Starting a nano saltwater tank

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sammydee

New Fish
#1
Feb 6, 2005
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#1
Hiya guys.

I'm new to this forum, but I have had a Twenty gallon freshwater tank for a couple of years and thought it would be really cool to try setting up a nano saltwater tank. I always loved the colours of the salt water fish, and it would be a real challenge to keep a sea water tank in good condition and I would find it more interesting than freshwater.

However, being a student I am not exactly loaded with cash, so that's why I am going to try and stay small, with a second hand five or ten gallon tank, and maybe no coral for a while because it is so expensive. One thing I do have though, is loads of time - so if there is a cost-saving way of doing something that takes more time - thats the way I'd be doing it!

So - how much is it likely to cost, anbd what equipment, rock, lighting etc will I need?

I am open to any and all advice you people can give me! Thanks.
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#2
Dec 1, 2003
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Michigan
#2
There are so many possibilities and scenarios to a salt tank. YOU have to narrow it down to what you want. My advice is to read a little more about the saltwater. See maybe what fish you want to keep and so fourth...we cant really tell you how much its going to cost if we dont even know the size of the tank. My guess is that it will start aroun $100 and theres no real maximum.
 

seastaar88

seastaar88

Superstar Fish
#6
Feb 1, 2004
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#6
LR will typically run you around $6/pound. you can be thrifty and get uncured LR, and cure it yourself, but I find it just way easier to buy the (more expensive) cured LR. then you'll have to think about quality of rock.. you can use cheaper, less appealing rock at base rock and just use high quality rock for the visible parts of your rockscape. OR you can use PVC to create a framework in which you attache rock to to make it the most cost efficient. there are definitly ways to keep the cost down with rock.
 

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JeLeAk

Large Fish
#11
Jan 4, 2005
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Alaska
#11
i wouldnt, i would stick local, if you mention that you could get rock on the net for a cheeper price but instead choose to stay with a LFS they may intern discount the price or treat you better in the future

i know when i worked at a specialty shop sorta like a LFS people who stayed local instead of buying on the net were

A: treated better (as in customer service)
B: were able to get what they wanted easier(as in ordering stuff)
C: given discounts
D: awsome people in general

so ya stay local if at all possible... i know somthings you would have to be a fool to buy local, but try to for the sake of the LFS, if they get people who dont buy localy, how are they going to make a profit?
 

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DustinKeating

Large Fish
#12
Jan 9, 2005
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#12
With all due respect, i completely understand that you want to keep the industry going in your area. But it doesn't take much to realize that the inflation on live rock where i live, is rediculous...and if they want me spending 60...or 70 dollars at their store, they should really come my way a little bit. So i will order on the net in the future, unfortunetly last time i bought i wasn't aware of how much it should cost (roughly)
 

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snoce

Large Fish
#13
Nov 14, 2003
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#13
no one has answered at all what the person that started the thread wanted...thats the problem i feel with this website...whenever anyone asked for help or advise the threads always never answer the questions they always stray to something else...lol...its just something i have noticed over a long period of time....sammydee i am just bout to start a 6gl nano tank also...i went to my lfs and started asking and looking there...first i went online to read and get some info then i went to my lfs for bout 45min and looked around and talked to a salesman...with a small tank we have only a few options of sw fish we can get and keep only bout 2 maybe push 3 but there are some very beautiful fish at that size we can keep...then he pointed out that we can do a invertebrate tank with crabs,snails,shrimp,starfish along with some small pieces of rock or corals that werent that expensive at all..just think the size tank u have u really wont need much rock or coral you still need to give the fish swimming room...so now i have 2 ideas to go with the nano tank...fish or inverts....welli i am going to do fish with crushed coral substrate and not sure yet on the rock/corals...as far as the water at my lfs i can buy sw already made up but i aint sure what the cost is of that or how often i need to buy it or i can buy salt and mix my own but i think i need purified water(that i am still not sure bout yet) also u need some type of powerhead or h.o.b filter to give u water movement...i have a filter already running on my 6gl tank all i need to do is take out the filter media and remove the biowheel and thats where i get my current from so i have no need to buy a powerhead...if u need to buy a filter for the size u need may be only around $20 at most for a small one...u do need a hydrometer to test for water salinity and sw test kits for water tests..they are also cheap...now as far as the lights i am staying with the lighthood already there for now until i see what i need to do with rocks then if i need more lighting i will upgrade some but that wont cost much either for a 6gl tank....so i hope i gave u a little insight on nano sw tank i just found all this out this past week or so...so just to to the internet and read a little then go check out ur lfs....and good luck keep us posted.... *celebrate
 

zanoshano

zanoshano

Large Fish
#14
Oct 11, 2004
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Santa Cruz, California
www.zanoshanoismynamo.tripod.com
#14
i would recomend a powerhead in a 20 g, especially if you decide to keep other things besides fish, some invertibrates/corals require a current to stay healthy/happy. But all of the other advice seemed good.

About the forum, the reason we didnt really answer all of their questions, is because we asked for specs and they never replied. Reef asked them to narrow it down to what they wanted to keep, but we never heard back. Not saying i dotn agree with you about the forum sometimes, but i didnt think anybody messed up in this one. thanks
 

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snoce

Large Fish
#15
Nov 14, 2003
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#15
i didnt really mean to say anyone messed up on anything but it seems alot of times the person who needs help never gets it and the thread goes into diff topics...all i seem to think she wanted to know was what was the basics of sw tanks...she gave the size tank she is doing(10gl) and i told her what she needed to kmow to start with...hopefully she comes back and reads it
 

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davint76

New Fish
#16
Mar 3, 2005
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miss.
#16
i jus started a new 10 gl and have only had one magor prob. part of the LR i bought died and made everything spike high. but i made a new power head-surface skimmer and now all is looking good
 

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