Going From Tropical To Marine Help Please

[tambo]

Hello people,

As you can see I have just joined, however I have read many topics on your Forum and you seem a helpful bunch.

Recently I have been looking to get set up again, due young children and space I have not had a tank for 5 years.

I had a set up before that consisted of mainly 4 large Discus.

I have bee to my local center in Edinburgh and have found the perfect tank, me thinks.

Fluval Vicenza 180l.

With my TV now on the wall there is a perfect space in my living room for this.

I intended getting discus again but the chap in the shop suggested I try a Marine set up.

Alarm bells ringing I said " are they not to hard to maintain" ? he said not really if you have looked after discus sucsesfully its worth a go.

i would have to change the lighting in the Fluval Vicenza 180l as i believe it is a fresh water light setup.

any starter advice would be very helpfull.


thanks

Tambo

 

[1entra]

Its a bit hard just giving advice on everything we know and would be much easier if you had specific questions...

Have a look through all the pinned threads in the marine chat section especially the one by steelhealr, as its got some good links added. Also its worthwile reading through other people's journals/diaries to see how they got on which should help you understand what to expect.

PS. Ive also heard that looking after discus is harder than keeping a marine tank.

 

[Musho3210]

PS. Ive also heard that looking after discus is harder than keeping a marine tank.

again with the variables....

 

[jeasko]

Agree with the above.

there are so many aspects of marine aqauriums, you would really need to read the threads on this forum and ask more specific questions about what your unsure on.

Seeing that you have asked about lighting though it would be good to decide what you want to keep in order for anyone to give you good guidance, as if your only going to keep fish with Live Rock the lighting is no where near as important as if your going to keep corals, so your first step is decide what you want to keep then go from there.

See steelhealrs thread on starting marine tank [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Marine-a...A-Marine-Tank-/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/Marine-a...A-Marine-Tank-/[/URL]

 

[tambo]

Agree with the above.

there are so many aspects of marine aqauriums, you would really need to read the threads on this forum and ask more specific questions about what your unsure on.

Seeing that you have asked about lighting though it would be good to decide what you want to keep in order for anyone to give you good guidance, as if your only going to keep fish with Live Rock the lighting is no where near as important as if your going to keep corals, so your first step is decide what you want to keep then go from there.

See steelhealrs thread on starting marine tank <a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Marine-a...A-Marine-Tank-/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/Marine-a...A-Marine-Tank-/</a>

thanks this makes good reading, more complicated than i used too but....hey ho

 

[loachman]

Your lighting and other requirements will really depend on what you want to keep.

For Fish-only marine tank, it's about the same as a freshwater tank. The fish can handle moderate nitrate levels and don't care too much about the lighting. It is probably easier than Discus.

Fish with live rock is a bit harder, but not much more difficult. You'd probably want a skimmer, a couple powerheads, and you won't need a filter (live rock=filter). A RO/DI water system is a strongly encouraged. Lighting is a bit more important, since you're growing coralline algae, but the algae aren't too picky. Overall though, it's more expensive (live rock can add up) but not really "hard" if you know how to care for fish.

If you want to go with a full blown reef system with corals and fish, you're talking a high capital investment. You'd likely need improved lighting, and some calcium/magnesium supplements in addition to the live rock setup. You'd also need a refugium for best results and definitely need a RO/DI water system. I'm not sure of any "kit tanks" that have all you'll need for this setup. The invertibrates in a reef system are pretty sensitive (and potentially expensive) so there is much more that can go wrong.

 

[dilbert]

What I foumd the most challenging is all that compatibility issues, so if you add livestock slowly and sparsely, life is easier.

Another hint I followed was "and look what your tank needs". I found it important rather react to the problems that occur than driving the thing actively in a particular direction. That means keeping the balance of the system is more important than adding new stuff. At least, this approach seems to me easier at the beginning.

 

[Lynden]

Actually I find marine keeping far easier than freshwater, I do however keep only organisms that are perhaps "basic", refusing to keep those that require careful monitoring.

 

[Musho3210]

I keep a reef tank, everything in it is easy to care for, except maybe my yellow fiji leather, but contrary to internet belief, is actually very easy IMO/IME. Anyway, i had a very basic freshwater tank, not planted, zebra danios (if you didnt know, an extrememly hardy fish) other simple easy to care for animals, and definately, hands down, freshwater is easier. I have a planted vs the reef, hmm... i would say the planted is still a bit easier because its a low tech (no dosing) and i can be extremely lazy with it. I dunno, there are way way WAY too many variables for me to have a clear answer on this....

 

[Lynden]

Remember just because you can keep the Fiji leather doesn't mean the same holds true for everyone.

I actually find the maintainence of SW is far reduced compared to FW. I do not dose (and thus have no need for testing) and I do a water change every two weeks. Because of the more complete ecosystem, reef tanks do not get such a vast amount of waste build-up if one neglects the tank (though because of the higher pH extended neglect will do more damage as ammonia does not convert to ammonium). I also see many authors recommending larger, more frequent water changes as being necessary for FW than for SW.

So, while it is true that FW can be neglected, to keep the FW at full health (and appearance) requires more work than keeping SW at full health. I actually took down a planted tank a few weeks ago because it was constantly demanding attention to keep it from looking like a pile o' crap.

 

[dilbert]

One thing I want to add here.

If you buy your live rock from an LFS nearby and the live rock is cured and comes from an established tank, then you can almost start immediately after a time of simply observing your ammonia and nitrite readings.

The first live rock I bought the LFS put simply into a large plastic bag and I put that in the boot of my car. That was half an hour drive at outside temperatures of about 10 °C (50 °F). I had a little ammonia spike of about 2 or 3 days.

The next live rock I bought from another LFS (more cavities in it but more expensive) and they gave me a tight closing styrofoam box. Temperature was a little bit above freezing but I had the box on a passenger seat and subsequently no ammonia spike at all and instead a nice tubeworm.

Later, I thought when I would have used already prepared buckets with warm saltwater in it, there would have been absolutely no die-off at all.

So, in my case it was really simple to start. Sand and live rock in it, adjusting two powerheads, and the system was ready, only waiting for livestock to come.

 

[Musho3210]

One thing I want to add here.

If you buy your live rock from an LFS nearby and the live rock is cured and comes from an established tank, then you can almost start immediately after a time of simply observing your ammonia and nitrite readings.

The first live rock I bought the LFS put simply into a large plastic bag and I put that in the boot of my car. That was half an hour drive at outside temperatures of about 10 °C (50 °F). I had a little ammonia spike of about 2 or 3 days.

The next live rock I bought from another LFS (more cavities in it but more expensive) and they gave me a tight closing styrofoam box. Temperature was a little bit above freezing but I had the box on a passenger seat and subsequently no ammonia spike at all and instead a nice tubeworm.

Later, I thought when I would have used already prepared buckets with warm saltwater in it, there would have been absolutely no die-off at all.

So, in my case it was really simple to start. Sand and live rock in it, adjusting two powerheads, and the system was ready, only waiting for livestock to come.

yeah, i got my rock straight from a 1 year established tank, i live about an hour away, the rock was packaged like it would if it was shipped (styrofoam box, newspaper, plastic bags) took 2 or hours to get home (chicago traffic) and i had .25 ammonia on day two and three, but then disappeared. I got a decent amount of hitchikers... unfortunately most were filter-feeders and died.... on the other hand the rock came from a refugium so i got lots of pods.

 

[tambo]

thanks for all the advice

 

[steelhealr]

There is ONE big difference....cost. I DO find SW tank keeping more pricey than my 46G FW, but then, all I have are small community fish. I've heard discus are more difficult also, so, depends on what side of the fence you are looking. Good luck and SH