Starting Up A Marine Tank

[HODDY]

Hi all i got a 3ft tank for christmas so that means i will have my 2ft tank empty.The dimensions are 2ftx1ftx1ft.I would like to know how to start a marine tank and what fish/inverts would be good.thankyou.

any info please let me know.

 

[boshank23]

i think the best bit of advice is to read as much as you can, invest in some good books, scour the tinternet....for fish stuff obviously

its a fair bit more difficult to make a marine tank work in a smaller tank, the water parameters can change very rapidly, the consistency that marine life needs to thrive is hard to maintain. not saying it cant be done but stick to very hardy species, don't over stock and the most important thing is take your time!

for a tank that size i would recomend a FOWLR system fish only with live rock, some inverts have certain lighting requirements that i think would be hard to acheive on that size tank.

 

[HODDY]

Do you think its best to stick with tropical? Would it be best to have a tank of mollies because i want to breed them anyway but wasnt sure if this tank was to small for them you see.

 

[Matthew5664]

Not saying you can't however you rarley need to have deep pockets this side of the hobby. Breeding fish has it's own rewards. If you are in with the LFS you could sell them the fish you breed for credit and start getting things for a salty tank?

 

[boshank23]

i'll second that, its not a cheap hobby, but name 1 that is. i had kept trops for a few years and found marine much more interesting and rewarding. i started with a 3ft tank thinking it would be enough to keep me happy........i got the bug and have just bought a rena aqualife.

why not go all out and ditch the trops in favour of marine, get your 3ft tank drilled and use the 2ft as a sump? if you searched around i bet you could get the rest of the gear you need for peanuts.....well if you know where to look.

i picked up a full setup for £200 including 25Kg of live rock.

 

[HODDY]

nah im sticking with my 3ft tank as trop because ive only just set it up.What would i need for the 2ft mairne if i do start.Pretend the price tag isnt on any of the things lol.

 

[SkiFletch]

If I may suggest, first plug around the members tank threads here, read some diaries of what members have gone through in their setups and try and get an idea of what livestock you would want to keep. Have a look through liveaquaria.com or other online fish sites for some ideas on what livestock you might want. Keep in mind that Fish only tanks with live rock (FOWLR) are much cheaper than full reef tanks packed full of corals and other photosynthetic inverts. Then, once you think you know what you want to keep, maintain a really open mind, and come back to ask us about the aquaria you like. Its quite possible that you've chosen something very costly, difficult, or unsuitable for your tank size so be prepared to go back to the drawing board a lot.

You're talking in kilograms so I assume that means you're a UK resident?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it's a fascinating side to the hobby and i'm sure you'll find keeping saltwater fish really rewarding. what you should do now is read read read.

go through the pinned topics on this forum, look through the members journals, look through the fish index. hopefully that should give you a little idea what your taking on and what you want to do with it.