Low Maint. Saltwater?

[PBirdsong]

Question:
Can I have a low maint. (relatively speaking of course) saltwater aquarium? And can it be 125gal?

It's been a long time since I was last on here. Been busy. But recently my brother and I bought a house together, and I finally have room for a 125 gal aquarium. What I've always wanted! Anyways, how can I make a saltwater aquarium low maint?

Less cleaning . . . mainly.

By the way, this will be my first saltwater . . . assuming I do this. Nothing bought or setup yet. Just exploring possibilities.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to getting started. There are two ways to think about Maint on a 125 gallon tank. I have one if you want to view my tank in the sig. But you can either work on your tank 15-20 mins a day or you can work on it one time a few hrs a week. I prefer doing the everyday maint 15-20 mins a day instead of hrs on one day of the week. IMO you are in more control by doing it every day. If you are looking to not to be able to do any work on it then you`ll need to get a marine tank screensaver. A real SW tank will mean some work. Just how you want to do it is up to you.

 

[Ziggy953]

How low of maint, are you looking for? You will still have to clean the glass, the skimmer, the pumps (eventually) you will still have to do regular water changes. You will eventually have to clean out your plumbing. What kind of cleaning are you wanting to limit.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Just to echo what the other guys have said...it depends on your definition of low maintenence. Depends on what you stock it with as well. The main factor is money. A 125 gallon is going to be quite a lot of money to set up, but it you have it, then that's not a worry.

Welcome back, btw!

 

[Marc118]

SW can be just as "easy" as FW if set up right IMO...all I do is clean glass and empty my collection cup.

Unless you consider feeding maintenance

Better question, what is your goal for the tank...and do you have a budget

Money can be a large factor as DT said.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Marc...SW can be as easy as FW...the main difference is the MONEY. I took my time and did a lot of research and got good equipment and set things up based on others designes that have given good results. Because of this I have a tank that doesn't worry me to death, but I still do something to it every day. Like Melosu said you can spend a few hours once a week or a few minutes every day. I think the reason most of us get into this hobby (SW) and then into Reefing is because we like the hands-on-everyday part of it. It is one thing to have a SW tank and another to "work" or grow a SW tank. Like Marc said you need to figure out what goals you have for this tank and work from there!

We'll be here to help out either way!

 

[MT79]

Lots of LR, good water flow/turnover, low bio-load(very important), clean source water(no PO4, NO3, etc. -usually takes an RO/DI unit), and a great skimmer. If you talking FOWLR, you'd basically just have to clean the glass and empty the skimmer a couple times a week and do PWC's a couple times a month- maybe less. As the other said, it's never totally hands off. For example you need to clean all your equipment peridically. Basically there is monthly, weekly, and possibly daily maintance regardless. More delicate/demanding animals, such as coral, will need devotion and TLC. Good luck

 

[tecwzrd]

I agree with all but MT79 hit it on the head with a low bio-load. The larger the bio-load for any tank size is going to increase overall maintenance with feeding/cleaning. With a 125 gal tank you could have 5 colorful 2-3" fish and have very little work to do weekly.

 

[roka64]

Just an idea, the 125 and 150 generally have the same footprint. If I had known when I bought my 125 and stand, I would have gone with the 150...sigh...all of the above is great advice! I would also mention you can mix Base Rock www.marcorocks.com with LR to save quite a bit of money.

 

[PBirdsong]

Wow. Great stuff, Guys. Sorry it took so long to get back. I know there will always be a bit of hands on work. And that's fine with me. But some aquariums have more than others. I learned that with my FW experience. I know one factor can be simply the tank size.
My dream has always been the 125gal. I guess, my delima is trying to decide if I should stick to FW or make the plunge ino SW.
I know next to nothing about SW . . . well . . . not true; I've heard there's salt in the water . . .
Anyways . . . let's talk about what kind of a tank I would be doing. With FW water I tend to have higher maintanence with high WPG. So can I get away with using stock lights?
Also what kind of filter? Canister, power . . .

And by the way . . . how does one do a water change with SW anyways? I don't have saltwater on tap . . . especially in Colorado.

 

[melosu58]

You`ll have to buy marine salt and mix it in buckets or tubs. Alot of LFS sell it already mixed. As far as filtration LR and a skimmer is the way to go. I had that for 7 yrs till 2 yrs ago when I added a refuge. I hope all goes well.

 

[Ziggy953]

Like Melosu said and MT79, LR LR LR....1.5-2lbs per gallon of LR along with a good skimmer will filter your tank. Canisters and HOB filters just don't cut it in SW. You are looking for biological filtration and you get that with the LR. As for the PWCs you will need as Melosu said to buy salt mix. Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals, Red Sea and several others. A certain amount of salt mix per gallon = proper SG for your tank. Before you get head over heels in the SW I suggest a bit of reading. Go here http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_cat.php?fldAuto=2/ That will give you a good overview of what you will need and how to do it. Any questions you have we will be able to help you along.

Go ahead...take the plunge...SW is AWESOME!!!!

 

[ICEnVy]

Let's look at this from another persons point of view. Uhm, a more negative one..... Don't do it. It is too much work! lol just kidding. You always have a bazillion levels to worry about, it costs a lot more (LR is expensive, you have to constantly buy marine salt, protien skimmers are expensive, lighting is expensive, etc). It's a lot more consuming of your money and time. My tank was all cool at first and now I just want it to disappear one morning so I don't have to deal with it anymore- or just make it FW. But on here everyone seems to like the whole SW thing a lot more than me. I am just pointing out some downsides..... If you succeed and anyone else who does- I look up to you, cause it is hard work!!!

 

[roka64]

I'll tell you this, I started with SW and never had a FW tank, but I LOVE it! Initial set up costs and maint are high. Once you have a stable tank, it is very low maint and easy to keep, especially in a tank that size. It gives a lot more room for error.
This is how I used to premix my water:
Friday-add salt, ph, heater and water
Saturday-test the water (add salt or water, if needed)
Sunday- Siphon out old water, clean equipment in old SW, pump in premixed water.
They way I do it now, put it all in my 32G bucket (with wheels) and let it mix, I can do a PWC whenever I need, and it also freed up the garden bath tub. LOL!
Don't skimp on the skimmer or lighting.
Have kind of have to disagree with Ziggy on one point. I love my filter on my 55G. I don't have room for a sump/fuge, so it gives me something to run media, if needed. Currently, I am running purigen in my canister and have some ceramic rings.
For my 125G, I will do a sump/fuge (may even ask Ziggy if he wants to come up and help...actually, teach me), with no cannister filter.

 

[tangster]

Just an idea, the 125 and 150 generally have the same footprint. If I had known when I bought my 125 and stand, I would have gone with the 150...sigh...all of the above is great advice! I would also mention you can mix Base Rock www.marcorocks.com with LR to save quite a bit of money.

also the type of bioload. Corals take alot more work--you have to feed them, move them away from others, replace them according to currents and light needs, glue them back on the rocks when the jumbos knock them over etc etc.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

As others have pointed out well, "low maintenance" is a relative thing. And ICEnvy does make some good points but I think it all depends on where you're coming from with your freshwater tank. For example...

I had a buddy over the other day looking at my little 46g SW tank. He has a freshwater tank. He asked "So... is it much more maintenance to do these, like I hear?" I respond, "I don't really know... all I do is clean the glass every couple days, and do weekly water changes." My buddy's eyes bulge out and he says "WEEKLY? How much?" I tell him 10% every week. He just about chokes and says "Well... that's TONS more work than freshwater."

Oh... his freshwater tank? It's overgrown in slime, the last gasping fish died last month, and the giant snail he had in there finally gave it up too. I ask him if he just did monthly water changes, and he kind of rolled his eyes and said "When I remember."

Soooo... I guess my point is that if you like the fact that freshwater is "low maintenance" because it can tolerate more abuse before it totally crashes on you, then saltwater is definitely going to be "high maintenance." But if you're an anal freshwater tank keeper, you probably won't notice much increase in workload with a saltwater tank. [I'm not saying this applies to your experience ICEnvy... just my buddy's!]

The one thing you've already thought about I see, is saltwater for your PWCs. This is one thing FW doesn't really concern itself with. You're going to have to have a place to store/aerate saltwater after it's been mixed. You don't want to use freshly made saltwater, but instead want it to age for a day or two before adding it to the tank. There's some time and space planning involved there that doesn't exist with freshwater, so just be aware of that.

 

[Ziggy953]

I have what I would consider a fairly low maint. tank. I have LPS, Leathers, and yes even SPS corals along with fish and an anemone. The work is in the set up. Like I said before if you set your system up to be self suffecient then your maint will be lower then if you have to chane filter media, rinse sponges and all that. Not to pick at your Roka but I don't like the canisters because of having to keep up with them. When you are ready to do a sump and fuge I'll get in the car and head that way...I'll even give you some Macro to start off with! Now if you really want to go low maint then get lots and lots of LR put 2 fish in your tank and no coral at all. I think that we get in this hobby to take our minds off other things in our lives and have something to work on/with and to look at. I'm not happy if I haven't spent a little time tinikering with my tank every day!

 

[roka64]

Not to pick at your Roka but I don't like the canisters because of having to keep up with them. When you are ready to do a sump and fuge I'll get in the car and head that way...I'll even give you some Macro to start off with!

Sweet!
I do like to tinker as well. Ziggy and tangster had good points, more stuff in the tank a little more maint, less bioload less maint.
After all this, keep in mind regular PWCs are needed to replenish the trace elements used up in your tank.

 

[PBirdsong]

Hmm . . . the thing that concerns me is where to mix my saltwater. Where can I store it and then easily pump it into my tank if my tank is setup in the family room?

 

[cplawrence]

I wanted to echo what Kurt_Nelson had said. Being the anal FW keeper (I am annoyed with myself if the water change is a day past the one week mark), I noticed virtually no difference in the time spent keeping up with the tank. I do find that the SW tank gets a lot more of my viewing time, however. The biggest difference is the mixing of SW. I have a smaller tank, so I mix it in a rubbermaid tub in the basement and fill a bucket to bring upstairs. You may get better suggestions from someone with that experience, but is there possibly a closet you could keep a wheeled garbage can in?
Chris