My mom wants to set up a marine aquarium so was wandering how i go about getting sea water how do i make artificial seawater??

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Buy some salt - bu ti feel that if you are asking how do do it you need to do vast amounts of research before getting into something that you'll need to check every day (depending on the size of tank.) Pesonally, if you're new to marines - I wouldn't recomend anything smaller than a 4' tank - others may disagree, but the water will be fairly stable once established

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I agree.

Have a look hereWetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish, reef tanks, and Aquatics Information

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I agree at least a 4 foot tank to keep the water stable. I have tried and failed twice. Keeping the fish is not bad but Corals need a lot of work.
I found my tank which was quite large in volume but not 4 foot was hard to manage.
The salt water is easy but buy a good quality salt mix from your local shop. Also you will need several different test kits for PH KH Calcium Magnesium to name a few and a decent tester for your water density.
Good luck............

Agreed. You could probs get away with a 3ft if not.

Thats a goodun

Well, calcium and magnesium aren't needed unless your keeping corals.

You will need: Ammonia, Nitirite, Nitrate, pH, possibly phosphate, and yeh, KH/GH is useful.

As a hydrometer, I would recommend this sort of one; they are cheap and accurate:



You def need to do loads of research. First of all, I would research the nitrogen cycle, and what 'cycling' the tank is. Go from there, look at some easy to keep fish, and the temp/salinity you need, and you should have an idea of what your doing.

Good luck

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As a first marine tank I would go for fish only - that way you can treat it with copper for any diseases - (as long as you don't have any sensitive to copper fish!) You could however build up lots of grotten rock across the back and put some Xenia on it - you only really need to feed this with filter feeder food - it grows like wild-fire and some species look amazing. There are so many incompatible things as far as fish, inverts and corals go. You really need to think about what you'd like the end result to look like (remembering you couldn't really put that many fish in a marine tank!) <---------- just some ideas

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1.1 Rankins Dragons - Lestat,Osiris, and Claudia
1.2.2 Leopard Geckos - Boycie, Marlene,Mistletoe, and Boo, and Spud!
0.1 Royal Python - Eddie
3.2 Kenyan Sand Boas - Murdock (normal), Het Albino, Het Snow, Freya (normal) and Moonlight (anerythristic)
1.1 Saharan Sand Boas - Frank, and Nancy
1.0 Western Hognose - Face
1.0 Polyspilota Aeriginosa
My Bird! 1.0 Cockatiel - Bobby

For sale:-
30"x18"x18" Viv £45
25"x22"x15" Viv (would be great for a small Cham) £35
Adult Pair Saharan Sand Boas - £165

Definitely

About 1" per 2 gallons for fish only is about the right amount to aim for, other things taken into consideration of course... lol.

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To be honest no one that keeps marines even semi-seriously uses a hydrometer (no offence intended). They are woefully inaccurate, despite what the makers say. A refractometer is the way to go. A little more expensive but will last a lifetime and more importantly be accurate for a lifetime.

Starting out in marine keeping can be pretty daunting, there is lots to learn! To begin you will need a decent sized tank, preferably with a sump (and of course all the piping that goes along with it).

Presuming you want to keep a reef tank (corals, fish and inverts) you will also need decent lighting which is expensive. T5s are fine for "soft" corals and some "LPS" but halides are a better (though more expensive) alternative.

The berlin method of filtration is most common, which utilises live rock (again expensive at about £10/kg), you need about 1lb per gallon or 1kg per 2 gal. A protein skimmer should be added when using berlin also.

All the external paraphenalia like test kits (ideally ph, dkh, amm, nitrite, nitrate, calc and mag, though Ca and Mg arent essential if you dont want to keep corals) and a spare heater and powerhead for preparing water changes will be needed too. There are loads of extras you ca nget like mag-floats, siphon tubing etc that also become essential at some point during tank maintenance.

You'll also need powerheads for extra water movement, you should be looking for a water turnover rate of 20x per hour or more. There are plenty of other pieces of equipment to consider, though these are the bare essentials IMO. Running carbon and phosphate remover is usually a good bet too, you can place this in an extenal canister filter if you wish.

We have 2 marine reef tanks running, with a larger third on the way after easter most likely. They cost a small fortune.. you wouldnt believe how much this hobby can set you back!

You should also be prepared for a long cycling period (fishless) to allow the liverock to bed in and expect algae blooms that will drive you near to brink of insanity. Cyano, diatoms, hair algae, all banes of the novice marine keeper Not to mention the grim hitchhikers the live rock often brings!

Fish only with live rock is a little easier, though not to my tastes.

The best way to learn is to spend some time reading and asing questions on dedicated marine forums.

I personally like reef-face.co.uk, others I've used are marinefishforum.co.uk, marinefish-uk.co.uk, reefsuk.org and ultimatereef.

I could type for hours about marine keeping and barely skim the surface of the hobby..

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First thing you should know, saltwater isn't cheap. My 6 foot reef has cost me about $5000 over the years.

I agree with all that has been said before. You should start off with at least a 30 gallon, but 55 gallon would be better.

Instant ocean makes the best salt, IMO, for FOWLR tanks.

You are going to need about 1-2 pounds of live rock per gallon and between 1-2 pounds of live sand per gallon. Unless you want a deep sand bed.

Hydrometer isn't an option.

You are going to need a ton of powerheads to create water movement. Maxi-jet and hydor koralia are the best IME.

Research, research, research and start off with hardy fish. No tangs for you unless your tank is over 75 gallons.

It will take about 2 months for your tank to cycle, then you can start adding your clean-up-crew. A month after that you can start adding your fish. Very slowly, and no more than one fish a month.

You are going to need a sump, and, even though it isn't absolutely nessesary, believe me when I say you are going to need an automatic top-off system.

Also, using tap water isn't an option in reef keeping. You can gt away with it in a FOWLR tank, but you will constantly be fighting algae. Do yourself a favour and spend the $200-$600 for an RO/DI unit. Tap water is too unreliable and unsafe.

Remember, in this hobby, nothing good happens fast. Saltwater isn't something you want to jump into with a few posts on a couple forums. Buy some books, and spend at least a year covering every aspect before setting up your tank.

Woop woop

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