[quote name='spoo']I don't have any experience with salt water fish but I have read a bunch about salt water aquariums since I have seriously entertained the thought of having a reef aquarium. I have done a fair share of research on salt water tanks online and a couple books and most of the stuff I read made me happy to stay with fresh water tank for the time and money for the time being (be prepared to drop over a grand easily with tank, stand, lights, skimmers, canister filtration, thermometer, meters, test kits, salt, power heads/pumps, additives, heaters, fans, piping, glue, live rock, live sand, snails, shrimp, crabs...) It is a pricey hobby that will take up lots of time and money but I'm sure it is worth it!
I have read a lot of places that you don't want to add any fish for the first 6+ months until things start to settle down with your corals and you need to do daily maintenance for the first 12 - 18 months. Make sure you buy a book or two and read all the info you can find.
Good luck and be sure to join a hobby forum so you can ask questions when they rise.[/quote]
Yes and no. I have been doing a mixed reef tank for a little over three years now.
I also part time for a friend that owns one of the local fish stores.
I can tell you, the hobby certainly has it's ups and downs. I started with a 55 gallon freshwater tank, and I took it apart and set it up as saltwater.
I put corals in it with in 4 weeks, just your basic corals the hardy ones.
I attended a frag swap on about my 4th month in, which is where a lot of fellow hobbyist get together and trade corals.
I had my tank fairly well set up by that point in corals, a couple of fish, and basic lighting.
Probablly $500 dollars in. On the 9th month it crashed out and everything in it died.
With the help of the local hobbyist and clubs I started over and did thing a little better.
I now have corals in my tank that some sell for $80 to $120 an inch on the market.
i would estimate the contents alone of my tank at a market value of over $3000. and that is just a 55 gallon. Most of these corals came as small pieces from frag swaps and eventually grew into small colonies in my tank.
I also have a 12 gallon nano I am working on getting set up.
I would suggest finding a used tank on craigslist in your area, and starting with that.
If it is going to be atleast a year before you move I would not worry about setting it up and having to move it.
Working in the store we have had to move several set ups, we rarely have any problems. and very little if any loss.
Good luck with the hobby, and let me know how it goes.
Here is a link to my photobucket album with pictures of my tank and corals, sadly they are not great pictures, I am still working on getting a better camera.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v207/Lordtwisted/
I got my nieghbor into the hobby, and he has a 220 gallon, a 55 gallon, and a 58 gallon corner tank.