Converting an Aquarium from Freshwater to Saltwater : Freshwater vs. Saltwater

» crate_keeper - Freshwater vs. Saltwater

Setting up a saltwater tank needn't be as daunting a task as you seem to indicate. I have a 30 gallon freshwater tank and a 20 gallon saltwater reef tank. The saltwater tank isn't really much more work to maintain than the freshwater. You can't have quite as many fish (I have seven and some would argue that that's too many), but you can make up for that by adding invertebrates.

As with freshwater tanks, you either select your fish to suit your tank size, or select your tank size to suit the fish you want. I chose a 20 gallon tank, so I selected fish that would not exceed three inches in size. I also selected a team of invertebrates to assist me in maintaining the tank. There are snails to clean up algae, hermit crabs to clean up algae and detrital wastes, a starfish to sift through the sand for wastes, and some shrimp to clean up any remaining wastes and parasites.

-- posted by crate_keeper