Need help getting started

[Hellow]

Hi, I was thinking about starting a saltwater aquarium, but I have no clue where to start. The only aquarium I have ever owned was a 20 Gallon Freshwater aquarium. Could anyone recommend me some good online resources for learning how to start a saltwater aquarium, and can anyone recommend me a good online retailer(s) for my fish/inverts/other live things and equipment?

EDIT: I was considering getting the residents of my saltwater aquarium from Saltwater Fish Superstore - Saltwaterfish.com but I need some first hand advice on them before I go to buying...

EDIT #2: I do not live close to the ocean, I am in N. Georgia. Savannah or somewhere in South Carolina would probably be the closest ocean to me, and I cannot drive that far due to gas prices

[Airborneguy]

First off, being near the ocean means nothing... unless you live in an area with near pristine water specs, you wouldn't be using the ocean for anything anyway...

First thing I recommend is getting your hands on some books. I'm sorry but I can't remember the ones I used the first time around (I'm sure someone else will chime in...) Once you start reading, you will have specific questions you can come ask here which will be much easier to answer than such a general call for information.

Oh, wait, I do have one book to recommend: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, by Robert Fenner. Expensive, but a great book. Also, Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies is a decent book (and cheap), to get you started on the basics.

Try to avoid most LFS' information (unless you know and trust them), as this is more of a business to most of them and your failure only helps them profit! Most will gladly sell you things you should not have yet, and then you will think our advice here is "stupid" and "over-cautious".

"Slow and Steady" is without a doubt the way to go in this hobby!

Good luck!

[Hellow]

Hmm, well, I think I do have 1 saltwater aquarium book laying around here somewhere, but it is old, I know. Does it matter if it is old or not, or has saltwater aquarium technology and care changed alot in the last 5-10 years?

[Fishmonger70]

Let me just say welcome to MFT. You will find that everyone on here is nice and always willing to help out

The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide by Michael S. Paletta is an excellent book, also Natural Reef Aquariums by John H. Tullock. These are both very good books.

Make sure you read all the stickies in this forum as well. They contain a lot of usefull information.

Entering the saltwater side of fishkeeping is not an easy thing to do, and by all means not inexpensive, but it is a very rewarding hobbie and will provide you with infinate enjoyment. Take your time and do plenty of research ahead of time and you shouldn't have too many problems

[Hellow]

Thank you Fishmonger. I was thinking about making a aquarium as realistic as i can get it (Coral, Fish [yeah, fish], Inverts [Lots], etc.) On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard would that be? Also, what size of a tank would i need?

[Fishmonger70]

Generally the larger the tank the better. Larger water volume means more stable water conditions. Depending on your budget and your plans for what are going in the tank will help you decide what size you want. There are other considerations as well such as lighting, filtration(mainly live rock), airation, protein skimmer, etc. I started small, at 20 gallons, mainly because I had a small budget at the time and I had access to some of the equipment at little or no charge. This was just a FOWLR(fish only with live rock) I am now in the process of a 75 gal reef tank. If you want to put fish, corals, and inverts in, I would suggest starting with a 55 gallon at minimum.

[Hellow]

How much would a 55-65 gal tank with stand cost?

[Fishmonger70]

Well it depends. If you buy a reef ready tank with a built in overflow its going to cost you more than a standard, non drilled tank. My advice would be to check out Craigslist. A lot of times you can find a tank and stand for pretty cheap as compared to buying it brand new in the store, When I bought my 75 gal setup I got the tank, stand, canopy, and sump for $400. Brand new in the store that would have cost me close to $1500 or more.

[Hellow]

Well, after i have had my tank for a few weeks to a month and it is fully cycled, what kind of coral would be a good coral to start off with?

[Lorna]

Whoa....you need to a lot of research first. I would really suggest that you go with a fish only with live rock and a few inverts. Get used to keeping this with great water stability and success THEN move on to adding a few corals. The whole aspect of a reef tank is to go very very very slowly. The tank and stand are probably going to be some of the cheaper items you will need especially if your long term goal is to have a reef.

Tank & stand
Power heads
lighting (really high quality as you will want a reef eventually so nothing less than t5's etc) a costly investment
live rock (1-2 lbs per gallon could be one of the costlier items)
substrate......good sand bed of approx 5-6 inches in depth
protein skimmer
heater
salt mix
refractomer/hydrometer
various test kits
Thermometer
timers
buckets (and not just full of money just kidding)
ro/di water and filtration evenutally

oh and maybe deep pockets....

get all this together......start up the tank and let the live rock cycle your tank for you.....after a few weeks and everything tests out at zero you may think about adding a clean up crew of inverts.....then maybe a fish or two......

Nothing good happens fast in saltwater, no truer words ever spoken......take your time, research and when you think you have it do some more research.....