Fear of failure...

[LordJoshaeus]

I have committed myself to setting up a saltwater tank...and boy am I scared I've had quite a bit of experience keeping and breeding freshwater fish, but my past experiences with saltwater were quite negative - the tanks were ugly and the corals and macroalgae did not thrive and typically died off (the fish and mobile inverts typically did fine). The fact saltwater is so expensive to set up and maintain does not help matters...I guess I am just looking for someone to tell me "you've got this!" and maybe give some advice to help ensure that happens. Thanks :)

 

[keagan]

You got this! Take your time, go slow doing everything. There's no rush to cycle, no rush to add coral, patience is key. My first reef tank was a mess, coral grew well but I struggled constantly with issues that could've been prevented, all because I wasn't patient enough. Good luck and I'm also building a new system ATM so if anything's frustrating you reach out I'll be dealing with the same little problems that come from running plumbing, dealing with the uglies, etc.

 

[kitti-fish]

I’m gonna be honest with you. The first year the tank ain’t going to look great. Mine didn’t! It was a lot of trial and error. A few coral losses. A few fish losses. I was going to throw in the towel but I already put so much money into this hobby so I wanted to see it through. It’s worth it in the end. You might not have a YouTube worthy tank within 1-2 years (I sure don’t) but it brings me so much joy to see my coral growing, my fish getting better, and the tank maturing over time. It’s not the easiest hobby and everyone is going to throw 1000 different thoughts on how to run your tank. In the end, do what’s best for you and don’t get discouraged too early. What size are you looking to get into? AIO, sump, HOB, or canister?

 

[LordJoshaeus]

You got this! Take your time, go slow doing everything. There's no rush to cycle, no rush to add coral, patience is key. My first reef tank was a mess, coral grew well but I struggled constantly with issues that could've been prevented, all because I wasn't patient enough. Good luck and I'm also building a new system ATM so if anything's frustrating you reach out I'll be dealing with the same little problems that come from running plumbing, dealing with the uglies, etc.

Thanks :) I'll be extra patient this time.

I’m gonna be honest with you. The first year the tank ain’t going to look great. Mine didn’t! It was a lot of trial and error. A few coral losses. A few fish losses. I was going to throw in the towel but I already put so much money into this hobby so I wanted to see it through. It’s worth it in the end. You might not have a YouTube worthy tank within 1-2 years (I sure don’t) but it brings me so much joy to see my coral growing, my fish getting better, and the tank maturing over time. It’s not the easiest hobby and everyone is going to throw 1000 different thoughts on how to run your tank. In the end, do what’s best for you and don’t get discouraged too early. What size are you looking to get into? AIO, sump, HOB, or canister?

It is a ten gallon I am setting up for my Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis colony. It has a 150 gph internal Aqueon Quiet flow filter, as well as an inch of aragonite sand and 7 lbs dry rock (may add more, perhaps live, rock). I am going to get used media from a nearby lfs to jump start the cycle and will further reinforce it with some fritz turbo start 900. I am planning to keep the lights off for months, adding copepods all the while, to allow micro fauna to build up before the uglies start...I want to see if I can minimize them that way. When should I add soft corals? When the uglies end? (Not planning on adding hard corals to this setup).

 

[mmorrison55]

I’ll be honest and may have some naysayers, but I believe keeping real small tanks like you are doing are harder than if you were setting up a 100 gallon.

Now thats not saying you can’t do it, and won’t jave success, just that your margin for error are smaller and you will need to keep a good routine until it becomes established.

I have a 200 gallon tank and a 25 gallon tank, and the 25 gallon tank showed negative signs and started to grow hair algae at the 1st hint of neglect where as my large tank can go several weeks without a water change and not show anything other than some algae that needs to be scraped off the glass.

But as long as you stay on top of it, keep your parameters in check and stable and keep up your maintenance, you should be fine.

Live rock will help stabilize things a great deal as well in a smaller tank.

Good luck and dont give up! I was just telling my wife that while freshwater tanks can look good, nothing beats a saltwater tank as far as im concerned.

 

[James CNM]

I have committed myself to setting up a saltwater tank...and boy am I scared I've had quite a bit of experience keeping and breeding freshwater fish, but my past experiences with saltwater were quite negative - the tanks were ugly and the corals and macroalgae did not thrive and typically died off (the fish and mobile inverts typically did fine). The fact saltwater is so expensive to set up and maintain does not help matters...I guess I am just looking for someone to tell me "you've got this!" and maybe give some advice to help ensure that happens. Thanks :)

If you have kept water before? Naf all "keeping freshwater fish etc" Like i said! If you have kept water then the only difference is you moving to salt. I would nvr say to anyone you got this!

Patience is the 1st thing you have to set in your mind.

Are you starting from scratch? Good quality dead rock, cycle from scratch..if you have the patience and can do that, in twelve months time you may have a really nice looking reef. It doesn't have to be expensive

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks :) I'll be extra patient this time.

It is a ten gallon I am setting up for my Pseudomugil cyanodorsalis colony. It has a 150 gph internal Aqueon Quiet flow filter, as well as an inch of aragonite sand and 7 lbs dry rock (may add more, perhaps live, rock). I am going to get used media from a nearby lfs to jump start the cycle and will further reinforce it with some fritz turbo start 900. I am planning to keep the lights off for months, adding copepods all the while, to allow micro fauna to build up before the uglies start...I want to see if I can minimize them that way. When should I add soft corals? When the uglies end? (Not planning on adding hard corals to this setup).

I've never kept these fish, but if I remember correctly these are technically brackish water fish (unless I'm mistaken). What salinity would you be running here? If you're hoping to keep some soft corals, I think about 33 ppt is about the minimum, which may be too high for your fish.

I understand the idea of keeping the lights off for some months, but I think this can simply just delay the ugly phase. Your mileage may vary.

If you're concerned with the uglies, and want to minimize them, I would go with all real, wet live rock from a good local fish store if you can. For a 10 gallon tank that should be reasonably affordable, and would give you a better chance for success, with a minimal ugly phase. At the least, consider adding a couple pounds of live rock.

I think Fritz Turbostart is the best bottled bacteria product currently, but I don't think you need it in addition to some live rock.

You can add softies pretty much from the get go, they are typically rather forgiving and do well even in newer tanks.

Definitely let us know if you have further questions and good luck!

 

[sandracer76]

I have committed myself to setting up a saltwater tank...and boy am I scared I've had quite a bit of experience keeping and breeding freshwater fish, but my past experiences with saltwater were quite negative - the tanks were ugly and the corals and macroalgae did not thrive and typically died off (the fish and mobile inverts typically did fine). The fact saltwater is so expensive to set up and maintain does not help matters...I guess I am just looking for someone to tell me "you've got this!" and maybe give some advice to help ensure that happens. Thanks :)

I’ve had similar struggles and between listening to Ryan Batcheller on Serious Reefs Podcast and using AI Claude it has really aided my success. My tank broke so I’m in the process or restarting now. I’m super excited and know you will be too once you check him out!