# can you have a FO saltwater tank?



## Guest (Jul 6, 2009)

can you have a fish-only saltwater tank? no live rock or that?

then once its all set-up and running...the only costs are the salt to mix in during the twice a week water-changes arent they?


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2009)

what would i need?
tank - got it
filter - got it
heater- got it
light/hood - got it(regular aquarium one, not for saltwater corals or anything like that)
hydrometer- got it
sand-
salt mix
fish

anything else?


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

I believe you can.

I also think people have FOWLR. Fish only with live rock.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

What are you going to use to propagate beneficial bacteria? They need live rock or sand.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

yup FO tanks are feasible. alot of people have them. some are just decorated with fake rocks and plants. others not even that. just a bare tank. its good for the larger fish, sharks and rays.


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## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Its possible, but i would say for sure you would want to have a DSB (deep sand bed) and a great skimmer to compensate for not having rock.

Why dont you want to have rock is a better question?


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

LR is definately a big help on the biological filtration tho, so I mean cutting it out of your tank will be trouble without a crazy good filter, and REGULAR maintence, not to mention a descent skimmer. What is the type of fish you want? What size is the tank? Why dont you want LR? AT the fish store I work at we have huge filters with socks that are swapped 2 a day, and we even have LR in the tanks. I know it may sound expensive but mature LR is by far the greatest source of filtration and food for a saltwater tank.

The filters you have, what are they?

Again to agree with trigger, you could do it without, but you may have some problems, and I know I hate losing any fish let alone SW pricey fish.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

to be honest not having any LR is not that muh of a problem. if you keep the tank bare (apart from substrate) its very easy to keep the tank clean. a good skimmer and/or sump will work perfetly fine.

also to make up for the lack of LR you could use LS (live sand) as your substrate for biological filtration


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2009)

live rock is expensive....and dont you need special expensive lights for live rock also?


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

Yeah but then you'll also have to get a really good skimmer which is also really expensive. and live rock doesnt need any special lights It will still be live rock in complete darkness, but you probably wont have much if any coraline growth on the rocks without a nice light


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## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

You can also buy base rock. Its a lot cheaper. Some places online have nice base rock for 1.50 a LB.


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2009)

why would i need a really good skimmer? im talking a 10gallon, maybe a 30max


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## SeedlessOne (Nov 21, 2006)

You dont need a skimmer for that size tank. Get some rock and powerheads. Do a small 2-3g water change every week. You will be fine.


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## shiver905 (May 27, 2009)

for that size tank you wont need a skimmer.

I wouldent do it without live rock tho.
You dont need something like MH over a fish only tank. BUt light is needed, Just not as powerfull.

Go for a FOWLR tank.
Fish only with live rock.

If you want to be really budget. You must pick from live rock or a skimmer. Because this is what filters your aquarium.
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Personally id go for LR in that size tank because SW looks ugly without it.
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You could use base rock, But make shure u mix LR with the base to seed the base rock. Your cycle will last alot longer tho.


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

Yeah if you want to save, just buy base rock and a little live rock to seed it. Cant be too costly.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

E-THUG said:


> Yeah if you want to save, just buy base rock and a little live rock to seed it. Cant be too costly.


I would just get LR. For that size tank it will be only like 100$ If you dont want to spend all at once just get like 30$ worth at a time. You can get base rock, but i would literally use it as a base then get Lr and make a covering over the base rock as it would cost less, yet look like its all LR when really there is base rock under the LR. You dont need light for rock, but you will want light for coraline or any corals. All live rock needs is some current to move the water through it. if you dont do live rock i would get a good biological filter as in sw LR is pretty much one of the main filter.


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