Saltwater and Reef
Tanks
Frequently Asked
Questions
Are saltwater fish hard to keep? Are
they harder than freshwater?
Saltwater fish only tanks are about as easy as keeping a
freshwater fish tank. The major difference is knowing how
to maintain the salinity. However, saltwater reef
tanks require a bit more knowledge. Corals require better
light and the addition of trace elements to the water to be
healthy.
As with any other type of aquarium, you need good equipment
and you need to maintain your tank properly through monthly
water changes and proper animal husbandry.
How warm should my saltwater fish /
reef tank be?
The temperature should be set
at approximately 79-80 degrees F. Be sure to have a good
thermometer and replace your heater on a regular basis.
NorthSide recommends once a year as a general precaution.
While most heaters will last at least a few years, NorthSide has
seen enough heater-related catastrophes to know that spending a
little extra once a year to replace your heater is a very good
insurance policy.
Typically, when heaters break, they stick ON instead of OFF.
The thermostat is no longer in control and the tank just gets
warmer and warmer. By the time that people realize there
is a problem, it is usually too late.
What is the recommended specific
gravity / salinity for a saltwater fish or reef tank?
Reef tanks should be kept between 1.023
and 1.027 to keep coral and inverts happy.
However, if you have a fish only
saltwater system (with no inverts) you may consider keeping the
salinity slightly lower - down to 1.018 to help prevent
outbreaks of ich.
How do you keep the
correct salinity (salt level / specific gravity)?
The most important part about keeping your salinity at the right
level is having the right equipment to measure it.
Salinity can be measured best with a
refractometer which can be purchased at our store.
Refractometers are moderately expensive, so many people might
opt for a simple hydrometer. NorthSide has several different types available.
The key to keeping salinity stable is to remember that salt
does not evaporate. When freshwater evaporates from a
saltwater aquarium, the ratio of salt increases because there is
less water left to dilute it. When
you add freshwater to your saltwater aquarium to make up for
evaporation, the salt level
decreases because there is more water to dilute the salt. This means only add freshwater to replace evaporated
water.
Likewise, if you remove water manually from your aquarium with a
hose or a cup when doing a water change or acclimating fish, the
salt goes with the water. Since you are removing both salt
and water, you should add back saltwater to replace the water
you took out. Remember that salt should be mixed with
RO/DI water before it is added to the aquarium.
What is live rock and why
do I need it?
Live rock is a term used to describe very porous rock that has bacteria
and living organisms such as sponges, coralline algae
(desirable), mussels, etc. living in and on it. Live rock
serves as a biological filter for your aquarium and as a source
of food for crabs and other invertebrates. Live rock is
what is used to build the structure that supports corals.
Together, live rock and corals form the reef in your aquarium.
Usually live rock is collected from the ocean. This rock may be
formed from dead coral,
volcanic activity, or even aquacultured which means it has been placed into the ocean
or an established aquarium for later collection.
Generally, it is best to wait a while before adding the first
fish to the aquarium. "A while" is determined by several
factors such as whether or not your temperature is stable, and
if you are showing no ammonia initially in the system. It
is important to take into consideration how much living
biological filtration such as live rock initially went into the
aquarium. The more living bacteria, the better off the
initial fish will be.
If you have little to no living biologicals when starting up,
such as a fish only with a wet-dry system, you might want to
wait several weeks. Adding a few hermits and a tiny amount
of food every few days will help get the system started up.
Also, live sand can help speed up this process.
If you put in 1 lb per gallon of fully cured live rock and your
temperature and ammonia levels are stable, then a few days wait
is generally sufficient.
What about adding more fish after
the first fish are in?
Once
the ammonia and nitrite levels are at zero, other fish may be
added. A general rule of thumb is a couple/few weeks after
the first fish are in, but you should follow what your ammonia
and nitrite tests tell you.
Once I can add more fish, how many
do I add at once?
Unlike freshwater, many marine fish
do well by themselves. Try adding one or two fish at a
time every couple to three weeks. Be sure to keep an eye
on your ammonia levels so that you don't have a major problem on
your hands.
As your aquarium becomes more populated, adding fish can be a
tricky business. Having some fish of the same type and
coloration can be a problem (i.e. tangs) so be sure to have a
game plan before you start to stock your tank.
NorthSide's expert staff can help you make this plan. Stop
in and bring us a list of what you would like to have, and we
will tell you what is and is not appropriate based on your tank
size and current inhabitants. We can also suggest a
general order in which to add those fish. Don't be
surprised if we tell you "No" on several of your choices.
We will veto things that seem like a bad idea. Sometimes
we make you pick one fish or another. All of this is in
your (and your aquarium inhabitants') best interest.
How much flow do I
need in my tank (how many times does the water need to turn
over per hour)? How many times per hour does the water need
to go through the filter?
When considering water flow in
a marine aquarium, there are several mitigating factors.
NorthSide suggests that water should turn over 6 to 12 times an
hour. Depending on the height of the tank, your pump size
will vary due to differences in head pressure, or the extra
force required to move water against force of gravity.
Pump size can be calculated by taking the volume of the tank and
multiplying by anywhere from 6 to 12. For example,
the pump on a 50 gallon tank should put out about 300 - 600
gallons per hour.
In considering how much flow in the 300-600 gph range is
desired, it is necessary to know what will be going on in the
tank. Some tanks such as acro tanks require much higher
levels of flow than other saltwater tanks, so one would hedge
towards a higher gph pump. It is also necessary to
compensate for the height of the tank by choosing a pump with
adequate head pressure rating.
Additionally, there should be a good current throughout the tank
without forcing the fish to swim constantly through a strong
current. Powerheads can be used to supplement the current and
may be redirected to provide flow to dead spots in the aquarium.
What is the best
material for the tank bottom - crushed coral or sand? How
deep should the substrate be?
We find that aragonite makes an excellent
substrate. Our favorite variety is the Special Grade
Reef Sand by CaribSea. We like this particular type
because it is not too big for sand sifters to sift, yet it is
heavy enough that it does not blow around in the tank. We
feel that crushed coral is best reserved for fish only systems
that typically will not have any type of sand sifters and for
freshwater African Cichlid systems. We have found that
while finer grade sand styles of aragonite are acceptable, they
typically drift like sand dunes making it difficult to maintain
a stable sand bed. This can also be problematic for
sand-dwelling corals like plates and brains since they can be
covered up very easily.
When used with a good filtration system (live rock or a wet-dry
sump) using approximately one inch in depth is adequate, but
slightly thicker beds are more desirable for sand sifting fish
like jawfish and it also helps to stabilize live rock.
(Note: Always situate live rock on the glass in the
aquarium before adding the substrate to ensure that no toppling
occurs if a fish digs under a rock.)
Some people like a very thick sand bed of 5"+ known as a Deep
Sand Bed ,or DSB. NorthSide Aquatics recommends sticking
to a moderately deep bed of 1.5"-3" without a plenum.
The DSB theory requires a plenum to perform denitrification, and
we are whole-heartedly against plenums due to their inherent
danger. Without the plenum, it simply makes no sense to
have so much sand.
What kind of lighting do I need
for a coral reef tank?
Please refer to our
lighting section for further details.
What is the average cost and size of a saltwater aquarium?
This is probably one of the
most commonly asked questions we get regarding saltwater tanks
and there is no straightforward answer. However, we have
put together the following general guidelines to help customers
to better understand the reasons the answer seems somewhat
vague.
A Note on Aquarium Size:
NorthSide can set up any size saltwater tank for its customers.
We currently maintain saltwater tanks from 3 gallons to 1300
gallons. We feel that what makes some tank setups better
than others is not so much the size, but rather having the right
equipment. The right equipment can mean the difference
between easy sailing and a complete nightmare to maintain.
To the average person who comes in our store and asks for a
saltwater tank, we usually recommend a drilled 75 gallon tank.
This may seem like a large tank to a first time tank owner, but
it is an easy system to set up and it is simple to maintain
because we have room to put in the right equipment. Tanks
of this size are easy to get around in to clean and they have
room to stack live rock easily due to their depth from front to
back. They also are not so small that they are filled up
quickly and the owner is left immediately with the impression
that his/her tank is too small. Smaller tanks can be successfully
maintained, but larger tanks are more stable in regards to
temperature and water chemistry.
A Note on Pricing:
There are many different options to consider when setting up a
saltwater aquarium depending on what the owner wants as an end
product. These options can have considerable bearing on
the final cost of the tank. Some of the options include: aquarium size,
type of filter(s), lighting, cabinetry, heaters, and other
accessories. All of these options have different costs
associated with them. Your choices of these options ultimately
determine the cost of your aquarium. Saltwater aquariums
are more expensive to set up and cost a bit more to maintain
than freshwater. The cost of fish and coral are usually
more expensive, with the exception of large or rare freshwater
fish.
Many people are tempted to try to find individual items cheaper
than what we recommend, and they do exist. At NorthSide we
have the option to stock cheaper items, but unless those cheaper
items hold up over time and prove to be of good quality, we will
not stock them. Our goal is to sell good quality products
that will endure the hard life ahead of them.
In order to make this determination we test all of our products
before they go on our shelves. When reps come to show us
something new we tell them that we will have to test it first
and that their orders will have to wait until we are convinced
that their products are worthy to put on our shelves. We
have been testing equipment as a store since 2003. Since
aquariums and ponds are all we do, we have the time, place, and
incentive to test products thoroughly on a daily basis.
That is something that all line pet stores (ones that carry
everything from cats, to birds, to dogs, etc.) do not have the
luxury to do.
In short, our aquarium quotes will probably be at least what
other stores would quote, and sometimes they are a little more.
However, we expect you to be completely satisfied with what you
get from us with each piece of equipment performing very well,
and we expect that you will not have to replace your equipment
anytime soon.
It is not uncommon to walk through our store and find one
customer recommending a piece of equipment we sold to them to another customer they
just met because they are so happy with it themselves. You
can't buy compliments like that!
What are some good books about marine aquariums that
I can read?
These are some really good books to read if you want to learn
more about saltwater aquariums. NorthSide Aquatics has these
titles available for purchase at our store, or you can
get them
from our website if that is more convenient for you:
Marine Fishes (Pocketexpert Guide), Scott W. Michael
- We refer to this one as our Saltwater Fish "Bible".
Check out our copy when you come in. You can barely tell
what it is because the cover is so worn and is falling off.
