Starting Up A Nano.

[Darkstar]

I've recently put my zebra plecs up for sale and was intending to now try my hand at marines, or more specifically a nano marine tank.
I've been looking at purchasing the following tank, which at 28USG is probably on the edge of what could be called a nano. However it appears to be a pretty good tank and I think shoud suit my needs adaquately....thoughts?

http/www.swelluk.com/marine/marine-aquariums-14/nano-aquariums-991/d-d-28-us-gal-nano-cube-115912.html

I also have hundreds of questions regarding the setup but it wouldnt' be fair to put them all here and would no doubt put people off answering. So I'll narrow it down to just one question: Does anyone have any recommendations as to what is a good nano marine starter book to buy? I can handle something for the more experienced aquarist as long as the basics are still covered... as I need something which answers the most common questions regarding setting up a new tank from scratch, inhabitants, maintenance, how to cure LR and LS etc etc...

Any help would be most appreciated.

Darkstar

 

[Morri]

The D&D is a good tank a nano is anything under 130L so you could get away with a bigger tank and if space / budget allow I would look at bigger tanks for a couple of reasons

1. Bigger tanks are much easier to look after greater water volume = more stable tank
2. You are limited to the fish you can keep

I would recomend reading a few journals on here see what you fancy then design the tank around that you are a lot more limited on stocking levels in a marine over a fresh water system but feel free to ask al the questions you need. I am not really aware of any book that would cover all parts of the marine world.

 

[Darkstar]

Thanks for the reply. Admittedly, I would like to keep more fish than the recommended stocking level of a 28 gal tank but as you say it does come down to space and budget. I'm not opposed to a bigger tank, however it would mean me off loading some of my other fish in a 4ft tank in my living room to make room for the marine tank. However, the main conern I have is cost...while money isn't really an object, each time I've asked marine keepers how much does it costs to run a marine tank I'm always left with the infuriating response of 'if you have to ask you can't afford it'...I probably can afford I'm just not stupid enough to go into something without checking out the cost first.
I have no problem with one off purchases, live stock etc....it's more the monthly runnning costs such as salt etc that I'd like to be aware of before I jump in - salt appears to be pretty expensive and the amount used for each water change appears to be quite a lot.

What size tank would you recommend then - the biggest I could go to, with the space I have in mind, is 48x18x24


The other reason, for getting the D&D is it's all self contained...while one or two bits may require upgrading it should all be pretty mcuh ready to go out of the box I'd of thought - the only major reqauirement being needed would be a chiller.

Thanks

 

[Morri]

The Cost of keeping Marines can be high but it can also be done cheap with some bargains about at the moment 75Gallon is a nice size and would open up a lot more stocking options bargains can be picked up on fleabay etc.

I think the main thing you need to consider before the tank is things like do you want to keep Corals if so do you want LPS,SPS and/or Softies this will determine what lighting options are open to you.

Make a dream list of fish that you would like to keep liveaquaria has a good selection of fish with pictures this will make a good guide for tank sizes.

If you are after a all in one solution RedSea MAx 250 and 130 are available a lot on here use the Orca TL550 this gives a bit more room than the D&D I started on a TL550 and soon moved to a 100 Gallon Tank as I wanted to keep specfic fish could ave saved myself a lot of money if I got the bigger one straight off.

Best to start out with an idea what you want to keep then the rest will either fall into place or compromises made

 

[steelhealr]

Have fun and welcome aboard.
Start up manual

SH

 

[Harry1996]

i found the reef aquarium book helpfull it has a bit on setting up and also lots on fish and coral. there are lots of other things in there too.
http/www.amazon.co.uk/Reef-Aquarium-Phil-Hunt/dp/1842861921/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271831641&sr=1-7
also can i just say that a running cost per month on a 4 foot by 2 foot 2 foot tank (with LED lighting) is 13.99 this also inc a sump. if you are not going to have a sump then it would be much less. because the sump pump you would need runs at 78Watts
there is an easy way to calculate running costs
14*the number of watts
then divide it by 1000
then * it by how many hours its going to be on for.
then * it by 7 because there are 7 days in a week.
then times it by 4 because there are about 4 weeks in a month.
if it still makes no sense then have a look at one of my topics "im thinking of upgrading in 6 -12 months" here is the link http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/324525-thinking-of-upgrading-in-6-12-months/page__st__20 its about half way down the page