Just bought my first tank

[OTF]

Just bought a steel HP 100 from Faber, and now realize I don't know a single thing about tank ownership. I'm guessing I should keep some spare o-rings around and that hook tool to take them out?

Spare o-rings are always good, if you haven't put together your own save-a-dive kit with spare parts and tools you definitely should. Plenty of threads on what people carry.

Storage in a cool dark room should be fine? Also removing the boot the rinse off the saltwater? These are all thoughts just entering my head now that I am responsible for my own air cylinder.

Cool dark room is fine, blazing sunny boat deck is okay too, they're pretty hard to kill. I wouldn't bother removing the boot to clean, just flush fresh water through it when you rinse your gear. The boot should have little standoff grooves letting water between the boot and tank. Very frequent boot removal and replacement will loosen its fit.

In any case, feels good owning my own tank. I feel like there is nothing standing in the way of me going on a dive.

Congrats!

 

[DrakeTheDiver]

Like everyone has said make sure to rinse and stay up to date on VIP and hydro. I too had my tanks multiply once I made the jump to purchase one. Luckily I have a compressor I can fill at without charge from my job so it gives you a ton of freedom to go dive whenever and wherever. I never remove my tank boots, just a quick rinse after the dive, but I dive freshwater so YMMV. Also a rust inhibitor paint for touch ups is not a bad idea if you tend to be rough on gear. I use The Must for Rust spray on my HDG tanks if the scratch is particularly bad or it looks like to might start to rust.