About To Choose My First Tank - Tropical Or Marine.

[longjohnsilver]

I see manufacturers supply Tropical and Marine tanks/cabinets. What is the difference and which should I choose. I assume one system is easier to maintain than the other and cheaper but which do you recommend?

 

[bagu]

hmmm

larger the better!

id say take a look on ebay; you can find brilliant large tanks with external filters and other bits and bobs cheap as chips!

id say tropical if you are starting out mate =] you could go straight into marine; but id do tropical and grasp the basics

Juwel is a good make for tanks etc

 

[matalan]

Unless you have the money, start off with a tropical, more interesting then coldwater, and pretty much very simalar in keeping.

Marine does cost a lot to run and set up.

 

[waterdrop]

Its not clear to me whether your question is whether you should consider taking up which hobby (the marine hobby or the freshwater hobby) or whether you are already planning on the freshwater hobby and just wondering whether tanks built for the marine hobby would work as well or better or worse than tanks built for the freshwater hobby.

There is a lot of overlap of knowledge of course but basically marine (aka salt) is a far more expensive and difficult hobby (in my opinion, not being a marine hobbyist, which is probably not very fair because I'm sure it would seem easier if I knew how to do it ) for which freshwater experience I hear can be a good pre-requisite, if you will!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Wills]

I'd say start with a large freshwater tropical set up if you can accommodate it 4ft + - this way you get an excellent amount of space to play with decent stocking barriers and tanks this size look stunning when all set up and as a committed hobby is very very rewarding But also just to second that the Marine side of fishkeeping is a lot more expensive not just the materials and tanks but also the fish - a lot of Marine fish can easy cost £50 upwards each which I know can go the same for freshwater but not till you get to rare plecs, snakeheads etc and in setting up most people make mistakes which can sometimes understandably result in fatality of a fish so in gaining an understanding of fish keeping I would definatly say freshwater is the easier and cheaper way to go

 

[doktor doris]

I think the OPs question is what is the difference between Tropical and Marine tanks.

Most marine tanks are drilled (they have holes driled in the bottom, so the tank can drain into a sump tank below the main tank, and another hole for water to be pumped back into the tank).


doris

 

[afishdude]

I believe doktor is correct. Sounds like he went looking at tanks and noticed that some were marked tropic and some marine.

Doktor is correct on the holes. And I would like to add that the marine is going to have some sort of repellent on the hood so salt won't build up.

 

[Dazzlearoobob]

tropical for a beginner. marine is expensive.

 

[m00se]

Looking on here, and hearing from friends with marine setups, tropical tanks are much more forgiving, too. You have far less wiggle room with a marine tank, in terms of water parameters and so on, it seems.

Having said that, I do want to get one, but only after I have proven to myself that I can manage a big tropical one for a long while first

 

[longjohnsilver]

Tropical it is then. I am hoping to buy a 4' x 2' x 2' next month and I am still searching around the websites for the best deal. Thanks.