Tropical Tank To Marine ?

[tat2life]

hey all i have 2 fishtanks both tropical and both empty.. one of them im gonig to be keeping as a tropical tank. the second tank i am thinking of using as a marine tank... it is 3ft long and 1 ft high. now how much money roughly would it cost to convert this tank to a marine tank.. without any fish or anything. like the lighting, heating, filter etc etc. i have never kept marine fish before so ideally i just want to set the tank up as a marine tank and leave it a few weeks and keep checking the water to make sure i have it spot on then introduce some coral etc to it and lasty the fish. any advice is appriciated. i have the heater, filter etc for the tropical tank.. but i cant use it in a marine tank can i ?

 

[zeo]

Yes, you can use most of your tropical equipment on marine..

It doesnt really cost that much to keep marine, esp when you shop around, and use ebay. I think i spent £750.00 on mine but 250 was for my tank and a few other things i just didnt really need.

 

[tat2life]

thanks for the reply mate. £550 is still alot lol my tropical set up didnt even cost £60 ... not including the tank. just a light, heater, filter, gravel etc.. pretty cheap. what would i need to make a marine tank ? like i know a heater and filter but i dont know what kind or what heat etc

 

[orange shark]

you need things like, powerheads, protein skimmers, heaters, live rock, lighting and lots of other things

 

[tat2life]

yup very true... what could i actually use from the tropical tank though wich can be used in the marine tank ?

 

[Musho3210]

hey all i have 2 fishtanks both tropical and both empty.. one of them im gonig to be keeping as a tropical tank. the second tank i am thinking of using as a marine tank... it is 3ft long and 1 ft high. now how much money roughly would it cost to convert this tank to a marine tank.. without any fish or anything. like the lighting, heating, filter etc etc. i have never kept marine fish before so ideally i just want to set the tank up as a marine tank and leave it a few weeks and keep checking the water to make sure i have it spot on then introduce some coral etc to it and lasty the fish. any advice is appriciated. i have the heater, filter etc for the tropical tank.. but i cant use it in a marine tank can i ?

lol you wish it was that easy, every true mariner comes down with constant upgrade syndrome, its where you cant stop buying and planning on what to buy next. Yes you get the basics first, then you maybe consider a sump with a refugium, maybe upgrade to metal halides, oh its summer time, lets get a chiller to be safe, im so lazy, i need an auto top off, the list goes on, calcium reactors. My point is you dont stay basic for long.....

But its really fun, looks really nice, and 100% worth it.

 

[STD]

Marine tanks are great but they work out much more expensive than tropicals

It's not just the setup costs

running costs are much higher as well

Not trying to put you off but it can work out very expensive

I dread to think what I've spent on my tank over the years not to mention my electricity costs

 

[tat2life]

ah i dont pay electric i live with my folks so they take care of that lol, i think im going to start out very slowly and buy 1 thing a week or something that way it doesnt feel like its costing as much and i can get better equiptment without spending a fortune all at once. does anyone know any websites wich sell marine fish.. i just want to browse and get a ideal of prices... i found a few but none had starfish or seahorses etc not that i am ready for one im just curious of there price range. i did see a store on ebay selling coral at about £8 a piece... really amazing looking stuff

 

[zeo]

ok.. lets start off with the basics.

What do you plan on stock?

Fish only is the cheapest option, and I dont really think you even need a skimmer (even thru i bought one i've never used it in 4 months that I've kept marine).

Fish only w/Live rock is a bit more expensive, but def worth it, esp when you get a few anenomies and see the things coming out of the LR. Plus LR is a really good natual filtration method thing.

Corals... i think thats when it will start getting really expensive (althru I havent attempted this yet myself).

Let me know what u plan on keeping and I'll try and give u cheapest options possible.

 

[tat2life]

cheers mate ideally i want fish and live rock, reefs etc but maybe i should start out with a fish only tank cus they seem alot easier to look after and alot cheaper. if i get on well with that then i could always get a fish and live rock tank. im not sure what fish i could keep in a fish only tank though and what else i could add to it. i really love the look of the coral and wierd looking things like starfish lol but if there is nice looking fish wich i can keep in a fish only tank then i will deffinatly go with that

 

[STD]

cheers mate ideally i want fish and live rock, reefs etc but maybe i should start out with a fish only tank cus they seem alot easier to look after and alot cheaper. if i get on well with that then i could always get a fish and live rock tank. im not sure what fish i could keep in a fish only tank though and what else i could add to it. i really love the look of the coral and wierd looking things like starfish lol but if there is nice looking fish wich i can keep in a fish only tank then i will deffinatly go with that

IMO you are best to start with fishonly live rock

I know the liverock is expensive but it makes a big difference

 

[tat2life]

cheers mate ideally i want fish and live rock, reefs etc but maybe i should start out with a fish only tank cus they seem alot easier to look after and alot cheaper. if i get on well with that then i could always get a fish and live rock tank. im not sure what fish i could keep in a fish only tank though and what else i could add to it. i really love the look of the coral and wierd looking things like starfish lol but if there is nice looking fish wich i can keep in a fish only tank then i will deffinatly go with that

IMO you are best to start with fishonly live rock

I know the liverock is expensive but it makes a big difference

what is fish only and live rock... i thought the live rock was in a reef tank with coral and everything else

 

[zeo]

Its just a tank with fish and a few bits of live rock.. (I think the diff between FOw/LR and reef is corals).
Corals seem to be the complicated, expensive thing to look after. Where as fish and lr is pretty easy, and with the exception of the salt is pretty similiar to a norm tropical fish setup.

 

[tat2life]

Its just a tank with fish and a few bits of live rock.. (I think the diff between FOw/LR and reef is corals).
Corals seem to be the complicated, expensive thing to look after. Where as fish and lr is pretty easy, and with the exception of the salt is pretty similiar to a norm tropical fish setup.

oooh i get you now. so if i have live rocks and fish only, can i still have stuff like this...
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-ORANGE-SUN-CORA...1QQcmdZViewItem
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/snakelock-anemone-ma...1QQcmdZViewItem

i want a reallllly bright colorful tank

 

[STD]

cheers mate ideally i want fish and live rock, reefs etc but maybe i should start out with a fish only tank cus they seem alot easier to look after and alot cheaper. if i get on well with that then i could always get a fish and live rock tank. im not sure what fish i could keep in a fish only tank though and what else i could add to it. i really love the look of the coral and wierd looking things like starfish lol but if there is nice looking fish wich i can keep in a fish only tank then i will deffinatly go with that

IMO you are best to start with fishonly live rock

I know the liverock is expensive but it makes a big difference

what is fish only and live rock... i thought the live rock was in a reef tank with coral and everything else

Basically you use live rock as the filteration

Apart from being a great filter medium it comes with lots of life that the fish can pick at