Getting my first saltwater aquarium need help

[MarkA123]

For my birthday/christmis my mom wants to buy me a saltwater aquarium because I got accepted into some smart kid thing gifted student thing or I dont know what it is o was just told I got 99 percent on a bunch of tests lol. I have no idea why she says she chose another aquarium she said she's wanted one since she was kid and loves seeing them in building. And she didn't think I was ready for one now that I have a freshwater she trusts me bla bla bla. My bday is dec 3 so Im getting it then or Christmas. So I'm totally confused. I've been trying to comprehend about what powerheads, all that stuff Thats for saltwater is. What size tank should I get? I prefer marineland products so I plan to get an emporer power filter, do these do well with saltwater? Also acrylic or glass? I've heard salt can stain the glass is this true? I have so many questions can anyone recommend a good saltwater beginner site? My parents don't want to go over 500, they said if it would get me a better tank in the long run they will though. So what's a good list of things I need and some good sites that explains saltwater.

 

[MarkA123]

Ok so I just learned there are fish only, fish and live rock, and reef. I would like a reef but if it is too difficult for a beginner then I won't? Is it a lot harder to do reef than fish only?

 

[Deep Seven]

The hardest part is you need to keep stable water parameters, corals can die from a lot smaller changes that fish wouldn't mind. You probably want to make sure you have a pure water supply, don't want treated tap water in a reef tank.

My suggestion, as someone who plans to do a SW tropical reef sometime in the future, start with a 29g reef ready tank, FOWLR, (fish only with live rock) and when you feel you have control of what you're doing and everything is stable enough, upgrade your lights and start adding corals. The key will be research. You'll want to get only reef friendly fish, and make sure you don't get corals that will fight each other. Also, you'll want higher level light when you switch to coral, if you use too much light without corals you might start algae blooms.

 

[pat8you]

There is an articles section on the site that has a bunch of good beginner articles to get you started. After that if you have questions you can do a quick search on this forum and usually find the answer. If you don't see anything then just post it up and people will find you an answer.

You are going to probably need to stick to a fairly small tank if you want to stay in the 500 range. The 29 deep seven mentioned is a good plan.

 

[melosu58]

Moving this to the getting started forum.

 

[MarkA123]

Thanks I found two saltwater aquariums around the 30 gallon range. Each is 300 dollars. To me the nano 28g seems better than the 29g oceanic but I know nothing about saltwater or what half of the stuff in the description is. So which one is better? Also are those reef ready? Is there a better tank under 500 around 30g thats better? Thanks here are the links
28 Gallon Nano Cube CF-Quad - Tanks - Aquarium Kits at BigalsOnline
Oceanic Bio Cube 29 Gallon - Tanks - Aquarium Kits at BigalsOnline