Thinking Of Starting A Marine Tank

[mike126]

I'm thinking about starting a marine tank. My kids and I have been working on a small 10 gallon tropical tank for about a month. The plan was to increase the size of the tank if they showed interest and commitment to the fish. So far so good. However, my wife and I are enjoying the fish more than we thought. Even the maintenance is not a problem for us.

We are likely to move up to a 30 - 45 gallon tank.

I have always had an interest in marine tanks due to the fact that I like to scuba dive and really enjoy the fish and coral etc. The question is how difficult and costly is it to start with a fish only tank with live rock and then over time add coral and inverts?

Equipment:

We already have an Eheim 2213 that we bought in plans to move up to a larger tank. I've heard that we may or may not need the following:

Protein Skimmer
RO filter
High intensity lighting

One of the LFS near by said that we will not need to have any of the above for a live rock fish only tank. Is this true? Over time I would likely buy the skimmer and RO filter. The upgraded lighting would be needed if we get into corals and inverts.

Maintenance:

Is there much more time required for a fish only tank with live rock versus a regular tropical setup?

Thanks, Mike

 

[shibby]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=207559&hl=

i did that ages ago gives a quick overview not amazing though.


marines arent too hard just a bit more expenasive but when you see a well planned nano reef its all worth it!

 

[GShorty1981]

My tank is only 20 gallon and it hasn't cost me that much to be fair.

The maintenance is literally the same other than you add salt into the water.

My tank and stand cost me £60
heater £10
powerhead £25
Fluval 2+ freshwater filter used for carbon,floss and as another power head £15
Coral sand £4
4kg salt £15
T5 lights £25
live sand £15 (not needed)
Live rock £60 for 5 kg (not added all of this yet,the stuff i have got had corals on it already)
Hydrometer £10
Test Kit £25

=£264

My Stock

2 x Ocellaris Clown Fish £28
10 x Blue Legged Hermit crabs £7
4 x turbo snails £10
1 x Fire/blood shrimp £15
1 x Yellow watchman Goby £15

As your tank is going to be bigger and you are beyond the Nano limit which i believe is 29 gallons you will have to get a protein Skimmer which will be expensive and you will need double the amount of Live Rock to what i have which will be expensive to,plus if you want to use RO (which i don't) then again your looking at £100 for the unit...plus if it is a 45 gallon tank your getting you are gonna need bigger/more powerful powerheads which will be over double the ones i priced and you'll definitley need another heater to keep temperature stable.

Alot of people say Nano tanks (small tanks) are not for beginners but i have been running mine for a month now and its fantastic so don't let that put you off,water is more stable than a freshwater tank,fish are definitely hardier...whole thing is better.

It sounds expensive but its worth it in the end.

Word of advice tho,avoid those kinda cool looking ready built nano tanks that have all the equipment set up and ready to go..there a rip off price wise when you could build it yourself with a empty tank for less than half the price.

 

[adam98150]

I'm thinking about starting a marine tank. My kids and I have been working on a small 10 gallon tropical tank for about a month. The plan was to increase the size of the tank if they showed interest and commitment to the fish. So far so good. However, my wife and I are enjoying the fish more than we thought. Even the maintenance is not a problem for us.

We are likely to move up to a 30 - 45 gallon tank.

I have always had an interest in marine tanks due to the fact that I like to scuba dive and really enjoy the fish and coral etc. The question is how difficult and costly is it to start with a fish only tank with live rock and then over time add coral and inverts?

Equipment:

We already have an Eheim 2213 that we bought in plans to move up to a larger tank. I've heard that we may or may not need the following:

Protein Skimmer
RO filter
High intensity lighting

One of the LFS near by said that we will not need to have any of the above for a live rock fish only tank. Is this true? Over time I would likely buy the skimmer and RO filter. The upgraded lighting would be needed if we get into corals and inverts.

Maintenance:

Is there much more time required for a fish only tank with live rock versus a regular tropical setup?

Thanks, Mike

Hi Mike,

It is true that if you are going with a FOWLR (fish only with live rock) tank that you won't be needing any of that equipment, your LFS is correct. However, if you don't purchase a protein skimmer it is likely that you will have to do two water changes per week, to maintain good water quality. High intensity lighting, such as metal halides, won't be required with a FOWLR tank, but it looks amazing! You will find that if you do not purchase an RO unit, your tap water will invite rather alot of algae, due to the phosphates and silicates within (i believe?).

Brief explainations.

Maintenance:

I've just spent two hours doing a single water change and cleaning the filter, but boy is it fun!

Edit: In my opinion it is much more rewarding maintaining a saltwater tank, as opposed to a tropical freshwater tank (still in the process of creating my own reef), the amount of life in the tank is astonishing, even if no fish are present.

 

[andywg]

The question is how difficult and costly is it to start with a fish only tank with live rock and then over time add coral and inverts?

Not that difficult at all. You start with the LR and some salt water and add some fish. Then over time you can change the set up for a more reef based tank.

Equipment:

We already have an Eheim 2213 that we bought in plans to move up to a larger tank. I've heard that we may or may not need the following:

Protein Skimmer
RO filter
High intensity lighting

One of the LFS near by said that we will not need to have any of the above for a live rock fish only tank. Is this true? Over time I would likely buy the skimmer and RO filter. The upgraded lighting would be needed if we get into corals and inverts.

A skimmer will save money by allowing a longer gap between water changes, thus saving salt costs. It's one of those long-term v short-term cost issues.

Maintenance:

Is there much more time required for a fish only tank with live rock versus a regular tropical setup?

Thanks, Mike

Not really. You need to prepare the water a day or so in advance and you need to measure the salinity of the water in the tank and the water you are putting in. Other than that it is the same as FW.

 

[mike126]

Hey guys, thanks for all of the encouragement and feedback. I'm definately excited about the possibilities with a marine tank. I'll do some more research on tanks, LR, and skimmers. I ahve a pretty good LFS that only deals in marine. They seem to have a good staff and a healthy selection of fish.

Mike

 

[andywg]

Decent, worthwhile, skimmers (consider Deltec or Tunze) tend to cost a lot of money, to save some consider ebay or any other second hand source.

 

[GShorty1981]

I think Prices are the scariest thing,the actual tanks are as easy as say keeping Malawi's except with salt....as i said before luckily i could skip the Protein Skimmer and that i seem to have perfect tap water as my nitrates are always zero and never any algae in my tank other than what was attached to my LR when i bought it....so saved money on RO.

 

[kj23502]

I think Prices are the scariest thing,the actual tanks are as easy as say keeping Malawi's except with salt....as i said before luckily i could skip the Protein Skimmer and that i seem to have perfect tap water as my nitrates are always zero and never any algae in my tank other than what was attached to my LR when i bought it....so saved money on RO.

Careful, though. I've read about water companies switching up on what they add to the water at different points in the year or even changing something in the water permanently.

Lol...I keep Malawi mbuna...easy as pie if research is done first and fish behaviors are observed.


*From all I've read and gathered(I've been reading almost every day including some of the books and sites put in the Realm of Knowledge): You don't need a skimmer to start a tank. In fact there is a fair amount of discussion all over the place regarding the nescessity of it, even for large tanks. If you have a skimmer, it allows for a bit heavier stocking and I believe the harder to keep corals and fish may do better. You'd only have to do more than 1 water change a week if you're overstocked for what you have. It's about testing the water and finding the balance for your tank. I'm going to have a skimmer on both my tanks....not right away w/my 29 us gallon, but I will as soon as I start my 120 usg.

I'm still really new to SW, but this is from what I've gathered from my extensive research so far.

 

[Luketendo]

A Skimmer and RO unit would save you from a lot of bother. - Possible nitrate problems and algae blooms.

 

[mike126]

Thanks guys for the feedback. I'll keep reading and researching. I also need to talk to my LFS about possibly buying RO water to start.