Complete Newbie To Marine Keeping

[Matt72033]

Hi everyone,

I am completely new to keeping Marine fish and am after a few tips and advice. My girlfriend has been keeing tropical fish most of her life, and since we've been together she's been dragging me around all these fish shops, and I seem to have become mesmorized by the marine tanks. So i have decided I want to give it a go.

We will be moving house next April/May so I shan't be looking to set anything up until after then, however, I see this as a perfect oppertunity to start purchasing hardware bit by bit to spread the cost out a little.

So having done some reading I've come to the decision I'll be better off starting off slightly bigger than I first imagined, and have half decided on this tank: http/www.ndaquatics.co.uk/?pg=details&ii=27 Which brings me to my first question, am I heading in the right direction with this tank?

I like that it comes with the sump and weir etc.

So between now and getting the tank in may I want to get as much of the other stuff as possible, skimmer, pump, heater, powerheads, test kits etc. But was wondering if people could recommend any particular makes and models, I assume for most people it just comes down to personal preference, but having no experience with any, I have no personal preferences yet so any suggestions/reccomendations would be greatly appreciated.

Also I already have a "saltwater aquariams for dummies" book and a tankmaster practical guide to settig up your marine aquarium book. But I'm keen to expand on that, as much great info as there is on the net theres something I prefer about having some good books to thumb through. So if anyone has any suggestions for essential reading, I'm all ears.



Many thanks in advance
Matt

 

[GrayScale]

To me that seems like a great starting point for a tank at that price and it includes tank, sump, cabinet and overflow.

Equipment depends on your price range and how much you're willing to spend.

I was going to list some equipment and brands but (this has never happened before) they all seem to have escaped me haha. Ill post again when I remember.

 

[Matt72033]

Haha I'll hold you to that mate.

Thanks for the reply, good to know i'm heading on the right track with the tank

 

[GrayScale]

Skimmer: deltec
Powerheads: vortech

Those being the top notch and kind of pricey. I like koralias for powerheads as cheaper alternatives. What other equipment were you thinking of? There are other things like reactors, uv sterilizers(wouldnt recommend), chillers(if you have really hot summers) etc... For a return pump I like mag drives.

What I would recommend is looking up some items and reading reviews. If youre still unsure, just pop them on the forums and i'm sure someone could give you some feedback.

 

[Matt72033]

I had been looking at koralia powerheads and TMC V2 skimmers. I hadn't really looked into UV sterilizers yet.

I was planning on just using plenty of live rock and sand, plenty of powerheads and a protein skimmer. Does that sound viable?

 

[GrayScale]

Completely. Its what most people opt to use. Some also get phosphate reactors. Ive heard great things about the tmc v2 skimmer. I woud also recommend multiple smaller powerheads vs 1 or 2 large ones to get more random and beneficial flow.

 

[Matt72033]

I was thinking of 3-4 powerheads, when choosing, do you combine the capacity of your tank plus the sump to work out what size powerheads/skimmers/heaters etc. you need?

 

[GrayScale]

No just the display tank size with live rock. keep in mind that most powerheads are rated under perfect conditions so just because they are rated for yy lph, they may only give you xx lph(being less) in your tank.
The sump will utilize its own flow by use of the overflow as well as the return pump pulling water through.

 

[Matty_]

Sorry to jump in your thread but what is a decent size tank for marine? Also what is the average price of set-up excluding the tank price?

Thanks