saltwater aquariums?

[kunar]

Anybody into saltwater aquariums? I've kept freshwater, though its been a while since i've had one set up. I was just offered a 75gal saltwater setup for free. Fully stocked and established, everything included. A complete setup, start to finish, top to bottom. So of course im gonna have to move the fish and live rock, trying to keep everything as healthy and stress free as possible. Plus i would like to move as much aquarium water as possible. Then there's the question of my water quality. I have a private well with relatively hard water as well as iron and possibly manganese. It's run through a standard ion exchange softener, so it will have some salt in place of most of the calcium or whatever else, though i do know that there's still iron present in the treated water. Will that be a problem for the aquarium? Anything else im forgetting about or anything i should know? Im trying to do my research now before i get the setup, I want to keep all the livestock as safe and healthy as i can.

 

[Road Angels]

salt

You know the thing about salt water setups is having the best filter set up there is, the tank needs flow and the water needs to be checked almost on a daily bases, the iron maybe a problem and you may have to use something like a britta tap filter to get the iron out and have enough exchange water on hand, also a container to let it sit after you add the salt to it and do ph checks are the fish larger like Tangs or small like Clown size, if you can just take out about 25%- 35% and are able to slide it on to a very stout suface like a table top or reinforced board that would be best, its expensive I killed about $400 in a year in fish didnt have the filters that they have now

 

[cvar]

I know nothing about saltwater tanks, cuz I've only had freshwater tanks. Seems to me, you should join a saltwater aquarium forum. They know.

Lucky you! I'm jealous. I'd like to try a saltwater setup some day, but it seems so much more involved (and $$$) than fresh. Good luck.

BTW, our well water had lots of iron (laundry turned orange) where we lived before, so we got a water softener, used iron-out crystals, and charcoal filter. It worked swell for us, but it instantly killed ALL our fish, the 1st time we changed the tank (fresh-)water. So we reverted to untreated well water for all tank changes afterward, and had no issues.

 

[det107]

All I could add is that saltwater tanks need a electrical backup system if current household electricity goes out long enough to let the fish expire-

 

[tmcalavy]

and a BIG hobby budget.

 

[kunar]

I was really hoping for more input on this. as much as I'd love to get my hands on this free setup, I'm afraid I'm gonna a get in over my head...

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk

 

[huh?]

... join a saltwater aquarium forum.

+1

there are several on the web. check out at least 3 or 4 of them to see if any suit you better than the others. i've read through many threads on quite a few forums and some forums seem to have a "nicer", more helpful feel to the replies, while others have a "preachy(?)" atmosphere about them. after all, you're there to learn how to keep a living animal alive, right? not to get a scolding from someone who thinks you should know everything already.

anywho, the more volume a system has, the better. it has to do with changes to the characteristics of the water. i.e.: the water in a ten gallon aquarium will get colder or hotter faster than the water in a twenty gallon aquarium as the ambient air temp changes. the chemistry of the water in a ten gallon aquarium will have a larger proportional change than the water in a twenty gallon aquarium when you add anything(fish, medication, etc.) to it. with that in mind you'll be off to a great start with a 75 gallon tank, especially since it appears that it's an established tank.

i say go for it, dude, and accept the offer of the 75 gal tank. if you find a passion for the hobby then awesome. if not, then at least you had a go without the expenses involved when starting from scratch.

i have a 55 gal myself, but i'm not really into it. there are 3 seahorses and three feather dusters in there... pretty sparse. i suppose i should get some stuff to make the aquarium less duuuhhhh for those seahorses.

one last thing: you'll need a hydrometer(among other things). please do NOT buy one of those plastic deals that has a floaty dial kind of indicator inside. complete waste of money and it is a p.o.s. the floating glass one much better. $5 at petco.

good luck.

 

[tmcalavy]

Yep, take the setup now if its free, then background yourself on what it really takes...everybody needs a challenge now and then.

 

[1994Ranger$$$pit]

I've had a tank since 2007 and been a member of a rather large Reef tank club forum since then as well. I keep a mixed reef 90 gallon with a basement sump system.
It can be a very addictive hobby once you get a handle on how to keep water chemistry correct. If you have any questions,let me know via PM.
I would be glad to help you out.
Test kits for water and a refractor for testing salinity are a must.
A site called www.reefcentral.com is a huge site with lots of info.
Read,read and read some more about the hobby if you plan to dive into it.

Here's a couple pictures of my mixed reef tank. I have softies,LPS and SPS corals. The tank had 500 watts of metal halide lighting.
Electricity is the highest cost,imo.

 

[ab_slack]

I thought there was something fishy going on here....

Got to admit they are really pretty.

Haven't had fish for some years.

I know this doesn't involve fish, but I always thought an AMC Pacer would make a nice terrarium.