Freshwater To Marine

[ash90]

I posted a blog few days ago but dint really get any were with it. I have a 125ltr(27Gal) tank that has small tropical fish atm and i want to turn it into a marine as they look better from what ive seen and more colourfull that tropical.
I have no idea what so ever about stocking or equipment to do with marine except the need water and sea salt so could anyone tell me what equipment that i need to make this work well and what sort of marine fish i could keep in a tank the size i have as i realy like clownfish how many could keep and what can i keep with them as they would be a deffenate buy if the tank is bigginuff for them as there is only 1 shop that sells marine fish so what price shoud i be paying for this sort of thing. please list as many thing as poss that i will need. thanks

 

[jameshughes1989]

Hi, im a bit new to it all too, but ill try my hardest to help you out.

What kind of system do you want to go for/what do you want to keep? Just fish or corals too?

~ You'll need RO if you intend to keep a reef setup (you can get your own unit or buy from your LFS)
~ Refractometer to test the salinity of the water.
~ Powerheads for flow.
~ Live rock if you are having a reef set up.
~ Protein Skimmer
~ Lighting, best is t5's to start with.
~ Salt.
~ Test kits, I use the Salifert range.

There are a few other things to consider but some depends on your plans. What kind of lighting has the tank got now?

Clownfish would be cool in a tank that size. If it was me I would get a pair and then maybe a shrimp/goby pair. I Hope that helps, but let us know what you intend to keep as this will help us to determine what equipment you need. If your not too sure, it would be a good idea to get yourself a decent book and read your heart out or read through some of the journals on here. Research is the key


James

 

[seffieuk]

James has given you a good starter - looking forward to watching your tank progrss

Seffie x

 

[ash90]

do i need a external filter as i only have an internal fluvel u3 at to moment and if i decide to start a marine tank ther will be clownfish and whatedver can live with them as i need hardy fish as have not hot a clu what ime doing with marine as i was the same when i started with tropical and ended up gettin very expencive cheers guys

 

[jameshughes1989]

Okay, well if you run an external must people just run it with just filter floss and carbon. Live rock is normally the method of filtration. I dont think there is such thing as a 'hardy' marine fish. From my understanding they are all very delicate to water parameters. If you are unsure I can only suggest more research, you have to be completely confident at knowing what you are doing or it will soon become very very expensive for you. Obviously it is going to be a learning curve but just try to make it so it isnt so steep as soon as you start out.

Obviously if there is any specific queries you can ask them on here and im sure everyone would be able to guide you in the right direction.


James

 

[Pearsondesign]

there are hardier marine fish, but i agree, they are all delicate and all need the proper care and attention.

the "easier" ones to keep to start with are damsels, pyjama cardinals (as long as you have a few of them, safety in nuymbers etc) and personally i consider clowns easier than most fish, ie tangs etc.
also, linofish are very easy to care for, but obviously get big lol

people also seem to forget that you can actually cycle a marine tank with black mollies. ive done this many many times, and was even tempted to get 2 for my reef to add some jet black colour to the tank

 

[seffieuk]

people also seem to forget that you can actually cycle a marine tank with black mollies.

People haven't forgotten, they choose not to, as it is cruel

Seffie x

 

[jameshughes1989]

I also dont agree with that, why would you want to?