Hi, Barbara--I see from your other posts that you're switching from
FW to
SW; a lot or people on this board have made that switch. One newb to another, one thing that you'll find is really different in
SW (at least in my experience) is that there are as many opinions as posters about things like sumps, lighting, filtration, etc. What one person swears by another calls a disaster waiting to happen. With a lot of aspects of
SW, I think the best thing to do is read books, search old posts, and then ask for clarification if things still aren't gelling for you. There are a lot of threads that discuss the pros and cons of various setups. That said, there are a couple of things most on here would probably agree with:
1) Be prepared to spend a lot of money.
2) Be prepared to spend a lot of time on the tank; I know it takes me a lot more time and effort to keep my
SW tank than it does my
FW.
3) Before you buy anything, get some good books and read a lot of posts.
4) Do that some more.
5) Go slow and be patient.
HTH!