. A good baseline to begin your water changes is to change twenty percent of the water volume every week. Read More: How to do a water change. Protein skimmers are most likely the dirtiest piece of equipment on your tank and is also the one you probably have to give it the most attention in order to keep it clean an operating effectively.

Depending on the size and your bioload, cleaning your collection cup three times a week is a must to keep your tank smelling clean. Read More: Protein skimmer troubleshooting tips. We all want to preserve the clarity of our acrylic or glass aquarium. While sometimes it can be challenging especially with an acrylic tank, using the right tools will leave your aquarium clear of algae and scratch-free.

You will want to buy a magnetic scraper for weekly or daily cleaning. You will be able to clean the majority of the algae with a magnet. If you have an acrylic aquarium, make sure to use a magnet safe for acrylic. Read More: Tips for cleaning aquarium panels. Thank you for visiting! Aquarium Store Depot earns a commission if you make a purchase.

In fact, the main difference between them is price. When it comes to saltwater, there are tons of options available for hobbyists. Even though you need to be more strict with your stocking, there are many different setups and environments you can explore.

The most important aspect of having a successful saltwater tank starts with having a good plan. It is no secret that saltwater aquariums cost more to set up and maintain than freshwater aquariums , but by how much exactly? This includes the original startup cost, water and electricity bills, equipment, and general maintenance.

Luckily, many hobbyists sell used premium products, fish, and invertebrates at a discount to fellow hobbyists. There are even social media groups that exchange corals at no extra cost! The truth is that this side of the hobby is expensive no matter how you go about it. Just like a freshwater aquarium, saltwater tanks need to go through the nitrogen cycle where ammonia is converted to nitrite and nitrate by beneficial bacteria.

This process takes about weeks, though it can be expedited with mature live rock and filter media. One of the main differences between a freshwater and saltwater fish tank is that marine ecosystems are constantly changing. As corals grow, you will need to increase water flow and dose nutrients. As you add more fish, you might need to perform more water changes and change the settings on your protein skimmer.

The difficult part about setting up a saltwater aquarium is finding what works best for your system. There are guidelines and recommendations, but only you will be able to tell where and when your saltwater tank does best.

That being said, there are a few types of saltwater aquarium setup you can try. It is important to decide which one you want at the beginning of the setup process as it can be difficult and expensive to change once the tank has been established. As the name implies, a fish only system will have only fish without any live rock or corals, very similar to how most freshwater setups work.

A fish only tank can be simple in design, yet incredibly effective. They often use fake aquarium decorations and a plain substrate to accent the fish in the display. This option is especially popular for predatory setups but is common among beginner hobbyists as well. A fish only setup allows the hobbyist to focus only on the fish and their health and not on maintaining an entire ecosystem. A FOWLR system is the most popular saltwater tank setup and is relatively easy to convert to a reef system down the line.

Live rock provides a healthy population of beneficial bacteria that can make water chemistry more stable while providing fish and invertebrates with food and shelter. However, it can also come with unwanted hitchhikers, algae, and other pests that beginner hobbyists might not know how to immediately treat.

An old school solution. Once cured, Dinos tend not to be an issue because of the great biodiversity contained in this rock. Live rock can be intimidating at first. It can also be hard to come by and pretty expensive for what it is. Once live rock is established though, it can be used indefinitely to stabilize the system and even seed other marine systems with the necessary bacteria.

Dry rock is more common these days, but I prefer to use a mix of live rock and dry rock to get proper diversity. Too little biodiversity in a reef tank combined with no nutrients leads to nuisance dinoflagellates. These setups are also best if planning to keep saltwater fish species that are not entirely reef-safe, like angelfish , butterflyfish, or triggerfish.

The truth is that many hobbyists end up with a reef tank at one point or another in their aquarium-keeping careers even if they never intended to; the coral bug eventually gets everyone. At the same time, reef tanks are believed to be unattainable for most. They also limit saltwater fish stocking to only reef-safe , community species. Reef tanks can be as simple or intricate as desired.

Soft corals , like mushrooms and leathers, are relatively easy to keep. Some hobbyists have even had success keeping soft corals under stock lighting, without any additional maintenance or equipment. Soft corals are also usually mixed with macroalgae, which can create a beautiful, yet self-sufficient ecosystem. Most hobbyists end up with a mixed coral reef tank. Mixed reef tanks need slightly more care and time than soft coral tanks.

These systems also need better lighting, water flow, and a good understanding of how nutrients move throughout the tank. Still, the overall requirements of the system do not differ much, especially if keeping easier coral species.

On the other hand, there is a huge gap between mixed reefs and SPS reefs. SPS reefs are truly for experts only and demand top-of-the-line lighting, water flow , and mastery of water quality. Supplements will need to be dosed to keep up with nutrient uptake due to coral growth in addition to regular water changes.

After deciding what kind of system you want to run, you will need to decide on the physical blueprint. If making the transition from freshwater to saltwater, this process can definitely be intimidating.

At the end of the day, you want something that is guaranteed to hold water and comfortably house fish and corals. There are two main options available when shopping for aquariums: all-in-one aquariums or build-your-own aquariums.

All-in-one setups, often abbreviated as AIO, are convenient. They often include a pre-drilled tank with internal or external filtration, all necessary plumbing, an aquarium stand, and sometimes even a light. All that is left to add is substrate, rock, water, and some additional equipment.

On the other hand, there are also all-in-one freshwater setups that can be modified for saltwater purposes that are much less expensive, though more clunky in appearance. The originator of the all in one reef tank.

Newly improved and ready to run. This is the benchmark all reef tanks are measured against. Heresy you say? Not so fast buckaroo. Live rock is typically made up of coral, just not live coral. Fair enough. The rockscape can be quite attractive in and of itself.

This guide will provide information about a rock-solid saltwater FOWLR fish tank setup for beginners. A beginner should get a tank no smaller than 40 gallons. In smaller tanks, it is more difficult to maintain stable water parameters. The larger the tank the more stable it will be. The more stable the tank the easier it is to maintain water parameters in a healthy range. Obviously bigger means more money.

Not just for the aquarium but for all of the equipment as well. For instance, a 5-gallon aquarium needs attention every day. My gallon tank gets a water change every 2-weeks. They are cheaper to set up but require a lot more attention due to their small water volume. A nano saltwater aquarium can turn catastrophic quickly if you overfeed or something dies before you can discover and remove it.

When parameters such as ammonia, phosphates, or nitrates begin to spike they do so more rapidly and drastically in a smaller amount of water, which can more quickly harm or kill fish and corals. This can quickly make your saltwater tank deadly. Larger saltwater aquariums have more water to dilute the fish waste, uneaten food, and dead matter. Choose as big a tank as you can for your first aquarium. For instance, I have a gallon aquarium and I firmly believe that it would be a good first tank for most beginners to choose.

It may seem counterintuitive but it is much easier to maintain if your budget can handle the added expense. These AIO aquariums include almost everything you need. You just need to add sand, live rock, saltwater, and fish. The Red Sea MAX E is only 45 gallons 37 gallons in the main display tank and 8 gallons in the rear sump but this is large enough that it will provide a stable volume of water.

This aquarium includes a powerful LED light capable of growing corals and can be controlled by an app on your phone. It also includes a rear sump that you can add filter media such as biological, carbon, or chemical media to help control. The great thing about an AIO saltwater aquariums is that it takes all of the guesswork out of picking and sizing equipment. There are many AIO tanks on the market and most are quite good.

Red Sea is recognized as the most popular AIO manufacturer and for good reason. They do an excellent job of building rock-solid AIO saltwater tanks and speccing them out with quality equipment.

It makes set up almost plug-and-play. How much does it cost to start a saltwater tank? This would include live rock, water, fish, an all-in-one aquarium like the Red Sea MAX-E , and a few miscellaneous bits and bobs such as a water heater, fish food, and thermometer. Ongoing maintenance costs are reasonable but occasionally you may need to replace a piece of equipment that may cost a couple of hundred dollars.

Some people even keep backups of critical equipment such as return pumps and heaters in case of failure. A new All-In-One aquarium is expensive but piecing together all of the components and totaling up their cost is likely going to be nearly as costly. A good-quality small AIO is going to cost over a thousand dollars and bigger ones can easily exceed a few thousand. Saltwater fish are not inexpensive either. We recommend aqua-cultured live rock which you can supplement with some dead rock.

After some time, the micro-organisms from your aqua-cultured rock spread to your dead rock. You need to make sure there is a good amount of water flowing in, around, and through your rocks in your new tank when starting out to allow the micro-organisms to process the waste in the tank. The first method of flow in your aquarium is your return pump, assuming you have a sump of some kind — either a traditional sump in your stand or an integrated sump in the back of the main aquarium.

Most people will suggest a good minimum is to have your return pump turn over your main display tank volume 20 times per hour. Powerheads are great for directing flow toward low-flow areas you see fish waste and other detritus accumulating on your sand bed. Inexpensive powerheads can do a great job but tend to be larger and more difficult to place inconspicuously. Smaller and slimmer powerheads that can get the job done well tend to be a bit more expensive.

Hanging equipment onto your main aquarium detracts from the look of your fish and tank but is a good solution for some due to not being able to use a sump. Hang-on equipment also tends to be smaller and geared more toward smaller aquariums. It can definitely get the job done but often comes at the expense of flexibility and aesthetics. Canisters are useful because they hold a variety of media but require frequent cleaning. If you have a canister filter already it can be a great addition if you give it weekly cleanings.

Also, since it usually can hold different types of filter media it can be a great tool for tackling specific problems. For instance, adding carbon can help clear up the yellowing of your water, or adding Phosban can help reduce phosphate levels thereby reducing algae problems.

Very similar to canisters but much more focused. Reactors are equipment that is not designed to capture particulates but simply run water through a media like Carbon. They also typically are designed for holding only one type of media at a time. Many are designed only for one specific media. More generic reactors can hold granulated media of different types while there are many purpose-specific reactors such as macroalgae reactors, calcium reactors, and more. Probably the most popular filtration solution for a saltwater aquarium.

Skimming equipment is designed to add micro-bubbles to the saltwater. Dissolved waste adheres to the bubbles and floats up to a collection cup.

The cup of dissolved organics can then be tossed out during regular maintenance. The appeal of protein skimmers is that they remove fish waste, uneaten food, and other decomposing organics before they have a chance to begin breaking down into harmful byproducts. This helps eliminate the potential problem before it occurs.

You want to adjust the setting to produce a thick goop but thin enough you can pour out. If it is too wet it will fill rapidly and not collect much waste. Skimmers can be purchased as hang on types or in-sump types. There are even small skimmers designed to be mounted within smaller aquariums. These primarily resolve algae problems in your tank.