Saltwater stocking and other questions?

[holly_puff]

I am brand spanking new to saltwater aquariums and I was wondering what fish I could start out with first before going to more expensive fish. I don't have it up and running quite yet, but I am in transition of making my established freshwater to a saltwater. At the moment my tank is brackish SG 1.008 with mollies to keep the tank cycled through the transition. I have a Fluval 205 canister filter along with a hang-on-back at the moment until my canister gets established (I just picked it up yesterday). I don't have a skimmer just yet, I'm looking for some online that aren' too expensive. Should I get the skimmer going first before I get any fish in it? I'm just going to do a fish only tank for now until I get up more courage to add live rock and corals. I hear that you don't need a skimmer unless you have live rock or corals and such. Is that true? With a fish only tank I don't need a skimmer? My tank is 33 gallons, and I have sand as substrate and I also have a power head and a heater of coarse.

[geronimo69]

In all honesty, scrap the freshwater filters completely if you're going marine.

First and foremost, read. Do tons of it. From all types of sources. The questions you asked are good, but too vague. I could go on for hours about how to properly setup a marine tank, but I really don't feel like it. It's what books and the internet are for. The nitrogen cycle is super important with marine tanks (during the cycling process especially). Most of the livestock is much more sensitive to nitrates and other pollutants in the water compared to freshwater.

Sign up for Nano-Reef.com and read all the previous posts. There are people that ask the same questions you just did, on a daily basis.

[holly_puff]

thanks.. since I posted this question I have educated myself a lot and know more about setting up a marine tank.

[I.Puff.Too]

Who said you don't need a skimmer unless you have LR? You need a skimmer even more if you DO NOT have LR...Live Rock is a tremendous bio filter for marine set ups

[Pufferpunk]

+1

[stangd1909]

Who said you don't need a skimmer unless you have LR? You need a skimmer even more if you DO NOT have LR...Live Rock is a tremendous bio filter for marine set ups

+1