Planning A Marine Aquarium

[techen]

That's a insanely cheap price list.
 
My protein skimmer cost me 70 quid new being a bubble magus.
 
RO unit am getting off a member off another site for free and it's a 3 stage too
 
Live rock cost me 10 quid per KG too.

 

[Chad]

For a fish only tank Instant Ocean is my favorite salt...for a reef tank Instant Ocean Reef Crystals is. It's also a few pounds cheaper than the Kent though it is 1.3kg less salt too.
http/www.portonaquapet.co.uk/Instant_Ocean_750_Litre_Bucket_25kg-M12008
 
I agree that Salifert is a great test kit, so is Elos if you can get it and a bit less costly than the Salifert and as accurate.
 
For a good skimmer expect to pay at least $120 pounds for a HOB or more for an insump model. Techens bubble magnus is a good skimmer and that's a good price for it as well.

 

[garycooper34]

Ok.
 
Right thank you everyone for your help.
 
Payday isnt until the end of the month so I will be hanging around for the 2nd hand bargains. I'll see how close I can get to my original thoughts.

 

[garycooper34]

Hi Everyone,
 
I have progressed quite well.
 
So far my budget stands at:
 
12kg Live Rock                 £40           (from a friend running one of their tanks down)
12kg Coral Sand               £24           (found in a fish shop!)
8kg Instant Ocean Salt     £26           (3.5kg used, 4.5kg left)
Protein Skimmer               £30           (from my friend running their tank down. TMC V2 600 protein skimmer)
Refractometer                   £0             (included from my friend)
3 Stage RO Unit               £38            (found from a specialist water product manufacturer. They have made their own range)
Boyu Powerhead              £10            (auction bargain on Ebay)
Marine keeping book        £0              (included from my friend)
 
So all in so far, I have spent £168. Seeing that I originally budgeted for only the 4kg of salt, having 4.5kg left warrants the extra spend. I go on holiday in June, so the tank is now cycling and it gives me time to read up, but no livestock will be added until late June. So, bearing this is mind with the extra 2kg of sand (~ £4) and extra 2kg of rock (~ £6), it's come in at £158 with the powerhead replacing the UV unit.
 
I have priced up livestock at £110, so I will be bang on budget!

 

[techen]

Nvm

 

[CezzaXV]

Glad to hear it's going well for you. Have you got your test kits yet? You also don't mention a tds Meyer in your list, which is needed to know your RO unit is doing it's job and for you to know when the filters need replacing.

 

[garycooper34]

Hi,
 
Yes,
 
I have got both the API Saltwater and API Reef Master Test Kit and from the looks of the water test results, the RO unit is doing its job perfectly!
 
 
I am also making sure I flush it before every use. The RO unit is new and I got some specs from the company who manufacture it for how long each filter should last based on my usage. Very much looking forward to getting the livestock in a months time.
 
The only thing is as the rock is mature from a donor aquarium, feeding the bacteria and increasing so the bacteria can cope with the sudden increase of bioload when I add the fish. Some have said fish flakes, some a prawn and some have said ammonia.
 
As ammonia is fairly hard to get hold of unless I go to the town centre (uurrgghh I hate shopping), what is best and is there a good way of building the bacteria up ready for the bioload?

 

[CezzaXV]

You should really use a TDS meter for testing your RO water, as it will test how much of anything there is in your water, rather than specific things.

Your live rock should have plenty of bacteria in it to house some livestock, as long as you build it up slowly. Putting large amounts of bottled ammonia could very well kill of some of the other good life in your rock. The answer is to build up your stocking very slowly, and monitor your levels when you do.

 

[garycooper34]

Hi,
 
Basically, to get hold of a good range of marines, they need to be ordered online which therefore, due to shipping costs, means they need to be ordered at once.
 
Livestock will be: 4 fish, 2 shrimp, 2 hermits, 2 turbo snails
 
 
Hence asking the best way to build everything up ready.

 

[CezzaXV]

Is there nowhere local you can get your livestock from? If your LFS doesn't have a good range, they may be able to order in what you want, so it's worth asking. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with adding all my stocking at once.

 

[garycooper34]

I could try asking, but they're also very expensive!
 
 
There is apparently already lots of life in the aquarium. Last night I noticed 1 hermit crab, 1 other crab, some kind of clam and a bristle worm.
 
Seeing that I will have cycled it with donor rock for 1.5 months and inserted prawns to increase the activity of the bacteria before I put fish in, it should be ok and the bacteria will be used to the level of ammonia.
 
One thing is there seems to be an issue with Nitrate. From the saltwater kit it is registering 20 following a pwc so I tried the freshwater kit as the liquids have the same part numbers and it's come out at 5 (which is more believable) - both using the Saltwater Nitrate scale card. Any reason for quite a bit of discrepancy between the two even though the test liquid is the same?

 

[CezzaXV]

Bottle number 2 on the nitrate kit is notorious for solidifying in the bottle, and you need to give it a good hard shake, and even then it's iffy if you trust the results. I'd be more inclined to believe it was 20 rather than 5, as the false results are usually low rather than high.

 

[garycooper34]

hmmm.
 
 
Seeing that the saltwater kit is newer, I would've thought that is more reliable. I give the nitrate bottle 2 a shake of at least 40 seconds or so and I did this to both bottles I have. Seeing that it reckoned nitrate still increased following a water change, I'm more inclined to say it is 5.
 
What should I trust otherwise, there is no other way to reduce the nitrate below that of the water going in.

 

[Donya]

What should I trust otherwise, there is no other way to reduce the nitrate below that of the water going in.

 
Newly mixed water shouldn't be giving positive readings on things like nitrate; something sounds off. Do you have a TDS meter yet to check the output from your RO unit?

 

[CezzaXV]

What should I trust otherwise, there is no other way to reduce the nitrate below that of the water going in.

 
Newly mixed water shouldn't be giving positive readings on things like nitrate; something sounds off. Do you have a TDS meter yet to check the output from your RO unit?

I agree. RO water is (or should be) 100% pure water, with absolutely nothing else in it.