Picking Your Saltwater Tank

This is the first decision you have to make when setting up a marine or saltwater aquarium. This choice will have a significant impact on not only your choices later on but maintenance and care as well.

Size Matters

One of the first things to decide is the size of your tank. Buy the largest tank that you can either afford or will fit in your home or office. There’s a number of reasons for it like:

1. You’re less likely to outgrow your tank.
2. It’s easier to maintain a stable environment with larger tanks.
3. You have more options in fish, decorations, and plants.

The smallest tank you should consider is 30-40 gallons (approximately 115-150 liters). There’s a lot of stories of people starting with hobby tanks that later wished they bought bigger tanks.

Transplanting all their fish, rocks, gravel, and plants to a new tank is a lot of work. It’s also expensive to purchase new filters, lights, and everything that comes from setting up a new tank.

Did you know that saltwater contains 42% less oxygen than freshwater at the same temperature? Maintaining stable oxygen levels is far more critical in a saltwater tank than a freshwater tank. And as you might have guessed, animals die when they don’t have enough oxygen.

The primary way oxygen is introduced to the water and carbon dioxide is exuded is through the exchange that occurs between the water and air. The surface area between the air and water is absolutely vital in ensuring not only enough oxygen is present but to make sure waste products (i.e. carbon dioxide) is removed from the tank.

As a direct consequence of having stable oxygen supplies, you have a greater selection of fish for your aquarium

Tank Material

Some basic (and obvious) requirements for your saltwater aquarium tank are:

• Does not leak
• Is not toxic
• Is not water-soluable (tank material does not slowly melt into the water)
  

  Glass Aquarium Tank

You can choose whatever material you want but by sticking with either glass or acrylic aquarium tanks, you’ll sidestep a lot of these issues.

The choice is largely a preference. Here are the pros and cons of acrylic:

Pros:

1. Acrylic tanks insulates better than glass tanks. You’ll have smaller and slower temperature fluctuation. You can also use smaller heaters or chillers compared to a glass tank.
2. Acrylic tanks are clearer thank glass tanks. Acrylic lets 14% more light than glass.
3. Because glass is much denser than acrylic, acrylic tanks will be lighter than glass tanks.
4. Acrylic is much tougher than glass. It’ll take a much greater force to break an acrylic tank than a glass tank. You can drill holes to mount filters, chilers, or heaters with less effect on acrylic tanks.
5. Because of the relative brittleness of glass, they can’t be shaped in as many formations as acrylic. Acrylic tanks can be molded into almost any shape imaginable.

Cons:

1. Compared to glass, acrylic is highly scratchable. Even manufacturers, who use special packing material, will sometimes accidentally scratch their own tanks. If you’re having the tank moved, there’s a danger it’ll be scratched. Anyone walking by, jewelry, belt buckles, cell phones, almost anything will scratch acrylic tanks. When cleaning an acrylic tank, whether on the inside or outside, you need to use special pads to prevent scratching.
2. Because acrylic is lighter than glass, it cannot support its own weight and any stand you purchase needs to support the entire bottom of the acrylic tank. A glass tank can support its own weight and only needs support along the edges.
3. Glass maintains its clarity over time. Many acrylic tanks yellow with age when exposed to sunlight or a full spectrum lighting.
4. Acrylic tanks are more expensive than glass tanks. This isn’t necessarily due to one being better than another but the shipping cost of acrylic tanks, which scratch much easier than glass tanks.