Intoduction

Welcome to Aquarium Space!

With saltwater tanks bigger is always better. It will be easier to keep water parameters stable and will allow you to choose a lot more fish to put in the tank. Saltwater is pretty expensive though, so be prepared to spend a lot of money !

 

I would do 55+ US Gallons. If you read through the saltwater section of the forum I'm sure you'll see some info. If not, feel free to post specific questions and we'll be happy to answer them.

 

Welcome gee-man, Saltwater can be such a beautiful display. Is there an online aquarium store in India that you can recommend I look at to see what supplies you have access to.

 

Excellent Choice. I buy almost all my larger items off craigslist. I would say as a beginner the larger the better. No smaller than a 29 gal. Lighting is important in a saltwater tank. Depending on what you want to keep in the tank. For coral it's better to have a shallower tank. Also power heads to keep water circulating. I suggest looking through the photo section at saltwater set ups and see what appeals to you. Maybe a fish or maybe a coral tank who knows. Through out some ideas in a new saltwater thread. We will help as much as we can to help you set up a tank that hopefully will not give you too much hassle. LOL In the beginning we all make mistakes, H*ll even after years of experience I still make them. We're all learning new and streaching our knowledge to the max all the time in this hobby. LOL

 

Looks like a pretty good deal. Offer $250 because for salt your going to need to upgrade the lighting.

 

welcome.

 

Welcome aboard gee-man, I 2nd Anthony on bigger is much better and be prepared to spend..spend...spend!
If you've got at least a grand burning a hole in your pocket salt is the way to go as long as you ALSO have patience.

Feel free to use the saltwayter section to post questions regarding what your looking for as far as assistance & I'm sure you'll find others on here more than willing to give you a hand.

A fast checklist to get you started is somewhat similar to that of a freshwater (if you've done freshwater setups before that is):
>Tank
>Background (optional, but some ideas would be painted, store bought- oceanvisions brand is REALLY nice, poster board, plastic tablecloth, showercurtain)
>Stand
>Glass Canopy-Lighting Diffuser-unless of course your going with open top, but then you'll deal with evaporation
>Heater (saltwater safe...almost all on the market today are, but I know theirs some old ones out their that you might come across if you go the used route)
>Thermometer to monitor your temp's stability (I like the tom temp alert since you can push a button and view the highest & lowest your tanks been)
>Filtration (Sumps the way to go if you have the space & the tanks drilled...that way you can hide most of the equipment, Canister's a nice option too..especially one with dry-lock/quick release since you won't have to disconnect the hoses which will leave you with a dry floor)
>Powerheads (Optional, but great to prevent any possible "dead spots"...you want good flow throughout the tank & even through the rocks)
>WaveMaker (optional...but beneficial to mimic the "type" of environment your trying to mock)
>Good Test Kit (api makes a saltwater master, but theirs also a few tests that it doesn't include which should be purchased seperately...Liquid test kits are vital keys to let you know when your tank is "cycled" safe= to add anything, to allow you to get a better idea of a culprit when something is wrong, and to allow you to know your tank water is healty & avoiding "mini-cycles" when you are doing partials & adding clean water)
>Substrate (Depends on what you plan on doing, but if your using live rock be sure to place the rock FIRST and THEN the sand-aragonite so that way your rocks will remain stable). Also a trick for stable rocks is to drill them and place thin pvc tubes through them ... can even use zip ties since they have no real negative side effects to the water.
>Live Rock (discussed above, but imo a mixture looks nice.. Ex: Fiji, Tonga...if you have enough you can possibly do without a filter & note that live rock is great for "seeding" your setup)
>Hydrometer or Refractometer...with refractometer being the better of the two to measure the salinity.
>Salt of course ... aquarium salt specifically made for saltwater setups & NOT table salt (I know most do the garbage can, heater, and GOOD aerator to premix the water for partials day)
>Siphon (for water changes, Python no spill clean n' fill is nice since you don't have to carry buckets...but refilling is tricky when it comes to saltwater since you want the water to be mixed and tested BEFORE use)
>Lighting...left this for last because a whole topic can be created on lighting alone, but in general it depends on what you plan on adding (ex. corals, fish-inverts only, marine setup) and for the most part you want actinic (blue looking) bulbs. Lunar lighting is also beneficial (spawning, etc)...if you purchase a fixture that doesn't include built in lunars I highly recommend the 1w Coralife Lunars- have them & love them.
>MISC.
+RODI water is best to use, but you can use tap as long as you add the proper chemicals needed to it (such as Prime Dechlorinator).

+Chemicals are dependant upon what you plan on keeping, but having a few medicines handy is always a good idea.

+Net, specimen container, drip acclimator, GFI & power strip that is surge protected & has enough outlets to handle all the plugs you'll have from the equipment, Timers- digital are sweet since most have the built in battery backup for power outtages...you'll want these for your lighting, and quite possibly some tags-stickers to label the plugs so you know what you'll need to shut off when performing your partials (all minor cheap things).

I'm sure I'm missing a few things, but this will give you an idea equipment wise.
Remember it's better to purchase things in bits and pieces ... better to buy GOOD/ the right type of equipment so that way you can avoid the expense of upgrade and modifications later on down the line and read up...you can goto places like barnes and noble & pull up a chair and read some of the various books out their on setups, specimens, etc.

Some may even give you a good idea of where you want to go with the tank!
Good Luck & Looking forward to seeing photos along the way

 

Welcome! I'm no expert on marine tanks/fish either, but I know pretty much the basics of how to keep them healthy and happy So I'll be looking forward to helping as much as I can!

 

Dawn is great! She's detailed and knows her stuff and if she doesn't know she'll tell you she don't.

 

starting big is better...more room for error so to speak. I look forward to checking out the progress gee-man!

Ursi, thanks for the vote of confidence

 

Welcome to the group and salt tanks are the way too go . If I were you definitely think about 95 and up; because the possibilities are so much greater for you and the tank without taking up more space