Tropical To Marine

[dumla]

Hi guys, I've got a fluval roma 125 tropical aquarium, how easy/ how much would it roughly cost to convert into marine? |

This is my set up so far:
Aquarium (125 litres) - 80cm long x 35cm wide x 45cm high
Fluval 3 Internal Filter
Tronic Heater 150watt
Fluval GLO lighting
1 x 20watt PowerGlo, 1 x 20watt AquaGlo


What else would i need to get?

Could you please keep it really simple as i'm a complete n00b at this!

Thanks

 

[rabbut]

OK, you will also need a Refractometer/hydrometer, and either Couple of powerheads and 12KG of live rock for a berlin filter system, or nothing else for a FO system. The latter won't be great for corals or inverts, but for most fish it should be fine. If you want corals, you will want to go down the Berlin method realy as a beginner. Often you will use a skimmer as well, but that is optional...

The cost for the Berlin System; £100ish

FO system £15

If you want corals, the lights may also need an upgrade, depending upon the corals you want.

I'd recomend the Berlin system though, even if you aren't going to keep corals

All the best
Rabbut

 

[dumla]

Ok.. I've now decided to do the conversion, i want to keep corals so i'll be upgrading the lighting.The lighting that i currently have in the tropical tank is attached to the lid, is it possible to get a bracket so i can do away with the lid?

 

[rabbut]

You can get over-tank luninares, that either hang from the cealing, or stand on clips above the tank. What corals do you have your eye on? The lights you have will be fine for most soft corals, but you will need a bit more for LPS (Large Polyp Stoney) corals and more still to open the doors to SPS (Small Polyp Stoney) species...

Softies, fine as it
LPS, idealy you want 4 individually reflected HO T5 lamps
For going SPS, I would look into second hand 150W Metal Halides

If you go SPS, skimmers realy are needed unless you have plenty of coral keeping experience under your belt They don't like high nutrient loads in the water, and bar waterchanges, skimmers are the main way of getting excessive nutrients out

All the best
Rabbut

 

[dumla]

I've just upgraded my lighting with a Arcadia Overtank Luminaire that has 4 X 24W T5 flourescent lamps,is there any decent hang on skimmers that you could recommend (can i get these on ebay)? Am i right in thinking that if i have live rock in the tank i can do away with the filter? Do i have to get a cooler as i've heard these are essential for invert tanks. I'm lucky in a way that my LFS sells RO water already salted so i guess that will help a little. Sorry that i keep asking stupid questions, its just that i don't want to rush in without knowing whats what!

 

[ben1987]

skimmers always pop up on ebay when people upgrade their tanks. I would look for a deltec mce 300 or 600. Or a tmc V2 400. The deltec would probably look best hung on the tank though tbh

 

[rabbut]

Ben recomnds a couple of good skimmers above I would probibly make my own RO if I had the choice, LFS's will use the cheapest salt possible, so you will spend a small fortune on buffers if you get into hard corals... I don't run a cooler on my reef (yet) as the room is cool (thus far, it can change in summer) and I don't have any issues. If it's a warm room and you run halides, you possibly will need one, but most people get away without

 

[dumla]

Is the stocking levels in a marine tank the same as freshwater? If not, what would be the ideal stocking level for my tank -I'm looking at keeping some inverts aswell as fish.

 

[Truck]

Is the stocking levels in a marine tank the same as freshwater? If not, what would be the ideal stocking level for my tank -I'm looking at keeping some inverts aswell as fish.

no its not the same, i dont know how we work it out, but its normally about 1 small fish for every 25 litres or so, so your looking at about 5 fish maybe less dependant on size etc

 

[rabbut]

The long and short answer is it depends on what you want to stock the tank with...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[SkiFletch]

Heh, yeah, I wish there were some kind of stocking rules here, but there really aren't. So many other factors like compatability, behavior, required hardware, diet, and more come into play that there's no hard and fast rules for stocking a marine tank. Your best bet is to decide on a few things you absoloutely adore, and work your choices around that single goal.