Fancy A Change Tropical To Marine !

[tricky8]

Hi all, need some help i have got a 90l tropical tank,well established planted etc.
but fancy changing it to marine
what will i need to buy to set it up as marine and whats the differences in terms of care
i do fortnightly 50% water changes so whats it gona be with marine
also what i could stock it with
just need as much about the pro's and cons before i take the plunge. thanks

 

[GhettoFish]

i need to know too as im considering the the change soon ,we obvioiusly gonna need some sort of coral/living thing going on and posibbly anemones if you thinking of nemo/clownfish etc and ofcourse saltwater

 

[tricky8]

the whole idea frightens me to be honest of it all as i am a real beginner. i believe i have cracked tropical now and have had perfect water for ages
but marine is what i would like but just not sure where to begin and whats involved as opposed to tropical keeping good luck with you

 

[GhettoFish]

i think id start off with establishing a tank with a living coral rock thing and making sure the lighting is all right too then let that settle for a few weeks and probabbly an external filter also and once all the readings/water stats are showing well, then its time for introducing some fish

 

[dannywrc]

i just took the plunge a few months ago and its been pretty sweet sailing so far

just gotta make sure you have everything you need before you change.

i found out most of the info by reading peoples journals on here, very helpful.

a few things you will need:

Pumps (25x turnover i think?)
Skimmer
Appropriate lighting
Water test kit for ammonia, NO2, NO3, PH, Alk etc
Refractometer
Salt (330 grams per 10 ltrs approx)
Live rock
Sand or gravel

i do a 10% weekly water change

 

[PaBucsFan]

Clowns are a great fish to start out with as I have found they are very hardy as they have lived through my mistakes. One problem you guys need to understand is that you can't have anemones and corals right away. Your tank needs to mature for at least 6 months if not a year before it will be stable enough for various corals and anemones.

 

[jaylam]

I started a marine tank about 2 months ago and was the same, there was so much to learn I honestly thought I would never get it right BUT the hardest part for me was getting the tank ready for fish. Once its cycled its pretty easy, a lot to do but pretty easy.

I have a spreadsheet that I use which I have all the checks I need to do and when so I just follow that.

Main things to try and keep in the front of your mind are:
1. Test's, people say to test every other week, me personally I do the water tests every week. Test for Ammonia, Nirite, Nitrate and salt level.
2. 20% Water change every other week.

Last but not least is something I have learned just by reading and posting on this forum, if you noticed something wrong (i.e. the fish swimming slow, not eating or in general seem out of odds) dont waste time thinking "Let me see how they are in the morning" or posting/reading forums do your water test's straight away and if your results are higher than what they should be, get some salt mixing in some RO water and do a 50% water change straight away.

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side of the hobby

Seffie x