How To Set Up A New Tank With Marines And Liverock?

[xanavi22]

Hi everyone am new to this forum and nice to meet you's all....

I want to know step by step how to setup a new aquarium tank that runs marines and corals and live rock.... is there any video on youtube our anything to show u how this is done?

I brought some stuff from the shop and asked them to explain but sounded like they were getting sick of explaining and not much helpful.... stuff i brought was livesand, reefsalt and a hydrometer, there anything else i need?

thanks in advance....

 

[seffieuk]

xanavi22

to TFF and the salty side - can you tell us a bit about your plans and tank please, then we should be able to help you a little more. Can I also suggest you don't buy anything else until we can to grips with your plan

Seffie x

 

[scott133]

hi what shop was it you went to?


regards scott

 

[xanavi22]

Hey!!! sorry was at work.... hm..... am just a beginger and no nothing.... but i was some marine fishes... want to buy 2-3 clowns first...then maybe some mini shimps that has shells on them, i don;t know what they are called.... maybe thinking of Urchin too..... i want the coral reef, is that the moving stuff that sits on the stone rock? can u just sit them at the buttom on the sand?

I was at a shop called Coral Reef in Quay area.... is there anymore other places in Glasgow who sells Marine's?

 

[seffieuk]

Hey!!! sorry was at work.... hm..... am just a beginger and no nothing.... but i was some marine fishes... want to buy 2-3 clowns first...then maybe some mini shimps that has shells on them, i don;t know what they are called.... maybe thinking of Urchin too..... i want the coral reef, is that the moving stuff that sits on the stone rock? can u just sit them at the buttom on the sand?

I was at a shop called Coral Reef in Quay area.... is there anymore other places in Glasgow who sells Marine's?

Right, lets start at the top

You would like a reef, with a pair of clowns (sorry can't have three unless your tank is massive), and some coral and shrimps - excellent - so that means you will need live rock, but first we need to know:

Tank size
lighting
what have you already got - do you for example have powerheads from another tank

Seffie x

 

[xanavi22]

Hey!!! sorry was at work.... hm..... am just a beginger and no nothing.... but i was some marine fishes... want to buy 2-3 clowns first...then maybe some mini shimps that has shells on them, i don;t know what they are called.... maybe thinking of Urchin too..... i want the coral reef, is that the moving stuff that sits on the stone rock? can u just sit them at the buttom on the sand?

I was at a shop called Coral Reef in Quay area.... is there anymore other places in Glasgow who sells Marine's?

Right, lets start at the top

You would like a reef, with a pair of clowns (sorry can't have three unless your tank is massive), and some coral and shrimps - excellent - so that means you will need live rock, but first we need to know:

Tank size
lighting
what have you already got - do you for example have powerheads from another tank

Seffie x

Hey.....

The tank i have brought is fluval vicenza 180, its not came in yet and i don't know what actually comes with that.... what is reef? another words for coral? aka coral reef too right?

 

[youngfisher]

A reef, is a tank that has corals in it.

YF

 

[seffieuk]

A reef is a living structure of rock, creatures, corals, sponges, etc

'reet' just looked up your tank - it is 180 litres with T5 lighting

so you now have:

tank 180 litres
t5 lighting
hydrometer
salt
sand

what else do you need for a reef

heater 2 x 100 - set one lower than the other in case one breaks

Live rock approx 20 k
2 powerheads for flow around the live rock - maybe two koralia 2 or tunze streams (we need to achieve at least 20 x 180 for soft corals, so about 3800 litres an hour)
a refractormeter would be easier and more accurate to test your salt water for sg

are you going to buy your water from a lfs or make your own? As you want a reef it would be good to start off with ro water

water containers

cheap powerheat - for salt mixing
cheap heater - for salt mixing

container for mixing/heating salt water

test kits for marine - most of us use salifert, you will need to start: ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate

Skimmer - some people run without a skimmer but I think for your size tank a skimmer would be good - look at buying a second hand bargain, maybe a deltec 300 or a tmc v2

syphon

Anyways, that is enough for now

Seffie x



ps buy yourself a notepad, start reading journels and pinned threads - take lots of notes and ask many questions. patience is a virtue on the salty side and remember, the only stupid question is the one not asked

 

[xanavi22]

A reef is a living structure of rock, creatures, corals, sponges, etc

'reet' just looked up your tank - it is 180 litres with T5 lighting

so you now have:

tank 180 litres
t5 lighting
hydrometer
salt
sand

what else do you need for a reef

heater 2 x 100 - set one lower than the other in case one breaks

Live rock approx 20 k
2 powerheads for flow around the live rock - maybe two koralia 2 or tunze streams (we need to achieve at least 20 x 180 for soft corals, so about 3800 litres an hour)
a refractormeter would be easier and more accurate to test your salt water for sg

are you going to buy your water from a lfs or make your own? As you want a reef it would be good to start off with ro water

water containers

cheap powerheat - for salt mixing
cheap heater - for salt mixing

container for mixing/heating salt water

test kits for marine - most of us use salifert, you will need to start: ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate

Skimmer - some people run without a skimmer but I think for your size tank a skimmer would be good - look at buying a second hand bargain, maybe a deltec 300 or a tmc v2

syphon

Anyways, that is enough for now

Seffie x



ps buy yourself a notepad, start reading journels and pinned threads - take lots of notes and ask many questions. patience is a virtue on the salty side and remember, the only stupid question is the one not asked

Thanks for the above info.... what is the best and cheap site i can order these from? saves me time traveling out as not got a car and its prob more expensive outside......if i got live sand, i won't need coral sand? is that right?

 

[xanavi22]

hi what shop was it you went to?


regards scott

Hi Scott i see u live in Scotland.... any places u know and recommend for marine fishes and stuff?

Michael.

 

[seffieuk]

Thanks for the above info.... what is the best and cheap site i can order these from?

Buy new heaters - preferably not the glass ones - give fleabay a try, aquacadabra - find the heater you want and google it, sometimes it will throw up a bargain

I will send you a pm about where to have a look for powerheads and live rock

saves me time traveling out as not got a car and its prob more expensive outside......if i got live sand, i won't need coral sand? is that right?

Live sand is a gimmic, but you have it now, so don't worry

Seffie x



Ah, just hit a problem, i can't send you a pm as you have not posted enough yet, so getting posting and then let one of us know and we will pm you

Seffie x



ps if you find something on aquarists classified that is too good to be true, it is!!! When buying from there always try to buy locally and say you will pay cash on collection

 

[xanavi22]

Can u tell me what u mean buy "are you going to buy your water from a lfs or make your own? As you want a reef it would be good to start off with ro water"? is this not just the mix of the slat water our is it another kind of water..... its getting really confusing now haha..

 

[seffieuk]

Can be confusing to start with

RO = reverse osmosis - means it has gone through a purifying unit and has most if not all contaminates and heavy metals etc taken out. Many of us on here have our own units which go into the mains cold water so we can make our own RO water and then mix with salt to the sg we want 1.026 for corals.

The best thing to do is research each thing in isolation - try not to do everything at once

Live rock and the cycle
RO water
what fish
what inverts
what corals

tank etc
lighting

and on and on

Seffie x



ps you can buy ro water, sometimes already with salt from lfs - but, the water is often not as pure as the stuff you make yourself nor up to the sg you need for corals and nor using a good brand of salt with high calcium values etc

 

[daveo_irl]

Hi and welcome!

From reading your posts it is obvious you need to do a lot more research on this. My advice would be to not buy anything else (apart from a couple of good books on the subject) and start reading, and asking a lot of questions (which you are already doing ).

This is something you don't want to just dive right into, so spend as much time as possible gathering all the information you need.

 

[xanavi22]

At the moment am prob of thinking to cancel my tank and refund my stuff i brought and take up more rescreah before i start on this as am abit of a excited person and want to rush it.....