Coralgrowing

Most people are under the impression that a saltwater aquarium is a lot harder and more expensive to run than a freshwater tank. Truth is, the basics of keeping an aquarium healthy are the same for both types. The running costs also don’t differ that much, although the initial setup costs of a saltwater aquarium are generally higher than what you’d have to spend on getting a freshwater tank up and running.

It all starts with good planning. If you have the urge to go out and buy an aquarium, and it doesn’t matter if you are thinking about a fresh- or saltwater aquarium, stop and think about it for a while. A good round of planning can save you from a lot of disappointment down the road.

A lot of people just starting out in the hobby decide to start with a very small tank, since it’s obviously easier and cheaper to run a small aquarium. Yes, the setup and running costs of a small tank are lower than those of a big one, but in a small tank it is much harder to keep things correctly balanced. Just think about it: a single drop of food coloring in a glass of water will tint the entire contents of the glass, put that same drop into a swimming pool and you will not notice much. Stability of your system comes with size, so you will want to get the biggest tank you can afford.

The maximum size of your aquarium will most likely be limited by two factors: available money and space. This is where the planning starts, write down your constrains and work from there. The equipment to put on your shopping list will depend on what species you want to keep in your aquarium. A fish-only tank will not require the amount of lighting that corals need. A higher overall population will call for better filtration equipment.

Find out the specific needs of the different species you want to keep in your aquarium. Each coral and fish requires things like pH and temperature to be within a certain range to be able to survive and thrive. For many species these ranges do not overlap, so they can not be kept in the same aquarium.