Thinking Of Converting To Marine

[Craig89]

hi all i currently have a tropical tank but thinking fo shuting it down and having a marine tank. i have the new tank already i just want some hints and tips to set me on the right path.

The tank is a juwel rio 180. (47 gallon) with twin highlight bulbs 45w and a 200w heater.

What else is needed to get the tank up and running. i am a totall beginner at this so any help is apreciated

 

[SkiFletch]

to the marine side of the forum. If I may suggest, the first step to a marine aquarium is NOT deciding hardware... I know this is backwards from most freshwater systems, but you really need to decide what livestock you want first because that decision will really drive your hardware needs. Do you want fish only? predators? corals (soft, lps, sps)? invertebrates? some combination thereof? If you don't have a clue, I'd start with a big online retailer like liveaquaria.com and search through their livestock to find what you want. Then once you have an idea of your livestock, what you think you can afford, and how deeply down the "rabbit hole" you want to go you ask more pointed questions about hardware here

I would also reccomend reading through the stickies atop this section.

 

[ben1987]

also, try and buy equipment once, if you cut corners, you end up buying 2 or 3 times and that soon mounts up.

reading a few journals after the stickies is a good starter too, you'll see all kinda of fish and corals that people are keeping

 

[Craig89]

yeah guna give the stickies a read i was thinking along the lines of clown fish and butterfly fish, sweetlips and maybe a few angels i also wanted live rock in the tank as well