Salt water fish only & fish only with live rock (FOWLR) basic care guide.


Saltwater Aquariums

Fish only & Fish only with Live Rock (FOWLR) 

Basic Care Guide

By: Wayne Foley

 

 

Whenever I talk to someone about saltwater, there are two things that always discourages them from entering the would of marine aquariums. The first one is money, and the second is amount of knowledge that is needed for the subject. 


Saltwater demands more knowledge compared to freshwater, but hobbyist should not let that discourage them from entering salt water. It may be more demanding, but not impossible. Then you have cost in the marine aquarium.

 

Not every tank has to be high tech. I personally do not run any high-tech saltwater tanks. You can find a way to tailor your budget with your aquarium, You just have to have patience. Patiences is a key in this hobby. Good things usually take a long time to come, but bad things can happen very quickly. In the words of Dustin Wunderlich “ Have a plant!”

 



Do not panic, just because its saltwater that doesn't mean the basics change. The biological cycle does not change. Ammonia still breaks down into nitrite, and nitrite into nitrate. The nitrogen cycle is the same when it comes to fresh, until you reach nitrate or NO3. Nitrate in the freshwater  can be eliminated through three ways.

.xg_widget_profiles_profile_show div.no_cross_container.xg_module.xg_module_comment_wall {display: none !important;}
  1. Partial water changes 
  2. Plants 
  3. Denitrators 
In the marine aquarium nitrogen can be removed through plants as well. These plants are called macro algae, or seaweeds. One of the other ways is also a denitrator. 

In freshwater, denitrators charge the ions in nitrate. That leaves nitrate (NO3) with one less ion. Nitrate is converted to Nitrite by charging the ions. The ions stick to the denitrator media, and nitrate looses it's 3 in NO3). Now nitrate is converted to nitrite again, thus leaving it for the aerobic bacteria to consume. In salt water some denitrators work similar to that and some use a more complex and natural way.

Aerobic bacteria forms where there is no oxygen present, or at very low levels. This anaerobic bacteria feeds on nitrates. It does not eliminates nitrates to an absolute zero, but it devours it as soon as it accumulates. It is a never ending supply and demand.  With the deep sand bed it is very possible to not do any water changes for months. As long as you replenish the depleted minerals. 



Water changes:

Distilled (DI)  water or preferably Reverse Osmosis ( RODI) water should be used. Tap water add nitrates, phosphates, chlorine, and sometimes chloramines. Fresh tap water also has minerals that are not present in real ocean water. You can use real ocean water too. Now do not get me wrong it is very possible to use tap water in your marine system but its better using pure water. 

Watch this video for more information watch this video:

 

 

 




Water flow:

Water flow is very important if you do not have a necessary amount of water moment in your aquarium detritus and other bad things will accumulate. Water moment also helps keeps down algae. Circulation of the water is a must with live rock. It needs to stream through it, also live rock should not be stacked close together it should be stacked to the point where water can flow through it.

Watch this video for more information for water flow:

 

 

 


Substrate: 

Also most anything can be used as a substrate even some freshwater rock, and pebbles Most hobbyist use a type of  calcium based  sand. To help buffer the PH to 8.3 - 8.5.  You don't want to use any type of silicate sand. Only fine sands sound be used in a deep sand bed. IF there is space for oxygen to penetrate, the purpose of the deep sand bed will faith, and it will only harbor nitrates.

 


Sand beds:

There are two main types of sand beds:Shallow sand bed and deep sand beds

 

Shallow sand beds:

Shallow sand beds are meant not to keep as “live”.  In a shallow sand the anaerobic bacteria does not form because air is still present. The aerobic bacteria are present which breaks down ammonia into nitrites and nitrite into nitrate.

 

The deep sand bed (DSB):

 This is where it gets dangerous, but if done correctly its rewarding. Deep sand beds need to be at different depths depending on sand size of sand. The finer the sand bed, the shallower it can become. The starting size for a DSB is 4 inches.  Deep sand beds need to be properly seeded with good live rock, and need to be turned several times a day by critters in the sand bed. If that does not occur it will lead to dead spots. Sometimes if you leave  dead spots alone they can fix themselves. Dead spots can also turn for the worst and cause sulfuric acid. That will destroy any life in the tank. Deep sand beds should never be disturbed for a 6 months to year period. After it matures it can be probed to released nitrogen to prevent dead spots.

 


Live rock:

Live rock is not necessary for a fish only, system. Jim, the LAFISHGUY would completely agree.You have no idea what your getting in live rock, there are million of creatures you cannot see in the live rock. You want to get porous rock. Live rock is your headquarters for biological filtration. Live rock can grow coral and macro algae on them. They can also become a home to many types of marine life including fish and invertebrates. You want to have a constant flow of water streaming through the live rock.

 

Watch this video for more information on live rock:

 

 

 

Heating:

Yes,  MOST saltwater tanks are tropical aquariums, but there are some rare cases like certain types of creatures like certain types of jelly fish that needs chillers that chill the aquarium. These would want to be placed outside like a generator.

 

Lighting:

For a fish only system you do not need any certain type of lighting, it is simply for asthetics. But if you have a (FOWLR) tank which stands for fish only with live rock. You need a certain amount of light, but no where near the needs of coral, I would have at least 1.5 to two watts per gallon for live rock. 

Types of lights:

  1. Strip lights
  2. T5
  3. Power Compact
  4. Metal Halide 
  5. LED
Salt Mixes:
There are many different types of salt mixes. You can buy real ocean water, but if you use your tap, DI, or

 RODI water you will need to use salt mixes. Salinity should be kept around 1.023-1.025 if you have invertebrates it should be at 1.025 there are minerals and trace elements to keep your fish healthy in your aquarium, but they will deplete you need to replenish them through water changes or supplementing your tank with products such as B-ionic.

Watch this video on salt mixes for more information:

 

 

 

 




Are there actually some fish out there that are best suited for the fish only with live rock aquariums (FOWLR) ?Yes, there are many aggressive to semi aggressive fish like puffers, angels, and lion fish out there that would either nip or eat away at the coral. So they do very well in an aquarium without coral.

 

 

 



Plants:

There are plants called macro algae that can be kept in the aquarium or in a refugium or sump.These seaweeds will work just like freshwater plants. The point in having them is to soak up any nitrates in your system. Like freshwater plants, some macro algae will need to be supplemented, or fertilized with special elements or mineral.

Watch This video for more help on plants in the marine system:

 

 

 

 



 

 

Clean up crews:

These little guys are made up of invertebrates such as crabs, snails shrimp sometimes slugs starfish lobsters, urchins, etc etc. The job of these guys are to eat un eaten food, detritus, algae and help maintain a clean balanced aquarium.

 

Watch this video on more information for clean up crews:

 

 

 

 


 


Protein skimmers: Protein skimmers remove dissolved waste before entering the nitrogen cycle. Proteins will stick to tiny air bubbles, which get drawn up into a collection cup away from the aquarium.

YOU WANT TO GO OVER KILL ON SKIMMERS THE MORE WASTE YOU GET OUT THE BETTER!!!

Watch this video for more on protein skimmers:

 

 

 

 



UV lights:

These can be use to kill any bacteria, or simply remove algae and help keep a cleaner healthier aquarium. It flows through a tube, which enters a ultraviolet light. Which zaps all harmful substance and letting algae be collected in filters.

 


Filtration:

Mechanical filtration go from anywhere to hang on the back filters to canister, to wet dry trickle filters to sumps and refugium.


Hang on the back power filters and canisters I shouldn’t have to explain. You can use them the same way you do in the freshwater world.


Wet/dry trickle filters are new. this is a filter with an overflow that leads water into a prefilter then water trickles over bioballs giving a lot of surface area to aerobic bacteria. If not cleaned they can lead to detritus. They can also hold a protein skimmer, and usually have a return or sump pump returning to the main tank.


RefugiumIt’s a place held under, or  above. or on the side, somewhere other in the main tank where a bunch of plants will grow and they can harvest out the nitrates for a aquarium. This needs to be lighting they can also help buffer the tank with more volume.


A sump is  an another aquarium under the main display tank. It draws water in through an overflow coming usually through a filter sock which  collects waste then goes over some type of chemical filtration. Leading it a protein skimmer and then into a refugium. Finally exiting into an area with a return pump into the main aquarium.

 

 

Chemical filtrations:

There are many brands out there and they do the same as freshwater carbons, some even remove nitrite and ammonia and even phosphate! I recommend CHEMIPURE ELITE!

HERE'S A VIDEO ON CHEMIPURE ELITE:

 

 

 



 

If you still need help and more information watch these two links:

 

 

 

So what fish can I start with?The best fish to start with are the damsels, a lot of people say that if you can handle African cichlids which has the aggression of damsels and higher ph. You only need to add salt, the diet of the damsel can vary from species. But other then that the care needs are almost identical. Damsels are of the hardest fish,and are very forgiving. 

Just don’t go out and buy a beautiful queen angel or Moorish idol if your new to this world, more then likely the end story will not be good. 

 

 

 

 

So now you know the basics but you don’t know how big or how small of a tank to buy. You should buy the biggest aquarium your budget can afford, and that’s not just buying the tank, it includes maintaing it. I would start with a 55 gallon aquarium or bigger. Bigger water volumes stay stable in smaller aquariums stability is impossible.

So now you know the basics of the saltwater fish only and fish only with live rock care, so go out and buy a saltwater aquarium!

 

 

If you need anymore help in the saltwater, reef, freshwater planted tanks, ponds, come check  my channel out:

At, samuelwaynefoleyjr on youtube!


Views: 3032

Replies are closed for this discussion.

               

Blog Posts

Posted by Richard on December 29, 2019 at 10:59pm 0 Comments

10 Gallon planted Guppy

Posted by Richard on December 29, 2019 at 10:58pm 0 Comments

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

Birthdays

Birthdays Today

© 2024   Created by Dustin Wunderlich.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service