Newb Questions

[fatfishman]

Hello all

I am completely new to marine fish keeping but am moving house quite soon and would really like to upgrade to a marine tank. I have a rough idea what it involves but still have many questions.

Firstly how much time would you say a marine tank requires to keep healthy ?
I know it cost alot of money to set up but, How much money does your tank cost you in an average month (maintenance etc) ?
And lastly is a sump tank neccessary rather than a filter and does it cost alot more to set up than just an external filter ?

I will leave it at that for now.

Thankyou everyone for your time to read my questions i really appriciate it (ps. sorry about my cluelessness)

 

[Lynden]

Firstly how much time would you say a marine tank requires to keep healthy ?

I spend about five minutes a day feeding the fish, plus scraping algae (with a magnet), and the odd water change, which takes days of waiting (for the water to "cure") but only around ten minutes to execute.

Firstly how much time would you say a marine tank requires to keep healthy ?
I know it cost alot of money to set up but, How much money does your tank cost you in an average month (maintenance etc) ?

The RO water costs around $6 a week or so, because I don't have an RO unit. This cost would diminish with the purchase of one. Food costs around $40 every few months, and salt; I have a 160 gallon mix and a 55 gallon mix that I bought for $40 and $10, respectively.

And lastly is a sump tank neccessary rather than a filter and does it cost alot more to set up than just an external filter ?

Sumps are useful because they can be used to conceal equipment and provide greater water volume. They tend to add to the cost because it's an extra tank and the extra salt needed, plus the drillings made to the main tank and the return pump. Systems usually have no problem without them but they can be helpful. It's your choice really.

 

[fatfishman]

Thankyou Very Much Lynden. This helps

 

[dilbert]

Maybe I add here the costs for measuring the water quality. Just when you setup a new tank, you probably do a lot of water testing. Depends also much on what's in the tank but later you don't check only ph, Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates.

If you're paranoid like me you check your water all the time, other people do it weekly or even in longer intervalls, depends pretty much too how experienced and therefore how confident you are.


Some people bring their water to their LFS for testing, so it depends on you how much you spend on this but the water test kits aren't cheap, normally.

 

[fatfishman]

Thankyou dilbert

I never really thought about that what test kit do you use and how much does it cost ?

 

[chrissaysyes]

You'll atleast want to test ammonia ($10), nitrate($10), nitrite($10), pH($12), and you'll want a device (be it hydrometer($10) or refractometer($60-$150) for testing specific gravity. Later on you'll more or less likely want to invest in a phosphate($25) test kit. Keeping corals is a whole new ball game. Then you're going to want to test for calcium($12), strontium($15), and other trace elements.

 

[fatfishman]

Whoah that is a alot of money but i plan to build it up gradually, so i can go marine in my new house when move there so i will just keep an eye out for bargains.

Thanks chrissaysyes

 

[chrissaysyes]

Not trying to scare you, just trying to prepare you

 

[fatfishman]

Not trying to scare you, just trying to prepare you

Yeah thanks, Im gonna have to mug an awful lot of old ladies to pay for that

If you dont mind can i ask you another question

What sort of skimmer if any do you use ?

 

[Lynden]

Firstly I disagree with the idea that one needs "advanced" test kits, if only when keeping soft corals and basic stonies. Phosphate couldn't matter less to most soft corals (the only animals that are bothered by it are stony corals), and test kits for various minerals (strontium, calcium) are likewise not a necessity if one uses a basic salt mix and does not supplement.

The others are useful for starting up new aquaria, though admittedly I have never tested a single value in my tank, and it appears to be working so far, overstocked as it is. As one gains experience a sharp eye (and sometimes also a nose, and a sense of touch) is the only tool needed to monitor a tank's process, but it is recommended that beginners DO buy plenty of basic tests to start out with, since in an emergency they are highly useful to pinpoint a problem.

What sort of skimmer if any do you use ?

Skimmers are useful when keeping animals that produce lots of waste, such as fish. But, they can be replaced by refugia and carbon, and systems without skimmers (but with refugia) have several advantages over those run with skimmers, such as the wider range of food particles that will be left in the water column.

I use a simple air driven counter-current skimmer and I believe these are the most effective on smaller aquaria. For larger systems (over 100 gallons) a motor driven skimmer is preferable.

 

[fatfishman]

Thankyou lynden

Can i ask you about filtration in the sump and how it works ? (Does the inlet pipe go to the bottom and push water up through the live rock or the other way round or what ?)

Cheers