Newbie Marine Set Up, Buy As A Kit, Or Individually?

[karigupi]

I'm starting to research Marine tanks, my daughter has fallen in love with the marine section at our lfs & I would really like to set up a nice marine tank, but my knowledge is minimal.

Are there any good books or websites you would recommend for beginners?

My question is, I've seen a really nice tank in my LFS which claims to have all the basics I will need, I think there is a sump, skimmer, lights, heater & probably lots of other bits, plus a £50 livestock voucher.

It looks about 2.5-3ft, prob 1.5 wide & 1.5-2ft deep, with a cabinet. They are charging just under £300 for it, is this a good price or would I be better off buying everything individually? I will pop back over at the weekend & get more info on it.

Its my birthday next week & I'm thinking if I do abit of selling on ebay, I should be able to make £200-£250, then I can have the balance as my birthday pressie.

Is cycling a marine tank the same as cycling a freshwater tank?

Any tips for a newbie muchly appreciated.

 

[garybuk]

I'm starting to research Marine tanks, my daughter has fallen in love with the marine section at our lfs & I would really like to set up a nice marine tank, but my knowledge is minimal.

Are there any good books or websites you would recommend for beginners?

My question is, I've seen a really nice tank in my LFS which claims to have all the basics I will need, I think there is a sump, skimmer, lights, heater & probably lots of other bits, plus a £50 livestock voucher.

It looks about 2.5-3ft, prob 1.5 wide & 1.5-2ft deep, with a cabinet. They are charging just under £300 for it, is this a good price or would I be better off buying everything individually? I will pop back over at the weekend & get more info on it.

Its my birthday next week & I'm thinking if I do abit of selling on ebay, I should be able to make £200-£250, then I can have the balance as my birthday pressie.

Is cycling a marine tank the same as cycling a freshwater tank?

Any tips for a newbie muchly appreciated.

Hi Welcome! its sounds quite like a good deal ! saves alot of hassle too. do you know the make of the tank??

what will you be wanting to keep?

 

[Trod]

Hi and to the salty side

That sounds a good price to me, and a reasonable size for a beginner, if you could get more info on it that would be great

I would just say one thing, bigger is alway better, a bigger tank is easier to maintain and reduces the risks of a crash. Have a look on ebay, you might be able to set up a bigger tank, at around the same price.

Sorry can't help on cycling as I know nothing about freshwater

Have a look at 'Saltwater aquarium for dummies' http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Saltwater-Aquariums-...4QQcmdZViewItem its an easy read. Also have a good read of all the pinned topics in the marine section there is some really good information in them

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Sounds like a fairly good deal depending on what equipment is like with it. There are 4 common types of marine tank which people tend to go for (there are loads more but could be here all day if we get into that )

• Fish only - This can basically be setup exactly the same as a FW tank (external filter, fishless cycle, etc), only difference is the salt water. A skimmer would help but not needed unless you have large messy fish.
• Fish only with liverock - Basically this is the same as above but you replace the filters with liverock. This acts as your biological filtration as well as adding a lot of other marine life to the tank as well. Would recommend this over the method above. If you are using this method then you need to make sure you have at least 10 times the tank volume in water flow (so a couple of decent powerheads).
• Softcoral reef - Basically you would need liverock as above, at least 20 times the tank volume in water movement and some semi decent lighting (power compacts as a min but ideally T5's). A skimmer again would help but you can run without it.
• Hardcoral reef - for SPS corals you need much higher light requirements (metal halide lights) and a lot more water flow (X30 tank volume). You also need pristine water conditions so a skimmer is highly recommend.

Most people tend to want to start our with a fish only with liverock (FOWLR) but soon end up wanting soft corals as well

Best bet for the first tank is to get a good idea about what you want to keep (fish only or fish and corals with other inverts etc) and then base your equipment choices around that. Given that most people end up going down the route of fish and inverts with software corals and the odd LPS coral you would want for that:

A tank (bigger is better)
a couple of good powerheads to give at least x20 tank volume in water turn over
Decent lighting (2 or 3 T5 tubes ideally).
A skimmer (optional but highly recommended)
A sump (optional again but highly recommended, adds to water volume and gives you a place to hide equipment).
Liverock (use the aquarium calculator linked at the top of this forum to work out how much).
RO unit - Optional as you can buy RO from your LFS but would highly recommend and pays for itself in a short amount of time.
refractometer - for checking salt levels
Salt - I have just started using red sea coral pro salt which is working well for me.
Test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. phosphate is also useful as is PH.
Contains for storing RO
Container for mixing salt water
Smaller powerhead and heater for mixing saltwater

And thats about it. Best place for information on setting up a saltwater tank would be here. have a read through the sticky topics and also the journals as you will then see how people have set up from start to finish.

 

[youngfisher]

Kari your evil!
Everyone is helping me for my planning marine.
And you rob my fame!!
How could youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Im going for the Orca tl550, so get that.
Then I can just copy you lol.
Please please please make a journal!

YF

 

[karigupi]

Thanks everyone, some brilliant info there, not sure what an RO unit is, could anyone help with that one?

Sorry youngfisher, didnt mean to steal your thunder

I will get more info on the setup at the weekend, we would probably be looking at just fish to start with, my daughter has her heart set on something called a mudskipper I think, so I need to research that first & see what environment it prefers.

 

[youngfisher]

Please keep me updated Kari.
That tank sounds like a real bargain.
I think im going to start off FOWLR.
But going to get some soft corals etc.
Just got to save up the funds.
I just read somewhere the mudskipper is brakish?

YF

 

[Trod]

An RO unit is a Reverse osmosis water making machine. It basically takes out all the nasties from tap water, that can make fish and corals ill.
You can either buy RO water from your LFS usually around £3-£3.50 for 25L, but this can work out expensive and a little inconvenient, having to make weekly visits to collect it can be a pita, Its also not the cleanest, some water has been known to have high nitrates
The best way is to buy your own unit have a look at RO man http/www.ro-man.com/shop/index.php/cPath...34fff1e8b173b4a or ebay where you could get a second hand one, just have to be carefull when buying 2nd hand that the membrane is ok, or you could end up having to buy a new one and these can be expensive. I would recommend the 75GPD one with a DI unit, it makes much cleaner water, which is what you want. You ideally want to achieve 0 TDS (total disolved solids) this is quite easy with a DI unit
Add TDS meter to your list

Hope that all makes sense

I don't think Mudskippers are suitable for a marine tank. I believe they need a large specialist tank

 

[youngfisher]

Just like to say thanks trod.
You explained to me what it means.
So cheers.

YF

 

[karigupi]

An RO unit is a Reverse osmosis water making machine. It basically takes out all the nasties from tap water, that can make fish and corals ill.
You can either buy RO water from your LFS usually around £3-£3.50 for 25L, but this can work out expensive and a little inconvenient, having to make weekly visits to collect it can be a pita, Its also not the cleanest, some water has been known to have high nitrates
The best way is to buy your own unit have a look at RO man [URL="http/www.ro-man.com/shop/index.php/cPath...34fff1e8b173b4a"]http/www.ro-man.com/shop/index.php/cPath...34fff1e8b173b4a[/URL] or ebay where you could get a second hand one, just have to be carefull when buying 2nd hand that the membrane is ok, or you could end up having to buy a new one and these can be expensive. I would recommend the 75GPD one with a DI unit, it makes much cleaner water, which is what you want. You ideally want to achieve 0 TDS (total disolved solids) this is quite easy with a DI unit
Add TDS meter to your list

Hope that all makes sense

I don't think Mudskippers are suitable for a marine tank. I believe they need a large specialist tank

Cheers Trod, thats really helpful I think it would have to wait till the next month to get an RO unit, but it sounds like a good investment.

I'll have a look at the mudskipper, i've probably got the name wrong & its somethine else entirely we have a lovely marine department at my LFS, I will take a walk around at the weekend & write a list of the fish we like, then do some research on their requirements

 

[youngfisher]

Good idea kari.
I think im doing it the other way round.
Going for the equipment etc.
Then working my fish around it.
Keep me updated though!
I wondered how long it would be till you tried marine.
And I dont feel like im jumping in the deep end.
As you start fishkeeping the same time as me if you remember.

YF

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah the best thing to do is get a good idea of what you want to keep and then build your equipment around it. You can do it the other way but then have to be prepared for not being able to have the livestock your want because your tanks not big enough or you don't have the right lighting.

Defo wont be a mudskipper if it is a marine fish

 

[VictorMeldrew]

My advice is to buy the best equipment you can afford at the time, do not try to buy cheap stuff and then change later, it will end up costing way more in the long run, i would buy individually myself and get the bare essential's to start a reef tank (if thats what you are going to keep) forget about RO units at the moment, for a good one it costs a fair bit of money, RO water can be purchesed at most lfs for about 10p a litre so will not break the bank, the equipment you can get is endless once you get going most of which you do not need to start out. I will have a skimmer which would be perfect for smaller tank for sale very soon and its cheap, pm me for details.

 

[karigupi]

Yeah the best thing to do is get a good idea of what you want to keep and then build your equipment around it. You can do it the other way but then have to be prepared for not being able to have the livestock your want because your tanks not big enough or you don't have the right lighting.

Defo wont be a mudskipper if it is a marine fish

Its really going to bug me now, what that cute little fish was, i'm going on a google search lol. I think that is what I will do, choose our feature fish, then find out what it needs & what tank mates it can have.

Of course, I still have to bribe hubby, but he knows he has to give in eventually or I sulk lol

 

[karigupi]

Thank you so much to everyone who has offered advice so far, it is very much appreciated, I have a nice quiet evening tonight, so am going to sit & read through as much as I can on here.

I have decided to use one of my current tanks instead of buying a new one., It is 52x11x18inches, which I make about 170ltrs, not huge, but a nice size to start with I think.

I am going to go for a Soft Coral Reef, the calculator tells me I need 19k live rock, I also have a large filter running in there at the moment, would it be ok to keep running that, then get a powerhead for the other end of the tank, or should I take out the filter completely & buy two powerheads?

Am trying to put together a shopping list so that I can estimate the costs & maybe snag a few ebay bargains before visiting my LFS at the weekend.

I have no lighting unit in there at the moment, it has some small LED lights which attach to the tank, so I need to buy a whole lighting unit, can anyone recommend one which wont break the bank & will be suitable for a soft coral reef?

Thanks for your help guys & gals, I will buy you all a round at the bar when i'm done