Thread: Salt water aquarium help

Get a good book and read it front to back. Twice. Then decide what you want to start with.
Like others noted, go bigger. I would not start with anything less than a 55 or 75 glln for saltwater. More water equals more stable conditions (oxygen levels, temperature, contaminants, etc..)I
nstalling a good filter is the most important thing. A good wet-dry filter with a protein skimmer. There should be almost as much water in the filter system as there is in the tank itself.
Don't skimp on the heater. Temp spikes or falls dramatically equals dead fish. $$$$
Don't bother with live coral until the tank is up & running for at least a year and you have the hang of it. Even then, its a pain in the ass.
When you set the tank up, let it run for a week and make sure the temperature and salinity level out. Add a couple of small fish (cheap ones). Let it run for 3 months to get the bacteria cycle running in the filter. Then if its stable, add some more fish.
Don't over crowd. Freshwater you can get away with 1" of fish per gallon. Saltwater, maybe 1/4" per gallon, maybe.

Honestly, I wouldn't touch saltwater unless you have a lot of time and money. Back in the day, when I was really into aquariums, I topped out running 2 55 glln, 1 40 glln, a 30 glln and a 20 glln tanks, all running at the same time. All freshwater, mainly Amazon species and barbs. It was great fun. easy to maintain and keep running. I had a Python water changer and changed out 25% of the water each week. Fed dry and frozen food. Kept up with cleaning algea from the tanks and changing filter media, vacuuming gravel, etc.. I rarely had serious health problems in the tanks.
A buddy dabbled into salt water at the same time. I watched all the frustration he had, once saw him lose a couple hundred dollars worth of fish for no apparent reason over a 24 hours period. And this guy had the best equipment and time to take care of it all. I vowed never to touch saltwater after that.

i used to own a 40 gallon tank that i upgraded to grow sps and other exotic corals in. If you want a tank that doesnt grow exotics and u just want to grow mushrooms and other softies as we like to call them then its just fine. but know this, the cleaner the water needs to be for the coral that is usually found in it, florida ricordea or mushrooms can grow fine in water that is not run through a gfo or carbon phosban filter. also you would need a bubbler for removing junk from the water. different snails and other cleanuip crew animals will be added and it pretty much sounds like your a beginner so ill make this nice and short. when you have a saltwater tank the term for taking care of it is called HUSBANDRY which means no vacations unless a tank sitter who is trained should be watching it for you, power outage problems and fish kills, training in calcium, salinity, magnesium, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, temp levels....i got tired of taking care of it but man i took a 40 gallon newb tank and made it into an exotic reef paradise. not trying to discourage but a whole lot of work, just go to your local saltwater tank store, theyll teach you a lot

Good point on "Vacations": you might get away with leaving a saltwater tank for a day or so. But if you plan to go somewhere for a week or two, you will need someone to take care of the system.