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A saltwater aquarium is hard to maintain. This statement should not have any type of contradiction. But this depends on the aquarist’s experience and efforts. Generally, the saltwater aquarium is harder to maintain than a freshwater fish tank.
Saltwater fish tank needs a certain level of specific gravity of water, calcium level, and light intensity. All of these need a huge cost to maintain. This gives a maximum of one hour if it tends to fail due to any internal or external reason. Live rocks and live corals need special care also. So the saltwater aquarium is hard to maintain if you have no experience in it.
This answer has given the idea that saltwater fish is hard to maintain. Now the question is why this is hard to maintain. Let’s discuss it
Why is a saltwater fish tank hard to maintain?
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You have to check salinity daily
The saltwater aquarium should have a specific salinity level. Fishes thrive depending upon the salinity level. Your saltwater tank has a specific salinity level between 1.021-1.025. But you should know that the salinity level of water can be changed for various reasons.
The main cause of changing the salinity level is evaporation. Water evaporates frequently and that’s why the salinity level of the aquarium may vary. Another reason may happen due to lack of experience in mixing salts in freshwater. New aquarists may make this mistake and this is another cause of changing the salinity level frequently of a saltwater aquarium.
Solution – To fix this issue you have to maintain the tank well. You can’t stop the water evaporation. Rather you can check the salinity level of the saltwater tank with a hydrometer, refractometer or salinity monitor. If you have one of these gadgets then you can check daily the salinity level. This will save your investments in the saltwater tank.
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Need daily water change
Daily water change is a must for the saltwater fish tank for the first few months. Some experts will say that you don’t need to change the water on a daily basis. But for the first 6-8 months, your saltwater will be in a transition period. At that time different types of bacteria create colonies in it. So lots of hiccups may happen according to the source.
Solution – For the first 3-4 months you have to change the water. Minimum you should change 10% to 15% of the whole water. If you don’t get much time to care for your saltwater tank then a minimum of twice a week water change is required. In this case, a minimum of 20% water change of whole water is recommended.
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Proper lights to a saltwater tank
Lights are important for saltwater fish tanks. If your tank has no live rock then you don’t need to bother about lights because fishes don’t need lights to thrive. But if you have live rocks in a saltwater fish tank then you have to provide proper lights. Live rocks contain lots of hitchhikers. Those are the essential part of a saltwater aquarium. These need the right light intensity to thrive. So if you don’t provide it then it will mess the aquarium up.
Solution – The general thumb rule of providing light in an aquarium is 4 watts per gallon.
That means if you have a 100-gallon saltwater fish tank then you have to provide the minimum =100×4= 400 watts.
Note – Excessive light intensity may increase the algae growth in the saltwater aquarium. So make sure to provide a maximum of 7-9 hours of light for a new tank set up. If you notice any unwanted algal growth then you must stop to provide light. At that time light should be turned on for a maximum of 5-6 hours.
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Check protein skimmer or filter and other stuff
People think that a protein skimmer or filter will do all the maintenance by itself. Actually, this is a myth. You have to check all machines are working well or not in your saltwater aquarium. A protein skimmer is better for a saltwater aquarium than a normal biological filter. If you have sump or refugium then also you need to maintain those stuff well.
Solution – Temperature is a basic parameter that you need to check frequently. Saltwater fishes are sensitive to temperature fluctuation. So you need to provide the right temperature. You have to clean the filter and skimmer. Otherwise, these won’t be able to clean your fish tank.
To clean a protein skimmer you can use a toothbrush and any type of brush. You have to use warm water to clean the inside of the skimmer. If you notice any rough debris inside of it then you must make a solution with 1 part warm water and 1 part vinegar. After mixing that solution well you have to soak that skimmer for 24 hours by that solution. Finally, you can rinse that skimmer with warm water.
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Don’t provide excessive foods
Excessive food of fish can increase the ammonia and phosphate level in the saltwater fish tank. In a freshwater fish tank, you can fix it by yourself. But in a saltwater fish tank, this can be a huge problem. Other problems will be included with it at that time.
Bacteria will react with that excessive food and ammonia will create. In a saltwater fish tank, the ammonia level should be zero. If you have live rock then hitchhikers will start to eat excessive foods. The number of hitchhikers will increase within a small amount of time. This is very bad for a saltwater aquarium.
Solution – saltwater fishes don’t need to eat daily. These can survive without eating for 2-3 days. You don’t need to do that. You can give food twice a day to your fish. Make sure to give such amounts of food that are consumed within the first 2minutes. Fishes eat actively only for the first 2-3 minutes.
Read more:- Best Saltwater Fish for Aquariums: 10, 20, 40, 55, 75-Gallons & More
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Check the live rocks before adding
Love rocks are an essential part of a saltwater aquarium. These create the aesthetic look of the aquarium. Not only that, but live rock acts as a biological filter of a saltwater aquarium. That’s why a saltwater aquarium needs a live rock. But live rock contains some unwanted hitchhikers. Those are very bad for an aquarium. If you don’t take special care of it then these will destroy the aquarium literally.
Solution – If you want to get an alternative option then it is dry rocks. Dry rocks are the same as live rocks. This is made with calcium silicate. The main difference between a dry rock and a live rock is in the dry rock you can’t find any type of hitchhikers. This will not give natural benefits from the very first day. Dry rock takes a much longer time to establish bacteria colonies in it than live rock. So you can’t expect to get benefits from dry rocks like a live rock.
Another solution is to buy live rock from a trusted supplier. This small step can save your big investment in the saltwater aquarium. Don’t buy live rock from anyone just for some fewer bucks.
Another option you can choose is to remove unwanted hitchhikers. You can put live rocks in the saltwater. The specific gravity of that saltwater should be 1.040-1.045. Or you can put live rock in the freshwater. In both cases, unwanted hitchhikers will be removed permanently. The bad thing is that with those unwanted hitchhikers the beneficial bacteria also will be removed.
Read more:- Importance of live rock for saltwater tank
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Need special care for live corals
The common saltwater fish tank does not contain live corals but if you are making a FOWLR tank now, (fish only with live rock) then you should know about this. After a while, you may have a wish to convert it into a reef tank.
Corals are not like fishes. It needs some special care. If you just keep it like fish then it won’t thrive and it’s you can’t see the ultimate colouration of it. So learn about corals before converting your FOWLR tank into a reef tank.
Solution – Corals need water circulation. This is a must for a reef tank. Water circulation should not be too direct towards the corals. This water should circulate in various directions. This is the way to help corals to find foods for them.
Another special care is light intensity. Corals can’t thrive without proper lighting. Generally, it prefers blue lights. But it depends on the types of corals.
Read more:- Why is my coral not growing? know the causes of each of it
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Saltwater fishes are hard to acclimate
Fish acclimation means from one place to the main tank. Now new aquarists may think about it as just putting it into the main tank from the bag. But if you do like that way then, fish will die soon.
Fishes need proper care at the time of acclimation. As the specific gravity and the pH are important parameters for saltwater fishes so you need to have patience at this time.
Solution – The only solution is the drip acclimation method. This method takes a longer period of time to complete. As specific gravity and pH are both parameters you have to acclimate, drip acclimation is the only method here.
Conclusion
After this discussion, I can conclude that the saltwater fish tank is hard to maintain. If you have the skill of aquascaping then it will not bother you too much. But definitely, a saltwater fish tank is harder to maintain than a freshwater fish tank. Here I’ve given some causes with solutions to make it simple. I guess all of you have understood.
So best of luck & happy fishkeeping 🐟
Read more:- How to build saltwater aquarium from scratch (55gallon)