One of the things, that any hobbyist will want to do after getting in a few months or years in the hobby will be to move on to more colourful fish. You could stay with freshwater and go with the African Cichlid which has a lot of colour, but more people tend to go towards the salt water tank whether it is fish only or a reef tank. When dealing with the salt water set up you will find several disadvantages. One being the need for a bigger tank, weakness of fish, the amount of work required, and last but not least the price of equipment and fish or anything saltwater related.

Although it sounds like a saltwater tank is a bit more complicated, it is very rewarding. Watching the live rock grow and develop into a beautiful reef is exciting. When you first get live rock, it's just plain old rock to the naked eye. Soon, you will see tiny plants growing out of it and even little animals emerging. When you go into the pet store and see the unusual saltwater fish, you will be hooked!

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Can The Same Equipment and Components be Used?

Do you have a freshwater (FW) aquarium that you would like to, or have thought about converting over to saltwater (SW)? There are undoubtedly many FW aquarists that have considered this, but are unsure as to how much of their FW components and equipment can used for a conversion.

After some months or even years as a freshwater aquarist, it is inevitable for many folks to ponder what it would take to convert their freshwater aquarium to a marine system. Visiting the local pet store, reading hobby books and browsing the Internet, we see images of extraordinary and colorful saltwater species that tempt us to consider bringing them into our aquariums. To the uninitiated, the transition can seem a bit daunting when looking at the prices of the more exotic species and unique hardware. Truth be told, the conversion of a complete and successful freshwater (FW) aquarium to a saltwater (SW) ready system can be remarkably inexpensive and easy.

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        About every month, I get a question about converting a freshwater aquarium into a saltwater aquarium. This is a natural progression for aquarists that are interested in moving to the next level of aquariums. Most commonly, people are interested in knowing what additional costs are involved and if it can be done easily. In this article, I will try and list out a few tips that will help you to understand what components must be replaced, and what you should think about when deciding to make a transfer of your freshwater aquarium to a saltwater.

Question.........Hi, my name is Norman, I have been playing with aquariums for about 4 years now and I just purchase a big tank w/stand and canopy that is 18"w x 24"h x 72" .. it has a 350 magnum filter and 2 fluval4 filters at each corner and a ton of gravel.

I got very lucky, my cousin bought a house and a tank came with it. He didn't want it so he sold it to me (very cheap). I have a 35 gal with 20 cardinals, 2 panda discus, 2 rams, 3 elephant nose and 5 cory cats. There is plenty of plants and the tank has been doing fine for about 8 months now.

My question is: 1. How many gal is the big tank? and I would like some idea's on possible setup's. I would like to go salt water but don't have the money, probably never will. The most I can spend is about $150 right now and maybe about 20$/month. If I put all the fish that I have from the 35 gal tank into the big tank how much would it cost me to setup the 35 gal as a salt water tank? Any suggestion?   Thank You, Norman

Answer.........Norman .... Your tank is a 135 gallon aquarium. This tank would be ideal as either a saltwater aquarium or an African Cichlid tank. Of course the salt water tank would be expensive to set up and maintain. African Cichlids are a very colorful alternative. there are many species available to the hobbyist and they are a very interesting fish. if you were to convert your 35 in to salt it would still be expensive, and it would probably be better to start with a little bigger tank. It can be done, but it is a bit more difficult. Also it sounds like you have a very nice environment going in your 35 gallon , why disturb it. To me aquariums are a long lasting commitment and once you set it up one way it is a shame to destroy the environment you have created to make way for new environments that may or may not be as successful. let me know what you decide and keep in touch, I can answer any questions you may have which ever way you decide to go.

"The Aquarium Doctor" ..

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