Please post them here! I have a few books on the subject of starting a saltwater aquarium, and I don't want to make too many mistakes, however I am posting this to welcome any suggestions anyone here might have on how I can have a successful aquarium. Thank you.

I was hoping to go for a 55 gallon tank or more. I plan on getting some coral, but I may just decide to go with fish at first. I need my humble start I'll just get like coral and anenomes down the road. But thank you for the ad-vice. I'll let you know when I get that first set up. Meantime, anymore tips you could give me would be appreciated.

Watch out for those stupid bristle worms They claim they don't hurt anything but the little b....... never mind, anyway, they ate my star fish and my anemone, and I didn't know what was going on til they were almost dead. Also start with "cheap" fish and let the tank sit for awhile before you put anything in it at all, like dchis said live rock and damsels to start then go from there, make sure you have some good algea (like crimson) growing on your live rock before you add any more exspensive fish. It, IMO, isn't as hard as some make it out to be at pet stores. I have found with most fish that for me ignoring them (other than feedings) seems to work well, lol, odd I know but other wise I over do everything and it all dies Good luck!

LOL! Thank you for the warning pup!

Actually, bristle worms are NOT the evil beings they are made out to be. The only time they are a real threat is when you have a dead or dying fish/coral. They can actually be very beneficial to your tank as they eat up a lot of nasty's in the substrate. It is a total myth that they are bad. It's just not so.

GM, please don't make the mistake of getting coral right off the bat. That would be a fatal mistake. I don't mean to come across as some sort of superior being here, but coral should be reserved for aquarist who have plenty of experience. They are NOT for the beginner. Unless, you are totally rich and have lots of money to throw out the window.

GM..do you understand the dynamics of letter a saltwater tank "cycle". If not, you need to educate yourself before you even start. There are 3 stages you MUST go through before adding pricey fish to the tank. If your not familiar with the stages, let me know and I'll explain them to you. You will FAIL if you don't follow the cycling process and be out a huge amount of money.

Thank you Crystal. I am positively a beginner. I've had freshwater fish forever, but never saltwater. I don't understand any of it. But I have not even bought my first tank yet. I wanted to get the education before the tank. Please explain these dynamics of a letter to me. Thank you again.

If you are truly serious about starting off on the right foot, look here: www.reefcentral.com
Their forum is a WEALTH of information and the people there are always willing to answer the simplest of questions!
My only advice to offer is pruchase the BIGGEST aquarium you can afford (or reasonably keep)... It makes keeping the water-quality so much easier and reduces tank maintanence but having a larger, more stable environment for you fishies!
Good Luck! and beware... saltwater is addicting!

Feffers is absolutely right...great advice. Another great site where you can find tons of reef/marine forums is at http://www.about.com

They have some awesome groups of people who have more knowledge than you can imagine. And like reefcentral, they are more than willing to help. Especially newbies. They go out of their way to not make you uncomfortable.

Yes saltwater is totally addicting. I'm still having withdrawls and it's been almost a year since I sold my last tank. I'd KILL to have another one. Good luck

Thanks for the advice dchis, I'll remember that! I never even considered touching him, he even LOOKED evil
Crystal that is what they said too, I know it is usually true but this particular little bristle was the devil himself, lol! I know I was never brave enough to go coral..... all those exspensive protein filters and stuff scared me away! Also I found at alot of sites they will list the difficulty level of each thing and coral was up there in difficulty. All the colors of a salt water aquarium make it well worth the extra effort and $$. I will be revamping mine soon hopefully (with something peaceful, gotta watch you don't mix agressive and non aggressive fish too) since my personal bristle satan has been exterminated.

Just give me live rock, one fancy shrimp ,one mandarin fish in front of a bubble certain with Yanni playing and I am in heaven!!!

And unfortunately TW, you've just set up a disaster waiting to happen. Mandarin fish are extremely shaky and even the most experienced aquarists can't keep them. Yes, they are pretty, but they don't normally last more than a week or two.

And what do you mean by a "fancy shrimp"??

LOL
I don't have a salt tank at this time.
When we did we only had live rock and two gobies (sp) the bubble certain and of coarse Yanni.
I love mandarins! There is a tank with a mandarin at a restuant in Knoxville TN. we visit this restuant when we are there just to see this fish. What kind of shrimp? I don't know just a very pretty stripped shrimp.

Are they not just the cutest??!!


http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/goby_ble/mandarinfish.php

quote:

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Originally posted by tailwagging:
LOL
I don't have a salt tank at this time.
When we did we only had live rock and two gobies (sp) the bubble certain and of coarse Yanni.
I love mandarins! There is a tank with a mandarin at a restuant in Knoxville TN. we visit this restuant when we are there just to see this fish. What kind of shrimp? I don't know just a very pretty stripped shrimp.

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I think you're thinking of banded coral shrimp They are very pretty!

It's called a Banded Coral Shrimp and yes, they are cool. I used to have several of them and they can get pretty large. Awesome to watch.

Gobies are neat too. I love to watch them scoop the sand and spit it out. I never had much luck with them though because I always had at least one aggressive fish in each of my tanks and they seemed to "disappear" pretty quickly.

Mandarin fish are very pretty but please don't try to put one in a new or fairly new tank as they will not survive. I guarantee it. Mandarin fish live on a diet of amphipods and copapods and those tiny creatures ONLY exist in a very well seasoned/age tank. You also have to make sure you have a sufficient amount of live rock in the tank to generate even more amphipods/copapods for future meals. They are definitely not for the beginner. Unless you enjoy wasting your money and watching your fish die.