meagan1823

Hi all,
I am new to saltwater aquarium and quite frankly feel overwhelmed with all the information.
I have not bought anything to start my first saltwater aquarium yet.
Are there any books or articles that yall would recommend reading?
I really just want to know the essentials. What you have to have in order to have a succesfull saltwater tank.
I really want live rock, corals, invertebrates and maybe one or two fish (I really like the dragonets).
What size tank would be good for this set up? I really don't want to break my bank account but I want to get everything I NEED for the tank to be successful and thrive.

also where do you get your live rock and stuff? Th eonly petstore we have around here is Petco and its not that great. Are there any online places you would recommend.

Also would getting the nano cube kits be a good idea? Would a 29 gallon be sufficient in holding the rock, coral, invet, and a couple of fish or is that too much? What kind of testing supplies is recommended?

hockeyref88

A 29 nano is cool for a start IMO. Yes you can buy live rock online but if you could find cured live rock it would be better even if you have to drive to get it.. They're are a several of good books out there but the one I think is the best is The conscientious marine aquarist by Robert M. Fenner. I know I found it very helpful in understanding. The one thing I will say I've learned is be patient and don't rush the stocking process especially with corals.

Rick

travie

+1 Also another good book to read is the new marine aquarium; Step-by-Step Setup and Stocking Guide, by Michael S. Paletta. Do not go cheap/low quality on equipment. Cheap equipment only leads to it being thrown away and livestock dying with time. Shop around for deals on quality equipment. Make sure to get 1 to 2 pounds of Live Rock per gallon of water as this will serve as your main biological filtration.

hkirchen

Be careful with the dragonets because they can be hard to keep alive. They like live food (copepods) that are abundant in a mature tank, but new tanks they will most likely starve to death.

I am interested in SW also, and I have The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, The 101 Best Saltwater Fishes, and What Invertebrates? A Buyers guide for marine aquariums.

If you are interested in corals and invertebrates, I highly reccomend the last one. There are a lot of pictures, tons of information, and great reccomendations.

Good luck, and I hope you get your tank soon! I am still in research stage.

meagan1823

I am still reasearching as well and havn't even decided if I can make this happen

Can you buy cured live rock online and what exactly is cured mean

sgould

"cured" means the die-off process has been completed and the rock is ready for display tank use. HOWEVER...even if someone sells you what they say is cured live rock, you should never put it in a display tank with fish until you have let it sit in a tub/bucket of salt water for a few days and confirmed with your own testing that there is no ammonia/nitrite reading. This is for 2 reasons: 1) just because someone says it is cured does not mean it is, and 2) the rock very well may have been cured at one point, but the action of removing it from water for any length of time, say for shipping if ordered online, will cause addiitonal die-off and ammonia spikes.

meagan1823

ok thanks a bunch for explainign that

I have a few questions about tanks.
http://cgi.ebay.com/JBJ-24-Gallon-Na...3286.m20.l1116

does this tank seem adequet for a everything tank? is the lighting good enough? filtration? etc. Is there a list somewhere so I can compare tanks

Jermaine Watson

Well, what do you mean by an everything tank?