Hello,
I recently setup my first saltwater tank and thought I'd share what I have so far.
I've had simple freshwater tanks for several years and always wanted a saltwater setup but was under the impression that they were complicated. After a bit of reading and videos I realized that wasn't true (at least it doesn't have to be true) and I dove in. I found a cheap used 45 gallon acrylic hex tank on Facebook marketplace that was pretty scratched up. I spent time wet sanding this down with 500-3000 grit sandpaper and then buffing it out with a small buffing wheel and some Meguiar's PlastiX polish. It came out much better than I had hoped.
I also found 45 pounds of used dry liverock for $40 on Marketplace. While I was working on polishing the tank I put a few of these in a bucket of saltwater with an air hose for some circulation, added a couple ounces of BioSpira bacteria starter and several tablespoons of household ammonia (around 8ppm) in order to start culturing the bacteria on the rocks in order to get a head start on the tank's biology. I tracked the water parameters while I worked on the tank and the bacteria consumed the ammonia over a week and then I added an additional tablespoon of ammonia every few days to continue to "feed" them until I was ready to move the rocks to the tank.
I built a plywood tank stand to match the format of the hex tank.
With everything ready I rinsed 40 pounds of CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand, 10 pounds at a time and added to the tank. In order to stack the odds in my favor I decided to use boxed ocean water. I dont have an RO system yet and I realized that by the time I'd buy 45 gallons of even cheap RO water, it's really not that much more to just buy the boxed water.
Because I wanted to start simple, I went with an Aquaclear 70 HOB filter (largest that will fit the opening in the permanently attached acrylic lid with a prefilter on the intake pipe, foam filter and carbon pack. I also have a Jebao OW-10 Wavemaker with variable speed/patterns.
The 200 watt Eheim Jager heater has been fine except that the calibration is not even remotely close (like 8+ degrees off) but I was able to get it set over a couple days using a digital thermometer for reference. I'm planning to run at 74 degrees to minimize evaporation.
With a few of my bucket-cultured live rock, and then the rest of the dry live rock added I put in the remaining bottle of BioSpira and picked up two cool Occelaris clowns, a pretty Midas Blenny (he's super fun to watch, way cooler than we expected), and 5 tiny blue leg hermits. I'm watching the water parameters and will add additional stock in a couple weeks if I feel things remain stable.
Ph is about 8.1-8.2, Ammonia 0-trace, Nitrites .25, Nitrates climbed from 10-40 in the first few days and now fallen back to 20.
It's been a fun project and the whole family really enjoys coming to watch them. I'm right around $550 in at this point including stock so far, which I think is pretty good for a 45-gallon acrylic bargain build.
In a while I will upgrade the cheap basic LED light that came with the used tank with something reef-appropriate and would like to add a small assortment of easy corals. I also want to get the clowns a RBTA once I feel like things are stable.
I recently setup my first saltwater tank and thought I'd share what I have so far.
I've had simple freshwater tanks for several years and always wanted a saltwater setup but was under the impression that they were complicated. After a bit of reading and videos I realized that wasn't true (at least it doesn't have to be true) and I dove in. I found a cheap used 45 gallon acrylic hex tank on Facebook marketplace that was pretty scratched up. I spent time wet sanding this down with 500-3000 grit sandpaper and then buffing it out with a small buffing wheel and some Meguiar's PlastiX polish. It came out much better than I had hoped.
I also found 45 pounds of used dry liverock for $40 on Marketplace. While I was working on polishing the tank I put a few of these in a bucket of saltwater with an air hose for some circulation, added a couple ounces of BioSpira bacteria starter and several tablespoons of household ammonia (around 8ppm) in order to start culturing the bacteria on the rocks in order to get a head start on the tank's biology. I tracked the water parameters while I worked on the tank and the bacteria consumed the ammonia over a week and then I added an additional tablespoon of ammonia every few days to continue to "feed" them until I was ready to move the rocks to the tank.
I built a plywood tank stand to match the format of the hex tank.
With everything ready I rinsed 40 pounds of CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand, 10 pounds at a time and added to the tank. In order to stack the odds in my favor I decided to use boxed ocean water. I dont have an RO system yet and I realized that by the time I'd buy 45 gallons of even cheap RO water, it's really not that much more to just buy the boxed water.
Because I wanted to start simple, I went with an Aquaclear 70 HOB filter (largest that will fit the opening in the permanently attached acrylic lid with a prefilter on the intake pipe, foam filter and carbon pack. I also have a Jebao OW-10 Wavemaker with variable speed/patterns.
The 200 watt Eheim Jager heater has been fine except that the calibration is not even remotely close (like 8+ degrees off) but I was able to get it set over a couple days using a digital thermometer for reference. I'm planning to run at 74 degrees to minimize evaporation.
With a few of my bucket-cultured live rock, and then the rest of the dry live rock added I put in the remaining bottle of BioSpira and picked up two cool Occelaris clowns, a pretty Midas Blenny (he's super fun to watch, way cooler than we expected), and 5 tiny blue leg hermits. I'm watching the water parameters and will add additional stock in a couple weeks if I feel things remain stable.
Ph is about 8.1-8.2, Ammonia 0-trace, Nitrites .25, Nitrates climbed from 10-40 in the first few days and now fallen back to 20.
It's been a fun project and the whole family really enjoys coming to watch them. I'm right around $550 in at this point including stock so far, which I think is pretty good for a 45-gallon acrylic bargain build.
In a while I will upgrade the cheap basic LED light that came with the used tank with something reef-appropriate and would like to add a small assortment of easy corals. I also want to get the clowns a RBTA once I feel like things are stable.
