# Saltwater Beginner Q's?



## InSinUAsian (Jan 3, 2003)

Hey guys, as some of you might know I am in the process of setting up a saltwater tank. I was just confused as to if SW tanks needed to be at the same temp range (78-82) as freshwater tanks? Also what is a good specific gravity range to shoot for?

Thanks,
~Dj


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## Andrew (Mar 3, 2003)

TRy to keep your water temp at 80. 
78-82 is the MIN/MAX range you want to stay in.

Salinity for a reef tank should stay at 1.024 to 1.025.

With a fish only tank you can run a little lower, like 1.022. Some people say it prevents diseases. IMO, I think I it causes stress to the fish.

The key is to consistancy, swings in salinity and temperature can be stressful to fish and coral.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Yup, listen to Andrew!


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Best person I can think of to help with SW is thePACK. Unfortunately, hes on vacation at sunny Mexico and wont be back till next week.


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## garybusey (Mar 19, 2003)

Andrew said:



> TRy to keep your water temp at 80.
> 78-82 is the MIN/MAX range you want to stay in.
> 
> Salinity for a reef tank should stay at 1.024 to 1.025.
> ...


 Yeah I dunno about the stress aspect... The thing with salt water Is 1) if you have the Adequate Lighting for the tank it will produce ALOT of heat. Therfore in order to keep the temps down you can either Put the tank in a cold room OR keep the top off. Which brings me to the Salinity aspect. 1.022-1.023 gives you room for error. If you forget a day or are away, You can last longer if you are Running 1.022 then if you started at 1.025. It is MUCH worse for your fish if the salt gets too high. Now all this depends on Corals or not. I go no corals, just fish. But trust me, go lower on the salinity scale if you just have fish.


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## Andrew (Mar 3, 2003)

Good Point.
Yes, running a lower salinity will give you room for your salinity to rise as your water evaporates throughout the day. 
Even better is to have an auto-top off system which keeps the salinity the same no matter how much or how little evaporation occurs.
You can build them for about $ 25.00.
I built my own and it cost $80.00, only because I bought the best float switch that was available and it was $ 70.00.

HTH


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## tinyteeth (Mar 12, 2003)

i too want to try salt. this LFs has this meter you can buy and itll show you what gravity setting is best, and you can test your water to see where it is and all.

he says salt is just as easy as fresh, just takes more patience. huh?


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## rday (Mar 10, 2003)

and boatloads more money!

the funny thing about salt tanks are they tend to be opposite of fresh water tanks. small freshwater tanks are easy. very little maintenence, very little to worry about. large fresh tanks are a pain. huge maintenance. salt is opposite. the bigger the initial investement, the easier it is to up-keep.


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## garybusey (Mar 19, 2003)

rday said:


> and boatloads more money!
> 
> the funny thing about salt tanks are they tend to be opposite of fresh water tanks. small freshwater tanks are easy. very little maintenence, very little to worry about. large fresh tanks are a pain. huge maintenance. salt is opposite. the bigger the initial investement, the easier it is to up-keep.


 Exatly on both points. It does cost ALOT more coin, and the bigger you go the easier it is. My 33g is WAY more work than my 90G.


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