Thinking About Marine

[Rodders]

I know this has been asked a million times on here probably, i've had a little read through but just wondered:

Have a 145gal tank that I may to convert to marine.

Now I know the light is going to cost about £800 ??
LFS said about 5 boxes of 25k LR, £1250

What else do I need??

I have two external rena filters. 2x300W heaters. UV sterliser.

Obvioulsy all the gravel will need changing.

I will need RO water ?? will have to set up a system to make my own for this amount of water.

What about skimmers, will I have to drill into the tank or something???

Also, I have a painted black background as its such a big tank, black will look rubbish wont it? Dunno if I can get it off with paint stripper or something and paint it blue.

Thanks Mark B)

 

[Chac]

Hey Mark

A 140g is an excellent sized tank

Lighting What type of lighting are you thinking of, Halides or Florescent Strip, I would say you will be able to get Halides cheaper than £800.00

Live Rock In a 140g I would say (Depending on Aquscaping) you will need roughly around 70 - 80 kg mark, have a look at Reef Bones (Ill send you a link)

RO Unit Try www.ro-man.co.uk or Osmotics.co.uk ( Your LFS will more than likely seel RO water, may be worth it for the initial fill)

Skimmer Have a look at both Deltec & Aquamdicâ's web site, You cant beat the Germans for Skimmers

Last week I removed my old Black backing and replaced it with light blue which looks 100 times better than black, defo brightens the tank up no end, you may be able to scrap the paint off with either a Stanley blade or a scrapper

Ill pm you you later today with some seller of some good quality Live Rock & Halides

Del


Ps I take it you are going for a Reef



PPS - Other bits & Bobs

Salifert Test Kits
Refractometer
Buckets
Spare Hose
Nets
Phosphate Remover
Auto Top Up
Spare Heaters
Spare Power Heads

I will think of more as the day goes on…..

 

[ASD]

As Chac says try not to buy all your live rock from your LFS. Check out aquarist classifieds and your local free ads for poeple shutting down their systems. Likewise for equipment.

I think black can look just as good as blue, blue is the more common choice, black has a greater sense of depth. Its all about personal preference.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, Chac pretty much covered it all. My only piece of additional advice is dont forget Ebay when purchasing lighting and skimmers... Can usually find HUGE savings there on those items. My lights were nearly 1/2 the cost on ebay versus at my LFS

 

[Rodders]

Thanks for the info so far!!!

Yes I want a reef tank.

Im not sure on lights, what evers the best really. On my tank now I have 4 strip lights but they arnt any good are they?

Will I need a sump?

Whats this auto top up, obvioulsy it tops up, but what from, the sump or a RO supply?

LFS do do RO water, dunno how much 600 odd litres would cost lol.

I take it you just have a few extra power heads as well as filters to provide circulation?

Skimmers obviously skim the surface of the water, so I wont have to drill into the back of the tank for an outlet or anything?

 

[Chac]

Hi mark

I recently bought new Halides Halides from EQJ Trading - Ebay Company

I found them to be very good suppliers & the Halides are excellant, at a great price as well

Lighting depends on what you want to keep, if you eventually start keeping HO Light Loving Corals then I would suggest getting Halides from the start rather than upgrading to T5's etc now & then upgrading to Halides later


Auto Top Up
When I started out I actually used a 4ltr bottle above the tank filled with RO & controled by a PVC Clamp to top up - Worked a treat


I think my LFS charges around 2.50 per 25ltr so you would be about 60.00 for the initial fill - add a few quid & you would get an RO Unit for that


For Flow/Circulation have a look at either Seio's or Tunze's
Both are excellant, Tunze's are generally concidered the best thought, I assume you aint going for a closed loop system, as you say you dont want to drill the tank


Skimmer - A Deltec MCE 600 Skimmer - Suitable upto 150g

or the Deltec APF 600Skimmer - may be more suitable to your tank - Rated upto 222g

 

[Rodders]

Thanks again for the info!

Im taking it the auto top up is cause the lights evaporate the water?

Seeing that the skimmers can go in the tank, I wont need a sump, is this what you refer to as a closed loop system?

That ebay shop is half price of what LFS quoted!!

Kinda looking like I could actually manage this, lol!!

 

[SkiFletch]

Hah, ebay is great for hardware and drygoods

A closed loop system in the aquarium trade is referred to when one uses a single very large pump for water circulation. Usually a large drain is installed in the tank via drilling which is fitted to a large external pump (think 6000LPH+). That external pump's outlet is then split multiple times through some type of manifolding system and plumbed back into the tank for water circulation.

An auto topoff is for when water evaporates due to heat and just plain time. Each tank's evaporation rate is different and remember when freshwater evaporates, the water in the tank has a higher salinity or specific gravity. This of course is a bad thing if it happens too much/quick so people use auto-topoffs. With larger tanks like yours its usually so that people dont have to go nuts carrying big buckets of RO around when they need to top-up. With smaller tanks like nano's you get into sg problems.

for a 145UK gallon tank I would STRONGLY reccomend a sump. Any appropriately sized skimmer will be too large to fit in the tank without looking very unsightly IMO. While somewhat complex and difficult to understand, sumps offer a LOT of benefits. You get to remove heaters and skimmers and filtration from the tank and put them in the sump. They increase water volume allowing you to make small mistakes with chemistry and not have them end up being horrible disasters. Increased volume also allows you to keep more fish easier. They can be great places for refugiums which help with nutrient export and pH stability if run properly. Sumps are a great place to do water changes and top-ups out of as you disturb your livestock less. And finally, if properly setup they provide a lot of surface agitation to battle the dreaded "surface scum" which is common in big tanks.

If you want info about sumps, checkout melvsreef.com for more than you'll ever want to know (not sure if I've linked you to that before, but either way its a great site)

 

[Chac]

Yeah - Wot he says

 

[Rodders]

Doh, my stand really doesnt have anywhere to put a sump

 

[SkiFletch]

Who said it needs to go in your stand? I've seen sumps next to the stand on the floor, or even in the basement

 

[Rodders]

My tank kinda slots into a recess in the wall, so theres no room around it, well not for a sump. I guess I could go into the conservatory and drill through the wall. Just it gets really hot in summer and cold in winter, so that would effect heating?

I guess I could make a custom stand with more room underneath!!!

Decision!!! decisions!!

Oh, I dont have a basement

 

[SkiFletch]

Heat in the summer will be a lot of trouble, especially if its in-wall without a sump . No A/C in there?

 

[Rodders]

Only mobile A/C that I put on when im here.

Theres room around the tank, but it does affect my tropical tank now, but they are ok with it. Guess marine area little bit more tempremental.

Would prob have to get one of thoae coolers.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, marine fish are usually OK with higher temps, but corals and inverts are very intolerant...