First time Marine owner

Hey guys , i have been planning to get a marine tank for a few months. I am getting alot of different advice. I would like to ease my way into it , and get something small. Any advice ?

Or tips on what tank to get ?

WIZE

I dont know what you will need for a marine tank but I have ordered a 200ltr tank from Aquarium Solutions Ireland

http://www.aquariumsolutions.ie/

Noopti

So you would be looking at a nano tank?
I have an Orca TL-450 which is about 14 Gallons or so, and it has worked out well for me. It is a reef system with fish, soft corals and LPS corals.

However, I would recommend going for something a little bigger such as the Orca TL-550 or equivalent. The more water you have the more forgiving it is, as any water issues that arise are diluted by having more volume in the tank. This will also give you more leeway in what fish you can keep. Also, the Orca do require some modding to get the best out of them.

To start you will need:
Tank :P
Powerheads/Pumps (You would want about 20x tank volume in turnover)
Pre-Mixed saltwater from your local fish store OR mix your own by getting RO water from your store, and mixing the salt yourself
Argonite Sand (if using sand substrate)
7KG Live Rock (This is based on about a 50Litre tank - you will need more if the tank is bigger)
Good water test kits. Salifert are good. You will need Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia to start and monitor the cycle.

The first week or so will be a case of testing the water each day to see when the cycle is finished (Ammonia, Nitrate & Nitrite levels all at 0, after having peaked earlier)

Then you would probably start adding CUC (Clean up Crew) - which usually consists of snails and crabs. These guys will help clean up any of the nusciance algae which should have cropped up during the cycle. Then once the water parameters are stable for a week or more you can start thinking about adding Fish and/or corals. Adding slowly is often the best idea (You don't want to add a bunch of fish and cause another mini cycle due to the fish waste)


Once the tank is stable, then the most important maintenance task would be water changes. This again depends on the size of the tank - the smaller the tank the more regular 15% - 20% water changes should be done. I do it once a week.

Here are a few pics of my Orca 450, to give you an idea of what I have with my small tank:









Feel free to ask me any questions. And also I would recommend the guys in Aquarium Solutions (Ashbourne) & Fish Antics (Dun Laoghaire) - they know their stuff.

quiteone

Hi im and at the minute doing the same thing,have a 350 litre trigon and am now setting it to a marine tank! Try Sea Horse Aquariums in Ballymount, they are helping me will test your water and fish,they really seem to know their stuff are very helpful and have some beautiful fish & sea horses out there! http://www.seahorseaquariums.com/store/

thebishop

quiteone wrote: »

Hi im and at the minute doing the same thing,have a 350 litre trigon and am now setting it to a marine tank! Try Sea Horse Aquariums in Ballymount, they are helping me will test your water and fish,they really seem to know their stuff are very helpful and have some beautiful fish & sea horses out there! http://www.seahorseaquariums.com/store/

Ill second that. Great shop.They breed some of the marine fish there too. Clowns ect.

I have actually been to Seahorse and i have been to Fins Furs N Feathers in Swords. I found FFF to be alot better with their info then Seahorse. Also their selection seems bigger too.

We has still not decided but are looking. We are told that the bigger we go the better. So alot more thinking is needed .

The Paws

Hi Noopti,

What a great selection of sponges you have here! Did you grow them or got it like that from a shop? I would love to own those one day.

Noopti

The Paws wrote: »

Hi Noopti,

What a great selection of sponges you have here! Did you grow them or got it like that from a shop? I would love to own those one day.

Hey Paws, no sponges there I'm afraid. It is a mix of soft corals and hard LPS corals. I did have a sponge at one point, but I don't think my tank had enough inherent plankton to feed it and it started to deteriorate so I brought it back to the shop.

Dre, I heard good things about FFF - must check it out. If you can go bigger definitely do it!

I backed out of this again. Did all my homework and can get a good Marine nano for about 300, but really there are so many thing that can go wrong. So decided to leave it. Maybe revisit it again next year. I am 2 years and counting , in planning to get a Marine tank

Noopti

At least you are thinking hard about it, and planning it. A lot of people just jump in without doing the research.

(But it is no way as hard or as complicated as it may seem - so I wouldn't rule it out just yet)