Newbie to marine fish

Hi, I am new to marine fish and need help. I have a 100litre tank with neons anngels ans so on and also a 360litre with cichlids, all running nicely. I also have a 190litre trigon tank and want to start marine fish in a small way to start off can but find it hard to get non conflicting info. The tank has the following equipment, the standard jewel filter,a tetratec ex 1200 external filter, a basic red sea protein skimmer and a Giesemann inifity spectra aquarium light that has a T5 high output bulb, a T5 actinic bulb and 2 mega chrome 150 watt halogen lamps.

Now ive all that out of he way,can anyone tell me if this equipent ok to run a small reef tank? i go to different shops and they tell me some of my equipment is good and some is not. ive been to ld my skimmer is not up to scratch but i have also been told that that i dont need a fancy skimmer. ive been told i need the external filter and also that i dont and to run it with its own filters and also not to run it with its own filters but to run it with crushed coral..... it gets confusing.

I filled it with water and mixed in the salt. my hydromer, a week later is giving high and low readings but am told that this ok and to add the live rock. I have added the live rock, 25 kilos and 2 days later, i find the hydrometer is still giving mixed reading but have spotted some stuff growing on my rock, like a grass. i forgot to mention that i have 2 wave making devices also added to the tank and between them and the inlet from the external filter, I am getting a good flow of water. The water is also crystal clear.

My questions, if anyone has read this far, is my equipment ok? and where should i go from here? gotta be honest and say the topical tanks were a dawdle compared to this marine tank but am looking forward to the challenge and and the beauty of these marine fish and the possibility of a small reef developing.

if anyone can help me .... I would appreciate it,

regards PaulC.

Hi paul
i'm not a marine fishkeeper but read the info from this site and it will give you some clear ideas on setting up a marine tank www.aquaworldaquarium.com/Article_Index.html

Many thanks for the link, Paul.

hi paul and welcome to the forum...
take a deep breath, first off you need to know what your salinity reading is. your hydrometer is giving you different readings because (i think) there are little air bubbles stuck to the swinging arm. after you fill it tap with a pencil or chopstick to get rid of these and you should get an accurate reading. aim for 1024-1025

IMO its a good idea to leave the lights off when your tank is cycling. that way nuisance algae wont take off.
Now is the time to get your rock how you want it or take out that juwel filter box if you want to.

filtration: loads of ways to do this. get a good book so you can make an informed decision about what way to go. personally i use the berlin method. this relies on live rock for filtration. i also have a filter but took out all the sponges/media and put in carbon which i change weekly. the trouble with cannister filters etc is that they are nitrate factories...and if you plan on keeping corals nitrates a big no no. if using this system its important not to overstock or over feed. anyway like i said theres loads of ways to do it so get reading!

your equip/skimmer is fine. what are these wave making devices? powerheads? if so how many litres per hour are they?

i cant stress enough how important it is to set up a small (10 gallon) quarintine tank and qt your fish before adding them to your main tank. also before buying any fish read up on them, there are loads of fish available that do so badly in captivity that they should be left in the ocean....and there are some that thrive in captivity.
good luck with it
fran

Thanks Fran,

is it ok to take out the jewel filter out of the tank altogether? I have an external filter (1200L per hour) that only has the white floss and nothing else in it although somebody told me i should add crushed coral. I have a spare 60L tank, is this ok for Q and i need skimmer and so on for this tank too? Thanks for your help.... i owe you a pint !

Paul.

PaulC wrote:

Thanks Fran,
is it ok to take out the jewel filter out of the tank altogether? I have an external filter (1200L per hour) that only has the white floss and nothing else in it

yes you can take it out....horrible looking thing! If you are using liverock as your filter then thats perfect. although i'd take out the filter floss...i read in a few places if you use this than you have to change it every few days (unlike freshwater where you change it when its nearly black!!) All i have in my filter is carbon which i change weekly...this will keep your water quality good. get 6 months or a years supply online (i got mine here www.reptilica.de/product_info.php/produc...al_Aktivkohle_3x100g )

PaulC wrote:

although somebody told me i should add crushed coral.

what substrate have you got? people add small amounts of crushed coral to keep their kh up. if you already have this or argonite as a substate you wont have to worry about it for a good while. kh should be tested for weekly though to keep an eye on it.

PaulC wrote:

I have a spare 60L tank, is this ok for Q and i need skimmer and so on for this tank too? Thanks for your help.... i owe you a pint !
Paul.

yes that s fine for qt. no need for skimmer etc. all you need is a sponge filter, heater and some pvc elbows to help the fish feel secure (caves for retreat). If your tank is still cycling then add the sponge for your qt to the main tank to seed it (2 weeks). I keep one in my filter at all times so the qt can be set up straight away if needs be...let me know if you need half a sponge (seeded).
Hows the salt reading now ... did that solve the prob?
no need for a pint...put the € towards a good book and do everything slowly, researching everything. as a friend said to me the other day \"you are dealing with lives\"

fran

This is a very interesting topic, can you please tell me how much of this carbon you add per week? how would one know how much to order to have a 6 month supply?

How often do you change your water and where do you get your water from?

Thanks!

Im not sure what \"they say\" is the correct amount of carbon...
i get the stuff already in bags...each pack has 3 100g bags. i have 2 of these in my filter at all times (240 litre tank), but i change 1 each week so each bag is in for 2 weeks. i should mention i only have 6-7 smallish fish.
you do the maths!

i change 20 litres per week. i use tap water which i treat with seachems prime and then age for one week in a container with a powerhead (and salt obviously!). 10% weekly is the recommended for marines as you generally stock with much less fish than freshwater. eg for your 180 tank you should prob only have roughly 6 small fish (4 inch or less). make sure that new water is same temp/salinty as your main systems water.

Heres the thing about aging water, due to laziness/lack of a suitable container, I stopped doing it. Never had a problem either. I just mix in the bucket, and hot water to get the right temp, and add to the tank.
My water seems to be very stable, and coraline algae is rapidly taking hold.
anenomes are a bit hit and miss but the two bubbles I have currently are doing fine even with my high nitrate water. It depends on what you read, different opinions on the subject etc etc.
I think that my 100l capacity might lend itself better to the water changes then someone with a big tank, i.e. WC are much more beneficial.

Didihno wrote:

Heres the thing about aging water, due to laziness/lack of a suitable container, I stopped doing it. Never had a problem either. I just mix in the bucket, and hot water to get the right temp, and add to the tank.
My water seems to be very stable, and coraline algae is rapidly taking hold.
anenomes are a bit hit and miss but the two bubbles I have currently are doing fine even with my high nitrate water. It depends on what you read, different opinions on the subject etc etc.
I think that my 100l capacity might lend itself better to the water changes then someone with a big tank, i.e. WC are much more beneficial.

salt mixes recommend mixing with water for at least 24 hrs. salinity readings taken before 24hrs are pretty useless. tap water contains disolved and suspended gases, solids and is also dosed with chlorine. aging it for a week will get rid of all these gases/chlorine...i add prime just to be safe.

for a suitable container you can use a 20 litre drum with an airstone. or a clear plastic storage container. i got an 80l one for €20. i've seen smaller/cheaper ones in woodies.

anenomes are notoriously bad in captivity...best left to the experts, and probably require ro water. getting them for your fist marine tank is a bit like getting wild discus as your first freshwater fish!!