Setting up an AQUARIUM, how MUCH, and how DIFFICULT?

[Jaguar_uk]

I've been keeping marines for the last 18 months or so and they are no more difficult than tropicals to keep although it does require careful monitoring of the water conditions.
Personally i find that it makes me more vigilant than i used to be when i kept tropicals because it's always on my mind how expensive the fish are should i neglect it.
With the modern equipment available these days it's really quite easy to keep marines but make sure you do your homework and fully understand how a tank cycles and the importance of live rock in the aquarium, also don't overstock the tank with fish, makes it much harder to maintain the correct water conditions.

 

[ExmouthExile]

Here's a little tip. If you're buying live plants, check them thoroughly for snails before you put them in your tank. If ONE slips into your tank under the radar, you will be infested with thousands of the *******s within weeks!

 

[Midfield Minton]

Anyone know or have a vision 180 for sale

 

[Goldstone1976]

I've been considering starting a marine/reef tank. I quite fancy the look of the soon-to-be-released Red Sea Reefer tank in either the 4' or 5' size, but totting up the price of all the equipment, substrate, live rock, corals, fish, RO water etc, I'm coming out at around £3.5k for the set up (albeit spread over a few months to allow time for settling) and £50/mth upkeep.

There's gotta be a cheaper way, shirley? Anyone got any input please?
[MENTION=2019]jevs[/MENTION] [MENTION=153]perseus[/MENTION] ?
[MENTION=31]El Presidente[/MENTION] , did you go for it in the end?

 

[jevs]

Right.....firstly, it's a lovely tank. Had a watch of the video and i presume you've done your homework on other models around (such as some of the sumped tanks at Maidenhead)

Apart from the set up....the 450 is £1,400, you'll need....

A decent skimmer....certainly a Deltec AP850 or equivalent
Lighting....it ain't gonna be cheap but LED is the way forward.
Heaters
Return pump
Water circulators
If you want to keep SPS corals, you'll probably need a chiller and a calcium reactor
An RO unit
AT LEAST 60 kg live rock
Salt
If you want to be a flash git, you're going to want some sort of monitoring equipment...a computer that will dose kalkwasser, nutrients, monitor temp, pH and other bits, maybe a wave maker

I would say, having a very quick look at some on-line shops, that your set up including the computer bits, chiller and Ca reactor would be around £4k....i can break it down if you want me to. That does NOT include Live rock, corals or fish. Some shops will do you a good deal if you're going to spend that sort of cash with them.

However, for most of the stuff, you can get it 2nd hand if you wanted to cut a lot off the bill. Have a look at Ultimate reef http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?184-Classified-Forums or http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/recent.php

Cured Live rock will cost you around £12/kg from a shop, it'll cost £5 privately.

Go for the best skimmer you can afford....the same with the lighting.

Oh....and keep asking the questions. Good luck

 

[Goldstone1976]

Right.....firstly, it's a lovely tank. Had a watch of the video and i presume you've done your homework on other models around (such as some of the sumped tanks at Maidenhead)

Apart from the set up....the 450 is £1,400, you'll need....

A decent skimmer....certainly a Deltec AP850 or equivalent
Lighting....it ain't gonna be cheap but LED is the way forward.
Heaters
Return pump
Water circulators
If you want to keep SPS corals, you'll probably need a chiller and a calcium reactor
An RO unit
AT LEAST 60 kg live rock
Salt
If you want to be a flash git, you're going to want some sort of monitoring equipment...a computer that will dose kalkwasser, nutrients, monitor temp, pH and other bits, maybe a wave maker

I would say, having a very quick look at some on-line shops, that your set up including the computer bits, chiller and Ca reactor would be around £4k....i can break it down if you want me to. That does NOT include Live rock, corals or fish. Some shops will do you a good deal if you're going to spend that sort of cash with them.

However, for most of the stuff, you can get it 2nd hand if you wanted to cut a lot off the bill. Have a look at Ultimate reef http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?184-Classified-Forums or http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/php/recent.php

Cured Live rock will cost you around £12/kg from a shop, it'll cost £5 privately.

Go for the best skimmer you can afford....the same with the lighting.

Oh....and keep asking the questions. Good luck

That's fantastic feedback, thanks!

I do want to keep SPS coral, but was hoping to avoid the chiller and Ca reactor, at least for the moment. Not a wise decision?

Monitoring equipment? Yes, but not because I'm a flash git (well, not only because I'm a flash git) - this will be my first marine setup, and the last time I kept tropicals was maybe a decade ago, so I need all the help I can get to keep the environment healthy. I hadn't considered a wave maker - I'll do some research.

Thanks for the links - I'll check them out.

Any idea where I can pick up live rock privately?

I was thinking of LEDs - I like the control they give.

Let's say that I do want the 450 - any suggestions for the "best" skimmer (do you think the AP 850 is good enough, or should I go up from there?) and LED lighting - I'd be looking to attach the lighting to the tank in some way - I have very high ceilings and don't really want to have either long drops to the lights or fit brackets to the walls...

TIA!

 

[jevs]

I do want to keep SPS coral, but was hoping to avoid the chiller and Ca reactor, at least for the moment. Not a wise decision?

The problem is, if you want the colours and growth, then you'll need near perfect conditions. Calcium will have to be kept at a constant 450+ppm and temperature needs to be stable. I ran a second hand Knopp C calcium reactor on my soft coral reef and the pinks and purples of the coaline algeas was superb. Of course, it depends on how seriously you want to do this....i never bothered with a chiller but in summer, my reef temp got to 30 degrees C !!!

Monitoring equipment? Yes, but not because I'm a flash git (well, not only because I'm a flash git) - this will be my first marine setup, and the last time I kept tropicals was maybe a decade ago, so I need all the help I can get to keep the environment healthy. I hadn't considered a wave maker - I'll do some research.

I would say a wave maker would be essential. This basically controls a number of circulation pumps and turns them on and off for different random or preset times.

Any idea where I can pick up live rock privately?

LR is always being sold privately. Try to get it from a couple of different scources if you can just to increase the diversity of mini critters

Let's say that I do want the 450 - any suggestions for the "best" skimmer (do you think the AP 850 is good enough, or should I go up from there?)

I like Deltec stuff....i've always used their skimmers and the AP850 did my 5 foot reef no probs. Not sure what's on he market these days as i've not had a reef for 10 years. I tried a Bubble magus on a 5 foot fish only and couldn't get on with that.

LED lighting - I'd be looking to attach the lighting to the tank in some way - I have very high ceilings and don't really want to have either long drops to the lights or fit brackets to the walls...

Arcadia do a LED illuminaire that goes over your tank....costs about £650 though.

This was my soft coral reef http://www.ultimatereef.com/TOTM/July04.htm

 

[Goldstone1976]

The problem is, if you want the colours and growth, then you'll need near perfect conditions. Calcium will have to be kept at a constant 450+ppm and temperature needs to be stable. I ran a second hand Knopp C calcium reactor on my soft coral reef and the pinks and purples of the coaline algeas was superb. Of course, it depends on how seriously you want to do this....i never bothered with a chiller but in summer, my reef temp got to 30 degrees C !!!

Thanks for all the help!

Your reef tank looked amazing!!

Time for some more research, I think...

 

[jevs]

Yep....keep researching and keep asking. It's an absolute minefield out there and there are many many people far more clued up on reef aquaria than me. I'm more of a "bung it in and let em get on with it".

Get the best gear you can afford but check all your options.....maybe you could go for soft and LPS corals, they're certainly a lot more forgiving than SPS if things do go a bit tits up. You won't need so much lighting (although softies thrive under bright lights) and you'll get good growth and colours if you include some of the gorgonians, mushrooms and zoos.

You might want to considder natural sea water (NSW) if you live near the coast....i's perfect and it's free. I've set up several nano reefs on NSW and they looked great.

Think carefully about what fish you want. When they're in, they won't be coming out unless you want a total strip down (absolute nightmare) and watch out for stress and disease prone fish....i lost 18 fish in a week due to white spot and i was heart breaking !!!

Please give me (or anyone else) a shout if you need any more help....which you will lol

 

[Midfield Minton]

What are your thoughts on keeping lake Malawi cichlids in an 100l tank,I know there best over crowded but would a tank of this size be to small,?,or would it be better keeping lake tanganyiki cichlids in a tank of this size

 

[Deanbha]

What are your thoughts on keeping lake Malawi cichlids in an 100l tank,I know there best over crowded but would a tank of this size be to small,?,or would it be better keeping lake tanganyiki cichlids in a tank of this size

You need at least 250 litres and a tank at least 4 foot wide.

 

[Midfield Minton]

Even with lake tanganyiki,these are a lot smaller and less aggressive on average then Malawi

 

[T soprano]

Seeing as there's an Aquarium thread, anybody else love watching TANKED on Animal Planet
A great watch if your into aquariums and Fish, great watching the builds and a bit of humour (American) thrown in as well
Unbelievable some of the tanks they've built as some of the above pics show

 

[T soprano]

The Shark tank they built for American comic Tracey Morgan in his mancave

 

[jevs]

Forget Malawis. I had about 50 of them given to me at the last minute before xmas. Never kept them before, don't even know what they are called, i've got "oranges and lemons, blue meanies, blotchy jobbies and stripey things" Some of the fish are 7" long and they are breeding like mad.

Even though they're in a 500 litre tank, it just seems so small. The fish are all highly aggressive and chase each other all the time. Im going to be getting rid of some soon....i've a friend who works at Chailey Heritage and they have a few Malawis in a tank there....hopefully the kids will love the colours and the movement.

Are you thinking about keeping "Shellies"? That may work in a 100 litre. http://fish-etc.com/fish/cichlids/the-shell-dwelling-cichlids