Saltwater Changeover?

[danb_1985]

I currently have a 14 gallon (63 litre) 2ft freshwater aquarium. i have enjoyed keeping this but always wanted a marine set-up.

i would like some adivce on
- the steps i need to take to carry out the change over
- the possible cost in th uk
- what i can get for the size of the tank............wanted 1 clown fish, 1 royal gramma, 1 flame angelfish and 1 cleaner shrimp + some rock but not too many? know this isnt possible in my tank but they were ideas

all advice is welcome

thanks

 

[Crazy fishes]

I think, that many including myself, would say that the tank is on the small side for all those fish. However you could do a coral only tank with some inverts. A single 150-250 W metal halide would be sufficent lighting for SPS corals like acropora, stylophora and montipora etc get say 50x water turn over on the pumps and possibly a small refugium (2 gallons/ ~10litres) that would be plenty. Some coral only tanks are really outstanding. However if you want fish then you will need to upgrade the tank. Price depends on what you wish to keep and the equipment that is subsequently required however it is not cheap and you are still looking at hundreds for a smallish aquarium.

Hope this helps

Regards

 

[danb_1985]

thanks
i do want fish in it though but do not have the room for a bigger tank. i know tank was too small for all the fish but is it not possible for a clown, the gamma and the shrimp? i've been looking on here and some people hae 2 clowns and shrimp in similar sixed tanks?

 

[Guinness]

I have a 70 gallon freshwater tank, that I have now moved the inhabitants into 5 other tanks.

Now looking to change the 70G to a marine tank, but to be honest, even after reading lots of books & the internet, I am a bit stumped.

Seems every book I read, gives different info. Lots of chat about live rock, sumps, skimmers, RO etc, but unlike freshwater tanks, there seems to be no real advice as to how to set a tank up.

I am in no hurry as to stock this tank, & as yet I haven't moved to Marine as I can't work out if for example why I don't need a filter. For freshwater that would be a must, but some say that filters are detrimental, but can't say why?

Live rocks seem to be the thing- once again why ??

Perhaps it might be a secret thing- to keep marines to themselves as they are so beautiful!!

Can't anyone here give me a guide ? Money not a problem,but my local FS is tropical only .

An idiots guide would be good.

 

[n3ont3tra]

danb, you could probably have two fish in that tank. Either two clowns or a clown and a royal gramma. You could also have shrimp because they don't add much to the bioload. Also, for clowns, try to get either Tank bred Percula clown/s or Tank bred Occelaris clowns.

Guinness, If you want a good book about setting up a marine tank, The New Marine Aquarium: Step by Step Setup and Stocking Guide by Michael Paletta might help. I'm not sure if they have that book in the UK though. Basically, you get the tank, you mix the saltwater, you add live rock, you add sand. Done.

I was confused about the filters when I first started as well. Basically, live rock IS your filter. It contains all the good bacteria that you'll need, as well as other things like copepods.

You can do a tank with an external filter and little or no live rock. However, most people don't recommend this because the sponges and things in the filter trap debris and produce nitrates. There are ways to avoid this, but I'm not going to go into that.... If you want more info you might want to start a seperate thread.

Hope this helps.