New to The Hobby and Need Help.

[pegger4]

Hi I am a complete amateur at keeping an aquarium I have yet to purchase a tank and equipment but right now I am on the fence between having a freshwater tank and a saltwater one.

So if someone could help me out I have some question (most of which are basic and pretty dumb):

-what is a suggested tank size (i probably will only have room for one 20 - 30 gal)
-how difficult is it to maintain a tank and fish?
-what equipment do I need? (a list of starter equip. would be great)
-I am often out of town on weekends can I leave my fish and tank unattended for a couple days?
-how much is this gonna cost me? (roughly)

I really wanna get into the aqaurium hobby but I just dont know where to start so all help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[BL1]

I say definitely go saltwater, it'll be much more rewarding in the end. As far as tank size go as big as you can afford and fit in your house. It's not difficult at all to maintain your tank as long as you do the proper research and take your time doing everything. As far as what equipment you'll need really depends all on what kind of aquarium you want to setup. Your tank would be ok for a few days without you. I've left my tank for 3 or 4 days at a time without any problems.

 

[VAreef]

-what is a suggested tank size (i probably will only have room for one 20 - 30 gal)
There is no suggested tank size. In any aquarium the larger it is the easier it is to maintain chemistry but also the cost increases with size.

-how difficult is it to maintain a tank and fish?
Easy. Add in pure water every few days. feed the fish every few days, and clean everything every week and change out water. Thats basic but its also same for fresh and saltwater.

-what equipment do I need? (a list of starter equip. would be great)
This being the main differance. Fresh water just need some powerheads, filters, and heaters. Saltwater you begin to worry about protien skimmers, live rock, and lighting. These add to the initial start up cost but in the end I think decrease your total cost over freshwater filters and equipment.

-I am often out of town on weekends can I leave my fish and tank unattended for a couple days?
Most definitly. Make sure to top off your water before you go but a few days will not matter at all.

-how much is this gonna cost me? (roughly)
When I first started up a 65gal tank I listened to a LFS and spent 1500-2000 bucks. I could now start that same tank up for prolly 800 bucks just by using craigslist and experience. asking questions like your doing and researching all the equipment will keep you from making my same mistake.

I really wanna get into the aqaurium hobby but I just dont know where to start so all help/advice is greatly appreciated.

I would start with a basic fish only tank for now. You could expand that later if you really like it. You could start up a small 20 gal saltwater "Nemo" tank for less than 100 bucks. This could give you the experience to decide if you want to go further into it and start building a full reef tank.

 

[Ulta]

Go Saltwater! :)

Check out craigslist or any other local reefer forums, you can usually buy other peoples full setups for a fraction of the cost of the equipment new.

Nano / biocube seems like it would be a good choice for you.

And last but not least refer to the archives section of this forums for good reference.

To keep yourself from getting overwhelmed do like VA said and start with basic tank: Sand, Rock and few fish. Then upgrade as you learn more :) Just make sure you do research before you proceed ;)

Welcome! Good of you to join us!

 

[Piratefish]

Welcome Pegger4 !!! I have just started my first tank 55g, I already wish it was atleast 125g:grumble: But I got it for free. I would do a salt tank. I does feel a little overwhelming at first but I just added my first fish and it is very exciting. I cant wait to add my first coral!

Buy some books they are a must and I mean a must!

Money wise... welllllll it is a hobby, atleast thats what I tell my wife:mrgreen:

Good luck and the people here are REALLY helpful even when they have anwsered the same Qs 500 times:Cheers:

 

[pegger4]

thanks guys for the help I have a lead on a gently used 30gal tank with:

• Marina Fluorencent Canopy
• Black Stand with closed cabinet and four shelves
• Hang on back power filter
• heater
• Algae scrapper
• silk decorative plants
• Two plastic background covers

so pretty much a freshwater tank
could i easily convert this into a nice saltwater tank? (ps I would luv to get a reef tank going)
and if so a list of quality stuff to get (i.e equipment, basic fish, rock etc) would be great too

 

[Bifferwine]

A few big differences between saltwater and freshwater:

Stocking -- in freshwater, you can keep a lot more fish. In saltwater, you are limited to 1 fish per 10 gallons or so. That means, in a 30 gallon tank, you can keep 3 or 4 small fish.

Speed -- you can't rush anything in saltwater. Fish need to be added gradually, and when you first set up your tank, it usually takes a month or two for the tank to cycle before you can even add your first animals.

You would need to buy different stuff to convert that setup into a saltwater tank. To keep corals, you will need new lights. The power filter won't do you much good. The stand and heater are fine -- you will need those! You can throw away the silk plants and the background.

So basically you may end up paying for a lot of stuff that you can't use.

Other people mentioned the smaller all-in-one systems like BioCubes, JBJ NanoCubes and Red Sea Max systems. These setups come with pretty much everything you will need -- lighting that will support corals, a little filter section, all in one package. You would still need to buy rock and sand, though.

They are easy to set up, they look really nice, and they are great starter tanks.

 

[Ulta]

I would pass on the tank you described and keep an eye out for one of those all-in-one systems Biff described. I see them going from $75-$250 on local Michigan forums, usually depends on how many modifications/addons they have and how much $ worth of livestock/corals are in it.

But you will end up with a better deal than if you bought that tank, then had to buy more stuff individually on top of it.