Salt water, Where to start????

[sarahbella]

I've never had an interest in saltwater, I know absolutely nothing about it and to be honest it scares me.    Fresh water is soooooo easy and pretty much idiot proof so it suits me just fine  

Now, my husband, who has absolutely NO interest in any of my tanks or fish has decided he'd like a SW tank in the house.   He has found a fish that he must have (some puffer that recognizes faces??) and figured i wouldnt mind a new setup for xmas to accomodate this fish.

Of course i dont mind, BUT i need to learn EVERYTHING from the very beginning.  

Can you guys recommend some trusted books, websites, anything at all to get me started?   Do they have a Saltwater tanks for Idiots book???  

thanx

[Mettle]

For the puffer you'd likely be best off with a 'FOWLR' setup. (fish only with live rock)

However, on the note of a puffer that 'recognizes faces'... A few words. Most puffers are very interactive and will remember people. Also, the majority of salt water puffers from what I've seen grow to be a decent size (I think the smallest is the green spotted puffer at 6"?) and thus require a decent sized tank. You're looking at about 50 gallons minimum. And depending on the puffer anywhere up to 125 gallons, possibly even bigger.

If it's puffers he's interested in there are varieties of fresh water puffers that are very interactive, will 'recognize' you and so forth. No need to venture into salt water necessarily.

I think it would truly help if you knew what type of puffer it was that your husband was interested in.

If you do go with a FOWLR set-up it won't be all that hard to maintain compared to fresh water. I'm still in the learning process myself. But thought I'd toss this info out there for you.

[repeej]

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0764553402.html

[FishPassion]

I started my first 50 13 mths ago, started with the basic reading and researched every fish invert and coral that I have put in.  This site is growing into more and more SW enthusiasts almost weekly and alot can help you with basics after doing some reasearch on the net  on your own. Your other option after research would be to pick up a complete used tank allready running suited to your starting needs. This sometimes avoids alot of the startup horrors and also many times cheaper than buying piece by piece and you can expand into that tank after that. My second 50 is about 6 mths old and was so much easier than the first because of the availability of live growth from my first 50 ie: livesand, liverock certain equip. etc.

[sarahbella]

Steph, i think he's looking at 120g give or take a few gallons.  Fresh water puffers will not appease him.    Hes the kind of guy that wants what he wants and i think he's smitten with this particular fish

If anyone has a 75-120g kicking around or bits and pieces for a saltwater setup let me know....    

repeej, thats exactly what i was hoping for  hopefully the library has it...

[sarahbella]

Fishpassion, a complete used setup would be ideal, ill definitely be keeping my eyes open for one

[AdamR]

Do you know about Aquaria Canada?  All about sw, lots of knowledgable people with a few beginner guides and a classified section too.

http://www.aquariacanada.com

[DARKPHREAK]

I will have this for sale within a few months. Stand, 90g main and 30-50g sump depending on a skimmer purchase. All you'd need is a return pump and lights.

[Julie]

I would recommend the marine aquarium, just published in september - part of the barrons series - available at coles/chapters for sure.  It's around 20, I looked at it yesterday and it has some valuable information in there, along with fish profiles - I didn't see any info on corals though.  
Whatever info you need to know I'm sure could be answered right here on this site - there are numerous sw aquarists here with alot of experience.

Julie

[ToX]

www.reefcentral.com is the best website/forum for saltfish

[rockgarden]

Full marine set-up takes longer to cycle properly than a freshwater set-up so probably a bit to late to run out and buy a tank and get it all cycled and ready for the jolly Christmas puffer scenario but definitely ask lots of questions.

Ron

[FishPassion]

Rockgarden... If she gets an allready up and running tank she could have it up by tomorrow. Just my two cents worth

[gvv]

Now, my husband, who has absolutely NO interest in any of my tanks or fish has decided he'd like a SW tank in the house.

Wow!
For my case you should replace "husband" with "wife", but everything else is true.
Now I have one... and I did as FishPassion suggests. Problems of different matter may arise in this case, e.g. I planned to put it into wall and had to redo all lighting.

BTW, there was a nitrate "splash" during first 1-2 weeks, as some "live" didn't survive the transportation.

Good luck

[sarahbella]

Fish passion and gvv...   how do you do transport a tank thats already set up?? It seems like a quick route to take, but  it could be a challenge..

[Nelson]

I've never had an interest in saltwater, I know absolutely nothing about it and to be honest it scares me.    Fresh water is soooooo easy and pretty much idiot proof so it suits me just fine  

Now, my husband, who has absolutely NO interest in any of my tanks or fish has decided he'd like a SW tank in the house.   He has found a fish that he must have (some puffer that recognizes faces??) and figured i wouldnt mind a new setup for xmas to accomodate this fish.

Of course i dont mind, BUT i need to learn EVERYTHING from the very beginning.  

Can you guys recommend some trusted books, websites, anything at all to get me started?   Do they have a Saltwater tanks for Idiots book???  

thanx

Ray still has this set-up available.  A very good price and you could be up and running tomorrow :wink:

http://ovas.ca/bridge/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=42680&highlight=#42680

[rockgarden]

FishPassion - I agree if suitable "used" set-up is located and hasn't been abused by the previous owner then recycling might take a week or less.

Nelson - Maybe I misssed something in the measuring  :?  I think Ray's is a nano of closer to 15 gal or 20 gal, not a 120 gallon.  

Good idea though.

Ron

[Nelson]

FishPassion - I agree if suitable "used" set-up is located and hasn't been abused by the previous owner then recycling might take a week or less.

Nelson - Maybe I misssed something in the measuring  :?  I think Ray's is a nano of closer to 15 gal or 20 gal, not a 120 gallon.  

Good idea though.

Ron

Hi Ron, don't know where the 120 comes from.  Ray's nano for sale is nowhere near that size.

[sarahbella]

I feel smarter already, those are some great links.   It will take lots of reading before i can even begin to have a clue lol..  sump pumps, skimmers, u pipes...  whew!! .  Its like a whole new world, and certainly not cheap!!!   I think we'll be keeping it as simple as possible, starting out with just one fish, maybe some live rock...  maybe...  

Does anyone have any experience with marinescape??  Ive seen them mentioned on another forum and im wondering if their prices are comparable or better than other local fish stores in the area for complete setups??   I read it was on Carling, does anyone know if it's still there??  

you guys have all been extremely helpful

[gvv]

how do you do transport a tank thats already set up??

I should tell you - this is challenging task, as I transported 90G tank including water! If you will really decide to go this way, I will tell you how I did it.

I've been in Marinescape several times and should say that they have nice selection of corals/fish. You will be surprised, but I'm also happy with what I got from BA Kanata. But you should take into consideration that the price is actually the same everywhere (could be exceptions - I mean macroalgae I got for "buck or two" ), just in BA and MScape they are selling big "pieces", while from other hobbyst you can buy small frags and thus the price is much less. I can be wrong here, but the proportion works from my point of view. I got some very nice frags from rockgarden for a price of one coral in AC and happy with what I got (even I lost something, but it was my fault and it didn't cost me a fortune :oops: ).

Regards

[az]

you dont need to buy all that if going fish only with some live rock, if going coral then yes!

when buying live rock, look for pcs that are hollow, avoid anything thats solid and weighs like a ton, even @ $3/lb u will lose money!