I'm also a freshwater guy. Where are you at in the process of setting up your saltwater tank?
We have been doing research for many many months and our 50 gallon tank is arriving this week. Planning to take it slow and will spend some time on the aquascape, although I know our excitement will get the better of us at some point and the patience will dissapear!
I have done 5 salt water tanks now from 20 gallons to 90 gallon. If you have not purchased rocks and sand I will give you a suggestion. Only if finances allow I would look into Tampa Bay Salt Water live rock and sand. I always started dry rock and ocean direct sand. I had to deal with the ugly faze in all. It took awhile for the tank to get happy. The latest build was a OfferUp 75 gallon I purchased for 100. 00 including tank stand skimmer. I started with dry rock in the display with crushed coral. To that I added the Tampa Bay live sand 20 pounds and 20 pounds of their live rock so a mix of dry and live. So far I'm having little to no ugly faze and I added coral from my other tanks day one. Coral has not skipped a beat and looks like they have been there for a long time. I will send you a private message with a link so you can see what I mean. Hoping your build brings your family much joy
