Got advice for starting a new saltwater aquarium?

This will be my first saltwater aquarium and I need help. I am aware that:


-they are hard to manage


-need cycling


-that 29 gallons or more is recommended for a beginner


However, I am limited space wise and need to be somewhere in between 5-20 gallons, hopefully lower than 20. I need to know what fish, corals, invertebrates, live rock, etc. I should get, and what I need to do to maintain an aquarium like this. ThanksGot advice for starting a new saltwater aquarium?
dude i will go ahead and tell you don't start a saltwater unless you have a far bit of money.....lets just say you get a 10 gallon....





the tank and filter will cost about 30-40


the live rock will be about 60-80


the sand will be about 20-30


the lighting will be about 150 for a reef tank


for corals you will need a skimmer 100


salt about 20


so your looking at abot 400-450 for a 10 and there is no fish yet..


and corals are still about 30-60 a piece and if you want coral only one fish should be in a 10 gallon the rule of thumb for coarls is no more then 1in of fish per 5 gallons of water





2in per gallon of fish will kill everything in the tank....





and the tanks need daliy topoffs of freshwater...and once a week need a water change....5 to 10%.......








Why is Bandon D just copy and pasteing what every one else says....Got advice for starting a new saltwater aquarium?
i have a 12 gallon tank that comes with the proper lighting to maintain inverebrates and live rock also in the back it has a built in wet and dry filter i would suggest a tank that has everything included the bigger the nicer but.. i once had a 40g and went camping for two days and forgot to turn off the light all my fish were dead i lost about 400 dollars in fish thats why i recommend a smaller one. you also need to buy a gravity tester you put your water in their and it tells you if you need to add more salt or water. also you need coral sand to keep your ph balance up. since your starting off i would go with hardy fish like clowns and tangs its up to you as long as their not aggresive yellow tangs are known to be a bit aggresive if you get a big one in a small tank but i always need one of those. if you get invertebrates you need to have the right lighting and you have to buy them seperate food also get a cleaner shrimp they eat parasites off your fish my shrimp would cling onto my bluetang and go for a ride it was so cool damn i fell like setting up my tank again
i know that salt water fish tanks are better and have neater fish than fresh water fish tanks but i have had both and it is extremely hard to manage a salt water fish tank and very easy to manage a frsh water fish tank and i think that you should think about just keeping it simple and getting a fresh water fish tank
Just start you with this...


http://www.petfishtalk.com/interviews/sa鈥?/a>


Something to compare your wants/needs to.





For fish...hard to beat Firefish Goby and Royal Gramma for beginners.








Okay folks...bring on the Clowns.....
before you buy anything go on youtube and type in ';salt water changes'; and watch how you clean saltwater tanks and have to mix the sand.
get live rock and sand and let it cycle for at least a week, 2 would be better. then start off with 1, maybe 2m fish. damsels are very hearty and it will let you see if your tank is doing well enough to move on in a few weeks. dont over crowd. you shouldnt have more than 2inch of fish per gallon. if you want corals, you're going to need special lighting too (the little cheap light it comes with isnt enough). your best bet is to figure out what fish you REALLY want and then find whats compatable with it. like snails and hermit crabs are great for cleaning, but can kill corals pretty easily. damsels are territorial, well, actually most are. so if you get one species of fish, its harder to add more of that kind later down the line (its better to get them at the same time so they acclamate together). but you cant overload the tank at once or else your chemicals get out of whack and its really hard to get them back without lots of stuff dying.





our best combo for our 50gal was a gold striped marroon clown fish, a regular clown fish, a yellow tang, a few chromis, a few mushrooms, an anemini (but that was hard so make sure you're ready for that). we also randomly had some emerald crabs, some sea stars (the chocolate chip was our favorite), hermit crabs %26amp; turbo snails... i know we had more but i cant remember off the top of my head.... i do remember that we got a blenny and then we could never find him - turns out they jump out of the tank frequently so make sure that cover is closed. we had suspended lighting that we built ourself and there was a gap he apparently fit thru and lodged himself behind the tank. oops.
i know that salt water fish tanks are better and have neater fish than fresh water fish tanks but i have had both and it is extremely hard to manage a salt water fish tank and very easy to manage a frsh water fish tank and i think that you should think about just keeping it simple and getting a fresh water fish tankbefore you buy anything go on youtube and type in ';salt water changes'; and watch how you clean saltwater tanks and have to mix the sand.


Source(s):


55 gal fresh water aquariumdude i will go ahead and tell you don't start a saltwater unless you have a far bit of money.....lets just say you get a 10 gallon....





the tank and filter will cost about 30-40


the live rock will be about 60-80


the sand will be about 20-30


the lighting will be about 150 for a reef tank


for corals you will need a skimmer 100


salt about 20


so your looking at abot 400-450 for a 10 and there is no fish yet..


and corals are still about 30-60 a piece and if you want coral only one fish should be in a 10 gallon





and the tanks need daliy topoffs of freshwater...and once a week need a water change....5 to 10%......get live rock and sand and let it cycle for at least a week, 2 would be better. then start off with 1, maybe 2m fish. damsels are very hearty and it will let you see if your tank is doing well enough to move on in a few weeks. dont over crowd. you shouldnt have more than 2inch of fish per gallon. if you want corals, you're going to need special lighting too (the little cheap light it comes with isnt enough). your best bet is to figure out what fish you REALLY want and then find whats compatable with it. like snails and hermit crabs are great for cleaning, but can kill corals pretty easily. damsels are territorial, well, actually most are. so if you get one species of fish, its harder to add more of that kind later down the line (its better to get them at the same time so they acclamate together). but you cant overload the tank at once or else your chemicals get out of whack and its really hard to get them back without lots of stuff dying.





our best combo for our 50gal was a gold striped marroon clown fish, a regular clown fish, a yellow tang, a few chromis, a few mushrooms, an anemini (but that was hard so make sure you're ready for that). we also randomly had some emerald crabs, some sea stars (the chocolate chip was our favorite), hermit crabs %26amp; turbo snails... i know we had more but i cant remember off the top of my head.... i do remember that we got a blenny and then we could never find him - turns out they jump out of the tank frequently so make sure that cover is closed. we had suspended lighting that we built ourself and there was a gap he apparently fit thru and lodged himself behind the tank. oops.