[dfinnert]

Hello all,

I have become interested in marine life since my wife and I honeymooned in Cozumel, Mexico and went snorkeling. I went to a friend's house recently and he had a large saltwater aquarium. I want to purchase one and get started. However, I don't know exactly where to begin. I joined this site to learn more about it and welcome any advice you can offer.

Thanks,
-Doug

[FoodSounds]

i am also new my brother just gave me my 40 gallon saltwater tank because of incapabiliy to move it haha. are you intrested in building it yourself or buying one premade? how big of a tank are you looking for? what kind of fish do you want? These determine what you need to buy. For example some fish need strong lighting, some fish need a different shaped tank or different size tank.So I'm not too experienced with reef building, but i can try to use knowledge from just asking questions on this site. ask questions!! they will be answered here

[cplklegg]

Good luck and welcome to the addiction. Best I can think is READ, research, and READ again, and ask questions!!! and make sure your credit rating is good so you can make all those "required" purchases.

[glampka]

Welcome to the insanity!! One very important thing you're going to need & it's something you can't purchase is PATIENCE. Take your time & you should have success.

[teajay33]

plan out what you want to do first, then you can go from there. thats the easiest way so you dont start off getting say 20 damsels, then decide you wanna go reef. not saying you cant just get rid of them and go that way, but why waste money ya know. so a good game plan, pass it by someone here or at the fish store, then they can let you know what you need to get rid of or keep to get your overall goal going. then start slowly and make your way up to what you want. reef tanks dont start over night. i think its obvious when the first thing you have to do after setting up is wait 2-4 weeks. hahah. best of luck to you tho!

TJ

[crazygator]

first decide fish only or reef. after that your big rules are water i.e. purified (a must) treated tap will still give you problems. then pick your equipment for your tank, skimmer, filter, powerheads. sometimes its better to oversize than go exact more wiggle room for changes. then take your new tank and while you wait plan your order of attack of fish to put in. whatever you put in needs to be placed in a proper order so they will get along. once you have all this and your tank cycles (about 4 to 5 weeks) then implement your plan slowly to allow every addition to adjust and to make sure your bio filter will handle it.