Thinking Marine

[slakey]

Well since starting my new job on Monday, I have started thinking about getting a marine tank started.

At the minute it is only an idea, that has quickly been thought of over the past 3 days.

The tank I would look at getting would be either the River Reef 94L or the River Reef 48L, with the 98L I'll get a protein skimmer with it, and well there's a pretty good deal on it at the minute.

Obviously I would have live rock in the tank, possibly some anemones if I can keep them, maybe some coral?

Fish wise I am really keen on the Four Stripped Humbug. I would also look at the gobies as well.

Any other suggestions to look into? Is that tank big enough to have fish in there?

This is all very new to me.

 

[woody88]

Well since starting my new job on Monday, I have started thinking about getting a marine tank started.

At the minute it is only an idea, that has quickly been thought of over the past 3 days.

The tank I would look at getting would be either the River Reef 94L or the River Reef 48L, with the 98L I'll get a protein skimmer with it, and well there's a pretty good deal on it at the minute.

Obviously I would have live rock in the tank, possibly some anemones if I can keep them, maybe some coral?

Fish wise I am really keen on the Four Stripped Humbug. I would also look at the gobies as well.

Any other suggestions to look into? Is that tank big enough to have fish in there?

This is all very new to me.

Hi. Best bet is to read the journels my friend as they will contain all the info required in setting up a marine tank.
Or check out some of the older posts in this section as i'm sure you can imagine we get this question all the time.

I wouldnt have a humbug damsel in a small tank like that as they can get aggressive towards other fish. Especially other damsels.

If you want clowns [everybody does] then a min size of 30G [roughly 130 L] is required.[Although they have been kept in smaller tanks].

Oh!......welcome to the salty side!

 

[slakey]

It seems that people are a lot more restricted fish wise for reef tanks.

Any reason behind this?

Seems unless you're going for a big tank, you can't really keep any fish

 

[woody88]

It seems that people are a lot more restricted fish wise for reef tanks.

Any reason behind this?

Seems unless you're going for a big tank, you can't really keep any fish

Swimming space my friend. And a tank big enough to house a reasonable amount of live rock for some species of fish to hide as there is a lot more aggression in marine fish.

Not all fish are reef safe!

 

[-Nemo-]

Small species clownfish (percula, ocellaris), are fine in a 75l imo

 

[slakey]

Well failing that, I do have a blank Juwel Rekord 96, when I mean blank, I mean just the tank nothing else.

Filter box has been removed, no hood or light, so I could possibly work from that depending on how much it would cost to set up.

I know it's not a great deal bigger litre wise, but length wise it is.

Just two options for me really.

I am extremely keen on the Humbug though It is one reason I'm looking into marine really.

 

[Donya]

Obviously I would have live rock in the tank, possibly some anemones if I can keep them, maybe some coral?

Anemones need a mature tank and are also more risky in smaller tanks. With less water, the tank will be less stable and will also become much more polluted if the anemone dies for whatever reason. I would say have a try at corals before going for nems unless you're like me and don't mind a giant Aiptasid or two. Some soft corals can be very anemone-looking while being much hardier.

If the humbug is really the thing you want the most, you should be able to keep just one humbug and not run into issues with aggression. However, I have seen some surprisingly large damels on occasion, although none were humbugs, so I don't know whether it would outgrow the tanks you listed.

 

[woody88]

Obviously I would have live rock in the tank, possibly some anemones if I can keep them, maybe some coral?

Anemones need a mature tank and are also more risky in smaller tanks. With less water, the tank will be less stable and will also become much more polluted if the anemone dies for whatever reason. I would say have a try at corals before going for nems unless you're like me and don't mind a giant Aiptasid or two. Some soft corals can be very anemone-looking while being much hardier.

If the humbug is really the thing you want the most, you should be able to keep just one humbug and not run into issues with aggression. However, I have seen some surprisingly large damels on occasion, although none were humbugs, so I don't know whether it would outgrow the tanks you listed.

I have 3 dammys in my tank [inc a humbug] He was half the size of the other damsels, yet he menaced them. I have now got rid of him and im getting rid of another damsel this weekend as now they're bigger, they're getting more aggressive.

You might be ok with 1 humbug, just dont put anymore damsels in and no fish smaller than the damsel.

 

[Uriel]

It seems that people are a lot more restricted fish wise for reef tanks.

Any reason behind this?

Seems unless you're going for a big tank, you can't really keep any fish

The main problem here I think is marine fish are used to an extremely stable enviroment. This means they are a lot more susceptible to changes in water chemistry and temp than there fresh water cousins. Anemone's are not generally reccomended for begginners as they have special needs. Marine tanks aren't cheap to setup but then you can save yourself alot by getting stuff on ebay or similar. Boyu (orca) tl550 is a good begginners tank i see reccomended here and other places a lot.

 

[woody88]

It seems that people are a lot more restricted fish wise for reef tanks.

Any reason behind this?

Seems unless you're going for a big tank, you can't really keep any fish

The main problem here I think is marine fish are used to an extremely stable enviroment. This means they are a lot more susceptible to changes in water chemistry and temp than there fresh water cousins. Anemone's are not generally reccomended for begginners as they have special needs. Marine tanks aren't cheap to setup but then you can save yourself alot by getting stuff on ebay or similar. Boyu (orca) tl550 is a good begginners tank i see reccomended here and other places a lot.

I can recommend the TL550. Its my current tank. 28G.

I have 5 small fish in there at the mo aswell as a cleaner shrimp and a decent CUC. Great Nano tank, and its all plug and play.

 

[slakey]

Hmm cheapest I've found for a Orca TL-550 with stand is £369.99 new.

And for a 128Litre tank, 5 small fish... I suppose it wouldn't be too bad, as I could have coral and live rock etc to also distract me.

I shall have to have a think before spending that sort of money on a tank that size.

 

[Uriel]

I tend to go for second-hand. I know its nice to have things new but for me my 2 concerns are

1. Upgrades. I don't want to spend that sort of money on a tank to realise a month after i set it up i want something bigger.

2. Loss of interest. It hasn't happened to me yet but i see a lot of people who lose interest in there maintenance and then lose interest in there aquariums.

I've seen a couple of orca's locally go for about £150 alot of the time with some LR thrown in. There are occasionally some fantastic deals on ebay to. but that is a patience game and you have to be willing to be a bit flexible. Just something to concider.

 

[slakey]

I am thinking about trying something a bit easier before going down the marine route, i.e a planted tank.

Also considering I've only had my tropical up for and running for about 7 months, I think it's still a bit too early to think about marine, maybe further down the line.

 

[woody88]

I am thinking about trying something a bit easier before going down the marine route, i.e a planted tank.

Also considering I've only had my tropical up for and running for about 7 months, I think it's still a bit too early to think about marine, maybe further down the line.

If your worried about setting up and maintaining a marine tank then think of this.

I've had my marine tank 4 months. It was allready established when I had it.

It was given to me out of the blue and I had'nt a clue about marine fishkeeping.
Not only did'nt I have a clue but the tank was in a awful state and was suffering badly.

I wont bore you with the details [thats what my journel's for] but needless to say, I learned pretty quick and now after the knowledge and research ive collected [and the help of the guys and girls on here] I am now very confident in maintaining my marine tank and would quite happily set up more [If finances allowed].

You'd be suprised how quick you pick it up but it depends on how badly you want a marine tank because it is a commitment...............but a very enjoyable [and stressful at times] one.

 

[slakey]

Hmm. I shall have to have a think about it all.

I think it may just be a sudden phase once I saw the Four Stripped Humbug, I shall see how it is as time goes on.

Still need to finish stocking my tropical yet