My son desires a saltwater aquarium....help!!!

[formyson]

About a year ago, my then 8 year old son, decided he would like to have a saltwater aquarium. He's had a freshwater since he was 4. My husband and I told him this wasn't something he could just decide to do. We talked to him about the expense, the upkeep, and other difficulties. He still wants to try it! He's been saving money since then. He collects aluminum cans and sells them to the recycling company. He picks up pecans for the neighbors and rakes leaves for my SIL. All birthday money has been hoarded. He learned to wash laundry this summer and all change he finds goes into his savings. Hubby told him we would match whatever he saves. So far he has saved $121. Ok, I know we have a long way to go!
Here's what's up: We are currently reading Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies and The New Marine Aquarium: Step-by-Step Set Up & Stocking Guide.
We have decided to start out with just a tropical marine tank. No invertebrates, just fish. We are leaning toward a 40 gallon acrylic tank. My son wants to buy the tank and then buy the other equipment as he gets his money saved. Oh..I'll probably be on here a lot so my son's name is Stephen and he is 9.
Here are his initial questions:
1. Can you put artificial items in marine aquariums? Stephen got a Wal-mart gift card for Christmas and bought a fake piece of coral and a fake aneneme. Are these ok to put in?
2. Can you put in live plants? Are there low maintenance live plants?
3. Any initial advice for a novice nine year old and his novice Mom?
Thanks!

 

[keith burn]

1. Can you put artificial items in marine aquariums? Stephen got a Wal-mart gift card for Christmas and bought a fake piece of coral and a fake aneneme. Are these ok to put in?---yes thay will be ok will need to clean from time to time ues only fw to do it.
2. Can you put in live plants? Are there low maintenance live plants?---yes and no can put sea weed and the like but fish will eat it...but it is good food for them...
3. Any initial advice for a novice nine year old and his novice Mom?--- read more go slow.ask questions befor you buy it.only go to lfs you trust.
and most of all have fun

 

[yomommasmom]

do you plan are starting an coral, how long did it take you son just to save up that money i just started saltwater to and this is how bad it was i already had filter and all that crap cause i had freshwater to do it i basicilly have an 40 gallon an its costin g me 750$ just to do it right well of couase this is with corals

 

[1journeyman]

Welcome!
Your'e a step ahead of a lot of us who started this hobby. Doing your resarch now is critical. Wish I had done that when I first tried 15 years ago.
My first advice to ya would be to set aside "saltwater for dummies". It's information can be outdated and even wrong imho. The best book in my opinion is Fenner's "A Conscientious Marine Aquarist". You can order it from this webpage. A Ton of info there.
After you're read through that book you'll have a good idea on the different forms of tanks, filtration, lighting, etc. From there start a list of equipment you want and start pricing it online.
To answer your questions:
1. You can, but they may get covered in algae. Live rock is expensive, but it's also natural, buffers your water, provides unexpected life forms to the tank, provides great habitat, and most importantly provides a great built in filtration.
2. Live plants probably won't last long in a tank as they will be eaten. If they aren't eaten they can overrun a tank.
3. Covered nicely by Keith. Since your son is doing this on a limited budget I'd also suggest figuring in monthly costs. Usually the mantra is "the bigger the tank the better" but this might not be the case for your son. Water changes, top off water, mix of foods, etc. can add up every month. The bigger the tank the more these costs will be.

 

[fbm]

My son is 10 and he wants his own saltwater tank in his room. I am looking into a nano cube. It should be real cheap compared to what I have running for the whole family. Then I told him if he keeps up with that I would get him/let him get a bigger one.
Maybe think about this?

 

[yomommasmom]

Please start a different post for this yomommasmom
1Journeyman

 

[ice4ice]

I personally don't like Saltwater for Dummies. I borrowed it out of the library and immediately returned it. Too outdated and too much gibberish IMO.
1journeyman made a fine suggestion with the book. It might be abit hard for aa 8 year old to fully understand the biology and more. So you will have to help him with the hard stuff.

 

[fbm]

Really though you don't need to do anymore reading than what can be found here. You can tell almost right away who know what they are talking about and who doesn't.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by fbm
Really though you don't need to do anymore reading than what can be found here. You can tell almost right away who know what they are talking about and who doesn't.
I tend to disagree.
For one thing you'll get a lot of opinions. Read a few ich posts for instance. You'll be amazed at how often the line "all tanks have ich, only stressed fish can get it" for instance. People post complete and utter nonsense and state it like fact.
I think reading and learning on your own is the best tactic. That way you'e armed with some basic knowledge and can weed out the more uninformed posters.

 

[formyson]

I appreciate all the input! We definitely have a lot more research to do. I plan to be here often!
1journeyman - I looked at your profile and noticed you are in Denton, TX. I work at UNT! Is Fish n Chirps a good saltwater store? Any other suggestions for this area? Thanks!

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Formyson
I appreciate all the input! We definitely have a lot more research to do. I plan to be here often!
1journeyman - I looked at your profile and noticed you are in Denton, TX. I work at UNT! Is Fish n Chirps a good saltwater store? Any other suggestions for this area? Thanks!
LOL, small world. I'm in Argyle.
Fish and Chirps is an interesting store. Sometimes they give great advice, and they are the store I bought my reef ready 180 gallon from. Some of the things they do though are just weird. For instance, the owner's jaw dropped when I told him I keep my salinity between 1.025 -1.026. He said "That's really high. Why are you doing that?" I'm also not aware of them QTing incoming fish.
They do sometimes carry a decent variety of frozen foods and hardware. As with most local fish stores though, your best bet is to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible.

 

[soldier0117]

Look in the newspapers around your area for a tank for a tank that someone will sell dirt cheap just so they can get rid of it. I got my 55 gal tank w/ stand, undergravel (which I have replaced with wet/dry), 2 heater, a powerhead, a hang on filter, flouresants, and some small suppies like a hydrometer and stuff for only $75. :joy: Everything was only 5 years old and working fine. I have upgraded my tank and gotten rid of most of the old stuff, but it was a great start!

 

[xdave]

What kind of equipment does he have already from his fresh water setup? Some of it may be usable for his salt tank. A fish only (FO) is fairly easy. Considering how much fresh water experience he has and the fact that it's being approached with patience, he should do ok.
The biggest difference fresh water people have to deal with is the number of inches of fish per gallon in salt water. Fresh is 1" per gallon, and salt is 1" per 5 gallons.

 

[formyson]

I like the idea of used...thanks for the tip.
His fresh water equip is only for a 10 gallon tank and he's planning on keeping it.
Thanks again everyone!

 

[scotts]

You can also look on the classified section on this site for used equipment. That is where I got much of my equipment from.
BTW Kudos on raising such a good kid!

 

[ol'salty]

I agree with what everyone else has said just want to throw in a point or 2. I think you should also ask yourself if you are ready to take care of his new tank to some extent. Some chemicals in the test kits are very harmful and imo shouldn't be used by kids. The only other thing is make sure you research everything you want to put into it before you buy. (On here for example) A lot of people ( me included) are bad about inpulse buying when it comes to a pretty or interesting fish. With salt water, this fish could be poisonous and a lot of lfs's wont tell you. They will just make the money. As long as you realize that there will be work for you with this new setup as well, i think it will be fine. I got my first salt water tank when i was arround 11. I remember watching my live rock for hours. I watched it more than my fish because it was mysterious. You never knew what was crawling out next.
Sorry for the long post--just my 2 cents.

 

[formyson]

Ol'salty - I appreciate your '2 cents!' My husband and I both are committed to helping. It's not something we would have done of our own freewill, but we want to encourage our son in his interests. Also, I have to admit, I am getting drawn in!!

Truly, I appreciate each person's opinion. You all have already given me lots to think about!

 

[xdave]

Not much in a 10 gallon setup you could use. It would make a good quarantine tank though.
The only thing I wouldn't buy used is the heater. As they get old corrosion builds up on the contacts and they may eventually stick. Everything else like power heads or filters can be made like brand new just by soaking them in vinegar, or my favorite, cheap unflavored denture cleanser.
When you find used items this is a good place to put a "is this a good deal" post.

 

[30-xtra high]

no offense, but honestly... no matter what expense/upkeep/difficulties you tell him about, all he's thinkin about is " i wunt a salt water fish tank, i want a saltwater fish tank, i wunt a saltwater fish tank", but if you wunt this project to be e-z just buy a biocube, itza lil pricey but has built in filter, lights, heater.

 

[formyson]

What is a biocube?