Rio 180 First Time Setup

[ful56_uk]

hi all,

i ma really new to this and brought a rio 180 that was on offer really cheap.

i want to keep clown fish and maybe a couple of others which i havent chosen on as of yet.

i need major help, what else do i need apart a from a lot of time.

this is what i think i need but i need help on what to buy and any other item i migth require.

I got the tank!
do i need a new heater because they heat may not be good enought? if so what one
Filter do i need a new filter becuase the one that it comes with is not good enought if so what one
i think i need coral sand is that right?
UV light? or will the light comes with it be ok?
live rock
coral? do i need this
plants what about these?
salt mix?
how do i go about cleaning the tank at mo it is empty what can i clean it with?

anything else i need for this?

any help would be excellent as that i have no clue and people i have asked already are useless

thanks for any advice

mark

 

[l337dave]

hi mate,

I'm very new to marine too, I researched a _huge_ amount (probably about a month) everything that I would need to buy before I bought anything. I was lucky because I already have cold water fish and a pond - so I understood about filtration and the nitrogen cycle and I think that helped a lot. It was really hard to have a tank just sat in the living room but I think that if we are going to keep animals of any kind then we need to make sure we know how to look after them. If I were you I would, I do tons of reading (this site, reefcentral, nano-reef etc...)

I'll try and answer as best I can:
do i need a new heater because they heat may not be good enought? if so what one - the juwel one should be fine, it should be about 200w

Filter do i need a new filter becuase the one that it comes with is not good enought if so what one - I would remove the whole filter box it's going to be more trouble than it's worth.

i think i need coral sand is that right? read up on 'live sand'

UV light? or will the light comes with it be ok? depends what you want to keep - just fish will be fine, some kinds of coral will be able to survive. if you want to keep coral most kinds you will need more intense lighting (T5 , T5compact, Metal Halide in order of price) UV is usually used for filtration so I think you have this confused with something else...

live rock - yes this will be the heart of your filtration system

coral? do i need this only if you want it to look pretty

plants what about these? probably not....

salt mix? depends how you want to do it, basically you have 2 choices buy a 'reverse osomosis' machine and purify your own water and then dose it with salt or by RO water with salt from a shop, (this is what I decided to do) if you go this way you will also need RO water (no salt) for top ups. again read up about this so you understand why. _Eveything_ that I have read on here says NOT to use tap water.

how do i go about cleaning the tank at mo it is empty what can i clean it with? lots of water and salt - you can use vinegar on stains if you need to. Ideally you need to find out if any fish medic's have been used in the tank as things like copper can cause big problems with marine life.



phew hope that helps - this is all stuff I have learned over the last few months so I'm by no means an expert, but I'd advise you start by reading about the nitrogen cycle, how this will affect your tank how to test your water.

dave.

 

[ful56_uk]

hi mate,

I'm very new to marine too, I researched a _huge_ amount (probably about a month) everything that I would need to buy before I bought anything. I was lucky because I already have cold water fish and a pond - so I understood about filtration and the nitrogen cycle and I think that helped a lot. It was really hard to have a tank just sat in the living room but I think that if we are going to keep animals of any kind then we need to make sure we know how to look after them. If I were you I would, I do tons of reading (this site, reefcentral, nano-reef etc...)

I'll try and answer as best I can:
do i need a new heater because they heat may not be good enought? if so what one - the juwel one should be fine, it should be about 200w

Filter do i need a new filter becuase the one that it comes with is not good enought if so what one - I would remove the whole filter box it's going to be more trouble than it's worth.

i think i need coral sand is that right? read up on 'live sand'

UV light? or will the light comes with it be ok? depends what you want to keep - just fish will be fine, some kinds of coral will be able to survive. if you want to keep coral most kinds you will need more intense lighting (T5 , T5compact, Metal Halide in order of price) UV is usually used for filtration so I think you have this confused with something else...

live rock - yes this will be the heart of your filtration system

coral? do i need this only if you want it to look pretty

plants what about these? probably not....

salt mix? depends how you want to do it, basically you have 2 choices buy a 'reverse osomosis' machine and purify your own water and then dose it with salt or by RO water with salt from a shop, (this is what I decided to do) if you go this way you will also need RO water (no salt) for top ups. again read up about this so you understand why. _Eveything_ that I have read on here says NOT to use tap water.

how do i go about cleaning the tank at mo it is empty what can i clean it with? lots of water and salt - you can use vinegar on stains if you need to. Ideally you need to find out if any fish medic's have been used in the tank as things like copper can cause big problems with marine life.



phew hope that helps - this is all stuff I have learned over the last few months so I'm by no means an expert, but I'd advise you start by reading about the nitrogen cycle, how this will affect your tank how to test your water.

dave.

cheers for that excellent help. i have been reading loads f stuff and i will read p on what you sugget, do you also have any recommends for books on marine aquariums?

mark

 

[skitzzzz]

have just converted my rio 180 to marine tank at the mo
tell you what i got if it helps as everything going great so far
took out the internal filter sharp razor did the trick and slowly
external filter - teratec ex700 - found it really easy can swap media etc dead easy to change etc - in at mo rowaphos/filter wool/activated carbon
seio m820 powerheads - great flow - - did have 2 maxijet 600 but not strong enough
t8 arcadia blue t8 arcadia white - lights
origional heater that came with tank
20kg live rock
fine crushed coral then 2 bags of olitee live sand on top
5kg ocean rock for base
salifert test kits also saltmaster one
instant ocean 8kg bag salt - enough for start and good 25% water change after cycle bit left over
glass hydrometer for testing salt
painted back tank blue
think thats it hope it helps
oooo forgot bought seaclone 100 skimmer its doing good job took couple days to settle tweaked it a bit now ok but iam gonna upgrade soon to the aquamedic turbo float when funds allow
heres pic my tank if it helps

clean up crew added now lookinf for 2 clown fish

 

[l337dave]

@skitzzzz wow you rock is uber purple!

Can't really recommend any books cause I'm a bit of a techy tbh!

reading stuff on here , nano-reef.com , reefcentral.com , reefkeeping.com will be a good start, here is the most friendly tho!

liveaquaria.com is good also too because it explains a lot about the fish / coral that it is selling eg how difficult it is to keep what the minimum tank size is etc

there is lots to learn but with the internet all the info that you need is available to you, before you buy anything spend a few weeks think about what you want to keep in there as your equipment will be based a lot on this. it's really really hard but don't do impulse buys! plan out what you need and where is the best place to buy it this will save you tons of cash - I just bought a new powerhead (seio 620) had a look round it's was £37.99 in the fish shop and was £23.50 delivered from ebay!

B)

dave.

 

[N1z]

A better site for fish facts and costs in dollars is www.marinedepotlive.com i think or marinedepo.com as they will tell u the better needs in tank sizes etc.

 

[Chac]

do i need a new heater because they heat may not be good enought? if so what one

You would be better with 2 x 150w instead of 1 higher rated heater

Filter do i need a new filter becuase the one that it comes with is not good enought if so what one

Live Rock is the best IMO filtration for your tank, this coupled witha decent flow will cover you Biological Filtration

i think i need coral sand is that right?

Sand isnt a must - a lot of reefers go Bare bottom So to speak

UV light? or will the light comes with it be ok?

UV Light aint wat you need, persaonlly I would bite the bullet & get either Halides of a Luminaire - obviously really depends on what you plan on stocking

live rock

Best way to filter a reef IMO, in a 180 I would use around 30kg

coral? do i need this

Not sure what you mean by "Do I need these" - If you want to add Corals to your tank then reasearch them & decide what you would like to keep

salt mix?

Not sure what the question is

how do i go about cleaning the tank at mo it is empty what can i clean it with?

A credit card/stanly blade will remove any algea, use viniger to clean the inside then was with fesh water - no soap etc.

anything else i need for this?

Refractometer
Test Kits
Water Change Buckets
Skimmer
Powerheads
Books
Research Research Research Research Research & more Research

Different size tank, but may help you out