Had a reef tank many years back...very expensive hobby I love to look at them but would not have another one.

I had at one time a 240 mixed reef, a 100 soft coral, a 50gl seahorse and a thirty gallon pygm seahorse all running at the same time. The most expensive part is the rock and lights. Just decide what you want and take it slow. to keep hard corals you will need to invest in more equipment to keep the water cleaner but soft corals don't need it to be that clean. look at different groups like MAAST.ORG, AND DFAS.COM AND REEFCENTRAL.COM for good information. Look for the old timers that were keeping things alive before all the fancy equipment but the fancy stuff makes it a lot easier to do just more expensive.

I stand corrected . Last time I tried a Mandarin or Scooter (cousin) was before I had internet . The nearest shop with marine fish was in Longview and they had a 200 gallon full of live rock with the largest Mandarin I've ever seen . It's certainly doable in a smaller tank now with all the resources available .

The tech has advanced phenomenally in the last 50+ years . Lord, help me . I'm getting the "reef itch" again .

I have, and have had, tanks since childhood. For a long time, a Jack Dempsey was all I needed, in a 50 gal. and he was a beaut. I went salt after college, as a boss had one in one of my jobs, and the beauty of salt fish over fresh can not be compared, it's color on steroids, as you'll see at pet stores.

Salt, once set up, is as easy as fresh, the only main difference is you have to mix packaged salt from the store with fresh, changing about 20% per month. I buy extra large outside filters, as I forget to change water for a few months, and since I keep the population small does not hurt too much. Right now, down to a 35 gal. two fish (clown and damsel, and a couple of hermits). I've had just about every fish avail. but many require certain foods, like tangs like lettuce, but dirty the tank quickly because of it, etc.. I've had sea anemones, live rock etc., but many reef 'creatures' need special lighting, since they live off light, and those lights cost hundreds, as well as special filtration systems. A tank like that going south on you could cost hundreds, if not thousands, in loss. I just get my fix of reef tanks by visiting the fish stores once and a while, or a restaurant next to my gallery that has a 1,000 gal. one, with a 1' tang and another 50 fish of all sorts (eels, starfish, you name it).

Best advice, take it slow, start with damsels (like $3 fish, with many different ones too), ask lots of questions at the stores, those folks will help w/ budget thoughts/wishes, and which fish can live with which fish, that's important, and they KNOW!. Good luck, you'll really love it. Oh, can leave fish for a day, maybe two if I overfeed feed them before I leave, but remember this, fish don't plan on starving, something will die, as in the weakest tank mate (fins first, etc.). ;/)

Oh, I wish I could keep the Mandarin Goby's alive,
but many fish can be more delicate than others.
Here's why you'd want to add them, pure beauty
(God never got tired of making so many beautiful creatures for us to drool over, did He?).

When I think of salt water aquariums, I think back to a morning I went fishing after a storm that ripped up the ocean floor and deposited it on the beach.


All kinds of coral I'd never seen before other than in pictures


Stuff that would have looked great in an aquarium.


Thought this one would have sold for a fortune if it could be made to live.

I had a hundred gallon reef tank at my business. I paid a guy to maintain the tank so no issues but started losing a few fish. Found that I had a mantis shrimp in some of the coral and it was killing things. I do remember the cost was very high for the fish.

Hey buddy, I'm not going to make it any easier for you!!!
;/)

Great Picture!

(This advice does not apply to Kat, or anyone reading it on this forum.)

In most cases I recommend that novices start with a manatee. They are endangered. When the new, misguided excitement and natural-state laziness of the novice saltwater aquarium enthusiast settle back at equilibrium, many of these folks simply dump the remnants in a local (salt) waterway.

This happened when some folks didn�t even think twice before dumping lion fish around Florida...and it�s caused quite a problem. Because manatees are endangered, although my advice may still create a problem...at least the problem would be borne from problem-solving efforts and not just thoughtlessness.

When I want a saltwater tank, I go to the Gulf and stick my head under water. It's a lot cheaper.

Saltwater is a PIA if you don�t have the time to throw at it. I�m stuck with freshwater because I�m not home enough.

Family friend lives on a canal in Cape Coral Florida and created a bio-diverse salt water aquarium that includes a series of remotely controlled pumps and tanks to facilitate water exchange, species acclimation, etc. I believe it rivals those we�ve seen at Sea World...