Morning all,

Chatting with my girlfriend yesturday and we are now thinking of converting the tank to marine. I need to work out the costs of it all though and get advice from the experts on here!

The tank is a 6 x 2 x 2 and i have 2 ehiem 2028's, powerhead, heater etc. I only have one UV 4 foot light. From the reading i have been doing i see that i can have the simple marine tank consisting of live rock and fish or i could have the harder set up wiht coral. Does a purely live rock tank look a little dull? the coral etc appeals to me but i know its alot harder. Also is a protein skimmer necasarry with my set up? How much live rock would be needed? I have so much to ask but i think this will do to start!

If i go ahead with this then the to most aggressive, nasty, bad attitute rhom will be for sale along with 4 turtles (just to bare in mind)

I think you should go marine lol

sell me that rhom, you just live so far away, like 350 miles mate, but if push comes to shove i might have to drive. That used to be my rhom and you'll never find anything as agressive

gav

ROAD TRIP

lol

i agree alex.

gav

He sure is angry! it will be a shame to sell him after waiting ages and ages for a piranha like this. Just think its time for something new...its not for definate yet though, gotta work out the costs of this marine lark!

If it does happen, bring the S3 this time, it will be much quicker!

I keep thinking about nano reef or converting my Rio180. Lots to consider though still reading and learning!
May also be interested in Rhom!

i think a large marine set up could be expensive but fascinating to explore, lots to learn and a set up with live rock, fish and inverts living in harmony would be very cool!

It would indeed mate, but just how expensive is what i need to find out!

im sure you wouldnt have to empty your bank account all at once, kind of like an ongoing project, think it needs a lot of research tho, i had a 4ft marine set up when i was about 17, before all the newfangled equipment you get now, dont know what you have to do now but i was making up salt water once a week for water changes , the filter was an overhead drip affair , i had live rock, aenomes, cucumbers , a lion fish , clown fish, an angel fish (pucker!), butterfly fish are nice tho sensitive and peaceful, i ened up with a snow flake moral eel, which was amazing it hid behind the rock till feeding time when it shot out like a snake, it escaped one day and i had to empty the whole tank which was built into the alcove , i found it alive behind the tank!

As i'm local, i'll take the rhom and turtles!

I have a pretty good feeling Gav wont have anyone get in on that Rhom! but u never know. As for the turtles mate we can defo sort out a deal. I have four of them now tho, 2 maps, one hierolyphic (spelling) and one red belly silder. The largest map is the friendliest one of the lot. But any way i have to get advice from people on the cost before i know if its do-able.

Feel free to PM me mate to talk about them

looks like you got yourself some turtles there Jack

WANT THE RHOM 2! (Gav always hogs the rhoms )

life just isnt fair is it Jack

Nope, now sitting in the corner crying.

Sucking your thumb rocking backwards + forwards !

Yep.

little Jack Day sat in the hay wishing that he had a rhom, then along came Jambos but afore he knew it it was gone! (that hurt my brain, wasnt v.good either)

grrrr

You'll not actually need that muych more gear Jambo, depending on what kind of setup you want to go for. You could get away with only buying a protein skimmer and some live rock. Use your existing filters as chemical filters and to move the water round the tank, through the live rock. Bingo, you have a decent fish only tank ready to go. Over time, you can add better lighting, which would allow you to branch out into corals etc. Once you've started, there's an endless list of upgrades. Marine fishkeeping has all manner of weird and wonderful gadgets.

Salt and hygrometer would be the only other two essentials.

Excellent, thanks alot Andrew. I think thats the way to do it - start off FOWLR (been reading up yesturday, lol) then from there as i learn more and more add better lights and coral etc. Using my existing filters as chemical filters does this mean i need to change any of the media already in there? also when i do the change over to marine are my filters still cycled or do they start again? I read that you need one kg of live rock for each gallon! so in my case 150KG - do you agree with this? Where to get it cheap?

Hydrometer? havnt heard of that one yet. Does it measure salinity or something?

Also when it comes to water changes. currently i attach a hose to the shower upstairs, get the temp right and switch on the powershower, about 4 mins later 25% on the tank has filled! its a great method but will it be suitable for marine. I dont treat the water or anything and nothing seems to mind. Obviously i need to add the salt so maybe fill the bath, add the salt then syphon it down into the tank?

Hi mate
I will try and answer a few questions for ya.
Your filter will need to be completeley cleaned out.As andrew says you can use the filter for chemical and mechanical.Good water movement and liverock is all you need and of course a protein skimmer.
As for getting liverock cheap,i think you might struggle.You do see some good bargains on classified though.
This way can be better as most of the time it as been maturing in the aquarium for years.so as plenty of coraline growth.
Yes a hydrometer is an instrument used to measure salinity.
Salt needs to completeley dissolved in water before adding to the tank.Not so important on the first fiil up but for future water changes then yes.
As for water changes i would deffo use ro water.Algae can be a rite pain in the first few months,and can take over the tank giving you loads of work and making the tank look horrible.so as few algae causing nutrients in the water as possible.I have found the lfs shop to be cheapest for this.£1.00 per gallon ready salted.
Have read on HERE.everying you need to know

Hi mate
I will try and answer a few questions for ya.
Your filter will need to be completeley cleaned out.As andrew says you can use the filter for chemical and mechanical.Good water movement and liverock is all you need and of course a protein skimmer.
As for getting liverock cheap,i think you might struggle.You do see some good bargains on classified though.
This way can be better as most of the time it as been maturing in the aquarium for years.so as plenty of coraline growth.
Yes a hydrometer is an instrument used to measure salinity.
Salt needs to completeley dissolved in water before adding to the tank.Not so important on the first fiil up but for future water changes then yes.
As for water changes i would deffo use ro water.Algae can be a rite pain in the first few months,and can take over the tank giving you loads of work and making the tank look horrible.so as few algae causing nutrients in the water as possible.I have found the lfs shop to be cheapest for this.£1.00 per gallon ready salted.
Have read on HERE.everying you need to know
[/quote]

Thanks very much Carl, a big help. I was browsing through old posts yesturday and found a link to that site, posted by yourself. i will have a good look through it later. cheers.

carl, which shop do you get your r/o salted water from??

Fishworld in Chadderton,Oldham

Could i live without RO water? because at £1 a gallon, a 25% change would cost just under £40!! that i defo cant afford!

thanks carl

Yes you can, especially for FOWLR set ups.Just be prepared for plenty of algae cleaning.I peform a 10-15% wc once a fortnight with not too many probs so far.I used tap water for months while maturing.it was only when i started to add corals i changed over.
Be prepared to spend money on a large tank.I think i have spent in excess of £700 already and thats on a 150 ltr.The best thing to do imo is too look at this as like a 2-3 year project and just take your time.It can get a little addictive seing all the weird and wonderful things you can keep.The rewards out weigh the costs.I love have my own little piece of the ocean.
A little advice on fish.Stay away from damsels they are a bloody nightmare.I made the mistake of adding them first to cycle as they are quite hardy fish.Now the domino danmsel thinks he own the tank and just completely pesters anything i add in,sometimes to there death.The worst thing is i cant get him out.the only way i can see is to take everything out which is gonna stress the full tank.So it looks like hes gonna stay till i upgrade later on in the year.So choose your inhabitants carefully.Also a lot of marine fish are quite sensitive and will only do well in mature tanks 6-12 months running atleast.



No probs mate

Nice one Carl. I went to my LFS today and a guy in there who is really helpful said as you said that RO water is only really important when growing corals etc. So for the time being i think it will be a case of fish and live rock. When im ready to turn it into a reef then uprgrade lighting and get an R/O unit. The cost of live rock and live sand is actually making me feel sick! if anyone reading this is selling of thiers then u know who to contact! i guess i will just have to keep an eye open on aquarist classified.

I dont know alot about the types of fish etc i can keep! it all started with my girlfriend saying that she wanted a "nemo" so a few clowns will be on the cards but as for what other colourful and wierd things that can live with them i havnt even started to look into! so much to learn, that site u recommended was really good.

Clowns are an excellent choice.I think its only possible to keep a pair though.
Glad to be of help

agree with carl , those damsels despite their size can be a complete nightmare , very territorial . You really need to put in something a little bigger to keep them in their place . I've got 2 with a maroon clown and coral beauty , and a couple of chromis , and they're not bolshie at all . If you want to go for a clown
the maroon is a good choice as they grow to a much larger size than your 'common' clowns/nemos , but they can be aggressive buggers

ps jambo - i never liked the idea of r.o water before , but it's a weight off the mind not having to worry about having the old 'nitrate minus' on standby all the time ! Don't know if you've got your setup running or not , but £1 / gallon of r.o seems very excessive - a 5 gallon drum at my local shop costs £2.50 , 50p/gallon!?!?

I made the move to marines, a while back!, never regretted it, I got two fabulous looking tanks which is a lot more interesting, with crabs, shrimps, and Coral's etc, I find it a lot more easier than keeping Piranha's... best move I ever made ;-)

look here m8 http://www.reefsuk.org/forum/index.php

are links to other forums aloud?

^^ didnt think so, you should send relevant links via PM But not only have you posted it in here but in another topic too







John B

i dont know why all these marine links have been thrown to the top

looks like a ploy to increase the profile of the other forum

gav

Maybe it is...would never beat this forum though






John B

Didn't know I couldn't post links sorry! But that forum speaks for itself with a lots more members than on here! And beats this hands down

Ok mate, if you don't like it don't use it

daz

I HAD MARINE BEFORE PS ENDED UP AN EXPENSIVE NIGHTMARE HAD ALGAE PROBLEMS,BRISTLEWORM ECT LOST LOTS OF FISH. DONT GET ME WRONG THEY ARE A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT BUT HOPE YOU HAVE BETTER LUCK THEN I DID

You know you are a tit and your startin to bug me now.