The first major step with any hobby really, is doing your research. Its always better to walk into a hobby with a little bit of knowledge vs running in blind folded. There are a lot of good forums to join like Reef2Reef or Humble Fish for great content. I would also suggest watching the "BRS 52 weeks of reefing" a great series of starting a saltwater reef tank. There are usually clubs or face book pages in your community that you can get help from local hobbyists if you have any questions.
When getting into the hobby, I recommend in finding a used system, this way is more of a budget friendly way to get into the hobby. There are always people getting into and out of the hobby. Check Kijiji, and Facebook Market place for people looking to sell a complete system. There are times people will just want to get out and have the best deal on a package price. Don't get me wrong, if your the type that would like to go all out and get a plug and play system brand new, there is nothing wrong with that either.
Finding a Tank:
When choosing a starting size, there is no wrong or right size to start with. I recommend starting out with a tank size of 35 - 65 gallons. I found that if you start in this mid size, it give you a kind of buffer to be able to correct issues before they get out of hand. On the plus side you also have a bit better live stock options when you have more swim space available.
There is basically 3 types of aquarium systems you can get.
All in one system- These systems are great if you have a lack of space for an aquarium. They have a smaller compact version of a sump that is part of the tank. There is nothing wrong with these systems, your just limited to equipment and stocking.
Regular non drilled tank- These tanks usually would be paired with a HOB ( hang on back) filter or a canister filter. These types of systems are not overly common but you can certainly have a successful reef tank with them. With these types of tanks I would recommend having a lot of rock in the tank to add more surface area for live bacteria as you are limited in the filters them selves. There is no easy way of hiding other necessary equipment for these systems such as skimmers, heaters, water parameter monitors, etc...
Drilled tank with sump- Now these are the most common setups you will find for a fowlr (fish only with live rock)/Reef tank. Going with a system like this allows you to increase your water volume which helps keep water parameters a bit more stable and you have a bit more time to correct an issue. You also get to hide some equipment in the stand like, the protein skimmer and heaters. Some sumps also have a added freshwater storage (ATO) that makes it easier when needed to top off the water. On most sumps there is one section called the refugium. This is where you could add more rock or sand to help with nitrifying bacteria or you can grow algae. The idea of growing algae in the refuge is so that its growing in there and not in your display tank, this way you can easily harvest it and toss it out.
OMG, What equipment do i need?
Ok, finding equipment for the tank could be a bit overwhelming when your starting out. When doing research your going to see protein skimmers, sumps, filters, roller mats, dosing equipment, return pumps, wave pumps, heaters, testers/kits, controllers and so on.... Remember, your just starting out. You don't have to have all the fancy gear or, have to have the top of the line equipment.
Things to remember when starting your first tank you will need the following.
1) Some kind of filtration. you can run a foam filter with bubbler, a hang on back filter, a canister filter or a sump. Personally a sump is the best way to go but we will cover filters in a different post.
2) Heater, that's pretty self explanatory .
3) Water circulation /aeration. Water movement in the tank is very important. You don't want to have no flow spots in the tank. This will allow toxins to build up and cause you issues in the future.
4) Protein Skimmer. Now there is some debate with having a skimmer right off the bat. In my opinion when you are starting out you don't need to have a skimmer as you are not going to have a major bio load in your system, and most likely you will be doing water changes often until you get the hang of things.
5) Lastly is lights, Lights is one of the pieces of equipment you can spend $30 - $1500 on just for a single fixture. Remember, fish don't grow because of light, start small. You can find half decent lights on amazon for cheap that will do what you need.
Hope you can find this informative and help full.
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