When should I start my saltwater tank?

[jayhawk1203]

Hello, I am a college student living in a house that I probably won’t be living in past the next two years. I dipped my toe in the water with freshwater fish-keeping and I have two bettas in separate tanks. My latest obsession has been to get a saltwater tank and have a pair of clowns (favorite either phantom/black storm or a darker mocha) with some nice corals and live rock in there. My problem is that I travel a lot because I’m a college athlete and can barely find people to even feed my bettas when I’m gone for a few days. I know I probably shouldn’t get into having a saltwater tank… but how far down the line until I should be comfortable getting my dream tank at my local fish store. It stares at me I swear

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to R2R and to reefing!

I’m no expert, but I’m just getting back into reefing after a long time out. I have two small all-in-one tanks going, and I’m planning for fish now. We go out of town for up to a week several times a year, and I have no one to take care of my tanks when we are gone. I think I put together a list of fish that can get by on pellets or flakes from and automatic feeder when we are gone. I think if you’re careful to avoid specialty feeders, and only gone a few days at a time, you should be alright with an auto feeder to feed your fish (you may consider an auto feeder for your Bettas too).

If you travel you’ll most likely want/need an auto top off system to replaced evaporated fresh water in your tank. This is to keep your salinity stable, which is important for most corals.

I say, if you‘re going to be in the house for two years and you want a tank, go for it! Two years is a long time for your first tank, and a real good start before your “dream tank”.

Good luck!

 

[bobnicaragua]

I’d enjoy college and start a tank after you graduate.

 

[shakacuz]

I’d enjoy college and start a tank after you graduate.

honestly, this. sure you can research extensively and start a great tank while in college. but think of having to tear down and start the tank when you go back home or are on break

 

[AtlantiCat]

As a very experienced freshwater keeper who only made the leap to saltwater a little over a year ago, I would say to consider your investment.

Saltwater is a HUGE investment compared to fresh.

You can not use tap water, which means you have to buy a RODI system OR buy RODI or pre-mixed saltwater from your LFS.

You don't need to run many tests on freshwater once your tank is established, but for saltwater you MUST test your water for Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity, pH, Phosphorus, Nitrate, and Salinity, at least periodically, especially if you're keeping corals. This means you will either need to invest in test kits for these or get tests done at your LFS at whatever they're charging for it. At an absolute minimum, you'd need to buy a hydrometer or a refractometer.

You can not just let water evaporate out of your tank like you can do with freshwater, because that will change the salinity, which will affect both your fish and corals over time. With you traveling constantly, you'll need to invest in an Auto Top Off (ATO) device. Cheap ones rarely work well.

On top of that, you can buy wonderful cheap lights that will grow freshwater aquatic plants like crazy, but the equivalent for growing corals is far more expensive.

TL;DR...it's a lot more expensive to keep salt than fresh and while freshwater tanks can survive a significant amount of benign neglect, your saltwater tank is much less likely to handle it well. Get one when you have TIME to pay attention to the tank, MONEY to invest in the necessary equipment, and possibly MORE MONEY to pay someone to maintain it for you.