Saltwater Fish Tank

They are a lot of work and the fish are very sensitive. You must keep the tank clean (which is no easy feat) and you must monitor the water temp and the saline levels. If you've never had one, I would start out with fresh water just so you get an idea of what to expect. The fresh water fish are a little more hearty and not as expensive (so if you do lose one, you don't feel quite as bad.) Salt water fish are very colorful but it is a lot of work.

My husband had one when our kids were younger. I think we had it for about 3 years. It IS a lot of work, you definitely must be committed to maintaining it properly. It is also an expensive hobby though I know we didn't spend anywhere close to $3,500 as a previous poster said (yikes!) It was beautiful and is certainly worth it if you're willing to spend the time and money. I remember we started with damsel fish (several died in the beginning) and we eventually had a flame angel fish, a tang, a few black and silver ones (forget what they were called?) and a cow fish. You're right, the cow fish are so cute!

Hi,
My husband and I have had both saltwater and fresh fish tanks, and the saltwater really is tricky. With saltwater, you have to get the chemical balance just right, then put in a few damsels as starter fish, because they are more hardy for starting up a tank. Make sure you do a lot of research on not only how to set up the tank, but what kinds of fish live well together. You also want to decide on what kind of saltwater tank you want, such as a reef tank, live sand, coral, etc. My favorite fish is the Mandarin Goby, but we have been unable to successfully keep one alive for more than a year or so. We have given up on saltwater for awhile, because one of our cats unplugged the heater during the middle of the winter and all the fish died. They are VERY expensive to replace, so that is usually a deterrent for most people. Once you do get it set up though, it is usually pretty easy to manage.
Good luck!

Yes, it's that difficult. :) I had to take care of one as part of my workstudy in college (for the biology department) and it was a total pain (IMO).

I'd start with freshwater, especially if you've never done it before.

J.

I've had them my whole life as my father was the owner of a pet production company for 35 years. They are the most beautiful things to have in the home, and are so fun to watch! We had the help of my father, an expert, but you can get a great tank if you work hard initially. The Ph in the water must be perfect, and there are cheap testers you can buy. You have to purchase 1 single hardy fish at first to see if it survives, then slowly add more. You'll certainly have to study online or buy books to see what fish live well with the others. Some people are oblivious to this, and will throw in fish that eat others! And for instance, the tang fish ( large yellow, or like "dory")are gorgeous and hardy, but you have to either have 1 or 3.....never 2, because they have issues with being territorial. You'll learn who likes one another. The biggest let down of a salt water tank is when you buy the fish ($8-$50+ a piece) and then you see your "money" die the next week. So I suggest very cheap damsels at first until your water and algae are just right. Maybe even a few snails at first to see how they do, and they also eat the algae. Good luck! Lots of work ahead, but really truly worth it :)

I owned a tropical fish store for three years. Then I started a business taking care of peoples tanks in their homes and offices. Here are the key points: Start with a big tank - the bigger the tank, the slower the chemical fluxuations take place. get a good (easy to read) book that teaches you about the chemical balances of your water (specifically your nitrate cycle). Generally, it's the very same as fresh water, but everything is a lot more expensive. When you make a mistake with salt water, it costs 10 times as much as the same mistake with fresh. I would be happy to help anytime you have a specific question, and, no, it's not hard. I love cow fish too. and dog face puffers. and mandarin gobies. Cow fish, however, are poisionous to your other fish and your water when they die, so dont start with those :) Get your water cycled first.

Here's my tips: Get a big tank, dont skimp on the filtration, and start with lots of "dirty" water (you can get at the pet store) and "live sand". Start with Damsel fish as they are hardy enough to make it through the origional cycle and not too expensive.

Look for a used tank online (Craig's list or something) to save $ but genarally you can get a good big tank and filters for under $10 per gallon. Price goes down (per gallon) as size goes up. DO NOt start smaller than 55 gals (and that's pretty small).

Salt water tanks are very expensive to set up and maintain. I recently looked at it and the setup cost at $3500 (to do it properly) was cost prohibitive. I have had fresh water water tanks for years and recently upgraded to a larger one. Maintaining salt water tanks is quite a chore but I think anyone can manage it given sufficient time and financial resources.

Good luck

I've only had fresh water fish but I've heard that salt water tanks are easier to take care of than fresh water. If you live near Castro Valley , there a store called Connie's on Castro Valley Blvd. that could give you tons of info.
Went snorkeling on Maui with the Pac. Whale Foundation , they say that some reef type fish live only for about 1 year in a tank as to many years in the ocean. something to think about.
Have fun , I always loved watching my fish for hours on end!
K. P.

I really want a cow fish too! But saltwater is a ton of work and a ton of bucks especially if you mess up, and then you have blood on your hands to boot.

I have a 75 gallon freshwater tank and we just bought 3 "pea puffers" -- they are unusual, little tiny brackish/freshwater puffer fish that won't get larger than a lima bean, they have some of the same personality and movement you are thinking about with a cow fish....check 'em out.

There are tons of other "personality plus" freshwater fish if you are open to it, I know it's not your cow fish but think about it.

My Sons father got a salt water tank and had the money to have a professional come weekly to help manage it. The project lasted 2.5 years and kept slowly adding fish, shrimp, sea anenome, went threw many fish. Once the whole tank died because my son put too much food in it, "Dory" died multiple times. My son loved his tank but they kept having problems and they finally had the fish guy give away their tank. It wasn't at my house but I know that they had a very hard time with it and the fish guy was at their house quite often....so I would say they are very hard maintenance and hard to manage. But if there is a will there is a way and maybe you will have better luck!

My boss had one for years. Yes, it is a lot of work. I don't know about rocket science, but watching him clean the tank weekly and all the work... I personally don't want one.

They are lovely when kept us and quite peaceful. It always calms my hyper children to look at the tank. But, I do intend to get a small freshwater tank for the house, no bigger than 20 gallons.

My grandmother has a 500 gallon freshwater thank that she kept up for about ten years. She recently turned the care of that over to one of my cousins. She is 78 and had a hard time cleaning it!

My husband has had Saltwater tanks for the last 10 years. They are not any harder than freshwater but do cost more money for equipment ect. You can't use tap water so you will need a RO/DI (water filter) or buy your water at a good pet store. A good tip would be do some research and find a local online Forum and ask all the questions you can. Find out if you want to keep Fish or Coral and Fish (much nicer to have both).
If you have more questions just let me know my Husband can answer any you would have.
God Bless, R.

We've had one for about 6 years now. Once they are set up they are really easy to maintain. Make sure you have good filtration, a protein skimmer, if you want coral enough lighting and live rock/sand. Talk to a fish store near you and they can let you know what all you need. We have a sump on ours for filtration since it is 120 gallon tank, we had a sump on our 90 too when it was salt. They may tell you to cycle the tank with a damsel once it has been set up and running empty for about a week, but they can be really mean, so the second time around we used 2 clown fish, nice and peaceful if you get the right kind and good to cycle with too. Set up is a little pricey, but we don't add all the chemicals etc weekly right now, since we don't have much coral (killed most of it all moving cross country). You will also need powerheads to move the water around and a couple of heaters.

Bottom line: set up is kind of a pain, but once it is going it is good! Make sure to research fish and who is compatible and you normally want to add more than one at a time, since many are territorial.

Keep in mind that when you go out of town you will have to have somebody that knows what they are doing come in and check on your saltwater tank daily. Not an easy feat. That is ultimately why our tank is now sitting empty in our garage. We loved the tank and had it for years but it does require daily upkeep.

My mother lives on a tropical island in the Pacific (Saipan) where fish are collected for people's tanks. The fish collection is devastating to the local fish populations and reefs -- and only a very small percent actually survive the collection process and the travel to people's fish tanks. The difference in fish loss over the past ten years when you go snorkeling is huge and really sad. I say stay away from tropical fish unless you know from a very reliable source that they were bread in captivity (it must be hard to breed them in captivity or they wouldn't keep coming to collect more and more.) Maybe take your family to Hawaii someday for a snorkeling trip instead?