Setting Up A Marine Tank

[FiSh123FiSh]

Hi,

I've recently got a aquarium (30 gallons) wondered if this would be suitable?... So thats about as far as I have got.
I just need some experienced giudence.

Thanks in advance,

Tom.

 

[Gordon_46]

I am quite a newbie to this side of the pond aswell, however you have to decide what you want first, a reef tank, Fish only with live rock or other??
Once you have decided that you are best looking at all the different equipment you will need to get and if you want a sump etc, etc.
But one step at a time, so what do you want a nice reef tank with fish, inverts and corals? A Fish only tank with live rock?
Hope this helps

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

I would like a tank with fish, how much is the minimum that the things for a marine tank would cost?

Tom

 

[Gordon_46]

Its hard to put a price on marine systems as they are all different. Would you like some Live rock in there with the fish or just fish. If you don't want liverock you can buy just normal Base rock which looks good but is alot cheaper and isn't live??

If you don't want Liverock its not much differnet to setting up a freshwater tropical tank. The cost won't really be that much more either.

Kind of need a bit more info on what you want though. Would you like shrimps, crabs, or any other inverts??

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Ok I will give some more infomation,

I would like a community marine aquarium with quite small hardy fish, shrimp, live rock, anenomies( can't spell it ), easy to look after, low maintanence.

Tom.

 

[Musho3210]

Ok I will give some more infomation,

I would like a community marine aquarium with quite small hardy fish, shrimp, live rock, anenomies( can't spell it ), easy to look after, low maintanence.

Tom.

Display Anemones (which i guess are the ones you want) dont fall under that category of easy to look after, and low maintainence.

On the other hand, a 30 gallon tank could probably hold 2 clownfish, a goby, and maybe one other small-medium sized fish. You could also give the goby (if it is a shrimp goby, luckily shrimp gobies are very easy to care for) a pistol shrimp companion, they work together to eat and protect their home. Both the goby and the pistol shrimp are easy to care for.

You could also fit some cleaner shrimp and or peppermint and or blood shrimp.

In my opinion, the best thing to start out with is a FOWLR. Although not the cheapest, it will prove worthy in the long run since, if you ever want to, it is extremely easy to move on up to a coral reef tank. Plus live rock is natures filter and arguably the best filter in marine tanks. Good for beginners IMO.

 

[svirid]

I started less then a year ago my 28 gal reef tank, I have 6 corals, most of them are very hardy and easy to keep,
I have 1 fire shrimp, whole bunch of crabs and diff snails + I got a pair of clowns.
I have some pic a did a while ago

Reef is defenetely harder and more expensive to keep, but its really great to have it.
Mucho is right it will be very easy to upgrade to it later, just make sure u do not use
much medication in your main tank.

U would defenetely want LR, dont be cheap on this one its a main beauty of the tank. Buy uncured rocks its very easy to cure them.
I spend on mine $200.

Most expensive things:

Lights: $150 and up for your tank, I have this ones
http/www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_p...t_ID=pc-ll24652

they are good for fish and many corals too. Of course for some corals u would need MH lights they start from 450 for your tank.
But they need just for some corals which are mostly very hard to keep. So go with compact lights. Make sure it has Actinic light and Moon Led, its really cool u will never regret it. Buy the ones with the legs mounted.

Skimmer: it is not important if u do often water change, but I would not risk to go without it, I think 120-180 bucks u spent for it will
cover your expenses in case of the ammonia spike or other dirty stuff.

External Filter: u can get one up to $100, dont buy hang on, it too noisy. Filter will let u to put media to remove phosphate and other stuff from the water. I would not go without one.

Everything else is a change ), for sure u would need lots of other stuff but they are not that expensive.

Let me know if you need more help.

P.S. I forgot, u would need good RO/DI unit, trust me u dont want to buy water from LFS. A good one will cost u apx $150-200.

 

[Musho3210]

you can get a MH light for that tank 150 second hand, i garuntee, as long as you know where to look. This is american dollars.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Ok, I noticed that the prices are all in $! Do you know the exchange rate so I could work out how much it would be for £.
So anemones will be a not quite so good option. I will be doing lots of partial water changes as I'm a kid and don't have much to do... apart from GCSE's but they can wait. I only really want cheap and hardy species of fish so clowns and those little fish that hide in holes which I think you stated. Are shrimp hardy and easy to look after?

Thanks

Tom.

 

[jeasko]

Tom

shrimp are very hardy providing you dont mix species that are not compatible, so just ask before buying to make sure they are ok, is there and decent Local Fish Shops (LFS) in your area as a visit to them could proove very valuable, not only to help you decide on the species of fish you want to keep but also about how to run the tank as well.

I have to agree with a comment earlier regarding skimmers, I to would not chance running without one especially if your not running a sump or refuge as it will help towards waste export from the water, which in turn may help to keep algae at bay. As already stated the best filter is Live Rock but especially if your a newbie to this a skimmer may just give you higher error margin should something go wrong.

there are other things to consider when setting up a tank, i would urge you to look at the sticky on this section about setting up a new tank (or click on this link http/www.fishforums.net/content/Marine-a...A-Marine-Tank-/ ) as there are running costs involved here not least of all the cost of salt, there are other bits of kit you may want to consider as well such as a uv sterilzer which will help stop the spread of white spot should you introduce an infected fish, it will aslo help to keep the water quality good as well, then there is the cost of phosphate remover to help combat algae, and carbon to help buff the water then there are the test kits, the list goes on, and this is before any live stock is added, im by no means trying to put you off doing this but want you to be aware before going head long into this that there are on going costs involved

as for price conversion very approximately £1 = $2 so to convert from dollars to pounds divide in half, and to convert from pounds to dollars times 2 (bear in mind this is only approximate and a very rough guide)

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Hi,

Thanks jeasko for you comment, infact all the comments have been useful I am going to have to think about the choices I will have to make!
My lfs is Maidenhead aquatics so they're pretty good.

Tom.

 

[jeasko]

try not ot limit yourself to one store as especially as maidenhead is a chain and tends to be less interested in the welfare of the fish and more interested in £, also dont forget any questions you want answers to just post on here and ui'm sure these guys will have the answer between them.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Well maidenhead aquatics are a good quality shop which are for fish so even though they are a chain shop does not been that they will not look after fish. Its really the people who look after the fish you have got to worry about. Places like pet city and Petco which sell loads of different things who won't pay as much attention to fish. I do agree though that they are after the £.

Tom.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Whats a RO/DI unit?

 

[ox5477]

It's a series of filters (Pre-filter, Carbon Filter, Reverse Osmosis Filter, De-Ionizing Filter) Basically, it takes everything out of the water except for the water using the theory of osmosis. You can find semi-good deals on filters if you look around on eBay