Proximity Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hi there, I'm very new to this hobby, but over the last couple of weeks, I have become virtually obsessed with the idea of setting up a marine tank. Until now it's never really been a possibility, but now that I've bought a house and wont be moving around all the time, I can look at setting something large up. Ive spent the last week really researching this in depth, and before starting, am likely to spend the next month or so researching and preparing as well. My ultimate goal would be to have a full on reef tank. Everything I've seen, is just so amazingly beautiful, and has the kinds of things involved that I'm looking for in a hobby. It's challenging, mentally engaging, requires a lot of time and effort and isnt at all something that you just set up and walk away. The amount of work and effort required to do it wouldnt be an issue. Am I right in thinking that it would be too extreme to just leap straight into that though? As much as I would like to, I'm thinking I should probably be a bit more realistic and just start with a FOWLR tank? I know noone who's even interested in aquariums, so theres really noone outside of you people that I can ask for advice. Also, I have no idea where to look into for buying a tank and equipment locally. I'm in Wellington, and I would have no clue where the local fish stores are.. is anyone able to provide any info? It would be much appreciated. Finally, am I being realistic in my expectations? I'm hoping to start with a tank somewhere in the vicinity of 250L, give or take a bit, and expect to spend between 2 and 3k for the total setup? Any help or advice you could provide would be very much appreciated. Thanks, - Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hi - welcome to the forums. There are lots on salties on here but you may need to post this under the saltwater section further down the page from the beginners section. I don't know anything about saltwater tanks other than they are expensive to set up, cost a bit to maintain BUT are absolutely worth it when its done properly. I would love one myself. Maybe one day. Introduce yourself and put your location in as there is bound to be someone nearby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 Hi Proximity, and welcome. There is some marine starter information here - http://www.fnzas.org.nz/index.php?PG=marinearticle01 Glad to see you are doing your homework first, rather than jumping straight in then asking questions later, but beware, it is a time and money consuming hobby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 sounds like you're being pretty realistic to me, I don't think you have to go FOWLR to begin with, I think if you start with the right corals you should be fine. Things like mushrooms, leathers, xenia are all pretty easy care corals and will give you good practice for measuring your levels (salinity, magnesium, calcium and kH). There are a few salties in Wellington, but i'm not sure where the local marine lfs is sorry. Your main spends will be your skimmer and possibly your lights depending on what you want to keep, buy the best you can afford as you'll only end up upgrading later. There are often a few setups on trademe that you can get for a reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Try this http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showt ... id=1220315 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve P Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Sent you a pm with some local shops/contacts etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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