Fish tank help?:)

[mkj2013]

Ok so I'm pretty new at fish tanks. Right now I have a 15 gallon (tall rectangular shape) with a few mollies in it. I would love to switch over to a salt tank and have just a few small fish. Is this even possible, and how would I go about it? I need all the info I can get, I want to do it right!

[Moth]

Google nano tanks... There are quite a few helpful sites on setting up a smaller salt water tank.


If you do set one up please post pictures

[chaospony]

Www.reefcentral.com and www.nanotank.com are great resources, but I'll warn you, once you start researching you'll get sucked in!

Something you have to remember though is the smaller the tank and the less water volume the narrower the margin for error. You need to be right on top of tank maintenance with a smaller tank. Things can build up quick in a nano tank.
Also most salt water fish require a lot more space than many community fresh water fish. You'll only be able to put two or three fish in. But there are tons of fun inverts and cleanup crew critters you can add as well.

[mkj2013]

Thanks guys! What would I be looking at as far as maintenance? That's what I'm having a hard time getting a clear picture of. As far as water testing and water changes etc. I mean. And yeah, I think have a couple really neat fish would be a lot of fun. Off to do more research!

[crazedACD]

Originally Posted by chaospony

Www.reefcentral.com and www.nanotank.com are great resources, but I'll warn you, once you start researching you'll get sucked in!

Something you have to remember though is the smaller the tank and the less water volume the narrower the margin for error. You need to be right on top of tank maintenance with a smaller tank. Things can build up quick in a nano tank.

Yes, and to piggyback onto that, you need to monitor the tank frequently for the salt levels. The smaller volume of water, when the water evaporates just a little bit, the salt stays in the tank and the salt volume creeps up. I've thought about doing like 5g but I go on trips a few times a year and there's no one to top off the tank.

(Oh, and you could probably use the mollies in the salt tank, haha...they should switch over just fine)

[~Jessie~]

My husband is into saltwater tanks, so I'll see if he can reply to this thread since he's more knowledgable about the topic than I am.

We've had saltwater tanks for years, and started with nano tanks. We've had a 90 gallon set up for about 3 years. Generally, the smaller the tank, the harder it is because there's such little room for error. If you don't catch a problem right when it starts, the whole tank can crash.

I'd actually recommend getting a new tank that is meant for saltwater, like a Nano Cube or Bio Cube. They're all in one tanks, which means that you'll pretty much just need to add live rock and saltwater. After you add the live rock (your biological filtration) and salt water, you'll have to let the tank "cycle" for a while. If you don't, adding livestock will cause an ammonia spike and kill all of the fish.

With a 15 gallon tank, realistically you can't have more than 2 or 3 fish. I'd recommend something like 2 clown fish and a cleaner shrimp. Make sure to get "clean up" crew, which are snails and hermit crabs for the most part.

Are you planning on having coral? The all-in-one tanks have lighting built in which is strong enough for most soft corals and even some LPS (long polyp stony).

I also agree that nano reef and reef central are great resources. Check out your city's local section on reef central- people get in and out of the hobby all of the time, and you can usually score tanks, equipment, and livestock for good deals

[InLimbo87]

It sounds like you are very early in your research, I would also suggest nano-reef.com as a good place to start for more detailed research.

Maintenance is dependent on your setup/equipment and as it stabilizes (several months to a year), it gets easier. Expect weekly water changes with a nano tank, daily top off - although I would highly suggest an Auto-top off system (ATO). Water testing really isn't too challenging, I test certain parameters at different intervals but I would say expect to test every month at least for a while.

I would say 2-3 small fish at the very most for a 15 gallon, and once again this is dependent on your setup.

Some questions to think about:

1. What is your budget?
2. How much time do you want to commit?
3. What type of fish do you want to keep? Do you want to keep inverts, corals, et?

I would highly suggest going with a larger setup of around 30 gallons. Easier to manage and equipment won't be much more.