New to Saltwater

[bigworm6462]

I have had many tanks over the past few years. Sizes ranging from 55 to 110 gallons. For the most part I have had Oscars and have enjoyed having them. However, I would like to have a saltwater tank in my new house that I am constructing. I 'm leaning towards a bow fin tank in the 100 to 150 range. I have no idea where to start but I do have a local "saltwater" pet store where the guy is willing to get the tank started and make house calls for two or three months till I get the hang of it. It's asking a lot but I wanted to see if there were any thoughts out there on how to get started. What books to buy or maybe a few emails.
What kind of live rock and sand go with what fish?
What would be a good starter tank? Size? What equipment will I need?
How much is this gonna cost me...from start to a live tank with fish, rock, and other items for a good looking tank?

 

[newtoit]

the best live rock I have come across is fiji rock look around online and you can usually find pretty decent deals on LR in bulk as far as the equipment and cost I am gonna let the more experianced folks here talk about that

 

[srfisher17]

Originally Posted by bigworm6462
I have had many tanks over the past few years. Sizes ranging from 55 to 110 gallons. For the most part I have had Oscars and have enjoyed having them. However, I would like to have a saltwater tank in my new house that I am constructing. I 'm leaning towards a bow fin tank in the 100 to 150 range. I have no idea where to start but I do have a local "saltwater" pet store where the guy is willing to get the tank started and make house calls for two or three months till I get the hang of it. It's asking a lot but I wanted to see if there were any thoughts out there on how to get started. What books to buy or maybe a few emails.
What kind of live rock and sand go with what fish?
What would be a good starter tank? Size? What equipment will I need?
How much is this gonna cost me...from start to a live tank with fish, rock, and other items for a good looking tank?
You're smart to ask questions now, rather than waiting for a disaster to happen. To start; I'd read Bob Fenner's book, The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, cover to cover.

 

[ameno]

all depends on the kind of tank you want a fowler will be cheaper, a reef will cost more, a big expense will be lights. my 125 reef which I bought used and built the stand and everything else for, I also got all the live rock with the tanks still ended up costing about $3k. My advise is do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions before buying anything, saltwater is totally different then fresh water as far as setup and maintaning, Not knocking your LFS but don't just go by his advice check around and be sure of what you need first. coming here and asking questions is a good start, lots of good info here and people that just love the hobby and want to help people get started,
Good luck with you new adventure

 

[mcbdz]

Welcome to SWF
You have come to the right place.
There is some really good info at the top of this board to go along with the book suggested above. Also just keep researching and reading through these boards. The equipment and DIY board can also helpout a lot.
What size area do you have to fill. The size of the wall. This would help you also decide on the tank size options.

 

[lecithin]

Read read read!!!
I also saved a ton of money on equipment by purchasing online.... the amount saved was ridiculous with items being marked up to 3x to 4x more in the LFS.

 

[snakeblitz33]

you said you were building a tank? lets see... a 150 gallon reef tank at 25 dollers spent per gallon, you are talking about $3750 just to get started. That's honestly not including your corals, fish, inverts, cleanup crew etc, plus monthly maintenance costs.
You have to research and get informed about this very addicting hobby before you start randomly buying stuff and waste a ton of money.

 

[natemd]

My advice is to research a lot. The conscientious marine aquarium is a great book to get you started. Ask lots and lots of questions and then once you have done all that, buy the largest tank you can afford. Saltwater is not nearly forgiving as fresh water.

 

[triggerz92]

Before you start it is always smart to research and ask a lot of questions from experienced saltwater aquarist. Get an idea of what kind of fish you want to keep,what kind of equipment you'll need, how big of a budget you want to work with, and how you want your final layout to look like. Saltwater will prove to be more difficult than fresh and more patience is required. Good Luck!

 

[bigworm6462]

All,
I appreciate all the input. Everyone says roughly the same thing...read, read, read. A couple people suggested "Marine Aquarist" by R. Fenner. I bought it and have been thumbing through it as time permits. This is gonna cost me a lot of $ isn't it? I spike with a couple of people and they told me to shoot for the high side of it and expect 40.00/gallon. I think I would like to do a reef tank at or near 100. We'll see. I've got to start saving if this is gonna happen. Once again, thanks for the help.
Regards,
Bigworm6462