HELP!!! NEWBIE ALERT!!!

[DOMINATOR]

hello everyone, im totally new at this so here goes.....i just bought 2-90gallon aquariums to start my very first saltwater oasis or underwater paradise....ive got nothing...i need live rock,coral,(not expensive) and lots of tips!!! what coral will go good together, what fish can live together, etc,etc...If anyone out there feels me, HELP!

[Duffer2]

Welcome to Canreef.

2 90's, that should be a good volume to work with. This is a great place for tips and advice.

The best advice that I didn't follow and should have when I got into this hobby is try to be really patient. For instance, I wouldn't even really think about corals for a few months at the earliest. As for fish, add them slowly, and ask lots of questions.

What type of equipement are you running (lights, skimmer, power heads)?

[DOMINATOR]

I need to purchase a skimmer, i have a big sump and a pump...as for lights, i need advice

The best advice I can give is take it slow and buy everything used if possible. It can be an overwhelming if you try to buy everything new. Also dont put fish in your tank that aren't in the long term plans. I had three four bar Damsels in my tank for cycling and when I wanted to catch them I had to remove every last peice of rock to catch them. over 250lbs (that was a fun day).

What do you have for equipment? you would be amazed at the equipment people have on this site collecting dust.

[Twinn]

The biggest piece of advise I can give you is to plan ahead. What do you want for coral SPS, LPS, Softies and mixed reef. Do you want lots of fish or just a few. This will help you to decide lighting, skimmer ect.

[DOMINATOR]

All of that equipment sounds amazing? Do i need all of that?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by DOMINATOR

All of that equipment sounds amazing? Do i need all of that?

Depends on what you want to keep and how easy you want your life to be
Skimmer helps clean water, frequent water changes do the same thing. skimmer is probably cheaper long term.
Lights grow corals, so your choice of coral type will determine what you need for light.
You may or may not need a lot of water movement (pumps/power heads) depending on the coral choice.
Fish also depend on this, as some fish eat some corals/clams/inverts.
As corals grow, they need calcium and associated chemistry. Water changes again, manual addition of supplements, dosing, reactors, all cover the need, so how easy do you want it to be?

Look through the tank journal forum, see what tanks you like and how the people set them up. Then ask more questions.

[Bloodasp]

List all the potential livestock you want. Doesn't matter how many, eventually by your research and by asking you will weed out a lot and will be left with what will work with your tank. Corals are quite light demanding depending on what type you want so try to list the ones you want to. liveaquaria.net was the first site I found that had a good list of livestock that I looked into before.

[DOMINATOR]

thanks for the tip!!!

[DOMINATOR]

Do you really need this?