saltwater question? reef owners opinion?

Question

i really want to start a saltwater aquarium ( 55 gallon) in the future  but im not sure what types of corals are recommended for beggining saltwater aquarists. i dont want alot of coralls in the tank just a small reef area, with some live rock and small fishes. ive been into freshwater for around 10 years with success and feel ready for the challenge of saltwater  i have purchased some books and have been reading up but they are mostly about the different species of fish, nothing much about corals. when i got into the freshwater hobby i had some relatives help me who had kept fish before but i dont know anyone i know that has had saltwater aquariums and i do not want to go into the hobby blind
thx in advance

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

There are a few things you need to get to have any kind of successful reef tank. Here is a link to get started on. 
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1526752
Start slow. I recommend doing fish only with some live rock at first. 
There are 2 things I would get before you even start your salt water tank.
An RODI filter You can not keep corals using tap water, sorry but it is true.
http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/showproducts.asp?Category=167&Sub=166  Next is a good protein skimmer. http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/Protein-Skimmers-MSO-Skimmers/c22_35/p148/MSO-BHF100F/product_info.html
Once you have these and some rock you can get started. With just fish for now. I bought 10lbs of live rock a week until I had enough 
About 1-1.5 lbs per gallon. thats about 55-75lbs for you. 
Once you get the tank going with live rock and are using the skimmer and ro unit you can start with some low light soft corals. Once you are confident and want to go further its time to start looking into some good lighting.

saltwater question? reef owners opinion?

1 Answer