Picking a Saltwater Aquarium Set-up

This article is intended for the newcomer to the saltwater aquarium hobby who is looking to determine where to begin. This article will hopefully help you decide what type of saltwater aquarium set-up is right for you.  If you have never kept an aquarium before, it is advised that you perhaps first start off with a small, relatively inexpensive freshwater tank.  The average freshwater tank requires less upkeep, requires less expensive equipment to run and is less expensive to maintain.  Get used to the idea of balancing water parameters and the kind of maintenance required to keep a thriving aquarium set-up before you dive deep into a saltwater aquarium display.

This reef tank has a mixture of fish, corals and other invertebrates

If you’ve already decided that a saltwater tank is in your future, here are a few possible tank set-ups for you to consider:

• Fish only (FO)
• Fish only, with live rock (FOWLR)
• Reef
• Lagoon
• Biotope
• Species specific
• Nano

Fish only tank (FO)

The saltwater fish only (FO) tank is one of the easiest to set up and maintain and is recommended for newcomers to the hobby.  The only dominant livestock you will keep in this tank will be fish—and with that simplicity comes a similarly relaxed husbandry and maintenance needs if you intend to keep the ubiquitous hardy species that are found in most fish stores.   Most fish do not require special lighting and just about any filtration method will suffice, provided that the filter is appropriately sized/powered for the bio-load in the tank.

You might need more room to fit this fish in a fish only tank

Fish only, with live rock (FOWLR)

The fish only with live rock tank is a half-step up in sophistication from the fish only tank.  The major difference is the addition of the so-called live rock.  Live rock is a natural product sold in many aquarium shops.  It is generally a porous rock that provides natural structure/habitat for your fish inhabitants. The addition of live rock to your tank provides a lot of potential benefits:  bacteria in the live rock add horsepower to your biological filter, calcium carbonate in the rock acts as a buffer, the rock also generally acts as a home to beneficial invertebrates that help clean up debris and uneaten food particles in the tank.  If you can afford to do so, it is recommended that both beginner and advanced aquarium hobbyists add live rock to your tanks.  While a Fish only, with live rock (FOWLR) tank is generally more expensive to set-up than a fish only (FO) tank, it is actually easier to maintain because the live rock provides both a literal and figurative buffer that provides some stability to the tank.

Reef

A reef aquarium is an attempt to recreate an ecosystem where both vertebrates (generally fish) and invertebrates including corals, clams and crabs coexist to create a symphony of colors, behaviors and species to re-create a small piece of the ocean.   In nature, coral reefs are like the rainforests of the sea—where dense aggregations of life all come together in a tightly knit web.  In a saltwater reef aquarium, you attempt to recreate a sliver of that web—but take the freedom to add species from all over the world, provided they have similar enough husbandry needs and are compatible with the other intended inhabitants of the tank.  The backbone of the reef aquarium is generally built with live rock, upon which coral or clams are mounted and around which flash the bright colors of reef-safe tropical fish.  Reef tanks are a beauty to behold, but also require some sophistication (and money) to set-up and maintain.  Reef tanks generally have special requirements for lighting, filtration, water-flow, bio-load and nutritional additives/supplements.  Care should be taken to ensure that fish and invertebrates are reef safe to prevent unintended ‘snacking’ inside the tank.

Setting up a reef tank with beautiful corals like this is the goal of many hobbyists

Reef aquariums are my true passion, and are a total joy to maintain, but be warned that they are a lot of work and require you to invest in some knowledge and patience to maintain effectively.

Lagoon Aquarium

Lagoon aquariums are set-up to re-create the slow moving tidal backwater ecosystems in nature.  Instead of having large displays of live rock, coral and other fast-water loving animals, the lagoon aquarium is generally dominated by slow-moving species, sand beds and plant-like macroalgae.

Seahorses are a favorite animal to keep in a lagoon aquarium. Image by Ed Bierman

Probably the most popular and notably cool lagoon aquarium inhabitant is the seahorse.  While maintaining a lagoon aquarium, by its own merit, is not difficult, some lagoon species, like seahorses are notoriously finicky inhabitants and are NOT recommended for the beginner.

Biotope Aquarium

The goal of the biotope aquarium is to recreate, as closely as possible, a specific niche of the ocean, matching inhabitants in the tank as they would exist in nature.  This strategy is not unlike the strategy of many of the tanks we see in public aquaria.  The biotope may be focused on fish and corals of the Caribbean, Great Barrier Reef, or Indonesian Archipelago for instance.  The possible iterations are nearly endless.  A biotope aquarium presents an opportunity to test your skills in creating a fun, vibrant and beautiful display, all while keeping an eye on keeping species together the way mother nature intended—a lofty goal—but worth the investment.  The specific equipment needs of the biotope aquarium style vary based on the type of biotope being created.

Species Specific

A species specific aquarium can be thought of as a sort of sub-group within the fish only aquarium category.

Essentially, all resources of the tank are designed to create a suitable environment for a single, individual species and watch their behaviors and intra-specific interactions.  Often, species specific aquariums are developed to attempt to observe the spawning of the target species, a behavior which sometimes gets disrupted and other times is just hard to observe in a larger community display.  The equipment needs of a species specific tank are similar to a fish only tank, but generally on a smaller scale.

Nano

The last aquarium style to consider is the nano aquarium.  Nano aquaria have gained a freight train worth of momentum over the last several years.  Previously, the old adage was that reef tanks should be no smaller than 55-75 gallons in size.  The rationale was that smaller aquarium sizes did not provide enough margin for error to be successful over the long run.  The lighting, flow and filtration needs of the typical reef inhabitants were thought to be too demanding to maintain in a small volume aquarium (called a nano).   While the margin of error hypothesis holds merit—there are also a lot of benefits in keeping the aquarium volume low.
For example, nano tanks are actually much more energy efficient.  The amount of energy required to keep them running is far less than to keep a larger reef tank running.  Because of their size, the coral species in a nano tank are generally much closer to the light source than they would be in a larger tank—therefore a less powerful light is required to create the same coral growth.  Bioload is generally lower, so filtration needs are generally lower.  It is much easier to create a brisk flow throw a small tank than a larger tank, so circulation pump requirements are lower.
Nano tanks also require a much smaller footprint in your (human) living space, and so generally they provide an advantage to those of us who live with significant others.  So while older classic books may suggest that nano aquariums are difficult to maintain, you should consider that they are easier to maintain in many ways—but that almost everything is exaggerated in the nano tank setting.  While that’s beneficial from a lighting, filtration and water flow perspective, it can be dangerous if your water quality deteriorates—so maintenance and water changes are very important.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article presents a few things for you to consider along your journey to decide what type of saltwater aquarium to set up at your home or office.  As you can see, the possibilities are nearly endless, and there are trade-offs with every decision you make.  However, I hope this has provided you with some perspective about the spectrum of options available to you and the relative sophistication required to create and maintain them.  I encourage you to continue searching the web for information posted by others who may have varying information or include other aquarium designs.  I also welcome your comments and want to hear your experiences with setting up a tank.  Post a comment and let me know what you think of this article.
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This article written by: Al Ulrich