New To Marine....please Help !

[jrl99]

Hi...
Firstly many apologies if I've posted this in the wrong section....have just signed up and getting used to the site !
I'd really appreciate some advice..
My daughter used to help her grandad keep cold water tropical fish and she now really wants to move on and start a marine tank.
I've agreed for a bunch of reasons but this is all completely new to me so I'm struggling.
We're struggling for a decent space for a tank but have a corner and have chosen a Juwel Trigon 190L as per this link.
http/www.juwel-aquarium.co.uk/Juwel-trigon.html
You have to pay for a "marine upgrade" which includes a protein skimmer and marine lights, but I'm still worried whether it will do the job.
We're only looking at 6 fish, the largest of which is a clown.
She does want to try and keep one or two corals, which I understand will make it more difficult, but I just wondered whether anyone has any experience of these tanks or any advice or suggestions if we do need to "boost" the kit at all.
All this, and this is before we even start thinking about water etc...!!
Thanks so much for any thoughts....

 

[wildechild_01]

Well, let me be the first to say Welcome to the Salty side of fish keeping, it can definitely be a little intimidating but its definitely easier when you do a little research first.

As for the choice of tank, I have not used this particular tank but with the right equipment any tank can be marine. the size of the tank will definitely work well for you, especially if the largest fish your looking at is Clowns, im guessing you mean the standard Nemo clown as there are some species that get larger.

as for the "Marine upgrade" I recommend looking into some reviews of the skimmer and lighting kits online, I know there are some different challenges with the shape of the tank but there a a lot of amazing products out there and some of them may be cheaper and more effective than the upgrade kit i know Hydor makes an incredible in tank skimmer that may be worth looking into i use http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23714 the nano size in my 30gallon tank... the 190l is around a 50g so you would be looking at the larger one... just a personal recommendation as ive been through 4 skimmers on that tank.

Lighting can get confusing, again the best thing i can say is do some reading.. read through the Marine tank Journals here on the website, there is amazing information in there, and again look up 3rd party reviews on the upgraded lighting from the manufacturer, what you need/want for lighting will depend very much on what you want to keep in your tank.

Don't let Corals scare you.... i was originally only going to do fish, but before i even set my tank up knew i wanted corals, reef keeping has come a long way in the last few years and the products and knowledge available to help you along is amazing.

a few things you may not have considered yet with the tank you will want to look into are

Power Heads - more flow is generally better for corals your going to want around 20x your tank volume in flow per hour.. sounds like a lot but the right power head can make all the difference

Live Rock - im not sure what the tank comes with Filtration wise, but in a marine tank the rock in the display provides your filtration amount of live rock is dependant on tank size and what you want the tank to look like, my tanks generally have more than the recommended minimum for aesthetic purposes.

Water - do you plan on buying salt water or on buying salt and mixing your own? Mixing your own is generally cheaper, but a little more work, but also leaves you more flexible for those emergency water changes.

so I guess what im saying, is there is definitely some work ahead for setting up a marine tank but i will say, it is definitely worth all the effort, i often turn off the Television and watch my tank instead so the best thing you can do right now.........

Plan out your Tank.
-FOWLR? Fish only with Live rock
- Reef? Fish and Corals with Live rock?
- Size of tank? you've picked this already
- What and how much? - What fish? do they get along? How many can you put in your tank? What types of coral do you like?

Once you figure those four questions out you can start doing some research into what kind of lighting you may need, how much flow, how much live rock and you can go from there.

And of Course you can always come back here and ask questions... they salty forum hasn't been as busy as usual lately but seems to be picking up so hopefully someone with a little more experience hops in with more advice but I will definitely try to help as much as i can, the forums helped me immensely with my research so looking forward to returning the favour


Again Welcome, and Congratulations on taking the Salty Plunge.

 

[jrl99]

Hello...
Thanks so much for the reply and all the info and advice....
I'll have a good read and think about all the items !

It doesn't look like anyone has reviewed the Juwel Marine Conversion Protein Skimmer....or at least I can't find one !
I'll keep looking...

Re water....own mix or ready-mixed....is this purely down to personal choice or are there differences ?

Well....I guess at least now know we're putting together a reef !! Thanks..

Seriously, thank you so much for the help. It really does make it easier knowing there's help and advice at hand !

All the best

 

[Donya]

own mix or ready-mixed....is this purely down to personal choice or are there differences ?

It's a bit of both.

Own mix:
Pros - you have absolute control over content and rate of production, no funny business about whether the water has the sg you want and similar things.
Cons - extra time delay before use and can be a bit more of a space hog if you want to keep the cost down by getting a giant heap of salt to use over time.

Ready-mixed:
Pros - instant use, minimal space taken up to store water. Simple solution if all you have is one small tank.
Cons - should really test it every time before you use it and it's a bit risky if you don't live very close to several places you trust where you can easily get the stuff (large mixing setups do break sometimes). Not really a feasible solution for larger tanks or lots of tanks.