hard to maintain marine tank?

[dudey simon]

I've kept a freshwater cichlid tanks for years with no
hassles and minimal deaths etc..
But now I'm getting a bit bored of them. I've always
wanted to have a saltwater tank with a couple of clownfish,
cleaner wrass, and gobie.
Anyway, I've heard that saltwater tanks are far more
difficult to maintain than freshwater and require constant
attention.
As I'm a hard workign uni student I don't have much time to
look after my tanks. They only get water changes once a
month and so forth.
Anyway, my question is what sort of difficulties will I
encounter in setting up a marine system ?
What sort of problems did people have when swapping over
from fresh to saltwater ?
What are the differences? (other than water!)
How much more effort is needed to maintain a saltwater tank?
Also, I hear that you can't keep as many fish in a saltwater
tank than freshwater. Would I be able to keep the above mentioned
fish (clown fish etc..) in a 25 gallon ?
Also, what problems are there in feeding ? Can I just feed
flakes and pellets as I do in my freshwater tank ?

Or should I just get a life and buy a beginners book ?

Anyway, and info and experiences that you may have to help me
make up my mind as to whether it is worth the change would be
most welcome.

Thanx in advance

Simon
(l...@coombs.anu.edu.au)

[Frank Mularo]

For marine tank beginners, the best books are by Martin Moe. I
would suggest you pick up The Marine Aquarium:Beginner to Breeder
and read it before you start anything. Don't waste time on the
samll pamphlets and don't rely on just using the network. Some-
times a problem comes up that must be solved immediately and this
is where books come in handy. They also contain more information
than you may get here. Invariably I find that everytime I have a
question answered, two more pop up. So read lots and understand
basic stuff like filtration(biological, chemical, skimming),
lighting, stocking levels, maintenance, etc. before you buy your
first fish. I think lots of problems happen because of lack of
understanding of the basics of marine aquarium keeping. So start
with a little research and go slowly. Good luck!
--
Frank Mularo Easy Does It
CWRU One Day At A Time
Cleve.Oh. "Don't mess with my fish, man!"
fx...@po.cwru.edu -a very wise man