# Freshwater vs saltwater



## joker1535 (May 23, 2010)

Thinking of setting up a saltwater tank. I have a 135 gallon fresh water aquarium I want to convert to a salt tank. I would stick to live sand, rock and some anemone in the tank for the clownfish. But is it really so much extra work compared to a freshwater tank?? How about waterchanges? Any advice from the experts out there?


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Not necessarily. Depends on your budget and setup, a SW could be waaaaay less maintenance. Some people never do water change. I target every 6 months. The skimmer for the large size tank like yours could potentially set you back a few hundred bucks. You will quite likely get into corals - with that more light, more algae control, more top off, etc.


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## er201 (Apr 21, 2010)

The clowns dont really need anemones which would cost you $$$ cause of the lighting requirement. Frogspawn is a nice substitute imo.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I am also research about setting up a sw tank. May be a 50-60 g tank with a 20-30g sump. Not sure if I should start collecting equipment now or buy a complete setup. Anyway, I am not in a hurry but this has always been my dream.


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## Magistrate (Apr 29, 2010)

er201 said:


> The clowns dont really need anemones which would cost you $$$ cause of the lighting requirement. Frogspawn is a nice substitute imo.


Very good advice. imo. 
And Gklaw is right about less maintenance. 
There are pros and cons to sump so do some reseach.
I myself like sumps and run them on FW and SW.
You have to be alot more patient with SW.
No anemomes for the first year(rule of thumb) or anything that requires a mature system.(Mandarin Goby, certain corals, sea apples, etc)
Also start with a fowler system first then move to corals.
And DO YOUR RESEARCH on fish.
Have a goal in mind. What you want the final outcome to be.
Example: don't buy a damsel fish if your gonna have a peaceful reef tank they tend to get nasty when they are full grown and territorial. 
Good luck with your choice.


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## joker1535 (May 23, 2010)

Does live sand and live rock stay alive even without the expensive lighting setup?? Or do I need stronger lighting. Got t5 now.


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## er201 (Apr 21, 2010)

The rock doesn't need lighting to stay alive I think, only good current. As far as sand goes I dont know anything about it. For lighting it would have to depend on what you're keeping and tank dimensions, short tanks require weaker lighting compared to a tall tank which would need stronger lighting to penetrate down to the bottom of the tank.


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## Magistrate (Apr 29, 2010)

Live rock and sand do not need lighting to stay alive. 
Majority of life on the rock is non-photosynthetic.
A fowler tank does not require any special lighting just the right temp of light.
Low light coral tank requires 4-6 watts per gallon based on your 2 foot depth.
Light loving corals require 10+ watts per gallon.
On a tank greater than 2 feet your light intensity has to be greater to penetrate the depth.
Or move the corals up to the 2 feet depth lol


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Having a reef-ready (or drilled) tank with a sump makes maintenance a lot easier. Hide your skimmer, heater, extra rock, etc. in the sump, keeps your display uncluttered.

The main difference with water changes is that I prepare my new sw in barrels overnight with powerhead & heater before draining from my display tank & refilling my sump.

For fw, I just used a hose to refill and added chlorine remover as I went along.


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