Considering A Salt Water Tank

[michmash/eddie]

I have been seriously considering a salt water tank for some time now. There are 2 routes i can take at the moment:

1. Buy a Nano reef tank and set that up

2. Convert my Rio 180 (which i would prefer as a larger tank would be better.

My only question at the moment is what is required to convert my Rio 180 to a salt water set up, and what costs are involved?

any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Eddie

 

[seffieuk]

Hi Eddie

to the salty side

The rio 180 would make a great reef tank

You will need:

Approx 20 k of live rock - about £5 a kilo from someone breaking down a tank
a skimmer would be good - anything from £15 for a cheap one to start up to hundreds
Aragonite sand - approx 20 1bs - £15 ish
poweheads - say 2 x 2 koralias = £30 ish each or buy second hand
heater - 200 watts or 2 x 100 watts - say £15 for a good one
magnet - good one £20 ish
test kits, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to start with, say £30
water containers x2 say £8 each
lighting - if your tank has t5, just change the tubes to marine - 2 x £27 for juwel high lights
Reflectors - £14 ish for a pair

spare cheap heater
spare cheap powerhead
container to mix salt water in
salt
syphon
patience
money - but many bargains around if you are willing to look

maybe an RO unit - but you can buy water from lfs

So just a bit to get on with

Go read some of the journels and start making notes in a notebook

Patience is a virtue on the salty side - what most of us tend to have to do is buy all our bits and pieces slowly and then one day - we are ready, woo hoo

What plans do you have?

Seffie x

 

[michmash/eddie]

Im really not too sure at the moment. I am doing my research now as i cannot do anything untill the end of november as we are moving into a new house.

I had a Nano reef before, but only for about 3 months, i made mistakes, tried to rush it and then lost the will to live and sold it. it was a 120ltr one.

My budget is 400. Ideally id like to keep the Rio 180 and set that up as a tropical tank, and get a salt water tank. But at the moment i am still undecided.

i know 400 is not a lot from seeing what other people have spent on here.

Overall my biggest concern is my lack of knowledge, and if things go wrong like last time it is a lot of money wasted. I keep reading but its so much to digest and to be honest i am struggling a bit.

any more help would be great, thanks for the help so far Seffie,

are there any links to a poage with all the info in one, there are so many different links and i really dont know where to start reading and taking notes.

 

[seffieuk]

Decide on the tank size and then we will point you in the right direction for journels etc. but if I were you and had that 180 sitting there..........

Seffie x

ps you can do it on £400, as you already have a tank and don't forget Christmas is fast approaching as long as you are happy to hunt around (as most of us have to) then its do-able - we will help steer you away from problems

Seffie x

 

[michmash/eddie]

oh twist my arm then,

ill use the Rio tank then, how can i tell what the lighting is? i also only have the filter unit that comes built in, i want to loose this but not sure what filter i would need.

ive noticed that some people have a sump too, do i need one?

well, so many questions, sometimes i think it would be easier and safer to stick with tropical. with my experience i honestly dont know if its enough to start a 180ltr saltwater tank.

if you dont try, you will never know.

i have 400 to spend though, that has been set aside for the tank

 

[seffieuk]

oh twist my arm then,



ill use the Rio tank then, how can i tell what the lighting is?

how old is the tank? The t5 tubes are thin 5mm and the T8s are, yes you guessed it 8mm

i also only have the filter unit that comes built in, i want to loose this but not sure what filter i would need.

Your live rock is your filter

ive noticed that some people have a sump too, do i need one?

Many run without one, me included - it adds to water volume and helps tidy away equipment

well, so many questions, sometimes i think it would be easier and safer to stick with tropical. with my experience i honestly dont know if its enough to start a 180ltr saltwater tank.

My sister started a salt water nano tank just over a year ago with no experience of fish at all, she now has a five footer. I started my salt water journey at the same time as her - although I had kept tropicals and brackish - you can read our journey in the nano section

if you dont try, you will never know.

It really is not that difficult if you keep it simple and are patient

i have 400 to spend though, that has been set aside for the tank

must be burning a hole in your pocket

 

[michmash/eddie]

it is burning a hole, but i will wait untill i move.

so i need no filter at all then? when i had a nano it had a filter in the back.

so ill be using the rio then, where is the best place to start my research?

thanks for all the help so far, maybe you would like to come and set it up



well i would like a nice amount of rock, with plenty of corals to begin with,

just measured the lights, they are 23/24mm? very confused

 

[seffieuk]

Oh the setting up is half the fun woo hoo

How old is the tank, or have you got a photo? We should be able to tell by the age if it will have t5 or t8

Seffie x

ps start reading through the journels, yours will not be a nano as it is about 42 gallons but some of the bigger nano tanks will apply and are worth reading. Don't only read journels that are of tanks the same size as yours, remember this is research

 

[michmash/eddie]

I will do thanks

I went to my LFS today to have a look around and get an idea of what i want. A guy who worked there asked me if i need anything and we got talking. I got the feeling that he was trying to rob me,

we got onto the subject of me setting up my tank and well, he was trying to sell me everything, so here is what i was told,

buy a fluval 405, loose the media and fill with live rock, (cost of 100)
buy 30kg live rock (cost 380)
buy a uv sterilizer (cost 110)
buy a protein skimmer (cost 150)
buy live sand x2 (cost 40)
buy 40 gallons RO water (cost 45)
buy a sump (cost 200)

the list goes on, and then he tried to sell me a new tank, i walked away when he offered to set up the tank for me at a cost of 150 cash in his hand

 

[seffieuk]

- indeed, but we do have to remember they have a living to make, think if everyone came on to forums and chated then they would be down a pretty penny in their tills

Seffie x

 

[michmash/eddie]

very true

i just caouldnt believe the cost of it, i have 400 and that is my budget. if i cant do it for that then i will have to stick to tropical and i really want a salt water tank this time.

i am hunting ebay at the moment to see if i can find a tank with a sump, may be better in the long run

 

[lgarvey]

Hey,

I know how you feel about losing the will. I had such a disaster ... really HORRIBLE (i'd prefer to use the F word here, but I"m sure it's not appropriate, or will censored by the forum software) nightmare.

I bought an established tank for £250. It cracked a week later (it wasn't seated correctly), i rescued the fish, ran out and bought a new tank for £250 and saved them. The bio filter was really destroyed and I had to do daily water changes to keep the levels under control. THEN, as a result of the mad daily RO production, I left the machine on and flooded the place. Walking on the laminate floor in my rented appartment made a distinct squishing sound. So I had to get the floor replaced at a cost of about £600 and it still wasn't an exact match but close enough for land lord not to see it *snigger* Then, there was an algae bloom in the tank. I switched the lights off for the night, then woke the next morning to see 3 dead fish - a mated pair of maroon clowns, and a royal gramma. I choke up thinking about it. The maroon clowns were so beautiful - I loved them. And my bank account was seriously wounded too. I sold the tank and professed never to keep fish again.

But... I couldn't stop thinking about fish...

So, several months after moving home, I got another tank (a wave box 45L) and I did some math the other day and I have spent about £400 getting it up and running. It's expensive, but the fish are worth it. As I type this, I glance to my left and see the clownfish darting about, the firefish has just gone to bed (likes an early night), the crabs and shrimp are still fairly active. I keep waiting for the disaster, but I think my improved knowledge and the help of this forum means that I am doing things at least somewhat right.

I think ....

1. You can get an established marine tank for DIRT CHEAP on ebay. Tanks seem to devalue worse than cars.

2. If not, get yourself something like an Orca TL450 or a D&D Nano. Or, get a wave box like I have.

My set-up has cost me: -

Wave box - £60 (www.stm-shop.co.uk)
Extra light - £35 (www.stm-shop.co.uk)
Sand - £5
Live rock - £55
Koralia nano - £40
Inverts - 1 emrald, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 nasarious snails, 2 orange legged hermit crabs £35
Skimmer - £35 (I didn't rate it, but have a refugium coming soon which has cost me £80)
Fish - percula clownfish & firefish - £40

various other items:
food, water, algae scrubber, a few spare shells for crabs etc.

HTH

Cheers,
L

PS. as I type this, the clown fish has just shimmied up to the cleaner shrimp, which has started to clean it. So unbelievably fascinating. I never saw this with F/W

 

[seffieuk]

You have inspired a new thread:

A snap shot in time:

What are your fish, corals etc doing at this exact moment?

Seffie x

 

[michmash/eddie]

dates are now finally sorted, we are moving to the new house on the 11th of december, talk about cutting it fine just before christmas.

so a few days later i will be setting up the new tank hopefully....fingers crossed

 

[seffieuk]

Exciting

Seffie x