setup of a saltwater aquarium

Question
I would like to set up a saltwater aquarium and as of yet only have freshwater aquariums, Can you please tell me what to do?
I would like to know what to put in it (I want bicolor or queen angelfish) I have been told may different things and would like to know the minimum size (I was thinking 55 gallon) and wether or not to have coral what kind of decor I would need and things like that.
Thanks for your time,
Isaac.

Answer
Hello Isaac,

Welcome to the world of saltwater reefkeeping... :)


Almost everything is different then fresh water, but, your experience with fresh water will help you a lot... the testing and the maintenance will be routine, albiet differet, at least you will have good habits to begin with...

I would suggest reading a few articles on setting up a reef tank,  www.reefkeeping.com   and www.about.com  have excellent information.

basically, you would want tank large enough for the type of life you want to keep, (in your case, with the angelfish desire, I would suggest nothing smaller then 90 gallon)

and with the angel fish and other in that category, that would be an 'agressive' tank, which would not work well with corals... so it might only be a fish only tank...

Once you finalize the tank, you want to evaluate the lighting requirements.. if it is a fish only, then you wont need high power metal halide lighting.. this is a great thing.. your electric bill will appreciate it...

The fitlers are different the fresh water.. we dont use the sand/gravel to filter... the water is pumped to a sump or refugium and then returned back ot the tank... this is called a biological filter... the organisms on the rock and sand are the filter...  no floss, or pads are needed...

So, please reveiw the info on saltwater sumps  or 'canister filters'... cannister filters are usually chosen first, or rather, sold to newbies from the local fish store, and eventually the newbie learns to switch to a sump type of filter...

if you read up on the two filters at first, it might save you from swapping out at a later time...

(btw, this is not trying to say cannister filters are bad, they are just not popular more 'advanced' aquarist...

anyways, let me know what you find and if you ahve any questions regarding the info you review, please let me know and i will work to try to clear things up...

bill