From chilids to Salt water

Hi guys,

I currently have a Juwel 180 in which I keep Malawi's. I'm looking at selling this(will but up a 'For Sale' Thread when the time has come).

The reason I'm looking at moving the juwel is that I want to move to saltwater fish (just 3-4 clown fish) in a 60-80ltr tank.

I'm only jhust looking at what's required for saltwater tanks, so I would really appreciate any input/help people may have.
I understand I will need a second smaller tank set up to have water at the right salt/temp levels for water changes, but any wisdom would be more than welcome.

Any idea on costs would be nice to ... rocks, salt, filters, ...

Thanks

you'll need a small hang on skimmer,buy the water made up from an lfs(handy and cheap for a tank that size)live rock couple of kilos.should get you going for less than 200,be warned though small marine tanks are very hard to get right and maintain.(harder than a large tank that is.Hope this helps.

Hi,
there is a 120 litre tank for sale on done deal that is set up for marine,it has 10kg of live rock,fluval 205 external filter, wave maker and some clean up crew for 190 euro which is great value. Have a look at it.
mick

Good luck with the move. I hve a fluval roma 90 (about 90l before the trimmings) set up as a marine over a year and loving it. It does take looking after but no more than a good freshwater. I do a weekly water change of about 10l (if lazy use bought SW if not i make my own). I also get RO water to do top ups.
If using fish only then might get away without a skimmer. i do not use one but use a HOB filter containing some Live Rock and chaeto to keep the nitrates down. Have some soft corals as well that are flourishing
Keep an eye out for bargains on here or elsewhere with people selling LR etc. The advice that often comes with it is worth its weight in gold. The sponsors on here are also the biz with most selling much more than fish and equipment in terms of time and advice.
ask loads of questions and take your time. Set up the tank with LR, water and then sit back and let it cycle for a good few weeks before moving to get CUC and only then fish or corals.
Probably need to add all of the clowns rogether when young or all hell will break use with the dominant female murdering all before her. Seen a thread here or somewhere of a person with 5 clowns and all living happily in the correct pecking order so i is possible

Gavin wrote:

you'll need a small hang on skimmer,buy the water made up from an lfs(handy and cheap for a tank that size)live rock couple of kilos.should get you going for less than 200,be warned though small marine tanks are very hard to get right and maintain.(harder than a large tank that is.Hope this helps.

thanks for the info

mixer wrote:

Hi,
there is a 120 litre tank for sale on done deal that is set up for marine,it has 10kg of live rock,fluval 205 external filter, wave maker and some clean up crew for 190 euro which is great value. Have a look at it.
mick

mmmh, cant afford that at the moment, need to sell the other tank to fund the new one, but thanks for the heads up

sincgar wrote:

Good luck with the move. I hve a fluval roma 90 (about 90l before the trimmings) set up as a marine over a year and loving it. It does take looking after but no more than a good freshwater. I do a weekly water change of about 10l (if lazy use bought SW if not i make my own). I also get RO water to do top ups.
If using fish only then might get away without a skimmer. i do not use one but use a HOB filter containing some Live Rock and chaeto to keep the nitrates down. Have some soft corals as well that are flourishing
Keep an eye out for bargains on here or elsewhere with people selling LR etc. The advice that often comes with it is worth its weight in gold. The sponsors on here are also the biz with most selling much more than fish and equipment in terms of time and advice.
ask loads of questions and take your time. Set up the tank with LR, water and then sit back and let it cycle for a good few weeks before moving to get CUC and only then fish or corals.
Probably need to add all of the clowns rogether when young or all hell will break use with the dominant female murdering all before her. Seen a thread here or somewhere of a person with 5 clowns and all living happily in the correct pecking order so i is possible

again, thanks but uhm not sure what the highlighted terms mean:blush:

So sorry for not replying before now. But here is my take on the highlighted itemss

RO water - reverse osmosis water which has been through an RO filter which removes contaminants such as chlorine, heavy metals etc. Most people would have an RO unit but with my size I can't justify it and buy it instead. some LFS might even do it for free for small quantities. You might get strange looks in most LFS but if they do marines they will usually sell it and use it themselves. At least you know what is in it rather than trying to get tap water to a particular standard ph etc.

HOB filter - Hang on back. It sits outside the tank by hanging on back. Also used as a refugium to grow on organismas that get washed into tank as live food for fish. Not a total necessity. I got a small breeder tank for a while and kept it stuck to back wall in the main tank until I bought a hob

Chaeto is an algae and looks like spaghetti or green wire wool. It uses the nitrates etc from tank to grow and so reduces the amounts that cause bad algae to grow or make the water unhealthy

CUC- Clean Up crew. These are snails, crabs usually hermits (crabs who live in shells), some starfish who spend their time eating algae, food that lands on the bottom or rock. Busy little beavers who work night and day to keep things shipshape and are an attraction in their own right. different snails who work harder or lee, turn over the sand etc.
Crabs come in different colurs such as red legged and blue legged
Some people also throw in shrimps here as partof clean up crew. Again very good cleaners and characters. Mine will try and clean my fingernails if they are put in tank and robs the food from the corals
Some people would not put a starfish in a nano (small tank) as there may not be enough food to keep them alive

Hope this helps. I'm not an expert as some on here but love my little slice of heaven even if only 90l
Will try and pop up a pic to show you

Try and get some books or read the article on here on setting up a marine tank