Best Saltwater Aquariums for Beginners
(Updated 2019)
Minimum cost investment
It’s really hard to beat the cost of these all in one beginner saltwater aquariums, these usually include the aquarium itself, filtration, and the lighting. The 10-50 gallon aquarium is the perfect size for a saltwater aquarium. One thing to keep in mind is the larger the aquarium, the more stable it will be. Unfortunately the larger the aquarium, the more expensive it gets. Unless you’re buying a used saltwater aquarium, one of these all in one beginner saltwater aquariums will probably be the most cost effective way to setup a great looking saltwater aquarium.
Minimum maintenance
With these beginner style aquariums, maintenance and upkeep for the aquarium is minimal. A key thing to help keep a smaller aquarium like this healthy is going to be regular water changes. Depending on how much live stock is in the aquarium will determine the amount and frequency of water changes. Most people can get by with changing 10-25% of the aquarium volume every two to four weeks on an aquarium this size. While most of these beginner style saltwater aquariums don’t have one of the key modern saltwater aquarium filters; a protein skimmer, the filtration is adequate and simple to keep up with. The filtration design is also customizable for future upgrades and changes. If really required, you can buy and fit a protein skimmer into the back of the aquarium in the future.
Quick setup time
You can get these beginner style saltwater aquariums up and running pretty quickly and easily. Most everything you need to get a saltwater reef aquarium up and running is included. You’ll pull them out of the box, fill it with saltwater, sand and live rock, and then plug it in to begin the cycle.
Downside to these beginner style saltwater aquariums:
The biggest downside is definitely the size, although I think the size is in the perfect range to keep cost reasonable, the size of these aquariums will limit some of the types of fish you will be able to keep. Some of the common saltwater fish that you see such as the blue hippo tang (Dori) and the beautiful angelfish will simply get too large for these smaller aquariums.