Marine fish tank

[vixen]

Hi All,is there any of you that has a marine tank.i have been wanting one for about 4 years but have always shyed away from it.i have just move the old tropical one out,only had 8 fish left in there.put them into one of my other tanks. the size i am looking for is 4ft with fish and coral.i am doing lots of reading.so is there anyone that knows about them.thanks
Trudy

[Waxbillman]

sorry Trudy

i know nowt on the subject, very interesting i am sure

Matthew

[chris]

Hi Trudy,

i've never kept marine fish as of yet, however i do know that unlike most tropical they will suffer/die if the temperature goes up too much during the summer, which can mean the use of a chiller unit (expensive) also if you plan on keeping invertebrates you'll need a protein skimmer.

as far as a fish only tak goes it's not too different, just need to use a hydrometer to measure the salinity of the water and keep it constant which is the only massive difference really. that also means water top ups due to evaporation require water with no salt added otherwise the salt levels will go up each month. however a water change does require a salt water solution that is identical to that of the tank in concentration.

your best bet is to join a fish forum and ask there, aquatics shops are usefull for info but be very careful what you believe about fish compatibility as some of it is complete and utter crap!

if in doubt, read a book

Chris;)

[vixen]

Hi All,just thought that there might be some of you keeping them.i have been around some of the shops around to get a feeling of how much they help the novice keeper.i think you know when you have got the right one.the first thing is to order the tank.we have just decorated the living room.we are going for a under tank sump as they all say its easier to maintain.will keep you up to date on it.and Chris i am doing a lot of reading.some times it gets you too confused though.
Trudy

[cooltom28]

this is always a thing that amazed me. we are soon to get a new animal care unit at college costing £2million!:o and we have been promised we can set up one because we are 2nd years lol it will be a great experience and i have no knowledge of marine set ups we might actually learn something at college:wink:

[vixen]

Hi All,I have gone and done it i have ordered my tank 4ft just waiting for it to be made,will keep you up dated and let you know the set up and take some photos along the way hoping to keep a reef tank coral and fish :lol: my dream.

[chris]

Hi Trudy,

sounds like your having a custom built tank? definately a good option, the mass produced aquariums are rarely big enough in all dimensions for the perfect setup for you and the fish etc. usually the tank is long enough, but with either no depth or height to it that is suitable for most species.

good luck with your setup, corals will be an interesting one, i assume your going with soft corals rather than hard corals? also there are certain fish which pick over the corals and act as good gardeners, then there are others that just eat them:lol: unfortunately i dont know anything about marines so can't give you the names of the species that are good with corals.

good luck, Chris;)

[vixen]

Thanks Chris, i have got a good chap helping use with the set up went to a lot of shops he stood out from the rest so will stick with him.i will go for soft corals i think as the hard are harder to keep.the tank will have a sump using the ecosystem using mud so we will see.
Trudy

[vixen]

Right guys here are some pic of my tank.The first one is when i had the live rock in.Live rock is rock that has been on the ocean floor and has lot of things growing on it.you use it as a filter as it has a lot of good Bactria living in it.the second pic is of the right side of the tank with a few corals then the other side.i have added a lot more since these were taken