does any1 have a marine fish tank , and can you tell me whats the main differences between marine and tropical ? in simple terms plz lol

 

salt

 

vinegar 2?

 

damn beat me to it.

 

Tropical = Warm tap water filtered etc

Marine = Salt water cold i.e ocean water.

Marine is very rewarding with the right care but i must stress it can be very expensive if you don't know what your doing.

 

are they exspensive to maintain once your up and running mate, do you need live coral ? and whats the equipment needed thanks !!

 

skimmer very good filtration system largsish tank (bigger tanks remain my biologically stable,critical when keeping marine).A big wallet,time,u need to decide what kind of set up u want coral&fish or just fish or a multitude of other options . will pay to do weeks if not months of recerch before embarking

 

tropical are freshwater heated to around 75 degrees

marine are saltwater reef sea fish also heated you need a tank with holes and a sump with filteration tanks below having filters inside the tank will be broke in a matter of weeks you also need some strong power heads for water flow other wise your corals will not be very happy or your fish you will need protein skimmers too they are expensive we had a 6x2x2 marine set up and it cost us over 3k to have it nice and fully functioning fish are also expensive and there is a lot of problems if you stock too fast or or dont have the correct water conditions there is a lot to sort with regards to regular water tests too i wouldnt reccomend a beginner keeping marine as we had fresh water tropicals for many years before setting up marine and have since gone back to fresh water and our current tank is 52"x20"x18". i prefer the natural freshwater tanks to marine as you have major algae blooms in marine tanks especially in the first month or 2 then you need the algae to keep the tank running ok and its unsightly

 

thanks mate had tropical tank for years, then sold it, now fancy another but thought i would look into marine as i have always wanted 1, seen a few 2nd hand tanks for sale localy and got me thinking

 

Sumps, skimmers etc only really needed for large tanks and coral. smaller tanks 3ft under just the same as tropical but with the added salt and diffrent deco Substrate crushed coral sand or something. Fish are much more expensive and thats the problem for newbies as most people will lose fish if they dont know what they are doing. I would go with tropical at first to learn what u r doing then move onto Marine. What size tank you looking at?

 

i really wouldnt reccomend a tank under 4ftx2ftx2ft tbh

 

Me gf had Marine, and tropical, but as said Marine very hard in comparison, she had 2 tanks
both 10x3x3(feet), but had to build special bases etc due to the weight, looks awsome when ok though, tanks were I think started with a dead fish to get algae going, before fish were introduced, but long time ago now, she had these before I met her, so don't know much, other than what she's mentioned particularly about cost.
tabetha

 

a friend of mine used to work for tropical marine (largest uk importer of marine fish) and he had various marine tank set ups at home.
one was a full coral reef setup which looked awesome even had clown fish with anemone like nemo that cost over £2000 and he was in the trade.

later he changed tank and added a lion fish which looked amazing and later still he had a octopuss as well, from what i hear him say it cost lots of money and time to keep them correctly and he always said normal tropical tank can look just as good for way less effort/cash

 

yea marine are stunning when fully biologically set up as i say ive kept fish for years use a prawn let it rot to start the bacteria in a tank i personally would go fresh water tropical again ive got a 5ft amazon biotope set up in my front room awaiting being built in to the wall ill get some pics up tomorrow i used to keep discus and there very relaxing and nice to watch

 

keeping a saltwater tank isnt as hard as you think
once its set up and stable very little work is needed as the tank does it for you
for a six foot tank your gonna need loads of live rock maybe £400-£500 and a few good power heads to move the water at least 20 times an hour,the rock with water movement acts a filter
you will also need a big protein skimmer buy one thats rated more than the size of your tank its better to over skim
also when buying your tank try to get one with a sump there a bit more expensive but the extra water helps the tank to stay stable plus you can hide the skimmer,heater in there and put more live rock in it
take it slow is the key with marine tanks,set it up with water and live rock and leave it running for 8 weeks to mature(dont use a prawn or a dead fish the live rock wll crue on its own) then add 1 fish every 6 weeks.hardy ones at first it can months even years to get a good looking tank but the wait is well worth it
oh and you cant use tap water its better to use RO water mixed with a good quailty salt
you can mix it yourself or buy it from your local fish shop
heres a coulpe of sites that i use read read then read some more lol
http://www.marinefish-uk.co.uk/forums/
http://www.reefsuk.org/forum/index.php
hope this helps

 

im currently running a 125ltr (2ft) marine tank. The smaller the tank the cheaper it is to run ie electric, water changes, top up water etc etc. But the water balance can change very very quickly if you dont keep on top of it, and this is when you can have tank wipe outs etc.

The big tank is easyer for a beginer, as changes in the water balance are less noticable due to the larger vol of water.

The start up cost is the biggest tho, Tank, Skimmer, pumps, Live rock, First salt water fill, full testing kits. Once you have past the year tho, its well established, and prity much will run its self with good water changes every week or 2.

I started straight into marines, but did the research first.

I go on Ultimate reef, great forum for info and help, and some bargins to be had as well.