fish aquarium

[20sporty02]

i have been in the hobby of fish aquarium's for quite some time but mainly fresh water
and lately i have been thinking of converting one of my tanks over to salt water, and was wondering if anybody else here has any saltwater tanks or any advice
thnx

[01PyTypeR#1140]

Dont know much about them but I hear they are a lot of work.

[luckydog]

I've had fresh water fish tanks, but never salt water.

we had many babies born, but most got ate by the other fish

Salt water tanks are very hard to keep stable and maintain and the fish are expensive.

[20sporty02]

i know thay used to be hard to maintain, but i hear that things have came a long way

[gottac]

I have had 2 salt tanks at the same time (38 gal and a 75 gal), I spent alot of money on equipment and lifestock (fish, live sand, life rock). I had metal halide lighting, uv sterilizers, protein skimmers, I even used reverse osmosis water when mixing my salt water, etc. in short I got rid of it all (I had them for a few years) just too much work and wayyyyy to expensive.

I personally would not have another even as beautiful as they are. If you can afford it and have the time it maybe your cup of tea.

A word of advice if you do decide to do it, the larger the tank the more forgiving and easier to keep the water quality balanced (the down side is more water to change and more expense because of the salt you have to mix) Remeber salt water tanks are more equipment intense and if you want a reef tank (alot of coraline, coral, clams, etc) then the lighting (VHO, Metal Halide, etc are expensive) you also need alot of powerheads for good circulation (they are pretty cheap though).

Hope this helps! do alot of reading before you take the plunge!

[Tulsa]

If you're going to do it, set up the reef tank. They are much more interesting.

[Youngjedi]

If your worried about maintenance, I've heard that there are a lot of services you can get that will maintain the tank for you...kinda like a maid service. Probably mucho $$$ however.

[Tulsa]

Half the fun of it is maintaining it yourself. You have your own eco system running. Just plan on a few mistakes first and realize the first few months you have one set up, don't dump any expensive fish into the tank. You have to let the take "cycle" first.

[20sporty02]

i have five freshwater tanks setup now,at one time i had over thirty, and i had a saltwater tank many years ago.
and was just wondering if anything had changed in the way they are taken care of etc...

[new in town]

Found a couple of Sites via Google that might help you get started:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5797_maintai...-aquarium.html

http://faq.thekrib.com/sbegin-fish.html

http://www.aquaticcritter.com/Saltwa...eraquarium.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_5796_set-sal...-aquarium.html

http://www.mindspear.com/reef/

http://saltaquarium.about.com/

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwater/

[gottac]

They have come along way since crushed coral substrate with undergravel filters and air pumps! (remember that stuff?!)

i have five freshwater tanks setup now,at one time i had over thirty, and i had a saltwater tank many years ago.
and was just wondering if anything had changed in the way they are taken care of etc...

[Tulsa]

Now y'all have me thinking about that empty 55 gallon tank sitting in my garage again.

I hope your happy with yourselves...

[hanabi]