Marine tank -yay or nay

opti76

ive been toying with the idea of starting a marine tank .. ive kept golfish and tropical fish in the past and fancy a new challenge.. so anyone point me in the right direction???..

how big a tank is needed?

jenno86

Hmmm, have you not heard?

opti76

jenno86 wrote: »

Hmmm, have you not heard?

obviously not jenn...


edit .. yay idiot here just saw other thread .. sorry bout that .. can mods lock this please

Noopti

*utterly confused*

What other thread?

Cookie_Monster

+1

what's going on here then?

Also have a look at Noopti's thread, good place to start and see what can be achieved

opti76

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056002837.. this thread answers a lot of my Q's...how difficult is it monitoring salinity levels....

Noopti

Sure, but I don't see why your own thread should be locked. Marine tanks are varied and unique, so what you want could be completely different to what someone else wants.

Feel free to ask any quesitons, and I will try my best to answer them.

It is easy to monitor the salinity. There are two instruments you can use:

Hydrometer:
You fill it with water and the bar floats at different levels depending on the density. Not very accurate.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Coralife-Deep-Six-Sea-Marine-Water-Aquarium-Hydrometer-/320585086034?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item4aa45c3452

Refractometer:
Measure how light refracts as it passes through the water and gives a much more accurate measurement.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Salinity-Refractometer-0-10-Salt-Water-Brine-Aquarium-/360298103462?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item53e370c2a6

opti76

how hard is it to maintain noopti..compared to say tropical fish

Noopti

I have never kept tropical fish, so can't really give you a comparison. I jumped straight into marines!

I haven't found it difficult per say, but it can be time consuming - especially initially. You will also want to do LOTS of reading, there are loads of forums out there. Here are a few I like:

http://www.thesaltybox.com
http://www.reefcentral.com
http://www.fishforums.net

If you browse through those forums you will find lots of threads by people starting out, asking all the various questions that will be running through your head.

I suppose there may be more effort involved in certain aspects then with most freshwater tropical systems. For example, you can't really use de-chlorinated tap water in the system (although some do), so you would need to buy RO (Reverse Osmosis) water from a good fish store and mix your own salt, or buy salted RO water from your fish store. Or you could buy your own RO unit to produce your own RO water.
Also, certain coral types require different lighting requirements, as well as possible supplemental feeding. Also depending on your system you may also need to dose various trace elements for certain hard corals (Calcium, Magnesium etc).

I would also suggest you go for as big a tank as possible if you decide to go ahead. It will be more expensive in setup, but the bigger the tank, the easier it is to keep water parameters stable. Also a sump is a very good idea.

It can be very daunting at the beginning, but believe it is no way as difficult as it may look from the outside and once you do your research, and are patient in your setup then you will be rewarded with a fantastic hobby.