new to all freshwater and forum.

[tburton101]

i been doing some research and im new at fish owning. well for the most parts i had goldfish and some freshwater fish before but they don't really interest me. I have been into saltwater tanks for quite sometime now so i have decided that i am going to do one. I want coral and some fish. I was originally going to do a 55 gallon tank but i might do a 30 gallon any suggest on which tank size would be best.

Also i am in need in a lot of help with making a saltwater tank i cannot decide on which products to get or anything so if i was going to do soft coral what do you guys all recommend for 30gallon tank and what fish would i be able to put in with it. thanks i appreciate all the help if can be given and i look forward in learning. Also what links sell these products and about a estimate how much it will run to just get started with the right equipment? Or is there way i can also do all kinds of coral

[Chris3859]

Hi, and welcome. I have been keeping African Cichlids for years, and just started my first sw tank. I think most here will agree that a 55 is a good place to start. This is where I started and wish I would have gotten a 75 or larger. More water equals more room for error.

As far as cost...so far for my sw tank to get running, I have invested about $1500 or a little more. This has included a used Oceanic tank and stand (look on craigslist.com or local classifieds, you can find some awesome deals on complete sw set ups), live rock, live sand, canister filter (I still might change over to a sump) protein skimmer, heaters, lighting, power heads, RO/DI water, salt, test kits, etc. Don't be scared by all the stuff you need. Buy a little here and there till you have everything.

In my opinion, once you figure out your tank size, build your system around your lighting. Spend the money for good lighting now and you won't regret it later. Your lighting can be a major limiting factor. Check out the forum's sponsors for some good deals.

As far as corals, Framerguy suggested this to me...

You are right about reefing being different from FW. A few LPS or soft corals would probably be a good place to start looking. Euphylia, caulastrea, blastomussa, Discosoma, protopalythoa, sinularia, sarcophyton, ...that's enough to start with.

Help me out guys, did I cover a few of the basics?

Hope this helps a little.

[DaveK]

Unlike the previous post, I believe that a standard 55 gal tank is a poor choice. The narrow front to back dimension makes it extremely difficult to aquascape. I believe that anyone would be much better off going with either a 70 gal tank, or a standard 50 gal tank, since both of these are 18 inches wide.

Before you get to involved in the hobby, realize that it's going to be expensive. Usually you can figure a fully set up and stocked tank is going to cost about $35 to $50 per gallon of water in the main display tank. So a 30 gal tank will cost about $1050 to $1500 by the time you are done. However, you don't need to spend this all at once.

Compared to FW, SW systems are a lot more complex and have a lot going on in them. The best place to spend you money first is to get yourself several good books on state of the art reef system. Then read and understand the material. It's actually very difficult to get all you information from the web. Yes, it's out there, but you need to find it all, and for the time being, skip some of the more esoteric material.

As for a 30 gal tank, it can be done, some people have even set up much smaller tanks as a first tank, but you do have to understand that small tanks do have their limitations. If you will be content with a few fish and some corals, you'll be fine. The problem comes when someone starts small and overstocks it.

As far as products, it's tough to recommend something specific. There are a lot of good products out there, but there is also a lot of junk. I will say always buy quality, and check online about any product before you buy it. One thing you will find out is that most LFS carry only low end products, and you'll often end up shopping on the net for the quality items you want.

Ditto for specific fish. There are just too many to list. I would avoid the damsels, in most cases. They grow up and get very territorial. A few types to consider are gobbies, grammas, and hawkfish, but there are plenty of others.

[AQTCJAK]

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