New to Aquariums

[Girlie]

Hello Everyone
I am totally new to aquariums and don't have my own... yet... but have found myself drawn to them for as long as I can remember.  I think I first fell in love with them when I visited the Baltimore Aquarium, and my interest has grown from there.  I am looking into starting a saltwater reef aquarium, which is how I found this site, but am unsure as to how to start.  There are so many different things to take into consideration that I am not even aware of, and I am not always sure about the validity of internet sources.  If anyone has any tips or suggestions that might help me out, they would be much appreciated. 

[Brine]

Welcome to the club. I don't do salt myself but there is a recent thread asking the same question right here.
http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=31127.0

[dan2x38]

Hi welcome nice to meet you. This is a great website with tons of information & experience. But like Brine said I can't help you I don't do salt... LOL Check out the Saltwater section under the forums. I recall a member Sniger created a post on the basics of setting-up a SW tank.

Good luck hope you enjoy our community and your interest grows. Any questions post in the SW section I'm sure you'll get lots of sound advice.

[KLKelly]

You will be doing a ton of reading.  I had been taking care of freshwater tanks for two years before we set up a small salt water tank.  We did about two months of reading before we bought anything.

[Girlie]

Thanks I will check those out!

I have already spent the last week and a half reading and planning and I am nowhere near getting started or making any purchases... so I can only imagine how much more I have to do.  I know it will be worth it tho.   

[Marinus]

Welcome Girlie!

You will absolutely love your new hobby! There is no need to be intimidated. While it can all sound very overwhelming and requires a lot a patience, it's really not as bad as it may seem. I will warn you however, and this is no joke, this hobby is extremely addicting and while it does not "have" to break the bank, it easily can (my bank at least) just by getting carried away. If you can wait till boxing day, Big Al's has unbelievable sales on aquariums! If I'm not mistaken they where selling a 90 gallon tank for just $90 dollars this past boxing day! You won't find a better deal on a new aquarium anywhere. For everything else however, I would shop around. The classified section here often has some incredibly good deals on just about everything you'll ever want, even some very nice complete setups at times that could end up saving you hundred... if not over a thousand dollars!

I love the fact that ovas.ca is a local community. It's invaluable for information such as; where can I get this or that for my aquarium, meeting new people, buy/sell/trade in the classifieds... etc.. etc... However, reefcentral.com has some great articles for just about anything you want to know about reefkeeping! If you really want to be blown away, checkout the "large tanks" section of their photo gallery!

Setting Up a New Tank
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1031074

Cheers!