What Would You Suggest For Starting A Marine Tank?

[SkiFletch]

I'm a sucker for pretty much any fairy or flasher wrasse

 

[leecara]

every body has a soft spot do you know what that dori fish is off finding nemo i love that one

 

[sianeds]

it is a regal tang...I have one (called Dory ) she is lovely

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, if your tank is 4' long and 70+ gallons you could have a regal tang. They're a little difficult to keep as they are VERY ich-prone, but as mentioned, gorgeous fish.

 

[leecara]

thank you for your reply do you know if you can yhave 2 tangs together in a 70 gal

 

[leecara]

i now know what fish i like copperbandbutterfly - yellow tang - x2 percula clown fish - bangaii cardinal - purple pseudochchromius (maybe) and another little fish not chosen yet

the tank will be a 69 us gallon (unknown dimensions at the min but it is basially a wider than upper and has a good depth)
unless we get a tank from my friend for free but am not sure what the gallon is but i am aimig all my questions at the 69 us gallon tank



i am now getting to the hard part of
what hardware to get
what clean up crew to get
what type of live rock and corals bitss and pieces to get

and i have absoulty no clue what to get for any of these so plz could any 1 help out or give m avice plz

thank you

 

[SkiFletch]

Lets start with flowrate for hardware. You've basically got 2 choices, powerheads or a closed loop. Powerheads are cheaper and easy to impliment. Closed loop systems are expensive and complicate to impliment. Powerheads can limit you in the livestock you can keep. Soft bodied inverts like sea hares, anemones, lettuce nudibranchs, etc can get stuck to the inlets of powerheads and perish. Closed loop systems if properly constructed can allow the keeping of these soft bodied inverts. Unless you absoloutely have to keep one or the other of these inverts I'd go with powerheads. On a 70gallon you'd want 1400GPH worth of flow or more prefferably out of two or more powerheads, evenly or uneavenly matched in flowrate. The best powerheads for a large tank BY FAR are Tunze and Seio.

Are you considering a sump at all?

As for lighting, I'd suggest a basic luminaire something like an Arcadia with either 4xT5 lamps or 2xPC lamps spanning the length of the tank. Metal halides would offer you more flexibility for higher light corals but you'll have to make that decision yourself on whether you want to keep them or not.

And for skimmers, I'd suggest something like a Deltec, Aquamedic, Tunze, or TMC skimmer in the UK. Running a skimmer in-sump is always easier but a hang-on can be done.

 

[sianeds]

I have a TMC skimmer as a "hang-on" and it works great in my 50gal reef but I have had endless troubles with microbubbles in the tank. I have found the best way to stop them, is to have the water level a little lower than I would like.

Now we are setting up a 200gal reef tank and I am having my skimmer in the sump for sure.

If you can have a sump then it's definately worth doing.

 

[leecara]

ok i understand most of that apart from the sump whats a sump and how does it work?

also are corals hard to keep because i would love to have corals also what would would you advise to go with something nice but not hard to keep also how expensive are they

 

[sianeds]

I'll let one of the more experienced fellas answer the sump question as I'm rubbish at explaining stuff like that

I would recommend Mushroom Polyps, Xenia and some leather corals as good beginner corals

The mushrooms are pretty much indestructable and you can get some really pretty colours if you shop around.The Xenia give some nice movement. I sit and watch my pulsing Xenia for hours. I have a finger leather which looks wicked and a big mushroom leather which is absolutely gorgeous when it's polyps are extended.

I have pics of all of the ones I mentioned in my new additions thread

 

[leecara]

thanks how much were they?

 

[sianeds]

I paid roughly :

£30 for Ricordea Mushrooms
£40 for large Xenia
£25 for small Xenia
£35 for finger leather
£40 for leather mushroom

just off the top of my head

 

[SkiFletch]

Easier corals like Sianeds mentioned can survive A LOT of mistakes by the aquarist. Even moderate-difficulty corals are not to hard to keep if you've done your reading . If you want to know all about sumps, go check out melevsreef.com.

 

[sianeds]

Yeah that is a cracking link....I have it in my favourites and never thought of putting it on

 

[leecara]

thanks for the link and advice

do you have to have the sump because when i saw the price it is expensive so plz could you tell me have you got a sump and how much did you spend on it and are they needed

also i have found out that my mates tanks it to small so it will have to be the 69 us gallon