Sean W.
Active Member
Hey guys,
I have been keeping freshwater aquariums in one form or another for over 20 years and I have always wanted to try saltwater, but I was always too scared.
During lockdown I had some free time and a little extra cash so I decided to make the plunge! After having my first reef tank up for year and a half (and my longest running tank ever) I bought a house and had to take my first saltwater tank down. My first tank was a massive success even though I used a repurposed canister filter and a HOB skimmer. I learned some things and I would like to share those things here.
- It's easier than you think, arguably easier than freshwater - Especially easier than hightech planted tanks
- Skimmers aren't quite must haves, but they are more than a nice to have
- USE RODI WATER, NOT TAP WATER
- Put your rock on the bottom glass and then put the sand in
- Don't have any equipment hanging over the rim, this will prevent you from making a gapless screen lid. Your most expensive fish will find the 1/2" gap in your lid and become a fish chip
- Don't be sucked into the "SPS is better than softie/LPS" nonsense. I like Softies and LPS, no interest in SPS, that doesn't make my tank inferior
- Feed way less than you think is needed - Don't use an auto feeder everyday, it just puts too much food in
- Use high quality salt - the cheap stuff leaves grime and muck in your mixing container
- Auto top off system is amazing, the freshwater hobby needs to adopt this hardware even just to replenish evaporated fresh water
- Get high quality lights, I used cheap Chinese lights, and they worked, I had a lot of success, but the colors were never there.
- Use a sump
- Use a roller mat as mechanical filtration
- Have patience, nothing in this hobby happens fast. Freshwater tanks are fully gown out and "done" in 6 months, reefs take a lot longer!
- Don't put a Kenya tree in your tank unless you're okay with it spreading everywhere
- Glue/epoxy/attach your rocks together, don't just stack them with hopes and dreams
- Be very careful scraping your glass, it's easy to get grains of sand in your scraper and scratch your glass
- Be religious about scraping your glass, every day or every other day. It's a lot easier to scrape fresh algae off the glass than caked on algae that's been sitting for a week
- know your limits... If you want a certain coral or fish that has special needs, make sure you are willing to meet those needs. like a fish that won't eat flake food, know that before you get it and be sure you're okay with those constraints.
I think that's about it. I'm planning my next build and I'm really excited to apply what I learned to the next one!
I have been keeping freshwater aquariums in one form or another for over 20 years and I have always wanted to try saltwater, but I was always too scared.
During lockdown I had some free time and a little extra cash so I decided to make the plunge! After having my first reef tank up for year and a half (and my longest running tank ever) I bought a house and had to take my first saltwater tank down. My first tank was a massive success even though I used a repurposed canister filter and a HOB skimmer. I learned some things and I would like to share those things here.
- It's easier than you think, arguably easier than freshwater - Especially easier than hightech planted tanks
- Skimmers aren't quite must haves, but they are more than a nice to have
- USE RODI WATER, NOT TAP WATER
- Put your rock on the bottom glass and then put the sand in
- Don't have any equipment hanging over the rim, this will prevent you from making a gapless screen lid. Your most expensive fish will find the 1/2" gap in your lid and become a fish chip
- Don't be sucked into the "SPS is better than softie/LPS" nonsense. I like Softies and LPS, no interest in SPS, that doesn't make my tank inferior
- Feed way less than you think is needed - Don't use an auto feeder everyday, it just puts too much food in
- Use high quality salt - the cheap stuff leaves grime and muck in your mixing container
- Auto top off system is amazing, the freshwater hobby needs to adopt this hardware even just to replenish evaporated fresh water
- Get high quality lights, I used cheap Chinese lights, and they worked, I had a lot of success, but the colors were never there.
- Use a sump
- Use a roller mat as mechanical filtration
- Have patience, nothing in this hobby happens fast. Freshwater tanks are fully gown out and "done" in 6 months, reefs take a lot longer!
- Don't put a Kenya tree in your tank unless you're okay with it spreading everywhere
- Glue/epoxy/attach your rocks together, don't just stack them with hopes and dreams
- Be very careful scraping your glass, it's easy to get grains of sand in your scraper and scratch your glass
- Be religious about scraping your glass, every day or every other day. It's a lot easier to scrape fresh algae off the glass than caked on algae that's been sitting for a week
- know your limits... If you want a certain coral or fish that has special needs, make sure you are willing to meet those needs. like a fish that won't eat flake food, know that before you get it and be sure you're okay with those constraints.
I think that's about it. I'm planning my next build and I'm really excited to apply what I learned to the next one!
