Thinking about starting saltwater

[Jgeezer1986]

My wife wants to get a saltwater setup. I have been reading on the internet and it seems to be a lot to take in , but i had a few questions.

I plan on selling one of my guns to try to finance this , and i think i can get $200 for it , will that be enought to get this started?

For now , i just want to do a fish only setup, but maybe want to leave the option open for live rock , coral

I atleast want a 10g , nothing bigger than a 20g. Is a saltwater setup this small even possible , and it is going to be too difficult to keep a tank that small stable enough to be successful?

Is it necessary to have live sand or crushed coral for the substrate? or could i just use Pool filter sand or gravel?

Is a protein skimmer necessary?

Along with testing and cycling the system in the nitrogen cycle, tesing for salinity and specific gravity, what else do i need to test for?

I want to totally understand what i am doing before i even think about going any buying anything to start this. I am going to continue reading the net about all this , and all the help i can get would be great!

 

[jeffwisely]

ok so if i were you i would go with a 20 gal setup. with a tank that small you only need to do PWC's. no skimmer necessary. as for substrate i would go with live sand. also to help make sure your tank stays stable you will need to add live rock. as for testing look at picking up a api saltwater master test kit. this may give you a little more insight.
How to Set Up a Saltwater Aquarium - How to SetUp a Salt water Fish Aquarium

 

[melosu58]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/stock-list-and-tips-for-maintaining-your-sw-tank-73477.html

Read this link on equipment needs. It can be done but remember that the smaller the tank the less forgiving it will be to mistakes and water parameter swings. The bigger the tank the more forgiving it will be because of more water volume.