Saltwater newbie needs some direction...

[NickyPants]

OK...so I've got 3 different freshwater tanks (OK...so I dived into my new hobby with a little too much enthusiasm...but seriously...when you see a 20 gal with good equip for $30 in a garage sale...what's a person to do?) and I've kept them running and healthy for about a year and a half now with some success...(except for maybe what shall heretofore be known as the "Kribensis breeding crisis"...note: Kribs are some horny, prolific, little boogers).
So now...I want to try my hand at a marine tank....nothing huge...maybe a 10 gal with a couple of fish in it....just to see how it goes. Where should I start reading? All tips, instructions, links etc. welcome....I've gotten such great info from here in the past it seemed a natural place to start my research.
Thanks!

 

[Shultz]

Tbh I think 10gal is too small for a newbie, even someone that has kept freshwater before, I have a 30gal (42 US) that is quite "challenging" to keep stable, smaller than 30gal are considered Nano's & more expert level.

Cheers Shelton.

 

[clowninround]

With the tank, it is better to do as big as you can, more stable. You can do a 10 gallon, it's just a bit more upkeep (you really have to be on it). Also I think most fish would apprechiate atleast a 30 gallon. You could get a couple clowns and a few other fish. Marine fish require more room I think. My son has a 15 gallon FW with 5 fish in it, I wouldn't be able to do it in a sw tank Also, the library on this homepage has some really good books, I have not personally read them, but thinking of buying a few myself for corals. So I will let someone else help you with the book question.

HTH

 

[darb2]

There is lots of good stuff in the articles section. For books try the concientous marine aquarist by robert fenner. lots more info can be found using the search feature on this site. for a first timer, I would shoot for a 40 to 55 gal tank to start. Look in want adds, or e bay for good deals.

 

[blorkiemom]

Paletta's New Marine Aquarium is a good starter book, too. I'll third . . . fourth . . . whatever the "bigger is better" tank idea. When it comes to SW, there are a lot of parameters to keep an eye on and things can go south in a 10 gallon really, really fast. A bigger tank gives you more room to mess up (and I think just about everyone messes up at first).

Two things:

1) This costs a lotta lotta more than FW.
2) There's a saying around here: "Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank." Patience is key. There are people on here who run their tanks with no fish for 6 months to get a good start--they're the extreme, but there is a lot of "hurry up and wait" in SW.