fordsportjay

iTrader: (6)

i have never been good with anything more than goldfish but my little girl has been mithering for nemo's and shrimps after visiting a pet shop.
ive always fancied a marine tank,nothing too big or fancy but something to sit and watch and chill out with at home.

a mate of mine recently offered me a reasonable sized tank,(biggest the mrs would allow in the house!).so i got it,cleaned it out etc and took it home.it came with no filters/pumps/heater etc so i decided yesterday to go to pets at home and get the bits i needed to get it up and running.

its a 80litre(i think) tank with some areas sectioned off at the back.the shop had a similar tank there so i enquired what i needed and they gave me the following bits;
lots of RO water
bed sand
heater
powerhead
4kg of live rock
refractometer
some filter mesh type stuff.

i remember removing a bag of plastic ball type things from the back of the tank and was going to throw it away,but didnt.i asked about these at the shop but they didnt stock any of those so i got my old ones and gave them a rinse out.

im not sure exactly where i need to put each item-
ive put the heater in one of the compartments at the rear fo the tank
the powerhead in the tank area at the top so its pushing the water around.
the mesh i placed in one of the compartments at the bottom(same one as the heater).
the bag of plastic balls i put in the larger compartment in the centre.

now is this all i need and have i put things in the right places-i keep seeing protein skimmers mentioned but they werent mentioned at the shop-do i need one? where would it go?

i can add pics if it helps but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

also any pics of your own tanks and advice on shrimps/fish to put in eventually please.......

joncos

Do a search for a good fish forum. There are a few good one's out there. I would not go to pets at home for advice on marine set ups.

AlexF

Its an expensive and time consuming hobby!!!!!!!

Its cost me thousands - more than running my skyline!

Kevin Sharp

iTrader: (3)

its easy once up and running ..i,v been keeping marines for a year now....find a good shop and take their advice,

yes add a good skimmer

an 80l tank may be tricky imo as the water quality can swing much quicker than in a larger aquarium

mine is a 300l setup i bought complete off ebay from someone local, i had a very good local shop for sound advice and now have my corals and fish doing very well, have lost a couple of starfish and a shrimp and a couple of small crabs since starting marines.

i recon i spend an hour a week on it.

test water weekly to start with.....

this is all imo ..i,m no expert

edit to say if you are lazy about maintenance or water testing/ changes etc dont bother save yourself the greif and a load of dead fish .....you can get away with it with fresh water no probs but marines wont like it

AlexF

yeah water quality is the main thing... lots of water changes and cleaning

1223456

Mr sharp has hit the nail on the head, ive had my tank for just over a month and it is already going up for sale very shorty for the reason as im going fully custom with a much latger tank with under tank sump, this will be much more stable and much much easier to maintain.

I deal with a company called Jaydee aquatics in LLay, Wrexham tel :01978 854254
Ask to speak to lez and sayt raj passed you on. They are very helpful and have looked after me so far. You are more than welcom to give me a ring if your unsure although im still learning myself

Regards

Raj

fordsportjay

iTrader: (6)

thanks for that guys.
we are having it as a family project for my little one and i spend all my non working time at home so should be able to keep on top of it.its in the front room and as away from direct sunlight as possible so hoping temperature should be as stable as poss

i think we are only going to have a clean up crew(shrimps/crabs) and probably 3/4 fish. not sure about coral yet though-think the tank may be too small so just about 8-10kg of live rock.
only been set up for a day or so and found a tiny little crab(or something in a shell) cruising about on the rock last night.spent an hour watching that!!!!

twinkle_2k86

as been said, it can be very expensive and takes alot of time. Once its up and running tho, it becomes easyer i have found. You get to know whats happening in the tank by just looking at it.

To start with, your equipment.

The RO water you have got, is it already salted? if not you need to go buy some to mix. Also you need to make sure the RO water has a 0 tds reading, if not you will notice you will start to suffer badly with algee growing like mad.

The Live rock, you say you have 4Kg, is this in salt water yet? if not it needs to be put in straight away. Just the tank running, Powerheads etc with just rock in there, and test every day and record your results. You need to watch the cycle of the tank. once its fininished leave and extra week, then y ou can add live stock very slowly. start with clean up crew first, crabs, snails etc. Also for that size of tank, 4Kg of rock is not enough, you need about 10kg for the rock to be used as a filter system.

The powerhead as well. these need to be the right flow for the tank. Best to have 2 power heads to make it up. 1 for the tank, and 1 for the surface movement. for and 80 ltr tank you need your powerheads to flow 1600 ltrs per min. so 2 powers heads at 800 ltrs per min will do.

You say about a skimmer, yes get one. you wont need a big one so wont cost a fortune. but my advice is, dont buy a red sea prism skimmer. there crap and noisy.

the balls (bio balls) you have, bin them. they will only cause you trouble in the long run. They collect all the crap from the water (nitrates) and end up putting it back into the tank. if your want to put something in there, put live rock rubble (small bits of live rock)

All you need on the filter side is, Live rock, good flow and a skimmer. its then does it all by itself.

I would also get so phosphate remover and carbon, this will have with any phosphates and nasty stuff in the water. Best to get this stuff in ASAP. the good stuff to buy is Rowaphos and rowa carbon.

Best advice tho, is take it slow, marines can not be rushed, if you do it will end in disaster.

hth

fordsportjay

iTrader: (6)

that seems like good information.cheers
so if i get a live rock and break it up and put it in the back it will do a better job than the bio balls?
the powerhead ive got seems to be moving the water around ok.
im going to get some more live rock today and then monitor everything.

twinkle_2k86

yer, just replace the bio balls with the rock rubble ( as you say, just break up a piece of live rock) where some glasses tho, as the rock does smash easy and goes every where. The rubble will become live just like the rock in the tank, and it will then start to be a natrual filter. no need to change it then.

sounds like your doing ok tho, As for corals. Your tanks not to small for them. you can have what every you want, as long as you have enough light, and perfect water. best of starting with soft corals. these are easy to keep and dont need intense lighting. the corals called LPS and SPS are harder to keep.

your doing it right tho, and just keep asking the questions, that way you can get the best advice etc.

fordsportjay

iTrader: (6)

cheers mate-very helpful