setup costs?

Hi guys , i was thinking of converting my tropical fresh water tank to marine. can you guys give me some kind of idea of what equipment i need and the potential cost to convert?

Cheers Stuart.

What size tank is it and what filtration are you using at the moment?
When I upgraded tank I used my old external filter I just cleaned it really well.
Also added a new external, a skimmer and a couple of wavemakers.

It's a 110L with a fluval 306 external.

Stuart.

Perfect, with a filter that size I would just use that. Add a skimmer and a wavemaker and you'd be sorted.
Fill the filter with lots of ceramic media or live rock or a mixture. I would leave 1 sponge in it and some fine wool which could be cleaned or replaced regularly to avoid Nitrate build up. Add some carbon too.
A sump is the best way to go but if you keep an eye on the filter media its not completely necessary.

What size skimmer would i need for a tank of that capacity?

What size wave maker?

and what is the process of turning your water salty?What additives do i need , what water perameters ETC.

Sorry for all the questions but I know next to nothing about the process and whats involved. Lots of study in the near future i think lol.

Stuart.

The best way to judge skimmer size is to get one that is rated for twice your tank size.
I think a common size for a wavemaker is 3000lph, that should be plenty for your tank.
The process is start from scratch. The bacteria that you need in a coldwater and tropical setup is totally different from saltwater so clean everything out and start again is really the easiest way.
RO water and salt mix.
You can get away with tap water if you want a fish only tank but I wouldn't recommend it.

I have my own water well and have tested the water from it many times, it's a slightly hard water area but other than that the water is good, i usually just use aqua safe at water change time.

Is the "cycling" process the same for marine as it is for fresh water?

Stuart.

I would say that buying the water for a 110 litre would be the best way to start as it removes problems of mixing water in a newbie situation.
At least that would get you started without that hassle.

I would place skimmers as being a pretty important addition for marine keeping. They are not essential, but for the little outlay they will prove their valued worth.

You will find it best to buy a few metres of extra air-line for drip-introducing new fish (that is a small expense that you find so useful).

Other than that, the extra cost of a marine set-up can be as cheap or expensive as you like.......you don't need a computer controlled water parameter stabiliser, but if you want to splash out then they are there

ian

So you can buy the water premixed and ready to use? then get a skimmer, change the filter media in my external and get a wave maker?

Is that about it? for starters. Any idea's on how much all of this would cost?

Cheers Stuart.

IMO I would do the following

Use your 305/6 and fill it with micromec link (better than the rings) and also add some polyfilter link also get some carbon like this one that will be the absolute minimum. Adding live rock is strongly advisable!!!

In addition you can get a wave maker (ie the new fluval, a koralia or a tunze 6025 (if you have a bit more money go for the variable rate one 6045)

Again, you should buy some live sand and live rock, but they are expensive and this will increase the final price.

The total cost of the live rock and the live sand will be easy 120 euro.

The wave maker between 30-60 euro, the filter media around 35 euro, the water 40 plus the containers.

Although not essential I recommend you get a skimmer too but first get the live rock. You can always add the skimmer later. Adding live rock at a later stage could cause your system to cycle again, the only solution is to add live rock in small portions. The price of a skimmer can vary from 100 euro for a Fluval PS1 (not a bad nano skimmer) to a few hundred/thousands. I got the fluval and a bubble magus (as well as a deltec) and the PS1 seems to be working fine (I just got it a day ago).

As I said live rock is not necessary but it will help you with the filtration and building a more stable system.

oh, do not fill the filter with live rock, use filter media.

If you decide not to use live rock nor a skimmer you will need to keep an eye on the water more often and do more water changes.

I would start with the filter media, live rock and live sand and a powerhead and add the rest as I go along. That's around 200 euro. If you are short in cash leave the power head out for the moment as the 305 has a good output. You make sure you clean it once every two weeks (at least).

But that's just me!

PS: I forgot, its not important but fresh water bacteria might work in a marine tank, although the change has to be made slowly (in my opinion is not worth it specially if you are going to get live rock). Remember that, in a marine tank, most of the bacteria will not be in the filter but in the live rock, sand, aquarium walls, etc.

It really depends on what you want to add to the aquarium, fish, corals?

You will need to provide the fish with hiding spots too to avoid stress.

Do not use your own water unless you have a RO system. Buy it from the shop.

Thanks for the reply Bohrio, I was doing some more reading about it today and just as you said , it placed the most importance on the live sand and rock followed by a power head, for a tank my size a skimmer was optional, but in the long run will save money by reducing the frequency of water changes. I'm ultimately going to go for a full reef set up with fish , coral etc.etc. But while im learning i might just try and stick to the easier option , which i presume is just a fish only setup. My uncle has a 6ft reef tank which i'm gonna have a look at next week, i could possibly get most of what i need(rock , sand, water, filter media) to get me started off.

Cheers Stuart.

great advice guys i just had to pull out of setting up my marine tank due to certain finical things but still lookin out for equipment had a great deal on live rock but as i said above had to put off i have had a great read and when i get the skimmer i will start setting up again

Im just after changing over to marine in my 120 litre tank i brought back all my fish and plants to my lfs and got some store credit so got some sand, salt, test kit and a few other bits. I gpt 19kg of live rock yesterday off someone breaking down a tank for 100e and its full of live.i already had t5 marine bulbs that came with the ballast i got last year they will do for a while until i have some cash for leds.
I still need a wave maker, skimmer and decent lights but i will pick them up over time.so far i have spent 100e on the rock and 5e on a blue background. if i get the skimmer new it will be roughly 150, you can get wave makers handy enough and decent lights start at about 350 im looking at the maxspect razor still waiting to get a price on it but aqualeds star light III looks good too for about 300 delivered