I got hooked today, need help understanding what I'm getting into!

[i'm hooked!]

Hello hello hello,
I am still riding high with my intentions to get what I need to get a Picasso that I fell in love with at the store today! This came out of nowhere - I was just browsing when our eyes met, what beauty! I'm definitely hooked on this idea but still on a budget and as I read through the site I realize there is a LOT to this potential hobby! Nothing I can't handle if I'm aware of what needs to be done and I can afford to keep it going. Here is what I retained from talking with the "fish guy" at the store and a conversation with a friend earlier today...
I need a 55 gallon tank
I need to do a cycle (this is new to me)
I have to wait 6 - 8 wks to introduce a Picasso to the tank
I was advised to not include live plants to keep it easy
Can you tell me (keep it pretty basic right now if you can - I am having a hard time following some of what I've read) what is involved in maintaing a 55 gallon tank to keep the fish healthy? Water testing (how often)? Cleaning? What is "live sand" ? What did you wish you knew/did when you first started out? Is this something that is maybe hard to get set up but once it's ready and finished the cycle I can just kick back and enjoy the beauty? Aside from the initial expense, are there other costs I'm not aware of (I know about food to maintain what I start?
How about I just leave it at that for now - Thank you in advance for any replies.
Hilary

 

[diddykang]

the best way to have those questions answered would be to just take all the key words from those questions and do a search for them in this forum!!

 

[jessicarabit]

First of all let me welcome you to the world of saltwater fish.
First things first. It would work in your best interest to purchase some books about the whole hobby & the ocean. Before you can buy any fish you'll need to decided what kind of budget your willing to put out & what kind of inhabitants you'll want to have in the tank. Triggerfish are an aggressive species!!! They in my opinion are a more advance hobbyist fish. They will be hard to support with any other fish unless they are aggressive & a 55 gallon tank will eventually become way to small to support the ever-moving Picasso. One thing you'll learn fast is you can't mix that many fish & fish need lots of space. You need to the decided what kind of filtration you will want &/or what will best support your choices of inhabitants. Then what kind of salt you'll use. A hydrometer to measure the salinity. Heater. If you are gonna use tap or RO water or store bought bottled water. You'll also need a water testing kit. Lighting that your chosen inhabitants will require. If you're going to need protein skimmer, UV filter & water pumps in the tank for circulation. Not ness. in that order.
Live Rock (LR) & Live Sand (LS) are basically an inhabitants of micro-organisms that help with the cycle of the tank on a continual basis. They are Earth's natural filtration. LR & LS also supply 'homes' for alot of inverts (which you CANNOT keep with Triggers) & some fish. Cycling is what water does to 'stabilize' itself to support life. It goes through 3 major levels. Ammonia (most dangerous), Nitrites (dangerous) & Nitrates (almost always present in tanks, but not dangerous at low levels to most fish, however corals & inverts can be affected by levels tolerated by fish). All are connected & affected by each other. LR, LS, filtration, water flow & NOT over-feeding will help keep this levels where your need them. Once you get the initial cycle done it will even off to level reading of zero, but once you start a tank those levels can always come up.
Then when you have acquired all of this items, which will keep you busy for some time then you can really start understanding if you ready for this kind of commitment. Good luck & I hope you will have much success.

 

[kev]

When I first started out, I wish someone would have told me to NOT put copper in the main tank!!! DON'T EVER DO THAT if you plan on keeping inverts... EVER!!! Also, you need to have a QT, something else I did not know. Everytime you go out and buy a fish, your gonna need to keep it in the QT tank for a month to make sure the fish is disease free, if it has a disease, its alot easier to treat the fish in the QT then in the main tank. I consider QT tanks a requirement to keeping SW fish, unless you have a fish only tank. QT tanks are cheap to setup, something like a 10 gallon will work fine. I set up my 10 gallon QT for 30 bucks. Nearly all of the medicines for fish are harmful to inverts, and if they say that they're "reef safe" IMO!! THEY ARE CRAP!!

 

[p_apac]

i would definalty buy a tank that is drilled with a built in overflow. i didnt and man i regrete it. once my 135 is up and running im draining my 55 and drilling it. by drilling the tank you can have much better filtration system. and better water circulation. but READ READ READ READ READ READ. there is so much to learn. and so much time so dont rush anything. or skimp out on buying something cheaper just so u can get it now. just wait and buy whats better. i found out the hard way.

 

[javatech]

http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq/faq.htm

 

[jarvis]

ah.......a fellow cheeze head. one thing that I learned is when you figure out what the tank is going to cost you setting up. It usally cost a little more than what you figured due to pluming and little things that add up the total. btw what part of wisconsin are you from?

 

[i'm hooked!]

Many Thanks for all the responses. I realize I am no way knowledgeable enough to get into this right now like I wanted to. I decided that I will READ READ READ READ (thanks p_apac) and SAVE SAVE SAVE SAVE from now until my birthday in April, and if I feel like I can handle something like this I'll dive in.
thanks again!
(jarvis - I see you're in Kenosha, I'm in Appleton now but grew up in the Racine/Kenosha/Burlington area

 

[jarvis]

just keep reading and saving. Theres no sense in jumping in half blind when you can wait and see what will suit you best.