Hi, I'm Hunter from the Austin Aqua-Dome. A beginner salt water tank is a little more than a basic fresh water setup with salt in it. You need your standard tank and filter. We would use a different bottom substrate, we use a sand or a crushed corral material. These calcium based materials help keep the PH at a high enough level for the salt water fishes. Other things you'll need are a hydrometer, which is an instrument that measures the saltiness of the water and possibly an additional power head to create additional circulation in the tank. Most beginner aquaers, start with doing just fish. The fish are much easier to care for and don't require the additional equipment that the live corals and invertebrates might need. A good thing to have when starting any salt water tank would be live sand or live rock. That will help speed up the cycling of the tank by adding beneficial bacteria that help break down the fish waste.