Saltwater scardy fish :)

Question
Hi Jennifer... My name is Sarah and I have had Freshwater topical fish tanks for about 7 years now. I LOVE fish... I think I like them better than any other "pet" I have ever had. I always have some sort of tank set up somewhere at all times. So about a year ago My husband and I bought ourselves a 55 gal. tank as our anniversary present and have a beautiful community of fish. So below the 55 gal there sits my lonely little 10 gal. that I haven't put anything in. I love saltwater tanks and know that they are a lot of work and can become quite expensive. I think I am finally ready to jump aboard though. I have found some extra time in my life now that I work part time. So I have been told that a small saltwater tank is harder to maintain that a larger one... and I was hoping to convert my lonely little 10 gal. into one. Is this something that I should consider or... should I wait till I have a bigger tank? Whats the best way to start setting up? I want fish and reefs but just a little, because of the small tank. I just don't want to subject poor defenseless fish to my trial and error experiments :)

Thanks so much,
Sarah

Answer
Hi Sarah! Welcome to the world of saltwater fish! I must warn you as a fellow fish lover, saltwater can be addicting! You can do a salt tank in a ten gallon tank however I would recommend that you start with a fish only tank. Corals require high water stability and in a ten gallon tank this can be hard to achieve. That is why a smaller tank weather it be fresh or salt is harder to maintain. It is also hard to fit the proper equipment needed for a reef tank on a ten gallon tank. Start with fish and after you have mastered that I am 100% positive you will want to go to a bigger tank anyway. Then you can start up a reef tank. What I am telling you does not mean you can't do a reef in your ten gallon only that my recommendation is to not. You can do whatever you want! To start you will need first of all to find a source of high quality water. I recommend using reverse osmosis or distilled water to mix with your salt. Tap water can have a lot of undesirable qualities that make keeping a salt water tank more difficult. Next you will need to choose a substrate. Aragonite reef sand of 1-2mm grain size is a good place to start. You can use what is known as a "live" sand however don't be fooled. You still have to cycle your tank. Buy some high quality salt to mix with your high quality water. If it is the cheapest one it is most likely not a good one. I like coralife brand salt but that is just my opinion. You will need a good filter, one rated for at least a twenty gallon tank, a submersible heater, at least one power head(200 gph), a protein skimmer for a small tank, a good saltwater test kit, a journal to keep track of your testing, and a good lighting system(I say this because you may want to add an anemone or something that needs light down the road). Start with some compacts don't worry about using halides yet. Lastly buy yourself a good book to help you with set up and maintenance. You already know about cycling and how to maintain a fresh water, salt water is not that much different. Good luck and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask!