Chelsea716 Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 So I am cleaning out a like-new 25 gallon I have. I LOVE salt water fish and I want some. I have a 10 gallon and a 25 gallon tank. I want to use the 10 gallon for breeding something like guppies or shrimp and the 25 gallon for salt water. How can I make a affordable salt water tank? I have salt for marine tanks and I buy it a lot as I keep land hermit crabs and they need SW for proper health. I buy the fuval sea brand right now. What do I need for a basic tank? And how much should it cost? I am looking at getting a mantis shrimp or some marine hermits. Just collecting advice :0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremoose Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 So I am cleaning out a like-new 25 gallon I have. I LOVE salt water fish and I want some. I have a 10 gallon and a 25 gallon tank. I want to use the 10 gallon for breeding something like guppies or shrimp and the 25 gallon for salt water. How can I make a affordable salt water tank? I have salt for marine tanks and I buy it a lot as I keep land hermit crabs and they need SW for proper health. I buy the fuval sea brand right now. What do I need for a basic tank? And how much should it cost? I am looking at getting a mantis shrimp or some marine hermits. Just collecting advice :0 I could be WAY off but I've read it costs about 10$/gallon to get started for salt and live rock. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 If you buy dry rock and seed it with some live rock you can save yourself a lot of money. Do you want corals? If yes, you'll need to consider lighting and maybe a skimmer. If no, then it's less complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea716 Posted June 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 No corals right now, not into them really. I like SW fish more then FW right now and I always have. Maybe in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 So FOWLR eh? Have you read this post yet?http://www.reefland.com/forum/stickies/19326-setting-up-fowlr-aquarium.html It is chock full of great info. If don't go with a skimmer you'll need to do more water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea716 Posted June 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 Thanks. I am looking at skimmers and all equipment I will need so i know how much money I need to spend. Still saving up a little every week. Should have enough and I should be able to start in a few months or maybe next year if I need more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avatar79 Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 (edited) Hi you can start up pretty cheap , go online and check out ebay for skimmers , they come in all sizes and cost. Or there are Skilter filters with built in skimmers , they make alot of noise but good for a start up. Look on line or this site for used rock. I worked a saltwater pet store in Ont. and I had kids as young as 12 starting tanks you will love it. Good luck. Edited July 5, 2013 by avatar79 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea716 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2013 Its amazing what teens/preteens can do when they put in effort! I have a friend who is 13 and manages many tanks (both fw and sw). She has about 10 tanks all together (ranging from a 2 gallon shrimp tank to a 120 gallon center piece ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uwish Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 (edited) I my opinion, I would use dead dry rock and sand. No need to spend the extra money and then you may get unwanted guests like parasites etc. I would use Ro/Di water with dry rock and sand, mix the salt in the tank and then add a nitrifying bacteria (like Dr Tim's one and only). I my experience, smaller tanks (under 40 Gal) are typically more difficult to maintain just because of the smaller volume of water, it is much less forgiving in temp, ph, toxisity and salinity levels than tanks with larger volumes of water. That shouldn't deter you however, just be careful with tank parameters. I would say temp and salinity could have large swings in a tank that small, I would recommend and ATO and a 'good' heater. Edited July 17, 2013 by uwish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meeiu Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 (edited) I agree with uwish. Get dry dead rock. Cheaper and you don't have to deal with pests and unwanted hitch hikers. However, I do not think smaller tanks are harder to maintain. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I have a 8 gallon open top tank and it is easier to maintain than my fresh water ones. The evaporation is crazy on the tank but I have been so busy that I only top it off about once a week. I let it evaporate ~8cm or more from the fill line before I top it off. I have not measured the salinity of when the water is at it lowest and the salinity of when the water is at its highest. I am sure there is some kind of salinity swing but but it does not seem to bother any of the inhabitants. Maybe I am just fluking it but I think people are just overly sensitive when they say salinity swings on nanos are a serious problem. Don't let people deter you from what you want to do. If you think you can maintain a nano, then go for it. But I am just speaking out of experience that my sumpless, skimmerless nano is easier to maintain than my planted aquarium. So if you have the determination, go do it! Just keep it simple Edited July 17, 2013 by meeiu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted July 17, 2013 Report Share Posted July 17, 2013 I'm gonna have to agree with meeiu on the maintainability. My 4 gallon AIO salt water has one frogspawn coral and two sexy shrimp in it and right now in the summer I get close to two cups of water evaporating ... every day. My total water volume is about 3 gallons and that is about 5% evaporation. The sexy shrimp are supposed to be very sensitive, but I have found them quite resilient. I suspect that if you stick to shallow water inhabitants you'll probably have a better time at it, plus you are going FOWLR anyway. I've heard that the shallow water species are more tolerant of salinity swings because lagoons and the like often get salinity and temp changes from rains and possibly rivers/streams. I spend way way way more time fussing with the planted tank than the salty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 Go to Red Coral on Fort Road and talk to Steve, he's good stuff and will steer you right. Also, check on Canreef for tank shutdowns, you can get smoking deals on live rock, livestock and equipment. I'm going to jump right in here with both feet and disagree with pretty much everyone and tell you not to get dead/dry rock, at least for not the overwhelming majority of your rock. Live rock helps establish a tank and establish it FAST. You don't want to use that as an excuse to start stuffing it full of livestock but the faster you can get a tank established the sooner you can start learning how to keep it stable and maintain it properly. Trying to learn how to maintain a tank when it's growing in and changing daily is a real pain in the arse IMHO. If you were talking about a 120 gallon, sure, get dry rock because who can afford 100+ lbs of liverock at $10/lb for a starter but on a 25 gallon you can get enough live rock from a shutdown to jam that tank full for maybe $100. $100 to jumpstart right into a stable tank is more than worth it in saving yourself the frustration and boredom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelsea716 Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 I am helping a friend set up a 50 gallon sea horse tank so I put the SW tank on the side. Its not set up yet, if I can handle the seahorses I should be able to handle a mantis shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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