Newbie?

[Amicus]

Hi all,
I am a freshwater junkie but just got a 55g tank and am wanting to take the plunge to saltwater. I am a bit intimidated at the thought from startup through maintaining a healthy marine environment. Is a 55g large enough for healthy saltwater fish? What are the basic components I need for startup? People have told me to go with just fish.? I would like some form of structure for them. Will live rock make my fish sick and do I need to drill my tank? Don't mean to ramble but I've heard a lot of things. Anyone have any advice they're willing to share?

 

[Henry405]

55g is a good size to start with. Don't listen to all of the rumors that SW is hard to do, they're just rumors. I've started my first SW tank not even a month ago and I just added my first fishes today.

For a SW tank, it is much more important to know about the chemicals that are inside your tank. In a FW, it is much more forgiving compared to SW.

First, you need to learn about cycling a tank. It'll help you understand the major components of how to maintain a SW tank + what danger levels you need to watch out for.

For set up, obviously tank and stand. If you want to do fish only, you dont need very strong lights, but if you want to do coral and reef, you'll need high powered lighting. A sump and protein skimmer is recommended on a 55g and above tank. In SW, 80% of the filtration in the tank comes from bacteria's that grow in your substrate and rocks. Live Rocks mean that there has already been bacteria grown on it. It'll be better to drill your tank to set up a sump system, but it isn't a must. You can always do a HOB overflow.

Here is an article about cycling a tank:
Cycle your salt tank

 

[David S]

55g is a good size to start with. Don't listen to all of the rumors that SW is hard to do, they're just rumors. I've started my first SW tank not even a month ago and I just added my first fishes today.

For a SW tank, it is much more important to know about the chemicals that are inside your tank. In a FW, it is much more forgiving compared to SW.

First, you need to learn about cycling a tank. It'll help you understand the major components of how to maintain a SW tank + what danger levels you need to watch out for.

For set up, obviously tank and stand. If you want to do fish only, you dont need very strong lights, but if you want to do coral and reef, you'll need high powered lighting. A sump and protein skimmer is recommended on a 55g and above tank. In SW, 80% of the filtration in the tank comes from bacteria's that grow in your substrate and rocks. Live Rocks mean that there has already been bacteria grown on it. It'll be better to drill your tank to set up a sump system, but it isn't a must. You can always do a HOB overflow.

Here is an article about cycling a tank:
Cycle your salt tank

You may be a newbie as well but spot on

 

[Clownfish767]

Saltwater is way more fun then freshwater in my opinion. You will love it!

 

[carey]

I have both FW and SW and they both rock in their own ways. I am a little biased though when it comes to my sw tanks. lol I like them just a tad more than the fw.

 

[Henry405]

FW is pretty good, but I love how unique and colorful SW is

 

[Clownfish767]

Saltwater will always keep you busy too haha