Betafish305ca

So I'm thinking about possibly starting up a salt water fish tank, but I know there are multiple kinds.... reefs, reefs with fish, just fish, etc etc

is there any easier one out of these for a newbie?

thx

sgould

Fish Only (FO) or Fish Only With live rock (FOWLR) would be good starting points. I'd recommend FOWLR as the live rock doesn't really have any special care needs that would make the tank more difficult to care for than FO, but provides some great filtration benefits, as well as makes cycling a new tank easy. Here is some comparative information about these two types, as well as reef tanks, which would not be a recommended starting place for a beginner looking for ease of care.

Betafish305ca

thank you, i was just wondering, this may seem like a silly question, but i'm a newbie, and i'm sure others are wondering, but is it possible to have a SW tank with only a few invertibrates??

sirdarksol

If you mean with no fish, yes, it is possible. Depending on the inverts you're thinking of, it might even be easier than a FOWLR.
I've seen some beautiful tanks that are invert-only.
My first marine tank is going to be LRO (live rock only) for a year or so. I want to see what I can get to grow out of the live rock.

sgould

No reason you couldn't. Any particular inverts you are interested in? Some inverts are more sensitive to water quality than others, but we can help with that if we know what you are considering.

Betafish305ca

starfish?

sirdarksol

I know that some sea stars are difficult to feed (there are those that generally live on mollusks, for example), but I think others are fairly easy to deal with, as long as you have live sand. Not sure how sensitive they are to water quality or how they get along with other inverts.

sgould

Ok. As a general rule, stars are sensitive to changes in water quality. As a result, you will want to take some precautions to keep them healthy. These probably sound worse than they really are in terms of difficulty, so don't be intimidated. First, you need to be 100% sure that your new tank is 100% cycled before adding anything, but especially sensitive inverts. When introducing starfish, it would be advisable to acclimate them to your tank using the drip method. This will ensure that they are gradually acclimated to the inevitable differences between your water and the fish store's water so that they do not die from "system shock" from a sudden immersion in different tank water. Once homed in your tank, some things you can do to be sure they stay healthy: run a protein skimmer on your tank. In conjunction with live rock, this will help keep your water as clean as possible. Get on a regular maintenance routine, which would consist of regularly (weekly) monitoring your tank's water parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH, as well as routinely changing out a portion of the water in the tank. Don't stress the testing, it is simple with a liquid test kit that can be purchased locally or online. Also, do some research on different types of starfish before deciding which variety to buy. As with fish, some are more hardy than others, and you would be well advised to start with easy care specimens to maximize your chances of success.