is a saltwater really that hard..

This is true. You know even before you get your hand wet whether you're a lifer or not.

 

In my opinion, whether you started with SW or FW, there is no difference. I have 7 planted tanks of my FW. Then I started to jump on SW. Guess what???? I started from 0. There might be some things you can learn from FW (such as cycling, etc.), however, in my opinion, you will need to learn again for SW. Different type of environment, different type of equipment, etc.

Lastly, Oh.....Research research research. Then best thing to do, jump right in. Dont worry, the shark won't bite;D.

 

there is no problem with starting with a saltwater tank. just keep in mind that they are MUCH MUCH more expensive than a fresh water tank as well as a lot more maintenance than a fresh water tank. If you are not committed, It will be an epic waste of and money

 

Nice add, very good points

I get that, but if there heart is in having a tank with clowns, I think they may become bored with a tank they don't really "want".

 

research! its not to bad! i have been keeping a nano reef of 4 gallons for like 5 months now any no problems!

 

As already mentioned by some, saltwater is only as difficult as you want it to be... it depends mostly on your preferred livestock and stocking level.

If you want a large mixed reef, then yes, it would be wise to invest in most of the equipment that others have mentioned (reactors, skimmer, etc), and of course, good reef lighting won't be cheap.

OTOH, if you just want a 30g with a pair of Clownfish, you can do that with a handful of reef rocks, an oversize HOB power filter and a standard strip light. You can add to that later if you decide you want more fish or a few corals.

It cannot be stressed enough- research, research, and research some more, and if you're still uncertain, ask questions. Lots of good, friendly, knowledgeable folks here that are more than willing to help.

 

I jumped straight in to a SW tank just because FW held no interest for me. you can find a few cheap SW fish to start like chromis. They are only $6 -8 a fish.

 

+1

I started with a small betta tank that went to a 10g to a 20g and so on In the first few months I made MANY mistakes. Not because I didnt care or didn't research, but sometimes things have to go wrong before you know what questions to ask. I personally feel like my FW experiences really prepared me for SW. I still have both my betta tank and a 30b freshwater, both of which I love. Not as exciting as the reef, but they are soothing and I still enjoy them.

 

Like pretty much everyone has said salt is as easy or as hard as you make it out to be. As you do your research you will find that there are several ways to do saltwater tanks

FO (fish only) this setup would be if you are never going to have corals, it is the cheapest setup you can do as you don't need all the special equipment you would for corals light the special lighting and skimmer as examples and you could get away with fake decorations, but trust me you may say you don't want corals now but as you get further into this hobby the itch will only get worse and sooner than lated you WILL want corals of some degree

FOWLR (fish only with live rock) this is the setup I would rdccomend for beginners, buy dry rock like everyone else suggested and dry sand to make things cheaper, you could get away with no skimmer for a little while and an inexpensive light as you'll only need it to see the fish, the rock and sand will be your primary filtration but you will want to think about some form of mechanical filtration and then if course powerheads to keep flow going through the rocks so they filter efficiently this setup will allow for easy expansion later on down the road for when you decide to try some corals

Then theres the full on reef tank but I won't get into that since we are talking beginner stuff here

What you have to remember here is that whether you go fresh or salt you are spending money on the equipment, they both need a tank, they both need filtration and they both need lights, its just different types of equipment is all, yeah saltwater equipment is a bit more expensive but trust me not by much, I had a freshwater tank to start out with spent all kinds of money on filtration, gravel, decorations and fish and then found out for few hundred more I could have gone salt and was kicking myself for the next 3 years and I swear every saltwater tank I passed mocked me lol

Bottom line, go salt, be it fish only or fowlr you will not regret it