Convert.. Help!

[Hawkins]

i want to convert my tropical to marine, i have a Juwel Rio 125L tank.

could you please tell me:

• what equipment i will need
  a decent make of equipment
  cost of item

and also suggest some nice fish! i just love the ones at my LFS.. but know its going to be expensive, an anenome was £65!

 

[ben1987]

Powerheads, salt, live rock, lighting, test kits, RO water, refractometor, skimmer (opt), Sump & plumbing (opt)

Tunze, vortech, grotech, deltec seem to be the best makes

Ive seen tanks un to 20 grand before they even see water. I reckon £300 is a rough guide for a very basic set-up using ebay and 2nd hand equipment aswel as shopping round.

Anenomes need very good water conditions, mature tank (usually 1 year+) and very good lighting. Not usually kept by people new to marines. If the die they can wipe your whole tank out. Plus they live for 100+ years.

Fish - clowns, gobies, blennys and wrasse are probably the best starter fish.

 

[SkiFletch]

to the salty side Jamie. Are you considering a tank with fish only, or one with corals and inverts as well?

 

[Hawkins]

I would like corals and possibly inverts as well.

thanks for the help ! will start looking on ebay..

oh, for a tank my size is there any certain stuff that i need..

i know it can differ with tank size. just dont want to not get a filter powerful enough..

the filter in the tank atm might aswell come out, its jewel and looks horrible.

cheers!

 

[ben1987]

you dont need a filter with marines if you use live rock. LR operates as your filter so long as you have enough flow from powerheads. if you want corals aim for atleast 20x water volume in flow. so eg 10l tank you want 200L/H flow

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, ditch the internal Juwel, those things are not worth it. Since you're keeping corals, you'll want to be using Live Rock which acts as your biological filter

 

[Hawkins]

Ooh ok. thanks alot!

The aquarium calculator isnt working on this site, so im going to have a look around for one to work out how much LR I will need.

also just wondering what sort of fish i can have with the corals..

im going on amazon to look for some decent books ^^


cheers!

 

[ben1987]

1 Kilo to 2-2.2 gallons usually. Just convert 125L to gallons. Roughly 30 imp gallons i reckon

 

[Hawkins]

Ooh, i calculated 18KG of LR, then rounded it up to 20. Then checked the price..! about £145 for 20kg of live rock.

Ok working it out your way hmm, 30 gallons / 2 = 15kg.. so somewhere between 15-20KG then.

obviously the live rock would be the centerpiece with the corals on.. so would i need live sand for the base?

thanks for your help!

 

[Truck]

live sand isnt live if boughy in a bag, how can it be with no water? just by coral sand and it will be seeded from your LR

 

[ben1987]

Sand is up to you. Not needed. Loads of people run bare bottom tanks. I just added about an inch of sand for the look. If i were you i would buy 15kg LR. You can add more if you need, i have about 17 in mine and there is plenty (similar tank size). If its good quality rock the its very pourus so its lighter than solid rock. You dont want too much rock beacuse that will restrict flow which is as important to filteration as the rock itself

 

[Hawkins]

2500L/H powerhead, 15KG LR.. got the lights on the tank. but does it have to be open top for marine?

 

[ben1987]

You may want more than one pump. Easier to get flow around more of the LR surface area.
Nope, doesnt have to be open top. Usually tanks with metal halides are open top because of the heat issues involved. Depends what corals you want for how much light you need. Probably best if the tank is covered for the time being as fish cant jump out

 

[karaim]

2500L/H powerhead, 15KG LR.. got the lights on the tank. but does it have to be open top for marine?

Open top depends on several factors:

1) Do the fish you want jump?

2) Open top = more evaporation

3) Open top = cooler temperatures (if you get metal halide, the temp in your tank will rise).

4) Open top = dust in aquarium

Factor in all of the above. To me it seems more cons than pros.

 

[ben1987]

less smelly too