Aquariums are great creative outlets for you. You can design one small enough to fit into the corner of a room, or large enough to create a room’s focal point. The big decision comes when selecting the type of fish and invertebrates you want. Which means – either saltwater or freshwater.

Let’s look at freshwater tanks.

Easy to maintain
Less expensive to stock
Easier to take care of as freshwater fish are more tolerant of tank or environment deviations
Tank size can be smaller, so your initial output is more reasonable

Now to saltwater tanks.

Better looking – saltwater fish tend to be more colorful with more interesting behaviors
More costly because you cannot ‘breed’ saltwater fish – they still need to be ‘captured’ to meet the supply-and-demand needs
Saltwater is more time-consuming because you need to make sure their environment is stable
Saltwater fish need large tanks, so your initial output will be more than with freshwater tanks

Even though ‘beginners’ are told to stay away from saltwater tanks and go with freshwater tanks, it is really up to you and how much time and energy you want to invest into your tank. No matter which tank you decide on, you should be aware of a few tips.

1. Fish size

All fish start out small, but each one grows at a different rate. So you need to consider which will be better based on your budget as well as the size tank you decide on. It will be more costly if you have to get a larger tank each time your fish develops as well as making sure they have plenty of room to swim in.

2. Food

As everyone knows, goldfish require a container of food that you can just ‘tap’ into the tank, and then off you go. Whereas with saltwater fish, you will need to mimic what they would normally eat in the wild. This means extra types of food and some of those foods need to be refrigerated. If you have children, that is a major consideration in order to avoid them getting ‘into something’ that they should not be into and then get sick.

3. Compatibility

It won’t do your budget any good to buy fish and then come home to find one is dead or half-eaten!! You need to make sure your tank dwellers will be on good terms with each other as well as other fish dwellers in your tank.

4. Breeding

Some people have tanks in order to breed fish and make some extra cash. So when buying your fish, you need to make sure that they can be bred in ‘captivity’ (i.e. your tank), or that they are not shy around other fish.
One last thing to remember – some fish can live for up to ten years in a tank. That means a long-term commitment on your part and has to be something that you are willing to spend time on. So be careful on what fish to want, because it will almost be like a marriage contract!

Some of my favorite freshwater fish are Guppies (easy to take care of and feed), Betta (even though they need to be kept away from other fish, they have lovely colors and finnage), and the Oscar (after a while it is said that it will come to know its feeder). Looking at saltwater fish, I like Blue Devils, Clown Fish (like Nemo), and the Forceps Butterfly (its bright yellow color is stunning).

Want more information and help deciding on which fish tank is the best? Call Seatech Aquariums. Jimmie and Mike have many years of aquarium experience, and will help you decide on the size, where to put it, and what to put inside of it. Seatech offers a money-back guarantee on its livestock, and will also be there to set up your tank and get you going with regular, first-class maintenance.

Visit our website at http://seatechaquariums.com/ or give us a call at 602.628.7270. And if you are interested in getting a Nano Cube Tank, then Seatech is the ultimate expert!! We have several models to select from and again – we will help you get everything you need.
Don’t wait – get started today!

Nano aquariums are great for those with limited space. They can fill an empty corner or change the look of a room. With all of the advances in filtration, lightening, and pre-created eco-systems, Nano tanks are easier than ever to start and keep up with. Yet, just because they are small does not mean that you can just visit once in a while and then forget about it. You need to be extra careful because of the small space and limited possibilities. Any change will happen fast and will affect your whole tank and all of its dwellers.

By using the following tips, as well as a little extra patience and care, you can have a thriving, healthy and beautiful Nano aquarium for a long, long time.

Tips for going ‘Nano’

1. Give your Nano all the support it needs. Even though it is smaller than regular tanks, Nano’s still can weigh up to 120 pounds fully loaded. Make sure you don’t come home to find all of your hard work and money are now all over your floor or soaking in your carpeting.

2. Make sure your equipment is ‘Nano’ specific. Space is at a premium so, you will need micro-sized jets, compact heaters, etc.

3. Use a closed loop system to add circulation/flow into your Nano tank. By ‘closed’ it means that both inlets and outlets are submerged to draw water from the tank, through the pump, and then back out. It’s all about good ‘flow’ for optimum tank health.

4. Limit your imagination when creating Nano tanks. By staying small and not overloading your Nano, you will be able to keep water parameters level, deflect stress and prevent ‘crowding’ for inhabitants.

5. Become a stylist and shape your live rock to fit your Nano space. If you want to stock it with corals – remember to foster ‘Nano frags.’ Frags are corals that are cut and then stick to a plug or rock to help it grow and create its own colony. Size is still king, and in the Nano world, it has to ‘fit’ in and look natural and normal.

6. Everyone has to get ‘along’ in a Nano. Make sure the fish you stock are friends with each other, or the corals you pick won’t kill each other. Aggression happens not only with fish but with anemones, corals, etc. as well. Some stony corals emit stinging tentacles while some soft corals exude noxious chemicals. All this equals a very unhealthy and deadly tank life, which means more problems for you!

7. Try to use natural filtration in your Nano tank. Let nature help you out by using live plants, live rock, and live sand, creating an eco-complete system for minerals, nutrients, and healthy tank dwellers.

8. Parasites, disease, infection – in a Nano world, these problems can happen fast and be deadly. The best to treat these worries is by ‘quarantine.’ Yes, it takes up time to keep fish, corals, livestock, etc., separate for a while. In the end, it will be well worth it. A friend of mine decided to forget about ‘quarantine.’ The coral was added directly into his Nano. ‘Slugs’ were hiding in the coral, so once inside his Nano, they had quite a dinner feast on all of his tank coral dwellers! The moral of this story: Always Quarantine!

9. Water quality is vital to success with a Nano tank. RO/DI water is the best because it is the purest that can be found, and it will let you ‘temper’ your Nano to create the right balance and conditions specific to your dwellers. You only need to change 10-20% of the water weekly, but if your Nano is getting crowded or you have dwellers with larger bio-loads, then water quality has to be perfect (or as close to it as possible).

10. Finally, you need to act quickly when you notice or see problems in your Nano. Little problems will turn into big problems in no time. If you start to see white spots on your Clown fish, or find out that your Nano’s nitrite levels are getting out of sync, take care of it now before your entire tank crashes. Be observant on a daily basis, test often, change your water regularly, and take care of any problems right away before they get out of hand. A healthy and long-last Nano depends on you!

Want to purchase nano cubes? Visit our shop for a hassle-free online purchase.

For more information on nano aquariums, saltwater aquariums, freshwater aquariums, nano cubes, aquarium maintenance, coral and livestock visit our website.

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Freshwater Or Saltwater Tanks? I Like Them Both