saltwater setup

[redsox07]

i have been doin a freshwater setup for the past 4 years and wanna switch over to saltwater.. wat do i need for supplies that r the necessities to start a saltwater setup??

[gregr]

It depends on what you want to keep and how big of a tank you are setting up. For the simplest system-- fish only -- I guess you just need salt, clean water, a heater and a powerhead or two for water movement. Nitrite, nitrate and ammonia test kits to know when the tank is cycled. You'll want a hydrometer to measure the salinity of the water. That would get you going.
Items that will make your life (and your fishes lives) a lot easier: roughly a pound of liverock per gallon of water, a deep sand bed and a good protein skimmer. And... a seperate container for mixing saltwater for water changes (roughly 20% every other week). A heater and pump for the water you're making because you want to make sure it has the same temp (and salinity) as your tank. I probably left some things out but this will get you going.
Edit:
The list of things that will make your life easier is long- I didn't go into it because you didn't ask but there are a whole bunch of things you can do to improve the health of the system. An ro/di (or just ro if you don't plan on having corals) system is super nice to have, a necessity some might say. Auto top-off systems are great too. The list goes on...

[metalhead]

i have been doin a freshwater setup for the past 4 years and wanna switch over to saltwater.. wat do i need for supplies that r the necessities to start a saltwater setup??

Buy a book or two and read, read, and then read some more. If you put in the time and research on the front end it will make your transition much easier and save you a lot of heart-ache moving forward. Put up a post and ask for recomendations for good reference books. I would recommend this one for a good all-around reference with lots of good advise...

Amazon.com: The Reef Aquarium: Science, Art, and Technology, Vol. 3: Julian Sprung, J. Charles Delbeek: Books