Want to do saltwater

[danielles]

I presently do not have a salt water tank but would like to set one up.
I have a small 10 gallon freshwater tank and have experienced the cycling process.
Do you know where I can go to get a realistic step by step procedure for setting up a salt water tank? I talked to the ladies at ***** who have said it isnt any harder than freshwater unless you have reefs? Is this true?
I would like to set up a 55 gallon tank any help will be greatly appreciated.
Danielle

 

[ekclark]

Danielle,
I posted the same message a few months back and this is what I can tell you...read a few good books on the subject. I went through three as a prepared my first reef tank. I have had fw for many years and now that I am out of college I wnated to take the next step. Read a lot and check this site. The people here are great and have always answered any goofy bonehead question I have had. Oh, I would go Reef. Everytime you see your tank something new is making an appearence. I costs a lot of money, but it is worth it. Just read and the newwer the book the better. Best of luck!

 

[clarkiiboi]

1. Welcome to the board!!
2. FW cycling IS much different than a SW tank
3. The sharks on here will chime in soon and give ya good books to read
4. *****--on here its been not a good place to take advise from, do you have any local fish stores (LFS) that you can go to, that are reliable? and always ask questions here no matter what the lfs tells ya before ya do anything, more than half the time the lfs are off base.
5. I dont have reef yet, and IT IS harder to do vs. FW, trust me (FW for about 25 years), just has alot of different factors to take into consideration, etc. Thats with a simple tank like I have---you really need to monitor a SW tank for best outcome. But then it becomes routine.
6. A 55 gall is good to begin with, have some possiblities there.
All that said, my suggestion is to read all you can in this forum, find some good books (which will be provided by the others), and have patience----it takes a while, I am into the 8th month almost and am still not where I want to be, but others are.
I agree with ekclark, everything said. My theory now is to get reef safe for the day I decide to go reef, that way I will be safe.
Good luck!

 

[finland]

A good site for info on reef keeping, other then this site(which is excellent), is WWW.reefcorner.com. Click on the reefkeeping 101 link. The best thing to do is to get a book and read. Go to the library or buy a book. The more research the better. Making mistakes can cost alot. Salt tanks are more expensive then FW, but ten times the satisfaction IMO. I have never had a fish only tank, only a reef, but it is more difficult then my FW tanks. The water has to be tested for several parameters that fresh doesn't, but that becomes ruitine(sp). Best of luck, and a warning, "Salt tanks become an addiction"LOL

 

[fshhub]

good step by step instruction, IMO is
"the new marine aquarium" by michael paletta
good book and easy to follow, and offers step by step guiding as well