An Introduction Into Saltwater Aquariums
Part 1 - Myths
The difficulty of keeping corals is one of the many muths facing hobbyists; the below is a Xenia coral, one of the most robust and easy to keep corals which are widely available in the hobby.
Photo Credit: Haplochromis, via Wikipedia
1.0 Myths Surrounding the Saltwater Hobby
There are a number of saltwater hobby myths which I have seen repeated and believed for the entire duration of my 10 year life in this aquarium hobby. Many of these myths have the unfortunate effect of stalling freshwater hobbyists in their aspirations to jump into the marine side of the hobby. Below we will attempt to deconstruct some of these myths and hopefully open the door for those out there sitting on the fence. We'll start off with a doozy....
Saltwater aquariums are really hard to keep. I suppose I can understand this justification from your average Guppy breeder or Better keeper. However, this idea is even believed by some of the more hardcore hobbyist. Working in a retail setting, once was discussing the beauty of Triggerfish with a local Discus breeder. This customer was a regular, and often purchased plants fertilizers and some of the more complex tests and components of a high-end planted tank. The breeder said to me that he'd always wanted a Triggerfish, but that saltwater just seemed like it would be too big of a jump, or too difficult. I was astounded. The basic failure in this logic is that a high-end planted tank or Discus breeding are actually more difficult then a "Fish Only With Live Rock (FOWLR)" or Fish and Soft Coral" tank.
The main principles are the same: stable parameters (just different ranges), clean water (biological filtration but with the addition of some other equipment) and adequate supplementation and lighting for the organisms you want to keep. FOWLR and Soft Coral tanks really only have 1 considerably different variable, which is that in a saltwater tank, you must take salinity into account. In a small system (below 29g) this can be challenging at first, but in larger systems, the dillution of toxins and volume of water will help keep your system stable. Here is a little infographic I came up to hopefully help push my point across:
This is of course a very, very rough depiction and I'm sure many peoiple will find faults, but the main point is that if you can handle some of the less robust freshwater fish (such as Serrasalamus, Neons, Ram cichlids) and keep them healthy for long periods of time, there is no reason you couldn't handle a very basic marine system. If you are one of the members on this board who has dabbled in plants, chances are, you already possess the passion and drive to conquer a low-end LPS (soft coral) tank, and without question could handle a basic FOWLR system.
Saltwater tank chemistry is very complicated. The processes which occur in a marine tank may be complex, but this does not mean they have to be complicated. Sure, a full blown reef, with calcium dosing, Redox potential monitoring and ozonizing may be complicated - but this is an evolution in knowledge. To get into the hobby, you only need to know the basics - how to research the care of a certain species, how to test for the nitrifying components (Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate) and how to recognize poor health. Mixing saltwater is not the wizardry some make it out to be, at least not for a basic marine system.
Keeping a stable salinity, within .002 sg on a hydrometer, is one of the easiest ways to help keep your fish healthy. Measuring for salinity is as easy as buying a hydrometer, like the one below, and dipping it into the SW tank until it's filled to the designated line. The swing arm will point towards your current salinity. To adjust salinity, add or use less salt when mixing your saltwater and bring the fresh water change water to the higher salinity, and repeat for future water changes. This will slowly raise the salinity. Using a small amount of SW in your top off water will also help you slowly raise the salinity level.
Going with a larger aquarium will make these abiotic tank parameters much easier to control...which brings us to the next point:
It will be less expensive if I start with a smaller tank. I can see why common sense might dictate this: afterall, smaller tanks need smaller waterchanges, smaller lights, less live rock and a small protein skimmer. In fact, I will go so far as to say that long term, it may be less expensive. However, small tanks are difficult to keep stable, and often crash, causing huge amounts of money loss. Not to mention, any serious marine tank hobbyist will have an auto top off unit installed on any tank below 20 gallons. In terms of money spent to money lost ratio, you will make much better use of your hard earned moola by investing in a larger tank.
Corals are extremely difficult to keep. See the image from the first point. Many saltwater corals which are often found in pet shops (Zooanthids, Mushrooms, Xenia) are incredibly hardy and are much easier to keep than some of the more advanced plants found in freshwater tanks. There are corals for every level of hobbyist who is willing to practice good tank husbandry and is also willing to do a little research.
Saltwater fish and coral collection are ruining our coral reefs. This is where you, the customer, is able to vote on how this hobby evolves over the next decade. While there are definitely some unfortunate incidents involving over-collection or poor collection techniques, collectors are now using much more humane ways (aka net and bag) to collect fish from the sea. With a bit of knowledge, we can all make the right choice to only buy sustainable wild caught fish and aquacultured fish and coral, and thus protect fish like the Moorish Idol from being brought into pet stores where they will almost certainly slowly die. Doing research and only choosing fish that have good track records in captivity encourages distributors to only purchase the most sustainable species and the tank bred fish, such as the many species of aquacultered Clownfish. Corals are often sold as frags from main colonies, which allows our wild reefs to remain untouched by the hobby.
...stay tuned for Part 1.2 - Planning your 1st Saltwater Aquarium
References
Fenner, Robert M., (2008). The Concientus Marine Aquarist. New Jersey: T.F.H Publications, Inc.
Haplochromis. (2007), Xenia.Retrieved from:
http://en.wikipedia....i/Xenia_(genus)
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