I am assuming you dont know much about saltwater aquariums (as this article is for beginners) or their inhabitants. It really isnt that difficult as long as you concentrate on the basic's everything else will fall into place.

So let's get started and the first thing to concentrate on is the tank itself, think of size and where your tank is going to go.

You may of heard that the larger the aquarium the easier it is to maintain that may be true but the first thing i would say is the tank itself will cost you a lot more which in turn will mean you will be paying more for the lighting, filtration system and everything your aquarium needs will cost you. So if you do make mistakes in the larger tanks and lose everything chances are you will have more fish to loose.

So personally i would start off with a smaller tank in case it does go wrong then the cost wont be too high if you have to start again.

Now you have decided on your tank whether it be large or small, you will have to decide what's going in the aquarium.

• Fish only aquarium
• Reef only aquarium
• Fish with Live rock

Lets start with Fish only aquarium as we go through the the three main types.

Fish only will of course have fish in it and usually fake corals and usually other types of decorations in the aquarium.

The second Reef only aquarium is where you have "living coral" rather than having fish in your aquarium. The third type of salt water aquarium we are going to look at os Fish with live rock where of course you will have fish with "live rock" which has its own natural filtration system built in as the rocks come from the ocean.

When you have decided on which saltwater aquarium you are most happy with doing, the next thing to do is to fill it up with water and buy some salt.

Seawater salt can be bought from your local aquarium shop you will need a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity. Specific gravity indicates density, while salinity refers to the actual weight of the salt. "The hydrometer works on the principle that a solid body displaces its own weight of the liquid in which it floats".

Now we need to cycle our tank.

Cycling your tank will vary depending on which aquarium you decide upon.

After you have cycled your tank you're ready to add your first fish.

Enjoy your aquarium it's supposed to be a stress relieving hobby.

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