# looking to set up a saltwater tank for the first time



## oscarlover (Oct 2, 2012)

Hi, new here. I currently have a few tanks with all freshwater setups, mostly cichlids, and I am pretty confident in my FW abilities. I have a 16g bowfront setup that is currently empty and I was wanting to set that up as a small SW aquarium, but I honestly have no idea what I need, beside the tank and heater, lights, etc I have all of that as it once was a FW aquarium. I want to do sand and I am not sure about which fish would be good for a small aquarium. Any help would be awesome! Thanks.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

A 16 gallon SW tank spells recipe for disaster - very little room for error for a potential of a complete crash. Start with something a little larger (46G or 55 gallon) until you understand what really involved in salt water keeping.

However, if you're pretty much set on starting out with a 16G tank, a pair of clowns or 1 Maroon Clown is all you can do. As the old saying goes, Go Big or Go Home.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Depending on the dimensions of the 16 gallon tank, even a pair of clowns may be pushing it. 

The problem with small tanks is that evaporation makes all salts, pollutants, and nutrients much more concentrated in smaller tanks. Larger tanks have more room for evaporation, and are thus more stable. Unless you can start with a system volume of at least 40 gallons, I'd just wait to set up a SW tank.


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## oscarlover (Oct 2, 2012)

Ok thanks for the advice. The 16g is a bowfront. I will look around on craigslist to try and find a bigger set up.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Craigslist is the greatest.


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