Small saltwater aquarium questions

[dragonfire10987]

Hi! I was thinking about starting a saltwater project, and I wanted to know how small I can go. I don't want to spend thousands (or too many hundreds for that matter), but I would love to have a saltwater aquarium. How would I go about setting this up? I can only find diys on huge ones, and what could I keep in this little aquarium?
Thank you for your time

[Used]

Hello DragonFire. Saltwater aquariums are difficult to maintain and the startup as well as the upkeep costs are usually more than freshwater. For someones first saltwater aquarium I would go with at least a 20 gallon although larger is always better. I would personally recommend doing a Fish Only With Live Rock tank as in my opinion it will be the easiest to maintain. Basically a FOWLR tank is a tank that houses fish, live rock, and also can house inverts.

Filtration for a smaller saltwater tank can be very simple depending on the specific livestock. I would recommend using a adequate amount of live rock which is around 1 pound of gallon of water. Live rock in the majority of saltwater tanks is the primary filtration. However investing in a good quality protein skimmer is a wise choice. Protein skimmers remove organic compounds before they breakdown which in turns helps improve and maintain water quality.

Proper circulation in a saltwater tank is also very important for many different reasons. For a Fish Only With Live tank I would have a minimum of 15x turnover rate. So for example a 20 gallon tank would need a total of 300 gph. This can be accomplished by placing 2-3 powerheads at various locations in the tank.

Lighting isn't something you need to worry about too much when setting up a FOWLR tank. A simple Normal Output Fluorescent fixture would be fine to use. However if you wanted more light or additional features such as moonlights, switches, etc I would go with a PowerCompact fixture. When choosing the right kelvin rating go with 10k or with multiple bulbs a mixture of 10k and actinic is best.

Perfroming routine maintenance on saltwater tanks is crucial. Weekly water changes of 10-15% is needed using a quality marine salt mix and preferably reverse osmosis water. Although depending on the quality tap water along with a dechlorinator is fine to use. Measuring the specific gravity as well as testing the water parameters should also be done on a regular basis. Other things to do include removing algae, checking equipment, cleaning pumps and skimmer occasionally, etc.

Stocking is something that needs to be considered also especially with a smaller tank. Since this will be your first saltwater tank I would go with small peaceful fish. Gobies, Firefish, Some Clownfish, Some Wrasses, etc are good choices. Depending on the tank size try and keep a low bioload meaning only a couple small fish. A good cleanup crew is essential to your aquarium. They help with eating uneaten food, waste, and algae. Cleanup crews usually consist of a variety of snails and crabs. Only add a few to start out with and add more as needed.

Here is an article that I wrote for another forum: http://aquatopiaforum.com/index.php?showtopic=772. It lists the various items needed for a saltwater tank and a little information about each one.

Hopefully this helps you out some. Good luck and if you have any more questions just ask. :)

[dragonfire10987]

Thanks so much! I was actually thinking about starting this project for my dorm in a couple of years, so I could save up a saltwater fund. If I ever have any questions I'll ask you!