A Ten Gallon Saltwater Possibility?

[rikkitiger]

Hi! I live in a small town in south dakota and i have already a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium but the only problem with all of my fish purchases and needs, i have walmart and no pet store so i order online.

Recently my friend julia and i went to a summer camp and met a lot of new people and each got boyfriends that live in different parts of the state, a 3 hour drive. So for 2 weeks now we have just been focusing on them and boys and work and we decided that we need a cleanse from boys.

She loves aquariums, mainly mine, and i know how to cycle, stock, clean and keep and aquarium as the 20 gallon is not my first one, but i have only kept freshwater before and he mom wont let her buy aquariums.

So we decided that we would pool our money and we got a ten gallon tank and a 55 gallon tank. We have nothing in either of them because we would like to make them really good aquariums and we decided that we would make the 10 gallon a saltwater and see how much harder it is to keep saltwater than freshwater in my town.

Tomorrow is the day for our ordering and everything so i would like to know just how different saltwater is and what sites i should look on for buying live fish and if i should buy live rock for the 10 gallon and where i should buy corals if i buy corals?? I need to buy everything online and i dont know any saltwater sites so any information and tips you would have would be greatly appreciated!

Lastly the budget: 250$ but i would like to spend the LEAST amount possible to get good products and still have a beginning to maybe be able to start the 55 in a couple months

Thanks!! I hope you find julia and my situation amusing or it makes you happy to see two teenage girls just taking some aquarium time and coming about it the right way instead of just buying a goldfish tank and going through like ten fish from walmart.

 

[Chad]

I very much recommend using the 55 as the marine tank. A Small tank comes with a whole set of problems you can avoid with a larger one. If you do a fish only then it's really not all that expensive to run a marine tank. 
 
Here's my 210 gallon. 
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[Donya]

See here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/410541-marine-aquarium-faq/
and here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421015-common-marine-tank-equipment/
 
I think you will have a hard time doing corals within $250 regardless of tank size, even if you already have the tank. Light fixtures for corals are expensive. A 55gal is indeed MUCH easier to work with than 10gal for saltwater if what you want lots of fish and/or corals, but even a lower-end, coral-suitable light fixture for a tank that size would easily eat up your entire budget just by itself. 10gal tanks are doable, but as tcamos said they are trickier. A 10gal invert-only tank without corals wouldn't be too difficult, such as a species tank for a mediums sized crab or something, but that's often not what people want when they think of a marine tank. Putting fish and/or corals into the equation makes things a lot tougher for small tanks.

 

[Chad]

I guess that depends on location. I have to say here in Arizona I could easily set up a 55 for around $250 if I already had the tank and stand. Soft corals (if they want corals) can be kept with CF lighting or some affordable T5 or LED from PetCo. No need for a skimmer on a softie tank that size and boom you're done.

 

[Donya]

LED from PetCo

 
Those are the sorts I was referring to. The low-end reef (i.e. softies) LED fixtures at the PetCo down the road from me and on their site are still $200+ (the 48" ones meant for sw are actually $280). The next price step down would be something like a double-bright, which "works" for many softies but also risks growing algae like nobody's business because the spectrum is wrong.
 
Used options would probably stand a better chance at staying within the budget, which was something I hadn't thought about in my last post. Used 2xT5 fixtures can be pretty cheap.

 

[rikkitiger]

Thanks for all the info! I am thinking i might just stick with freshwater for now and try to venture into the world of planted aquariums and aquascaping instead of saltwater, but you guys gave me enough infornmation to make a choice

 

[Chad]

Thanks for all the info! I am thinking i might just stick with freshwater for now and try to venture into the world of planted aquariums and aquascaping instead of saltwater, but you guys gave me enough infornmation to make a choice

I love my reef tank but I will always have a FW planted tank. I just love them too much not to. There's so much you can do with them and to me they look incredible. But...you do need good lighting for those as well depending on the plants you want to grow. I have LED's on mine. 

 

[rikkitiger]

Yeah i just posted another article if you want a link here it is http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433894-new-tanks-beginner-to-plants/