Newbie to saltwater, thinking of new 92 gal tank.

[Zxcs]

Hi, I have recently been thinking of getting a custom made 92 gallon saltwater tank. I have had very little experience with fish in the past (once owned a warm water tank, but too long ago to remember most things) and was wondering what I needed to get started.

The tank is going to go infront of the window in my study and is trapezium-shaped, with a depth of 40cm and 2 metres wide at the front. Will this cause any problems?

I have read a few guides telling me which items I need to get etc but is there anything I should seriously consider before purchasing the tank (other than the price to run the whole thing). From what I've heard it is a little tricky to get a saltwater tank up and running but I'm not sure how hard it is for a total newbie to get one running. What are the main things I need to know or look out for? Maybe link me to some good reading material?

I'm not sure what fish/coral/snails/crabs/etc to get, will I be ok just asking the people at the fish shop? Does anyone have any tips on what fish I should purchase first?

I've been looking forward to a saltwater tank for a long time and really cant wait to get one. Any tips/warnings and/or links to helpful reading materials are really appreciated.

Thanks

 

[The ultimate_fish MaC dAddY]

The first thing you can do is do a lot of research. Saltwater tanks are very precious, and need lots of attention.

 

[Navarre]

Welcome to the world of marines!

If you are going to place the tank in the window then be very careful with the temperature of hte tank. A tank o fthis size sitting in the sun wont take long for the temperature to rise and it only needs to move a couple of degrees for any coral in your tank to stress and bleach itself.

Many say that putting a tank in a window is asking fopr problems as it will cause massive algae blooms. Whilst this is a danger I would say that if the tank is running well and very mature then it wont make any difference, algae can only grow in light and nutrient rich water, remove 1 from the equasion and it cannot grow that well. However, as this is a new tank then it will be unstable for the 1st 6-12 months and this means you are running the risk of high algae problems inititally.

As for asking your lfs about whixh corals and fish to purchase. I would advise that you take their advise onboard yet still find a 2nd opinion from either another shop or visit forums like this and get advise from people that have no financial concerns on the products that are in question.

As for setting the tank up, well from my experience i would say that marines are even easier to setup than freshwater. Sounds ludacrous of course but if you purchase enough liverock and cleanup crew then your tank is 100% cycled from the moment you have water in it and fish can be added almost immediately.
If you dont choose the liverock option then you will have to use mechanical filtration and this will take time to cycle and functions much the same as a freshwater setup.