Marine Aquariums

guntermurray

Hi folks,

I've been thinking for some time about setting up a salt water / marine aquarium. I've been doing research about setting it up and looking after it properly, and I think I'm ready to do it now.

I'm hoping to start of with a smallish tank to build on later if and when finances allow. Where is a good source to get all the equipment? Any good showrooms / shops offering best value etc.

What would you expect to pay for a half decent start up set. I'd be more keen to set up a very high quality small tank, than a very poor quality large tank.

Thanks ,Gunter

Frisbee

Aquatic Village up in Blessington is probably the best shop tbh.
Great place and very knowledgeable staff.

Their Contact Details


And this is the link for the Irish Tropical Fishkeeping Society Boards. Great place and they'll be able to help you with anything you want to know..

ITFS

Zulu

A poor quality any tank will cost a fortune, as the fish will keep dieing.
Talk to Andy in Aquarium Solutions in Ashbourne.
I live in the city centre and find them so good I bother to travell to them. Honest and friendy, and importantly - good clean stock,

Shop around though. All the components are expensive. I'll happily help you with any questions.

Zulu

Frisbee wrote: »

Aquatic Village up in Blessington is probably the best shop tbh.
Great place and very knowledgeable staff.

I dunno, I went up there for a look about and was quoted a ridiculous price for some turbo snails by a very rude and disinterested member of staff.
Perhaps I got unlucky, but I never went back.

guntermurray

Thanks guys,

Whats a good appropriate size to start off with on a limited enough budget? What sort of money am I talking about to get up and running?

Frisbee

Zulu wrote: »

I dunno, I went up there for a look about and was quoted a ridiculous price for some turbo snails by a very rude and disinterested member of staff.
Perhaps I got unlucky, but I never went back.

Yeah I'd say you just got unlucky. They're usually very friendly and well priced. Never bought any snails so maybe they charge over the top for anything that's not a fish?

Zulu

guntermurray wrote: »

Whats a good appropriate size to start off with on a limited enough budget?

Well the smaller the tank, the less amount of live rock you need. So you'll be saving on the tank cost, and the live rock.
However.
In a years time, a small tank might be a regrettable tank...

What sort of money am I talking about to get up and running?

Lots. Marine fish keeping isn't cheap to start up.

You'll need to decide your tank size to work out the cost.

You need to buy a: tank (lights, filter and heater if separate), live rock, sand, salt, (I'd recommend calcium and magnesium), testing kits (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia), pump(s depending on size).
You'd be well advised to have a quarantine tank (although I'm currently living on the edge with out one).
None of this is cheap.

Then in a few months when it's all settled down, you'll start populating the tank, and that's not cheap!

Will you have coral? If so you'll need a skimmer.

guntermurray

I like live rock, natural planting anenomes and colourful stuff like that. unlikely to use coral at this stage. I'm not experienced enough. I've kept tropicals for a few years, but I'm a complete newbie on marine side. I suppose what I'm asking is, what do most people start off with, and what should I be aiming to spend. I don't want to go into a shop and start pricing around at the weekend until I have a realistic figure in my head as to what my budget should be?

I'm not counting the cost of fish livestock in the initial budget, because that's not something I have to stump up straight away but rather can build on slowly, when everything is set up, settled and running properly.

Zulu

Ok well the live rock is a must - you need it to help the water filtration and converting the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia.

So you really need to decide the size of the tank, as this will determine the amount of live rock you need. It'll also determine the cost of the tank.
You then need:
lights, filter and heater (if separate), sand, salt, I'd recommend calcium and magnesium, testing kits (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia), pump(s depending on size).
You'd be well advised to have a quarantine tank (although I'm currently living on the edge with out one).

Check out the ITFS website, it has a forumn for setups.

Jimkel

you should consider using organic aqua instead of a protein skimmer, you can use any tank with heater for marines with just the addition of an airstone w/pump, filter and heater. Allot cheaper and works better in my experience.

holyshow

Jimkel wrote: »

you should consider using organic aqua instead of a protein skimmer, you can use any tank with heater for marines with just the addition of an airstone w/pump, filter and heater. Allot cheaper and works better in my experience.

Having used this product in my marine tank for 5-6 months i would not recommend it. It is a cheap way to go about setting up the tank as it eliminates the need for a skimmer and live rock. I set up the tank using organic aqua to see what would happen and basically for the last 2 months I have watched it unexplicabbly deteriorate. It is not possible to carry out certain water tests so I have no way to find out what is going wrong. Safer to invest in the proper equipment.

dbrock

used organic aqua my self on a small marine tank for a while, i had some clowns, sea horses, damsels, gobys and the usual stuff,,, tank went very well with no probs,,, but as you said if something does go wrong it is hard to test whats happening,,,,

personally the best shop to talk to is fish antics they have been in the game longer than any of the others as far as marine fish go ,,
talk to a guy called simon he is very good with them,,

Senor Willy

Believe it or not keeping a smaller/nano Marine tank is much harder than
keeping a large one. The bigger the tank the easier it is to keep water
parameters stable.

Aquarium Solutions in Ashbourne is excellent.
I buy all my fish off Andy, who is also a gentle man.

Go to www.irishfishforum.com and you will get tons of info on keeping Marines there. Their club has the highest nember of Marine keepers out of
all the clubs. Join and you will get a 10% discount in all of the major retailers in Dublin including Aquatic Village and Aquarium Solutions.

KhuntChops

If you are looking to get a big tank,let me no ive a 350L Jewel Trigon I have to sell unfortunalty due to moving abroad. Have it already up and running with up to 1000 euro worth of Live Rock in it,few snails,hermit crabs and a mating pair of Clark Clownfish,havent got it running to long hence the lack of fish but will come with everything anyone needs to start up. If not ive seen lots of smaller Aquariums advertised in the buy and sell if you want to go down that road for fair prices. Good luck in your set up,hope it all goes well for you,it is very costly in the begining but well worth it in the end.

guntermurray

Hi folks.

Well I've bitten the bullet and made the purchase from Aquarium Solutions in Ashbourne. I met them at the pet expo on saturday and drove out to ashbourne to complete the purchase. I met Andy on the show stand and dealt with Dave in the shop. I found them both friendly and honest and a pleasure to deal with.

I bought a 120l Jewel on a cabinet. In it is an all in one type filter, and a heater, I also got the salt from them.

I have now mixed the water, and have it up and running with no substrate or rock in it. I put in two airstones with pumps for aeration and hopefully it'll settle down nicely.

On the advice of Dave, I'm going back to Ashbourne next week to get the live rock and sand to put in then once it settles down.

Cheers for the advice
gunter

Fishyfreak

Dave & Andy are top blokes. They will look after you and always a phone call away for advice.

We were at Petexpo too (Leinster Fish Keeping Society), if you join our club for €20- you will get a 10% discount at all of our sponsors shops for the duration of the membership. This includes Andys Aquarium Solutions.

We have a great lively forum and loads of Salties you can bounce ideas/questions off.

www.irishfishforum.com

Senor Willy

Glad you bit the bullet.
Did you see the LFKS stand at the expo? It was about twenty feet from Andys.

guntermurray

Hi folks,

Thanks for the info about the club, I did see the stand and spent about 20 mins looking at the tanks and listening in on other people asking questions, but it was a bit swarmed when i was there on saturday afternoon, and didn't get a chance to talk to anyone. I had my 2 your old girl with me, so patience isn't one of her strong points, so couldn't hang around too long unfortunately.
Gunter

guntermurray

Does anyone have (that they don't mind posting) a sample stock plan for a marine aquarium. I want to stock it properly and have a good clear knowledge of compatibility so i know exactly where I'm going.

I need two plans, one including sea horses, and one not including sea horses. One way or another, I defintaely definately want to use soft coral as and when appropriate.
Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks
Gunter

Senor Willy

If it is your first tank then I would stay away from Seahorse for a while.
They are specialist fish. Wait till you become more experienced keeping
Marines before buying the Seahorses.

Stocking levels are a lot less than a fresh water tank especially if you
want to keep Corals. Here is a basic guideline for keeping different species.

1. Add your Wrasses together.
2. Add your Tangs together.
3 Add your Dwarf Angels together.
Adding at different times can lead to serious aggression and fighting
and eventually death. Depend on tank size and the age/siz of your fish
you can get away with it to a certain degree.
4. Best going with one Goby or species that don`t look alike. They will
kill each other. My blue cheek Goby will kill any Goby that enters the tank now.

Too tired to write any more. Need sleep. Join our forum. There are loads
or experienced Marine fish keepers who will help you on the right track.

www.irishfishforum.com

The club also has about 12 Marine keepers from beginners to serious
Reefers.

ballabooyeah

I would have to say that you need to see the guys at Seahorse Aquariums.
Keeping seahorses are easy - but you need captive bred ones that feed like crazy.
Talk to kealan at the place - he is a marine biologist and he will show you where they bread the seahorses and all the live feed he uses for raising them to eating frozen Mysis.
Also the biggest range of marine fish I have seen anywhere.

Just across from the red cow Inn.

Balla

Jazzattack

dbrock wrote: »

used organic aqua my self on a small marine tank for a while, i had some clowns, sea horses, damsels, gobys and the usual stuff,,, tank went very well with no probs,,, but as you said if something does go wrong it is hard to test whats happening,,,,

personally the best shop to talk to is fish antics they have been in the game longer than any of the others as far as marine fish go ,,
talk to a guy called simon he is very good with them,,

In case anyone checks this thread,

I have been searching all over Dublin for the right advise/ sales staff/ prices and quality and I have been very, very meticulous about it.

In my opinion by far the best ,head and shoulders above the rest, was my experience with 3 members off staff all based in Fish antics in Dun Laoighaire. I have tried Aquatic village and bar one young member of staff I got the impression they were board talking to newcomers to the hobby and only wanted to deal with "serious hobbyers", Simon in Fish antics did a deal with me on price and spoke to me with the respect I felt I deserved for handing over a grand on equipment and advised me about the whole setting up process and in my eagerness to get fish and livestock he stopped me and advised that I should wait and attain perfect water conditions before I put any stock in which I found very refreshing from a sales person.

Head and shoulders above the rest out there for quality and customer interaction and advise I was more than happy to give them my hard earned money in return for their expert advise, superior quality and general level of respect with their customers.

Hope that helps.

Zulu

I go out to aquarium solutions in ashbourne.
In my opinion, the best saff/value/shop.