I'd think it would be pretty easy. You need lots of flow but lights don't matter too much if you're not keeping coral. I think that the coolest thing is a Watchman Goby and Pistol shrimp combo. In fact, I plan to do this soon with one of my now empty 20L tanks, except I'll eventually get the lighting to have corals as well.
Just get some live rock, some live sand and some macro algae.
That's all the LFS told me to do when I asked them the same question. Haha.
I just assumed it was more complicated than that, but maybe not? I always thought sw tanks needed to be cold, but maybe that's just for specific critters.
No, it is that simple. You don't even need live live rock. You can get dried out LR and seed it like you would a FW tank. Just start a cycle with ammonia or whatever method you choose and let it cycle the same as a FW tank. No coral, use whatever lights tickle your fancy. Temps are about the same as a tropical fish tank, low to mid-70's. Flow is important though, you want at least 10x turn overrate. It's not uncommon to see an AC70 and a couple Koralia nanos in a 10g tank. In fact, that's what I had when I had my 10g SW tank.
From my reading I don't think you'd even have to have live rock or sand.
Everything would be the same for freshwater except for crushed coral substrate, sea salt mix and a hydrometer. Don't know how to use a hydrometer, but there are a lot of things I didn't know how to use at first and is now routine.
A hydrometer floats. Kind of looks like a thermometer. Instead of looking at the top of the mercury to find the temp, you look at the line on where the air and water meet. That's the "specific gravity" of your water.
Or... you can use a refractometer. Several drops of your water and a bright light. Where white meets blue, that's your SG.
Most critters we can get at our LFS are tropical, so need a heater.
I've been thinking of a nano marine tank with a pair of Sexy Shrimp. Maybe a Fluval Ebi with aragonite sand instead of the Fluval Shrimp Sand.
BTW: The setup for a marine aquarium would be identical to what I have set up for my Opae Ula. Only difference would be full salt, 1.024 instead of 1.012.
Crushed coral is actually not preferred. Sand or bare bottom. LR is kinda important because it provides the biofiltration. Plus I don't think a SW tank would look right without it. I guess you could get by without, but IMO that would kinda defeat the purpose of having a SW tank. The LR is one of the best parts of the tank. If you order some really fresh LR from a vendor down south, you can get some really neat critters in the tank as hitchhikers.
They are easy to use. Just need a bright light to aim it at. (Helps if your eyes focus better than mine... that's why I rely on my cheap inaccurate hydrometer.)
I did a 2.5 gallon reef with one Shrimp. I had an aquaclear 70 on the back that i grew macro algae in. It was pretty stable, I just had to add water every day.
He was pretty happy...molted several times. I took the tank down before we went on vacation, because it was a little much to ask of the person taking care of my stuff.
If and when I have the room, I always wanted to do a small SW tank with a Scarlet Cleaner shrimp or two. I'm glad to see people thinking along the same lines.
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