Converting a Rio 180 to marine

Hi all,

Im wishing to convert to marines at the end of the year all going well:laugh:

And wanted to convert my tropical setup to marine, i have a juwel rio 180 with t5 light unit.

Just need to know what equipment i need,

UV filter, powerhead, external, skimmer, sump etc

Or using live sand and OA, Ive only started reseaching marines and have alot to do so any help from marine keepers would great.

Alan

Hey, i just started a marine tank having moved from goldfish in a bowl. Ive found that they are not as hard to keep as people have you believe and people involved are more then happy to help peole get into the hobby. The guys at seahorse aquariums been nothing but helpful.

You will neeed:
Live sand keep it about one inch thick as some fish like to hide in the sand.
live rock normally about 22euro a kg( but AV are giving it away @14 euro a KG)
UV lighting
Heater
carbon
ceramic rings
Water testing kits
Ro water (it is better to buy this then make your own as u then know the water is save as the filter it)
hydrometer


Thats about it i think but anyone can object to me. Good luck and the most important rule is take your time. Dont go getting lots of fish at once. These fish are expensive and if you mess up they will cost you a hell of a lot! your better of starting with one or two fish and working your away up. Was the best advise i was give because when i set up mine i had 3deaths in the first week.But everything is going perfect now and i could not be more happy. Oddly enough i find the hermit crabs more entertaining then the fish as they really are amazing.


O you also need to know what set up you will have fish only or some coral in there. Having coral is a lot more hard work and the coral can be harder to keep alive then the fish!

Also if you have kids they will be glad to hear that clown fish are actually one of the easiest to keep.

Hi Sean,

Cheers for the info:laugh: Id like to have a small bit of coral nothing mad, and dont want live rock that will take up the whole of the tank either. Maybe big bits in each side and smaller bits in the middle of the tank.

I have only started looking into it and i wont be getting anything mad to start with just a few small fish that are easy to look after.

I was gonna get a RO unit anyway for my tropical tanks. How often do you do water changes and on feeding what do you feed the different fish and crabs.....?

The crabs will eat just about anything including your coral. Feed the fish a mix of flakes and frozen shrimp. Watch them eat it if there being picky try using a flavouring normally garlic to mix into there food.

Also these fish WILL STARVE TO DEATH. I had a bangi and he just refused to eat. Unlike other fish you cant just starve them for a day or 2 and then they will eat everything it does not work like that.

And i have also noticed the fish(apart from the clown) wont eat the flakes floating on the top at all they rather you break it up and let it move all around the tank.

Just on the equipment side i would really like a sump aswell but any other bits i may need what are the reactors for......?

Alan

I started a small marine tank (125l) myself a couple of years back, just a few clownfish, gobbies, cardinals and some cleaner shrimp. I went down the Organic Aqua route and things couldnt have gone any better. Seems to me if that it'd defo be worth your while trying it out.It negates the need for live rock, live sand, skimmers, sumps, etc and is relatively low cost so even if you decide to go the high tech route, you wont have lost money.
Despite what people might say, there is no definitive method of keeping marines, you could plough a €1000 into the tank and have less succes then someone who has only spent €100. Anyway, defo worth chatting to Organic Steve, cus the OA Marine problem defo gets my seal of approval. In fact if you have any questions about it, let me know.

calvusklein wrote:

I started a small marine tank (125l) myself a couple of years back, just a few clownfish, gobbies, cardinals and some cleaner shrimp. I went down the Organic Aqua route and things couldnt have gone any better. Seems to me if that it'd defo be worth your while trying it out.It negates the need for live rock, live sand, skimmers, sumps, etc and is relatively low cost so even if you decide to go the high tech route, you wont have lost money.
Despite what people might say, there is no definitive method of keeping marines, you could plough a €1000 into the tank and have less succes then someone who has only spent €100. Anyway, defo worth chatting to Organic Steve, cus the OA Marine problem defo gets my seal of approval. In fact if you have any questions about it, let me know.

Were do i start......

Testing the water while using OA....what should i be looking for when testing...?

How long did you wait before adding fish...?

On filters/ skimmer( if needed)...?

Could i still keep live rock in the tank...?

Alan

Were do i start......

Testing the water while using OA....what should i be looking for when testing...?

How long did you wait before adding fish...?

On filters/ skimmer( if needed)...?

Could i still keep live rock in the tank...?

Sorry!

Still havent got the hang of "quoting"!

"Testing the water while using OA....what should i be looking for when testing...?"

I have been keeping a small reef tank (Rio 180 actually!) at home recently and have been doing regular testing with some different brands of test kits.
The results have been reasonably typical of a traditional tank being well maintained.
I noticed after a few weeks that the pH had started to drop (7.7) that the KH was on the low end (7'dKH) so added KH buffer til I had attained a KH of 13'dKH at a pH of 7.7 which stabilized to 11'dKH at pH 8.0 later that day.
The nitrites have varied from 0.01 to 1.0ppm depending on test kit used averaging out at about 0.05ppm.
Ammonia has varied from 0.01 to 1.5, average 0.1ppm.
Nitrate from 10 to 75ppm, average 30ppm.
Phosphate was detected at 0.8ppm which was I think coming from some old ocean rock I had in the tank originally which was reduced in a short number of days to 0.0ppm after a sock of Rowaphos was added.
Temperature 26'
SG 1.026

"How long did you wait before adding fish...?"

Set up tank with 2 Seahorses, 1 boxfish, 2 Clownfish, 2 Cleaner shrimp, 1 Anemone, 2 Flaming Scallops, 4 Feather Dusters, 1 Pussy Coral, 6 Hermit Crabs, 6 Turbo Grazers and some small pieces of live rock.
All in on day one.

"On filters/ skimmer( if needed)...?"

Filtration- Juwel filter in place with two blue sponges and lots of filter floss with rowaphos. 600 lph pump.
Circulation- One maxijet 1200lph pump.
Aeration- One medium airstone with medium flow.
Skimmer- None

"Could i still keep live rock in the tank...?"

As mentioned above you can and should keep some live rock in your system if you want a reef type set up but for a fish only system you do not require any.

Tank in good repair and although I top up daily (evaporation is increased with the open top method as used with OA)I have only done one water change since I set up.
No real algal growth to report although I clean the front and side of the glass once a week with a blade to keep any sort of colonization at bay.

Here are a couple of youtube links to the tank to have a look if you want





Enjoy and keep in touch. If I can offer any help or advise to anyone please post!

Cheers,

Steve

hi, just wondering are you aware anamones should never be kept with seahorses even bubbles, maybe they are diff tanks, if not you should remove one of them ,your seahorse wont die from the sting of the anamone but as they are so stupid they never learn and die from stress. im not aware how long your keeping seahorses, and am shocked with anyone from seahorse aquariums selling you them but i cant see him lasting more than a couple of months. i dont mean to lecture, i hope you have all the sucsess in the world and no matter what you decide to do with the shorses and anamones. best of luck.
paddy

Hi Paddy,

Yes I should have pointed out that the Seahorses were just in on a temporary basis for the purpose of filming the tank for another project, as was the boxfish.
These youtube vids were just a bit of craic and I decided to post them for visual reference only.
The point I suppose is that the tank was set up immediately and is looking good with minimal equipment and water changes.
I also felt that by supplying some of the test results and some equipment detail it may be of benefit to anyone (like Alan!)who may be considering a similar set up.
I have been shuffling stock in the tank a bit and at present there are the original clowns, anemone, p***y coral, feather dusters etc along with 2 green gobies, 2 firefish and 2 royal grammas.
I have started using a new product called Simply Phyto and have to say my polyps are looking good- extended and brighter in colour.

Thanks again Paddy,

Cheers,

Steve

ive been looking into that simply phyto looks like a good product, might try it.very intresting method ure using, looks very sucessfull, hopefully it encourages more people to try marines.
well done mate

Steve,
For the water changes do you still need RO water, add salt etc or does OA change that


Feargal

Cheers Paddy!

Yeah I would defo try simply phyto as it makes perfect sense for minimizing the amount of waste being broken down in the system resulting in much lower nitrate levels.
The OA method is certainly working well here and if anyone else wants to give it a go, I'm here to advise and assist.

Nice one!


Hi Feargal,

I got my original water in part from Seahorse Aquariums and in part from Fish Antics, both RO water from the header tanks, not system water and my one and only water change was with RO water too.
I do top up with tap water and have noticed no negative effects from doing so as the water I have at home seems to be pretty good.
If you are in any doubt as to the quality of your tap water I would advise either purchasing a RO unit or purchasing water from your LFS.
OA contains a salt like powder called Health Treatment which, contrary to what some might say, is in fact NOT salt.
As a result the traditional addition of salt to the water IS required if you wish to go marine when using OA.
Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Steve

Hi,
Stupid question but how do gauge the correct mix ? Total marine novice but is it by chemical test, hydrometer or what. What is biggest cost - learning curve or equipment

i actually set up a tank in a day using oa, and as far as i remember there is a 5ml per 10 litres i might be wrong but im possitve there is no testing involved.i never carried on with it it was just to give the tank a boost as i needed it set up strait away, i actually thaught it was bacteria i was adding, mind you i just chucked it in without reading it. it was recommended by everyone on this site to me, so i just took their word, had no idea you could use it on marines though.

Feargal,

To gauge the correct amount of salt in the water I would always use a refractometer as opposed to a hydrometer.
Hydrometers are ok to a point but tend to be reasonably inaccurate particularly over time.
Refractometers are better as you must calibrate them before initial use (with distilled water or a specific salt mix) and periodically thereafter.
This will ensure continued accuracy.
Although the costs associated with refractometers Vs hydrometers are higher, losing expensive stock due to inaccurate readings is painful financially as well as otherwise!

Paddy,

Glad to hear you have successfully tried OA on a freshwater set up.
I think the dosages you were talking about were the addition of General Treatment to the tank.
In freshwater the dosage is usually a quarter of the bottle supplied in the maintenance kits or 1ml / 10 litres when using the Pond (bulk) G.T. weekly.
In marine the dosage is 1ml / 4 litres weekly.
There is no testing of how much OA needs to be added - I think Feargal was talking about the salt levels.
The BBAC is a bacterial product which is used in conjunction with the G.T. and Health Treatment (optional).
Yes the products can be used on marines, just be careful to use the Marine version as opposed to the Freshwater/Brackish one!

Give me a shout if you want to give it a go ;D

Cheers,

Steve