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Saltwater aquarium2007-11-24 23:40:12

How much would a basic aquarium cost, based on all of the chemicals needed to maintain the water and fish, food, filter, and a 20 gallon tank? How much are nice looking salt water fish? I know it will be exepensive, but just looking for a price range so I can get an idea.

*Is a 20 gallon tank small for a salt water aquarium, or would it be better to get a 30 gallon tank?

Thank you.

Answers:

Since you seem to be a new aquarist where saltwater tanks are concerned, you should start with a very large tank. The smaller tanks can go bad in 12-24 hours and all your fish will die due to bad water. The larger the tank, the longer you have to catch a potential catastrophe and correct it.

There is a lot of maintenance and water testing that needs to be done in the marine hobby due to the water quality demands of saltwater fish and creatures.

The minimum reccomended tank to start the marine hobby is a 55 gallon. A complete set up including special lighting, protein skimmer, filters, sea salt, tank, hood and stand will run you about $500.00. Then you start buying fish for it. Most saltwater fish are pretty pricey. Although some of th cheaper damsels can be purchased for around $6.00 each. Live rock is very expensive (about $8.00 per pound).

Many of the fish are not compatible with each other and will end up dead due to agression.

Go to "About.com" and follow their links to setting up and maintaining a saltwater aquarium (marine tank). They have lots of great info there.

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You can do a 20 gal SW, but it'll be difficult. They say the bigger the better/easier to maintain. I tried it with a 10 gal, and it was a real pain in the . The water evaporates quickly, which will increase the salinity, which can kill some fish and definitely the inverts. 55 is usually what they say for a minimum size. Also, a lot of the fish get quite large or are incompatible with others, so you'll be really limited on what you can get for that size of tank.