New To Marine Need Any Helpful Advice.

[niblic3rd]

I will begin with live rock and fish or would it be better to go live rock corals then fish?

If fish is better 1st then I will add corals throughout the 1st 6 months once the tank has been stocked. How does 2 clowns, 1 regal tang, 1 sixline wrasse, some hermits and turbo snails not sure on a decent quantity. How many more fish can i get after that with regards to size and amount? I would assume that there will be about 200l after the rock goes into the tank with the rock displacing about 40l of water give or take. So i will buy in the region on 20 kilos saving some money.

20 Kilo's live rock at my LPS sets me back about £240
Protein skimmer will set me back about £60-80
Powerhead will be £40-50
Salt for a bucket which will convert 700l £40
Reef sand which is im told one of the best (stuff with the water still in it) about £45ish
Extra media for my filter £10-20
Little device to test salinity - £12

Is there other things i need except the R/O water that i need to get the tank initially started?

Kev.

 

[Colin_T]

you will need an ammonia, nitrite & PH test kits if you don't already have them. And maybe another water pump for extra movement. Aquarium heater

You can use any sort of sand on the bottom of the tank. Beach sand is fine as long as it's clean and free of pollution. Buying expensive live sand doesn't make a lot of difference in a new tank. Once the stuff has been in the water for a week it becomes live anyway.
Put the sand in the tank, add water and get the salinity correct. Add some rock and cycle the tank to get the filter bacteria going. Then add some fish, add the clowns first, followed by the wrasse and the tang last. Quarantine the tang for a couple of weeks before you introduce it to the main tank because they just about always come down with whitespot.
Once the fish have been in the tank for a month or so and the water has been stablie, then start adding corals.
The clean up crew, hermit crabs, shrimp, etc, can be added when the fish are added. Don't add expensive shrimp until the tank has been running for a month or more.

The rock and sand will probably displace more than 40litres.

 

[niblic3rd]

you will need an ammonia, nitrite & PH test kits if you don't already have them. And maybe another water pump for extra movement. Aquarium heater

You can use any sort of sand on the bottom of the tank. Beach sand is fine as long as it's clean and free of pollution. Buying expensive live sand doesn't make a lot of difference in a new tank. Once the stuff has been in the water for a week it becomes live anyway.
Put the sand in the tank, add water and get the salinity correct. Add some rock and cycle the tank to get the filter bacteria going. Then add some fish, add the clowns first, followed by the wrasse and the tang last. Quarantine the tang for a couple of weeks before you introduce it to the main tank because they just about always come down with whitespot.
Once the fish have been in the tank for a month or so and the water has been stablie, then start adding corals.
The clean up crew, hermit crabs, shrimp, etc, can be added when the fish are added. Don't add expensive shrimp until the tank has been running for a month or more.

The rock and sand will probably displace more than 40litres.

I have a test kit from my tropical tanks. Got the fluval filter and will buy a power head for the other side of the tank to make alot of surface movement. got the aquarium heater with the tank so thats sorted aswell. Thought i could prolly buy some normal reef sand and buy 1 bag of the live sand to give it a little head start as it were. The rest sounds great and doesnt seem as difficult as i first thought.

Kev.

 

[Colin_T]

that's a good idea about the sand. Buy normal dry stuff and add some live stuff after to give it a kick start

 

[niblic3rd]

that's a good idea about the sand. Buy normal dry stuff and add some live stuff after to give it a kick start

Thanks just seemed like all the little creatures in the live sand would be better if they had loads of dead sand to inhabit.

Now just going have to wait until money comes along to purchase all those lovely things. Once again thanks for the info Colin I will post up my tank and more than likely make a journal once i have a better camera and bought all the equipment needed.

Thanks. Kev.