Marine Tank

[fishfinderdave]

HI

im currently looking after my tropical tank.
now dont get me wrong i love keeping these fish, but im looking at getting a marine tank

in my local fish aquatics shop, i have seen a marine tank called an "aqua one marine 900" which they recon is about 170-180 litres.
the filter that comes with it is a "marysis 240 filter" .....which by rights is a filter that can hold double the capacity of water? right?
it has everything ready built in with it, like the protien skimmer, sump tank, tubes, and other things.
this is gonna set me bck £511.00 with a unit.

is there any other marine tanks i can get around this price which are bigger? and that have everything built in?

my first fish to be added to my marine tank after leaving it for a month to run itself in are eitha "damsels" or "chromis" or "goby's"
are these ok?

what fish would you reccomend adding to a tank of this size?
i'd really like to add a lion fish to the tank at some point aswell....again would this be possible?
which is better live rock or dead rock? ....im thinking live rock?

all help would be appreciated
thanks.

 

[-Nemo-]

What do you mean leaving the tank to run for a month?

Damsels, chromis, gobies - Those are good starter fish. Damsels can be nasty little guys, so just be cautious of them. Chromis also prefer to be in groups, so no so ideal for a smaller tank like you're planning.


You have some good options for this sized tank. Look at: Blennies, hawkfish, clownfish, smaller wrasses (like sixline wrasse, fairy wrasses, flashers etc.), Cardinals, dwarf angels. Just to name some groups.

Lionfish - The only choice you should consider at all are dwarf lions. They generally get about 7" max, and so they will be suitable for that sized tank. All others will get way too big. A lion will reduce your choice of fish quite a bit. Any small fish that can fit in the lion's mouth will probably end up there (and don't under estimate their mouth size!). Certainly gobies would be out of the question. They are also not reef safe, so no inverts like shrimp (you could probably be OK with snails).



So really the first thing you need to decide is what kind of tank you want to have.
A more aggressive tank (with fish like lions)
A more community tank (like the damsels, chromis and gobies)
A Reef Tank (with corals etc.)



I believe live rock is necessary for the overall long term health of any tank. So yea, live rock good
Dead rock bad

 

[AK77]

Ouch £511!

Have you considered getting a regular 180L tank and putting everything together yourself? You may save yourself a small fortune, probably enough to pay for your live rock. Have a look on ebay for Juwel Rio 180 tanks and bow fronts. You might be able to get hold of a mint condition one for cheap. You might even get a complete setup for half the money of the Aqua One.

Live rock is necessary for the filtration. Dead rock (often called base rock or ocean rock) can be put in too for decoration and will eventually become live rock as the bacteria and critters colonize it.

My advise would be not to rush into this. See what you can get locally on ebay. I got £800 worth of stuff for £200 on there a few years back - tank, 25kg of live rock, sand, lights, skimmer.. a complete setup plus all the extra goodies!!

 

[fishfinderdave]

lol...ok with marine tanks i dont have a clue to be honest really....i kno a little bit but not much.

im guessing £511 quid is a small fortune for a marine tank?
and i have considered putting it all together myself yes....but personally i'll #71### up lol
and do something wrong where as i know that if i buy the tank which comes ready built in....its already done...simples lol
and i cant go wrong.

i have been looking on e-bay at fish tanks but atm cant find anything, and ive benn keeping my eye on other marine tanks in my local shop...despite being more expensive.

£800 worth of equipment for £200.....BARGAIN!
lol iv i can do the same i'll obviously take up the offer on it, but atm i cnt find anything i want.

i can get a a skimmer for free anyway from my mate who had a marine tank half the size of his living room....his tank was the room divider
lol

so he was very upto date on marine stuff and what to do, so i have some help from him aswell...
but thanks all for the advice.
if you have anymore advice please let me know.

and i was only looking at the dwarf lion fish anyway as i kno how big they get.

 

[ben1987]

£511 is pretty cheap for a marine tank actually...but...

you would be better looking in to what you want and building up equipment for this purpose. Usually if you buy an all in one type tank you will upgrade at least one thing. So why pay for something twice.