Best Saltwater Fish Tank Starter Kit

You may have seen a beautiful saltwater tank at a friend’s house, at your local fish store, or online and want to take the plunge…

Maybe you already are an experienced freshwater fish tank owner and want to move over to saltwater…

Either way, you’ll know that whilst saltwater fish tanks look fabulous, they are difficult to start and maintain and are hugely expensive!

It’s certainly true that there is more to consider when starting a saltwater fish tank and the larger tanks are expensive, but you can get started relatively cheaply with a saltwater fish tank starter kit.

Let’s have a look at all the things you’ll need to get a slice of the ocean in your living room…

Table of Contents

Fluval Sea Evo Marine Aquarium Tank Kit
- Fluval Sea Evo
- Additional Equipment You’ll Need
Stocking
Cycle your tank
Further Upgrades to Consider
Saltwater Fish Tank Starter Kit FAQs

Fluval Sea Evo Marine Aquarium Tank Kit

For our money there is really only one contender, it’s the one we started our marine fish-keeping adventure with and that’s the Fluval Sea Evo.

It’s a brilliant saltwater fish tank starter kit and has all you need to get started.

Fluval Sea Evo

The Fluval Sea Evo is a 52-liter tank with a 3-stage internal filtration system, LED marine lighting, and a return pump.

The 14000 K LED light has a manual touch-start day and blue light illumination and will grow all but the more demanding corals.

After passing through the 3-stage internal filtration system (mechanical, chemical, and biological) water is returned to the display tank via two multi-directional dual output nozzles that can be adjusted to recreate the variable water currents found in a reef environment.

Water passes from the display area through 2 filtration chambers and then to the return pump chamber where it is forced back into the display area.

The heater (not supplied) is placed in the return pump chamber and the (optional) skimmer is placed in in the first filtration chamber.

The size of the aquarium L x W x H (56 x 38 x 29 cm) means it can fit on virtually any cabinet, counter, or desktop. Its stylish design, with cross-hatching, designed to hide the water level and filter chamber, means it won’t look out of place in any home or office.

The removable hood is in two parts so you can easily access the filtration chambers without disturbing the tank inhabitants and there is a large cutout for feeding.

The Fluval Sea Evo really is all you need to get started on your saltwater fish tank adventure!

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Additional Equipment You’ll Need

Whilst the Fluval Sea Evo saltwater fish tank starter kit has everything you need to get started there are a couple of other things you’ll need before adding fish and corals.

Heater

Perhaps, disappointingly, the Fluval Sea Evo does not come with a pre-supplied heater but it’s probably best that you go for the recommended one as not all heaters will fit in that return pump chamber alongside the pump.

You could, of course, add your heater to the main display tank area but we prefer it to be hidden away in the filtration area.

We also, therefore, recommend the following heater:-

In addition to the actual equipment you’ll also need the following:-

Sand

A sandbed is vital for your saltwater tank and not just for aesthetics. Over time your sandbed will become populated with vital microorganisms and bacteria that will aid with filtration and water quality.

The best possible start you can have is by using ‘live’ sand. That is sand that already contains a broad spectrum of natural marine bacteria found in the ocean.

This sand is sold ‘wet’ and should only be added just before you are about to fill your saltwater tank with saltwater for the first time.

We recommend the following live sand:-

Rock

Adding rock to your saltwater tank not only adds realism but provides your fish with hiding places and gives you somewhere to place corals.

More important than that though is that the rock becomes part of your biological filtration system. Most of the good bacteria and microorganisms you need in your tank will reside on and within your rockwork.

We do not recommend that you use actual live rock from another tank or from your local fish store when starting out. Live rock sourced in this way can contain many harmful ‘hitchhikers’ such as flatworms or aiptasia that you do not want in your tank.

Rather we recommend using aragonite-bearing dry rock from CaribSea:-

Salt Mix

When mixing up your saltwater you should never use tap water as this contains varying concentrations of fluorides and chloramines to make it safe for us to drink.

It also contains high numbers of dissolved solids, salts, phosphates, nitrates, and microplastics.

All can lead to major problems in a saltwater fish tank so you should always use RO water mixed with a good marine salt mix.

See our article, Best Salt for a Reef Tank to help you choose the best salt to get you started.

Stocking

Once you have all the equipment, your sand, rock and salt mix you can begin to think about what you might want to keep in your starter saltwater tank.

Let’s look at some suggestions:-

Fish

A small tank of this size means you can only keep a small number of small fish. We would recommend no more than 4 fish in total and only one of each species (unless you opt for a pair of clownfish).

Our article, Best Saltwater Fish For Beginners will give you some pointers. All the fish listed in that article are suitable for a Fluval Sea Evo including a Watchman Goby and Pistol Shrimp Pair.

Corals

Once your tank has been established for around 3 – 4 months you can think about adding some corals.

Again, with a tank of this size and with the lighting provided you can only add some easy beginner corals.

Our article, Best Corals For Beginners lists corals that have all been successfully grown in a Fluval Sea Evo.

Cycle your tank

Don’t forget that before adding any fish or corals you must first cycle your tank. Please read our article, How to Cycle a Fish Tank for more information on how to do this.

Further Upgrades to Consider

Here are some additional upgrades you may wish to consider to get the most out of your saltwater fish tank journey with the Fluval Sea Evo.

Wavemaker/Circulation Pump

Whilst the return pump supplied with the Fluval Sea Evo is sufficient for circulating the water through the filtration system and back into the display tank it may not provide enough flow and variable turbulence within the display tank for some corals.

You can easily supplement this by adding an additional Wavemaker/Circulation Pump to the display area.

We recommend the following:-

Lighting

Whilst the lighting supplied with the Fluval Sea Evo will be fine for your fish and any easy corals you add you might want to consider adding better lighting for more demanding corals.

There are many options available but if you wish to keep the hood and not go open-top there is only one option that will fit and that’s the Fluval Marine 3.0 Bluetooth LED, 22W, 15-24″(38 – 61 cm).

However, we recommend going open-top and adding an AI Prime 16HD for the best results. See below:-

Skimmer

We do not feel that a tank of this size will get much benefit from a protein skimmer and wouldn’t bother running one.

However, Fluval has designed one for the Fluval Sea Evo and you can check it out below:-

If you do decide to get started in saltwater there are many forums, etc. online to help with your journey.

If you opt for the Fluval Sea Evo as your saltwater fish tank starter kit be sure to check out the Fluval 13.5 Gallon Evo XII Owners Group on Facebook.

(Are you considering starting a freshwater tank? Then please read our article Best Freshwater Fish Tank Starter Kit for guidance.)

Saltwater Fish Tank Starter Kit FAQs

What do I need to start a saltwater fish tank? You’ll need a tank, lights, filter, heater, and pump. Your best bet is to get a saltwater fish tank starter kit that will have all of these.

In addition, you’ll need sand, rock, and a good marine salt mix. Other equipment you may need includes a protein skimmer and a wavemaker.

Is keeping a saltwater tank hard? Not really, no. Keeping a small saltwater starter tank should be no more difficult than keeping a freshwater tank. The main difference is adding a salt mix to the water first.

Is it expensive to start a saltwater fish tank? More expensive than a freshwater tank for sure but not massively so. If you get a saltwater fish tank starter kit you should pay around £200 -250 for everything you’ll need to get started.

Can I use tap water to start my saltwater tank? No. We do not advise using tap water to start a saltwater tank. You should only use RO water.

Tap Water contains high numbers of dissolved solids, salts, phosphates, and nitrates as well as varying concentrations of fluorides and chloramines to make it safe for us to drink. All of these can lead to problems in a saltwater tank.