reptimax Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 hi i am wanting to start a marine tank, does anyone have any freindly info for me or advice or any internet sites or anything, i am new to marine so any help would be greatly appreciated. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 search this site its been done & done & done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 Here's a thing I pasted from another thread - A basic marine set up is like this. don't mess with anything less than a 3 foot tank. Smaller can be done but it's hard. 4 foot up is best. The filtration is done by bacteria that live in "liverock". Liverock is rock made from old coral skeleton and is porous. You should have somewhere around a kilogram of liverock to each 8 litres of water in the tank. The liverock is in fact dry and dead when you buy it at the LFS, but becomes "live" when after a few weeks in the tank it gets a bunch of bacteria living in it that eat the waste products from the fish. So one way to set up a tank is to put a thin layer of sand in the bottom. Put in the correct amount of rock, then fill with seawater. The seawater will need to have 10% freshwater added as our water is saltier then the ideal level. Then you need all this water to be moving, both to assist liverock filtration, and because most marine organisms need it to be moving. So you add a few pumps, enough to pump the entire volume of the tank ten times per hour (10 x times flow) This is the minimum, 20x or more is better. Then you need a marine grade light, most of the corals we keep are photosynthetic and need correct light. 1 watt of light per litre of water is a rough guide to the amount of light you need, but this may vary (upwards mostly) depending on what you are keeping. Don't use your old cannisters for biological filtration, leave that to the liverock. Cannisters and such do aerobic filtration only and do not supply the anearobic filtration important in a marine tank. Cannisters can be useful for using carbon, or phosphate removing resin though. The other thing you need is a protein skimmer. A good one is expensive, but the success of your tank will to quite a degree hinge on how good your protein skimming is. A good one will last you for life, get a needlewheel one they are the best. As I said you will hear other contradictory ideas and they will likely also work. I've just suggested one way to get a basic system going. Do a lot of reading, that's the big thing, there's a lot of learning to do. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skuzza Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 I have a lot less than 1 kilo of rock per 8 liters of water now and it is still running good.It did worry me at first taking out some of my rock but it seems to be alot more stable.The ratio was spot on for what had before i made a coral rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 25, 2005 Report Share Posted November 25, 2005 Interesting comment Skuzza. In a part of my frag system, this part around 450 liters, there is 2 tangs, blenny, rabbitfish, several wrasses and gobies and a bunch of shrimps. There is only 4 kg rock in the whole thing, yet nitrite and nitrate are both undetectable Salifert. That's less than 1 kg per 100 liters. The system is BB and I keep it clean, but nonetheless it does demonstrate we can get away with a lot less rock than the traditional amount. Apart from the extra room made available by having less rock, another advantage i believe would be less substrate available to accumulate and hang on to undesireable nutrients such as phosphate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 hi thanks for that...whats a protein skimmer? an where can i get actual sea water...from the actual beach or? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 A protein skimmer sends bubbles through a water column which creates froth containing impurities from the water. The froth is then removed and this is a great way to clean the tank. But much to know. Best plan is to enter these 3 words into google all at once - aquarium protein skimmer. Then read and read. When you buy one get a needlewheel one they are the latest and best. Water from the beach, yes, it's as simple as that. But don't get dirty stuff. Find a place where at high tide you can get nice clean water. It won't be clean when the sea is rough, you need an offshore wind and flat sea. Usually a wharf, rocks, or boatramp is best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 hi where can i get a protein skimmer from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 A pet shop that sells marine stuff. Also I'm not sure if they can help but there are 2 people on this forum that import them, they are jetskisteve, and reef, you could drop them a pm. Just one thing - there are good skimmers, and not so good ones. The skimmer is likely the most important piece of filtration you have, and also once you got it, it will last you for life. But they are expensive. But you should budget for a quality needlewheel one as this will make a big difference to your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 expensive - as in a decent one $1,000+ new (depending on size of tank too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 1000 is quite high, alot of people here are using deltec handon models which are available for about 800 i beleive, that will do for a med size tank, once you get up in size you will need a more grunty skimmer than that though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 thanks for all the reply,,,wow thats quite expensive,,,,but anyways...will hollywood fish farm have protein skimmers because they do specialise in fish and marines....ill pm those too people cheers max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Hollywood do sell skimmers. From memory: Deltec MCE500 was around $900 Deltec MCE600 was around $1000-$1100 Both decent needlewheel hang on back skimmers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 wow...thats cheap um yea well ill have to save a bit wont i...hmmm so what are the main things you need for a marine setup and how can i set up a sump? coolies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 so what are the main things you need for a marine setup Money. No I'm not joking, that's where most newbies screw up. They won't spend the needed money, they end up with a crappy tank, they either leave the hobby or basically have to start again. I know that cos I did it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 lol...that's why I stick with freshwater all the way. The saltwater tanks always seem to be the dirtiest tanks in shops, is this because they rarely do water changes, saltwater tanks get dirtier quicker than freshwater, or don't clean them regularly enough (e.g wipe sides) or all of the above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 yea that may be...tru tru....but i want to give it ago as my whole family are thumbs up for it and i want to try something different and challenging...also they look very attractive.......chick magenet :) lol....just joking guys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 you cannot judge marine /reef keeping on what you see in the shops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 very true indeed...i know its alot of work and i am up for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 hi i was just wondering..whats the average amount of money needed to setup a marine setup, i have a tank and thats it chheeers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 thanks for all the reply,,,wow thats quite expensive,,,,but anyways...will hollywood fish farm have protein skimmers because they do specialise in fish and marines....ill pm those too people cheers Hollywood do sell skimmers. From memory: Deltec MCE500 was around $900 Deltec MCE600 was around $1000-$1100 Both decent needlewheel hang on back skimmers. Well keep an eye out on Trademe in the next few weeks coz I'm selling my in-sump Deltec TS1060 skimmer, good for 1,500 litres normal stocking, selling at HFF for $1,695+ last time I looked. You might get yourself a bargain hi i was just wondering..whats the average amount of money needed to setup a marine setup, i have a tank and thats it chheeers Average price? Depends on size of tank and how far you go and what you plan to keep (softies, lps, sps corals etc and "luxury" extra's like calcium reactors, zeovit filters, fluidised reactors etc). Most would agree minimum tank setup about $4k. I'm up to about $15k I think, maybe more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 4k???? whats 4k???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 $4,000 dollars :-? for tank, rock, filtration, lighting, some corals, test kits, pumps, etc. cant put an exact figure on it, but we discussed this about 6 months ago and tried to work out what a good middle ground figure would be to have a good starters tank. you can do STARTING for less but it will cost you $4k by the time you get all necessary goods for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 $4000 He's not wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptimax Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 oh right...$4000....hmm oh well...better start saving:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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