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Does anyone here have a reef(saltwater) tank in addition to a planted tank?

10K views 90 replies 41 participants last post by  traderbren 
#1 ·
Does anyone here have a reef(saltwater) tank in addition to a planted tank?

If so, what do you like better?

Do you seem any similarities between the coral and plants?

Thanks.
 
#45 ·
A long time ago, I tried to boil the whole thing down to a simple description: In the SW game, only bad things happen fast. It rewards only consistency, patience, and deep pockets. In the FW game, bad things happen; just not quite as fast and now that my pockets are empty, I sleep better.
 
#50 ·
i had a 55g reef 10 years ago, before led lighting and all the cool gadgets that have become much more mainstream and cheaper. I loved that tank but it wasnt optimal at all. power compact lights and regular florecents, hang on back filters and skimmer etc. I really wish i had the money for a drilled tank with a sump, that would have made my life so much better. I think if you have the means to do it properly from the get go its awesome, but man the work and cost of it was pretty crazy. I like my simple lowtech, autodosing, single black piranha planted tank. the colors may not be as pretty but its easy and relaxing haha.

spending $100 on a freshwater fish seems crazy, but its easy to spend 200-300 on a single fish or $100+ on a single peice of coral with salt.
 
#51 ·
ive done only vase reefs for 15 yrs, this is my original vase glass and some of the corals are from 2001, but new rock as of 2006. They are very long lived, use no pumps or filters, they are just like a planted vase only a reef lol and require the typical work of topoff and water changes, but at 1 gallon its not really any work. they'll grow any coral you can fit into a vase, without all the complexities of typical reef tanks. they tend to live longer too than full sized reefs due to simplicity, except if you knock over the whole vase with your elbow=bad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8zMWHAkJtM

to get build logs, just google vase reef build there are lots of them from various builders. These are the easiest and cheapest reefs one could own. Will outlive 95% of any sized home reef you put them up against...due to ease of access. When a giant reef gets algae, its hard to beat. when a reefbowl gets algae, you just blast it out with peroxide and move on while the other reefs struggle, easy!!
 

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#52 ·
Leaving my tank alone doesn't really concern me - the only real issue my tank has when I'm not standing next to it is that my fish are forced to eat pellets because I haven't figured out how to feed black worms / white worms out of an automatic feeder that would only dispense a small amount of worms every time you turned it on... I have not finished automating my water change/dosing regiment completely, but once I'm finished it will all be automated so if I can get to it once a week or every other week I can make sure all of my dosing containers are topped off and food is topped off and then leave without worrying about the tank until I get home.

The biggest issue I had this summer was that I did not have the money to automate everything in the first 6 months of going from a 40 gallon tank to a 240 gallon tank... I still might not be able to spend as much time as I'd like with the tank during the summer, but each summer should be a little easier than the one before as I buy and add new equipment to automate the things I need to do manually currently... my two biggest problems right now as I see it is 1) I do not have a sink/drain in my fish room so I cannot automate water changes yet... I have the sink, I just need to run the plumbing from my utility room to the fish room to hook the drain up, then I can set up a 1-2% water change per day which would then eliminate my need for dosing and 2) the humidity issue, but with the sink drain getting plumbed I'll be able to run a drain from the dehumidifer to the sink so it doesn't fill the bucket up and stop running... and secondly I am planning to add glass tops to my tank to help reduce the humidity, then if I still think it is an issue I will eventually add an exhaust fan in the fish room to draw the moist air out of the fish room to the outdoors.

I also had an issue with the temperature of my tank this summer, so eventually I will probably need to add a chiller to my tank, but my house is still a work in progress too, so I might add some extra insulation which might help keep the house temps lower (or run the air conditioner in that room).

Nothing is in my way that is insurmountable... it just takes time and money, eventually I think I'll get it where I want it and have a pretty awesome tank... there are things slowing me down (last week my 75 gal sump started leaking so I had to drain it and redo plumbing to eliminate that tank until I decide if I really need to replace it or not, plus I've had a couple LED fixtures fail on me due to the moisture in the room, but I'm learning more and more about LED fixtures now as I fix them) so while there are bumps in the road I think it will be worth it in the end. Besides, part of my reason for the reef tank is that my wife prefers the marine life/corals more than freshwater... trying to get her to go scuba diving here in cold waters where all you are going to see are perch, blue gills, bass, catfish etc. with some green and yellow plants is a lot harder than trying to get her to go scuba diving in the warm water with reef critters, so my tank is meant to be a getaway to take us to a nice warm diving place while sitting in the family room...

Bump:
when a reefbowl gets algae, you just blast it out with peroxide and move on while the other reefs struggle, easy!!
OH man... I read "blast it out with peroxide.." before I realized who it was... Brandon and his peroxide methods LOL didn't know you were on here =) been a while since I've been looking at the "how do I get rid of algae" threads so haven't seen you in a while...
 
#53 ·
its true im a broken record lol but we are up to about 200 documented pages now who could easily get off this fun train lol

a little peroxide helped my little planted rascal out too, the early stages of GHA were just zapped, the co2 upped, and voila lol nice to see ya on the fw side too
 
#54 ·
#56 ·
These days you can go low-tech on the reef. Live sand, live rock, good water flow, and the only extra equipment is a skimmer. As far as livestock they’re really not that much more expensive. Say you have a hi-tech planted tank with CO2 a school of Discus and some high quality LEDs you’re talking a lot of money. Build a nano reef with some low light corals, gobies, clownfish and some invertebrates the cost would be pretty low and look great.
 
#59 ·
These days you can go low-tech on the reef. Live sand, live rock, good water flow, and the only extra equipment is a skimmer. As far as livestock they?re really not that much more expensive. Say you have a hi-tech planted tank with CO2 a school of Discus and some high quality LEDs you?re talking a lot of money. Build a nano reef with some low light corals, gobies, clownfish and some invertebrates the cost would be pretty low and look great.
I completely agree with this. Even a basic marine setup with live rock, and different types of inverts is incredibly interesting and compelling. I like the look of my live rock so much that I don't want to cover it all up with corals.
 
#57 ·
well the cost of fish is subjective... for freshwater fish I buy all of my fish at PetSmart, whereas for saltwater fish I buy all of my fish at Preuss Pets... Preuss quarantines all of their fish so their prices are a lot higher... but for saltwater I don't trust buying them from anyplace else, whereas for freshwater I'm not too concerned since I'm only spending a couple bucks for a fish vs. 30-100 bucks for a fish...
 
#60 ·
Raises hands jumping up & down squealing in delight..... So after reading this post I did some online research which led me to my local Kijiji site typing in SW Coral plugs & frags.... Ya I may have done a pkg deal 10lb live rock from his well established tank & a few frags.
Yep I have joined the F.W. & S.W. group!!!!! I did buy Seachem Stability but gonna hold off on stocking this 5.5gal Nano reef Christmas is coming! & boxing week sales.
 

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#63 ·
I've had numerous tanks of both.

Now I am FW planted only and even then my tank is high tech w/low light (lower maintenance factor).

Love reefing, however, it's expensive, time consuming, and the utility bill is at least double (lights, power heads, skimmer, UV, main pump, lots of water making, it all adds up). If you give the salties what they want, I actually find them easier to keep than some freshies. It's hard to beat the cool factor of a Yashi and Randall's shrimp combo!

Cheers!
 
#64 ·
So my little nano 5gal me being happy with a few corals. Has spiralled.... Kids & husband needed to put in their 2 cents. Last night Hubby brings it up, so I said this tank is only big enough for the rock I have & 3 more corals no fish. He says screw that crap, Merry Christmas go get what is needed to atleast get each of the kids 1 of their fav. fish. Looking on local Kijiji I found a 40gal w/stand & filter (which probably will just get tossed) for $100, just waiting on dimensions to double check if it will fit in spot. If it is good to go I will get it today & started cycle it using much of what is in the 5 but will keep 1 small rock in there & use it as my quarantine.
 
#69 ·
I am also planning on a Salt water in a 40 gallon. The 40 gallon seems to be the perfect size for a beginner to try salt water on. I know other people who are also starting out on a 40 gallon.

My 40 gallon is a breeder aquarium and a lot wider then a normal aquarium so you can add cool effects going back far in the tank. Both for freshwater and Saltwater.

I would love to hear about your experiences trying the saltwater.

Thanks.
 
#66 ·
Reefs just don't really intrigue me the way planted tanks do.

I think it's the blue lights. I just don't really care about colors that only show up under blacklight. If I did I'd have a glofish tank by now. :D

Mostly, I think reefs kinda seem to give off more of a zoo vibe than they seem like a real slice of nature. I hate that vibe with planted tanks, too, and it's one of the main things I actively try to avoid it.
 
#68 ·
:) my Christmas present from my husband & my kids is cycling in my family room :) it is the 40gal & I am over the moon excited. & the kids will be extremely excited b/c my little 5.5 gal is hidden at my office with a baby black clownfish. I kid you not he's smaller than 1/2 my pinky finger.
I am going to set up a new thread as I fear that the powerhead output is too crazy for "Lil'Nemo". the tank came with a Aquaclear 300 pump which I am running with just Seachem's Matrix stones in a bag in the compartment & with what you're saying I don't need it? That would rock b/c it's loud & obnoxious!
Would you mind if I picked your SW brain more? Should we do it "openly" like if I made another post so other people can read/learn/chime in or would it be better private messaging??? I'm so excited that this life long dream is coming true!
 
#75 ·
Would you mind if I picked your SW brain more? Should we do it "openly" like if I made another post so other people can read/learn/chime in or would it be better private messaging??? I'm so excited that this life long dream is coming true!
post a link to your new thread and I'll jump in and help when I can

can one start a SW tank with a 10g tank?
You can, but honestly I would not recommend it... I highly recommend picking up a 40 breeder tank just from my personal experience it was a lot easier to learn once I jumped up to my 40B rather than my 10 gal... I started with a 10 gal thinking it would be cheaper, but there is a lot to consider with saltwater tanks and the more water capacity you have the more forgiving it is... so I ran my 10 gal for about 11 months before I upgraded because I had dumped so much money down the drain killing things in the 10 gallon tank because I hadn't invested the money in ATO's and such, and with a 10 gal tank you probably only have about 7 gallons of water by the time you add rock and sand and whatnot, so they are not very forgiving when you make a mistake, parameters change QUICKLY and like I said before... the only things that happen QUICKLY in saltwater is BAD things... a 40B gives a good size tank to learn, it gives you a better size for adding fish, and makes it a lot easier to add corals and give them what they want.

With my 10 gallon tank I could not get the flow right so my corals were never happy, then most fish aren't really happy in that small of a tank, they quickly outgrow it... if you want to really give it a shot and don't want to just flush money down the drain I'd skip the 10 gal until you know what you are doing, then if you decide you are up to the challenge you could create a 10 gal... they have nano build competitions in 10 gal tanks but you really need to know your stuff before you go into smaller tanks.
 
#71 ·
I think so but you might have to go light on the fish and the water chemistry is more unable on smaller tanks.

You might need to still have a protein skimmer which usually are good for like 10 gallons to 40 gallons as well as some kind of auto top off system to replace evaporated water so the salinity does not increase too much.

Are you thinking Fish only or also corals?

I think if its fish only then its easier.

its often referred to as FOLR( Fish only live rock) the "live rock" is like peaces of dead coral that water passes by to act as the biological filtration for the tank.

Bump:
Nice I love my 29 gallon SW tank I have clown fish and some clown gobys and a clean up crew but I love the corals also

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
Nice!! do you have pictures?
 
#73 ·
Some good responses on here. There's alot of saltwater experience it looks like, and lots of folks that bailed as soon as alot of the trendy aquaculturists became a thing, and leds took over the crown of the lighting world (from a sales standpoint anyway).

I'm like many, started off with a fish tank, then graduated to a planted tank, then graduated to a FOWLR saltwater tank, then to a reef tank. it's a natural progression.

Generally speaking, reef tanks will ultimately be alot more expensive. Organism for organism the salty ones just flat out cost more. Even the nicest and rarest of plants, generally only cost about as much as middle of the road corals. And while you may find some monster tank sized fish and stingrays, or certain discus, that cost into the hundreds, it's common place for alot of reef fish to cost alot more than that, even some nano tank sized fish.

It CAN be cheap to start up a saltwater tank, but on a long enough timeline, it generally becomes more expensive.

I think cost aside the biggest challenge for a long time planted tank keeper, who decides to try their hand at coral keeping, is the patience of it. I've known many many many expert level planted tank keepers that struggle mightily with saltwater tanks and coral keeping. Not because they lack the skills or intelligence, but they lack the patience. Even the easiest of soft corals will appreciate a mature tank.

Algae is another big deterrent for crossover hobbyists. In a planted tank, algae means you have a problem and it can be corrected easily, often overnight, without any detriment to anything else in the tank. In saltwater tank, algae doesnt mean you have a problem, but that is hard to grasp. Algae is a massive portion of the overall biomass and food chain on a natural reef. It is REALLY REALLY good at surviving and thriving in ALL conditions. A young saltwater tank will have several tank wide hideous looking algae blooms 99% of the time, over the first year. If you happen to avoid them...you either used very high quality and mature live rock (like the above mentioned TBS rock), or you are running your tank in the dark. Algae happens, and you have to just accept it and keep up with solid husbandry and it will be gone all on its own with moderate intervention.

The maturation process of a reef tank is infintely more complex as well. You don't have to really do anything but wait, no gear to buy or science to perform for your tank to mature, just time and patience. You're not just trying to let your filter media colonize with nitrifying bacteria. You're trying to get your rocks and sand to colonize with nitrifying bacteria, develop beneficial anaerobic zones for DEnitrifying bacteria, build up naturally breeding populations of phytoplankton, zooplankton, copepods, amphipods, and hundreds of species of sessile invertebrates, dozens and dozens of species of macro and micro algae and biofilm to colonize the rocks and sand, to ultimately form a food chain that goes from microscopic, up to fish sized. That takes months and months longer than just having a mature filter media. That process is what alot of new hobbyists get hung up on and ultimately really discouraged about.

If I have no ammonia, and my tank is now 6 weeks old, why are my corals dying and why do I have ugly green hair algae and cyanobacteria everywhere....Well...because that's what happens, that's the process.

Once you've done it a few times and have your gear and maintenance regiment in place, you can manage a new tank with corals because you'll know what to look for and what to provide for them while a tank is still in its infancy, but I can tell you, a mature tank that has been running a couple years is WAY more forgiving than a brand new one. Any of you aquarists looking to jump into the reef side please keep that in mind. In a planted tank, you can set it up and have it looking spectacular...contest winning, in a matter of days. As long as you start with enough plant mass. It just doesnt work like that in a reef tank.

Those are just my thoughts. I'm not an expert, but these musings have been my own personal experience. I currently run a 75 gallon dutch inspired planted tank, that has had it's ups and downs and generally looks "ok" right now. It's 7 months old roughly, but i've had this same tank and done probably a dozen tear down and rebuilds since 2007. I also have a 90 gallon reef with 40 gallon sump that I run which is about 1.5 years old. Previously I had a smaller tank that ran for a few years. I havent been in the hobby for decades like some on here, but long enough to "get" the differences between the two sides of the hobby.
 
#74 ·
I have a full reef tank myself at present started with soft corals and moved onto LPS and I now mainly have SPS all softies bern removed and trust me when I say each jump to each type means a considerable jump in ££££ not only for the stock but also in equipment and as said in last post there is little room for error and does take a fair bit of my time up.

For example my system 6x2x2 with a 4ft sump and all equipment and stock is at nearly £9000 and generally goes up monthly that's why I'm now at the point of thinking of converting back to freshwater and planted as no fun keep spending and going backwards

Ontop of that you have running costs on a full reef , electric, dosing chemicals , media like carbon and phosphate remover , fish food budget £200 a month at least it is honestly very expensive when you go large.


I currently have whitespot in my marine system you think it's bad in freshwater it's nothing compared to dealing with it in a full reef it's an absolute ball ache to deal with I've been fallow twice for 12 weeks each time with all fish in QT but it still rared it's ugly head back up and I've had just about enough of it as it's no fun pulling a reef apart to catch all the fish.

All I will say is good luck those thinking of having a full reef and I hope you have deep pockets and an understanding wife.
 
#76 ·
I currently have whitespot in my marine system you think it's bad in freshwater it's nothing compared to dealing with it in a full reef it's an absolute ball ache to deal with I've been fallow twice for 12 weeks each time with all fish in QT but it still rared it's ugly head back up and I've had just about enough of it as it's no fun pulling a reef apart to catch all the fish.
marine ich isn't as bad as most people make it out to be... but most people also read the same book that said you have to QT everything and have to treat to get rid of it etc. I read a different book but won't go in to details here, but just a summary, it all comes down to creating a low stress, healthy environment in which you feed good quality food. The problem is that most people don't research enough and do things they shouldn't.

1) Low stress = making the fish comfortable, that means if you want a peaceful tank you don't add aggressive fish that are going to beat up the peaceful fish. This also means you don't put fish in a tank smaller than what they should be in... I highly recommend following Liveaquaria's minimum tank size recommendations but most people think they have to have the big tangs to make it look like a saltwater tank... but they can't afford a big enough tank for the tangs to live in so they are stressed out and get ich, then since they are never NOT stressed they die because they can't fight off the ich.
2) good quality food - that means you are NOT going to feed saltwater fish flakes even though the bottle says "marine flakes"... these are not good quality foods and will not result in healthy fish. Pellets are really no better than flakes although I do still feed some pellets that way they have some sort of food that can be fed through an auto feeder when I'm away... but I mostly feed LIVE blackworms or freshly hatched baby brine shrimp, or blender mush that I make myself with a different variety of WHOLE foods for fish (shrimp, oysters, clams, real crab, with some peas or other green veggies mixed in). Feeding flakes or pellets is like eating McDonalds every day for every meal... can you do it and survive? Well yeah, but you probably aren't going to be very healthy...

Really those two things sum it up, low stress and good food and your fish will be healthy and you won't need to worry about marine ich or any other types of fungal or bacterial issues... the fish will be healthy enough to overcome anything they get on their own without your help.
 
#79 ·
It's in the tank journals forum. "diving into a change of pace (a journey to the SW side)".
 
#84 · (Edited)
Sick update of dual kessils one for marine one for FW

This marks the first time either a marine system or FW system of mine online wasn't using power compacts. Wt am I about four years late on the switch

Kessil rocks on the lowest setting they are all the light this half gallon sealed planted tank needs or the 1 gallon reef bowl

Bump:
 

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