What a resource...

I'm brand new to 3reef, which I bumped into through google. I'm amazed at the breadth of info in this site!

As far as my experience goes, I've been keeping multiple fresh water tanks for a dozen years or so. Today I bought a 55 gallon tank and a 20 gallon long tank. I'm sure you can see where this is going, in that I'd like to have a sump tank.

I'm an engineer by education and training, so most of my equipment will be DIY. One of the projects I'm looking forward to is designing a high-end lighting system, complete with sunrise/sunset and moon simulations.

I've been reading about keeping and maintaining salt water tanks for years, but have never had the guts to make the switch from fresh water. When I do get set up, I'll be taking it slow and easy. I enjoy creating happy and healthy habitats for my fish; I would rather have one or two happy fish than a dozen miserable fish. If anyone has any recommendations on how they think a 55 gallon should be set up, I'd love to hear them.

I look forward to getting to know you all!
Jim

 

Well go for it! You will be happy you did, because this is a fascinating and beautiful hobby. If you have been reading about keeping a saltwater tank, then you probably have a good base knowledge about where to start. One thing I wish I had done when I began is figured out just where I wanted to take the tank years down the road. That way you can invest in the things you will need (such as good lighting) instead of wasting your money on THIS light, when in fact you ended up needing THAT light for the anemone you wanted. Also, go to your LFS for ideas on how you want your tank to look. Lots of them have AMAZING display tanks and I wish my live rock was more open and I had more sand space for bottom dwelling corals. But once its setup, like mine is all bunched up, all be darned if I'm gonna go switching everything around with everything already comfortable....until I get upgraded to a 125g that is ;D 55g is a very good size for a startup. As they say with saltwater, the bigger you can afford, the better. That is because it takes longer for drastic and deadly water conditions to take hold before you can fix the problem. Live sand and live rock will pretty much be your tank's livestock for about 3-4 weeks while it cycles. PATIENCE IS KEY, which makes this hobby HARD for me because I have NONE, and it has cost me LOTS of money. Ive been doing this for four years and STILL find myself learning things. I doubt we will ever know EVERYTHING there is to know about keeping a saltwater aquarium at home. GOOD LUCK and keep us posted. I'm sure there will be a few others with plenty of good and awesome advise for you on this thread, too.

 

I agree. Going slow is the way to go.
Glad you like the site, thanks for joining!

 

Like Matt says: "Go slow, let it grow."

I can definetly understand why freshwater people are intimidated by saltwater. The fear that it will be too difficult to maintain, too many things to check, too expensive, etc. That's not true of course, it just requires a little more dedication.

Good you made the leap! ;D We're here to help!

 

Thank you!