new to salt water what should i do?????

[taygolf]

Hey guys,
I am completely new to salt water fish or any fish but I really want to have a cool tank in my living room. I am living on the coast and it would be great to have a big tank. I was wanting to know if I should simply get a 150 or so gallon tank and get some colorful fish like a clown fish and things like that or if I should go with a 300-500 gallon tank and jump right up to what I really want which is a pair of sharks. I have been looking around at different types of sharks and it seems like a bamboo shark is the best starter shark but is it best for a starter to salt water period? I guess I just want an oppion on weither to start with a shark or with plan fish and work my way up to a shark. I am also interested in a puffer fish. is that easier to start with than a shark. Thanks

 

[simms]

research everything. A good place to start is on the beginner boards. they have a file of information that should all be read before you buy anything.

 

[taygolf]

I am a good ways away from buying anything for several reasons. 1) I need to save up some money to buy what I want. 2) I want to make sure I do everything right so once i spend the money everything does not die and make it a big waste of my time and money. 3) I want to make sure this is the right thing for me. I have decided a few things right off the bat though. I know now that I want a leapord shark and a blue dot sting ray really bad but I also know that they are a lot of work and require a lot of space so I am going to put that off for a while until I learn more about how to properly care for them and I have a tank at least 500 gallons because i want them to have plenty of room. SO for now and as a starter I am going to go with a reef tank. something about 80 to 150 gallons with a medium about of fish and coral. this seems to be an easier starting point and will make for an actractive and enjoyable tank. thanks for your help. I am going to start a new post in some of the other forums where this information is more readily availble so that I can get starting thinking aboutwhat I wnat and how much it will cost me. WHen I get ready to buy my leapord shark and sting rays I will come back to yall.
Thanks

 

[harlequin]

Good idea on the research part. If you do not intend on keeping the 150 after you get the shark tank then dont make it a reef tank. A huge portion of the money in a reef tank is the lighting which you wont need if you arent going to keep it forever(figuratively speaking) Just go with a fish only tank for much less headache and wider choice of fish.
In addition, you will find in you research that a full size leopard will get too big for even a 500gal and blue spot rays have almost a 0% survivability rating in our tanks. Stick with a normal ray for your wallets and the ray's sake.